A Bunch of People Rank Monstercat Instinct Vol. 4

[@JonsBS]

Reasonings: 40.) This is such a forgettable, bullshit track. The lyrics are meaningless, the production isn't all that interesting, and other than the Nirvana parody album art, there isn't anything memorable here. I really like the vocal style, though, and it redeems this enough to be a decent song, at least in my eyes. 39.) Synthwave is probably my favorite genre, and it's telling about how run of the mill and safe this song is that it is so low for me. Not only does this song not break any boundaries, but it is completely confined to boundaries. Nothing about this one interests me at all, I'm afraid. 38.) I'm a bit surprised this one is so low on nearly everyone's list, but this does feel like it combines the downsides from recent Conro with the downside of Circus-era Conro. The melody isn't that interesting, nor is the production, and the vocal chops, which are the skeleton of the drop, don't really do it for me either. 37.) This is a decent little track. It's pretty much the only track on the EP that I don't think is anything special, but the production in the chorus is particularly fun to me. With a different (read: better) set of vocals, I'd be way high on this one. 36.) This one is close to being my favorite from the Desert Star project. The vocals are nice, and the 80s-style synthpop is a refreshing style. However, I wish the song committed more to this 80s sound, as it feels like a half and half track and loses a lot of identity as a result. 35.) Those vocals kill this for me. The funkiness feels forced, and the vocals do not help whatsoever. Interesting idea, poor execution. 34.) This is the quintessential "a house producer tries to make future bass" song for me. This is a future bass song without any of the interesting or fun bits that make future bass a good genre. The vocals are quite good, though, and bring this up for me quite a bit. 33.) I'm so not into the drop. It's a snoozer of a drop unfortunately, and that's a shame, because this is quite a good set of vocals. 32.) Holy shit where do I even begin with this one. The vocals are not great, Blonde Maze + Michael didn't die for this duet to happen. The most compelling reason I've heard that people like about this song came from Jeeelm, who compared the production of this song to two of my favorite songs in the last couple of years, Chuck Taylors and Old Friends. Unfortunately, the vocals betray that sense of chill nostalgia, and each and every blink blink blink one eighty two brings me closer to the edge. 31.) Yawn. There isn't anything going on here that hasn't been in any other garage song like this. The bass is bad in my opinion, too. 30.) The one time recently that I've played Rocket League recently, this was the intro song, so it has that going for it. The future bass sections are very good in my opinion, and the intro and vocals have that classic Rocket League sound, too. I just wish I was more into the house parts. 29.) Yawn. This feels so similar to Ocean Eyes and One Way Dream, and it's another lame post-synthpop song. 28.) I love this. The duet works, and the vocals are pretty from both singers. More and more I've gotten into this poppier sounding EDM, and songs like this are another reminder of that for me. Nothing special but I like listening to this more than 35 other tracks on IV4. 27.) This is an obnoxious song, and depending on who you are, that might not necessarily be a bad thing. For me, though, it is. Neither the vocals nor the drop have even the slightest tinge of subtlety. 26.) Generic happy future bass with fun vocal chops, a great lead sound, and a good vocal performance? Welcome to the top 10! 25.) Fuck man, I'm so disappointed in how low this is. The drop is one of KUURO's most interesting, and the vocals are actually so catchy. If there was more variety in this one (a common theme in KUURO's vocal-heavy songs), it'd be god-tier. 24.) It's the song that has a really solid Galantis-like verse and buildup, and then betrays all of that with the lamest future bass drop I've heard in a while. 23.) The vocal parts of this song are nothing special, and are borderline snoozer material. The parts of the song with the old school Flux Pavilion like dubstep lead are fucking incredible, and some of the best stuff on this album. 22.) While in the end, this is nothing more than a less catchy All Eyes On Me for me personally, this is still a bop, and highly listenable. And yo, it's the Forever/Knockin' line for me. 21.) Matt Van is a great vocalist but at some point, I've kinda heard everything he has to bring in this kind of song. Why would I ever listen to this when I can just listen to Juliet. 20.) This is a real good song in a vacuum, but its similarity to the stuff you'd hear on Worlds and the endless Worlds clones hurts it in my eyes, unfortunately. 19.) The Matt Van vocals don't do it for me here either, and I wish it was an instrumental. 18.) The vocals are okay but don't fill me with happiness, or anything really, and the production is solid but ultimately doesn't provide its own reason to listen to this song. 17.) Oh look it's a song I'll probably have top 10 on Monstercat in 2019 by the end of the year. Beautiful drop, need to get into the vocals more. 16.) It's nice to hear a more dramatic sound from Aiobahn, something that hasn't really happened in his signature future house sound. Cozi isn't bad here, per se, but she is far from her best, and that costs this one big time. 15.) It's not bad, but why would I listen to this when there's so much else that Conro has put out like this that I prefer. 14.) The production is silky smooth, and the vocals are either great or borderline cringy. It's real solid mostly but bending the vowel in nebulous to rhyme with fabulous is rough. 13.) This is the best I've heard from Slyleaf, and this is, dar I say, Direct's best arpeggio. Beautiful stuff here all around. 12.) Holy smokes if this isn't the most underwhelming house song of 2019 I don't know what is. This lacks energy, identity, and character. The melody isn't interesting. The song doesn't play to what Nitro Fun does best. There's no charm, and I forgot this song existed until it came time to make this ranking. 11.) EMAN8's performance here reminds me of a fun hybrid between Chance the Rapper (Acid Rap era, not The Big Day era) and Quinn XCII, and I fucking adore both of them. The production is real nice too, and this is one that appeals to me a lot. 10.) I like the collabs between Sully and Grabbitz, and the idea of making an alt rock/post EDM ballad is one that sounds fun on paper. Unfortunately, the EDM elements of this bring me out of the emotion, and make this one feel constrained and constricted as a result. I wish it went all out in one direction or the other, because ultimately I'd rather just listen to actual rock songs or actual future bass songs. 9.) There's nothing about this one that I particularly love or enjoy, but there's nothing bad here. Just nothing that I go out of my way to listen to. 8.) Pretty unenjoyable vocals and a great meldub drop end up cancelling each other out and in the end, hey look it's another enjoyable Trivecta song. 7.) Oh boy this one is fun. I was so not into this track when it first dropped, but there are some parts when EMIA actually kills it with her vocal style. The production feels a bit heavy handed, and I wish it did more to complement the vocals instead of being their own thing as much. 6.) The vocals are tremendous, and the drop is a bop. This is so close to being an absolute crier, and being easily top 2. But god damn guys, why are the vocals so quiet? Yall are both mainstay EDM acts at this point, who let this happen? When listening to this in the car, I can barely hear poor JT Roach. Still tremendous but I'll be damned if I can overlook this. 5.) It's fun, wild Duumu, and while there isn't much tangible here for me to grab onto, there's no denying the sound design and musicality that this one has. 4.) This is sad, wistful nostalgia jam packed in a four minute house track, and I absolutely adore it. This style of house is interesting and, quite frankly, refreshing. 3.) What a damn banger. The basses are great, and the main melody is iconic. Honestly, this is an easy #1. It's 2019 Monstercat's Fire Flower. 2.) Grant is so consistent, to the point that a jaw dropping drop and solid vocal set can be present in a song and I'm left thinking "wow this is a pretty average Grant track." 1.) People talking about how great a debut this song is need to go listen to more Just a Gent. His entire discography is littered with 9/10s like this, and I'm so happy the Monstercat fanbase is being exposed to this man. This is a real nice song, with great progression and a good beat on both the first two drops and the final drop. If I liked the vocals more it'd be even higher, but it's a worthy #1 in my book.

[@JonsBS]

SoaringEagle its bc house was the mainstream edm genre for a few years, then it became future bass. You saw this a lot with mainstream artists like Zedd, Afrojack, Martin Garrix, the Chainsmokers, R3hab, and probably hella other artists I don’t remember off the top of my head.

[@telephonontv]

Overall, is it better than the last Intinct album?

[@JonsBS]

@@telephonontv nope

[@telephonontv]

@@JonsBS and I supposed that the 18 of the 40 knockin tracks are gonna be changed after a year, depending on repetition?

[@telephonontv]

@SoaringEagle bad computer is more mau5trap-ish, close to No Mana and i_o than he is a big, commerical artist on Spinnin, Revealed, Armada and stuff. I do like to see it happen if hypothetically. Much of it is because, the ones that are both mainstream and underground, like getter to julian calor, are rare but smart to play around their identity. If you want Big bois nowadays, just ask Tritional. If anything, I hope BC isn't going Midtempo Bass, In a typical and nothing to his style or interesting sense. Just ask anyone in that scene.

[@HS-mn6jc]

I feel like the only person in the world who loves Sundance and Sunscreen lmao

[@RiggedFem]

I like Sunscreen

[@kyniia]

sun

[@EsKpistOne]

screen

[@kyniia]

dance

[@zappinghero4690]

I absolutely LOVED Sundance to bits! I even remembered listening to that song a lot of times (even throughout this past entire Summer), especially while being in any other neat location buildings too! Sunscreen also grew on me a lot since a few weeks before this Instinct Album came out (lol). But yeah, your not the only person in the world who loves Sundance, so I'm with you on that.

[@KadMCL]

We swarming the screen like its normandy

[@bouxx00]

happy to see cobra getting the praise it deserves

[@not_sub001]

y'know, by "a bunch of people", i thought you meant like 4 or 5 dudes. this is just the catalog wtf

[@ethani8557]

This is not the catalog

[@JonsBS]

Sub001 4 or 5 is more like a bushel of people

[@not_sub001]

@@ethani8557 i meant like by the amount of people not by who is part of it

[@not_sub001]

@@JonsBS if you say so dood

[@JSGRanks]

that thumbnail is genius 👌🏼

[@WaveSamu]

My Ranking (Top 12): 1. Cobra 2. Riptide 3. Far Away 4. We All 5. No Fear Anymore 6. Anonymous 7. Crazy As You 8. Ran Out of Reasons 9. Carissa 10. So Far Away 11. Time Voyage 12. Thrill of It Would love to get included in "the bunch" next time :P

[@mikei9182]

You and Alex are the real heroes for putting Cobra at 1

[@project_underscore7333]

:DDD

[@lettuce01]

And a WELL DESERVED #1 is all I can say about this. Such a blissfully unique track to debut with. I almost forgot it was on this until I heard the first 2 seconds of it begin to play and was instantly hit wkth a wave of emotions. Such a great track, and the ranking was pretty sweet too. I can live with this. Good stuffs, I like these kinds of group rankings.

[@telephonontv]

4:19 GODDAMNIT Redhawk, you changed my mind. The duet is so incredible, that I'm so embarrassed. With that said I would love to know what other pop EDM tracks you have listened to over the years?

[@Cyphule]

Had a feeling you'd put Cobra at #1

[@B666-j7i]

>waiting has no #1s HOLD UP

[@carcass2629]

lol i predicted so far away would end up at redhawk's bottom half. some of the first times i listened to the song, it sometimes felt slow, like you're sure it's around 126 BPM but it feels like 115. oh and throttle is finally back :D

[@VantaBay]

2:23 good man zaaj

[@aedanginty4373]

I’m glad the song that came out on my birthday was Redhawk’s #1. Also this imo was one of the best compilation albums.

[@deltahedron606]

Aw man avg. out here with the correct #1

[@JonsBS]

DeltaHedron avg. has the best opinions

[@BakaHazel762]

I still can't get over the fact that Let It Go by i_o and Tommy Trash and Waiting has the same vocalist.Thanks Vicetone for turning Daisy's voice into generic female vocal sample number seven. Also this album would've be great if they include NLMD VIP, Burning and Silver & Gold.

[@JonsBS]

榛頭BakaHazel NLMD VIP would have been #1 for me and it wouldnt have even been close

[@BakaHazel762]

@@JonsBS NLMD VIP second drops buildup are so good, and David Spekter voice shines so much with a more chill production,such a smooth tune to listen to. My personal favourite would be Silver & Gold, ShockOne is a demigod and ADM is a album with load of depths compare to other LP in this label.

[@telephonontv]

@@BakaHazel762 I gonna have to say that, Waiting is such riser for me that If I haven't give it a chance, I wouldn't have fallen In love with it. This is a mistake for me and I'm glad I love it.

[@benallan2328]

What’s Love that low is painful to my eyes But to be fair, that is balanced by Jon’s correct opinion on So Far Away

[@michaelroy6630]

Right??? It's so damn catchy. Definitely in my top ten for the album

[@Jaysonpanda]

Wow I love that Jayson guy. His rankings are very correct

[@briskyjpeg1139]

Silver skies actually shitting on can we be free

[@zappinghero4690]

By the way Redhawk, aside from the 40 songs themselves on this Monstercat Album, what were your favorite art-covers on here too? I love the ones from Throttle and Pegboard Nerds, the background art from Ran Out Of Reasons, and the ones for Sundance and Far Away were pretty cool too. :)

[@rickty20]

First track... boom a bunch of shit pops up on my screen lol

[@acolyteanonymous8941]

My taste and picks are always equal to yours, Redhawk. 😎

[@Cloudcage]

EXCELLENT OUTRO SONG CHOICE also boi next time you do one of these hit ur boy up pls

[@hawkseyy]

no you are exclusive to my channel

[@hawkseyy]

actually also i'd be down to do this if you needed the more the merrier

[@jeanne4328]

My favorite 2 tracks on this have to be Crazy as You and Blinded, I’m not a fan of the mild future bass and synthpop tracks that litter this album, but I enjoy the very chilled liquid side and the heavier side of instinct, overall I think this was an ok album for the heavier and liquid sides of instinct, but still a little too much Nu-Synthwave and Slander future bass on here for me to start consistently listening to instinct

[@EsKpistOne]

Overall, this is a pretty good album, with a record of 38 songs that I can safely say I enjoy, but having less 'great' (think 9/10 or higher) songs than the other Instinct albums. That said, there are a good bit of gems here IV2 >IV4 > IV1 (by only a little) > IV3

[@project_underscore7333]

Redhawk & I are secretly brothers lmao ;) #40 - Bit of a snoozer, but it ain't too bad I suppose #39 - I expected so much more from this. Huge letdown unfortunately #38 - I feel like this one will eventually grow on me. Nice stuff #37 - Never fully caught onto this one but it's catchy #36 - This guy is on a role dude! #35 - Vocals are wayyyyyyy toooooooo forced. And the instrumentals don't really do much to keep up. Lacks so much. Can't get into this one at all. #34 - Get lost with the Vicetone hate #33 - Nice but not something I'd come back to. Would prefer his dancehall honestly #32 - This ep is not looking good, but this track is quite nice. The instrumental shines here though #31 - So relaxing, and the vocals are amazing #30 - This guys stuff has grown on me a lot recently. No exception here #29 - Unfortunately, this is one miss. Might grow on me though. #28 - F*ck the haters man! #27 - Can't get into this one unfortunately. Least fav from Rogue since Night After Night unfortunately. #26 - Vocals really bring this down, but the instrumentals are so good #25 - Umm... YES #24 - Not bad, but theres definitely something missing here #23 - Pretty melody, but I've heard it enough now #22 - The one miss on the ep for me #21 - Such a nice vibe. Not my favourite from them though #20 - This still needs time for me, so straight down the middle it goes #19 - FUCKYOUALLFUCKYOUALLFUCKYOUALLFUCKYOUALLFUCKYOUALL #18 - FWLR = Father. Probably my favorite from him right now #17 - Overrated but nice #16 - His best on the label in a while lol #15 - This would've been #2 or something but it's gone down a little now. Still freaking vibey though #14 - This also needs time to grow on me. Not really my thing I guess #13 - Not a Slyleaf fan usually, but HOLY SHIT #12 - Nice and nostalgic, needs time with me though #11 - FREAKING VIBES MAN #10 - Can't really explain why I can't get into this. Vocals just sound off to me #9 - Just A Gent is definitely Dad, but I just can't get into this one #8 - Trivecta melodic dubstep #7 - Vocals carry hard here! #6 - oH mY gOD iS tHaT sAId tHe sKy?/?/?/?/? :OOOOOOOOOOOO (It's nice) #5 - Love this. Vocals are so good, and the production is new and really cool for Duumu! #4 - *Nostalgia Alert* grew on me a lot. So glad he's back! #3 - :smirk: I love this style of trap. Easy #1 IMO #2 - Grant's best in a LOOOOOOOOOOONG TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME #1 - Just A Gent is also Dad Analysis: Probably my least fav Instinct Comp, but there are still some goodies here. Most of these range from forgettable to decent at best. Hopefully IV5 will prove to be a little better.

[@sfglim5341]

Project _Underscore Grant is amazing ur just mad lmao

[@project_underscore7333]

But I'm not tho...

[@hivepixel12]

Wtf So Far Away is my no.1 in the compilation Why redhawk why?

[@Perfectpizza6]

That’s a lotta people

[@thyomnipotentotter8383]

I still dont fucking understand how Silver & Gold isn’t in here

[@hello3407]

my ranking kinda quirky doe.................... :Flushed_Face_Emoji:

[@brook9443]

poor conro 😢

[@gavinranks2802]

im in this

[@zaajdaeon]

but i ran out of reasons

[@PIXL_20K]

Explain to me how u can have Ran out of reasons 1st and Japan 39th

[@zaajdaeon]

i refuse to believe japan is a finished song, half assed song from an artist who has released nothing but half assed music since his return honestly can't explain my love for ran out of reasons, or any vicetone song for that matter, they're all generic bullshit but they're so good at being generic bullshit

[@telephonontv]

@@zaajdaeon I gonna have to agree. I was so wrong about Waiting just like how I used to hate Fences. But damn, this grew hard.

[@blamo7055]

everyone ranks 2

[@landonfleury]

I have all the love in the world for you brö But going from overcrediting vocalists to not crediting at all? 🤔

[@JonsBS]

the song titles were the first things I made when doing the titles for this video, and I was worried about screen clutter given all the rankings, plus the visualizer as it turns out, I could have absolutely included vocalists, and it would have been fine, so now I know for next time

[@Twtching]

This is a pretty weak album isn’t it... it’s probably the reason 2019 has felt like such a slow year on monstercat

[@JonsBS]

Twitch yeahhhh my thoughts exactly

[@Twtching]

Redhawk I agreed with you on a lot of what you said too. It’s ridiculous how much the scene is dominated by like 3 or 4 artists making phenomenal stuff over and over again while everyone else are making songs from like 4-8/10

[@sfglim5341]

Twitch I mean I can agree with that to a point There were some amazing songs but there were also some of the worst songs Monstercat has ever released Still It’s a very good compilation with all songs being a little annoying at worst and absolutely fantastic at best

[@KKris-h]

yeah honestly so far away is so bad imo, doesnt interest me at all