Trilogy songs: Ranked best to worst

[ManBurning]

Curious to see how people would rank the trilogy songs as a whole.

Here's my ranking:

The Idea of You
The Background World
Ahead of Ourselves
Burning Bright (Field on Fire)
Shit Mirror
This isn't the place
She's Gone Away
Branches/Bones
Less Than
Dear World,
Over and Out
Not anymore
I'm not from this world
God Break down the door
The Lovers
Play the Goddamn Part

[bobbie solo]

The Idea of You
The Background World
Burning Bright (Field on Fire)
Branches/Bones
Ahead of Ourselves
Shit Mirror
Not Anymore
She's Gone Away
Dear World,
Less Than
This Is Not the Place
Over & Out
I'm Not From This World
God Break Down The Door
The Lovers
Play the Goddamn Part

I'm not too far off from you. This Is Not The Place doesn't work nearly as well for me on the EP as it does live. Dear World is a cooler song than Less Than for me. I'm into heavy music mostly so Not Anymore has to be higher.

[mauro995]

Burning Bright (Field on Fire)
The Background World
Ahead of Ourselves
Shit Mirror
Not Anymore
God Break Down the Door
She's Gone Away
Over and Out
The Idea of You
Less Than
Branches/Bones
Dear World,
The Lovers
This Isn't the Place
I'm Not From This World
Play the Goddamned Part

[BRoswell]

I like them all, so I wouldn't necessarily call this a best-to-worst list, but...

This Isn't The Place
Burning Bright (Field On Fire)
Less Than
The Background World
The Lovers
She's Gone Away
Shit Mirror
Branches/Bones
God Break Down The Door
Dear World,
I'm Not From This World
Over And Out
Ahead Of Ourselves
Not Anymore
The Idea Of You
Play The Goddamned Part

[buckaroo]

Wow, not much love for Dear World,.

The Background World
Burning Bright (field on fire)
Dear World,
I'm Not From This World - Over and Out (has to be together)
Branches / Bones
Ahead of Ourselves
This Isn't The Place
Less Than
Shit Mirror
The Lovers
She's Gone Away
God Break Down The Door
Not Anymore
Play The Goddamned Part
The Idea of You

[paul_guyet]

I need to work on the full list, but my least favorite from all three is "I'm Not From This World". Hands down.

[ManBurning]

The Idea of You
The Background World
Burning Bright (Field on Fire)
Branches/Bones
Ahead of Ourselves
Shit Mirror
Not Anymore
She's Gone Away
Dear World,
Less Than
This Is Not the Place
Over & Out
I'm Not From This World
God Break Down The Door
The Lovers
Play the Goddamn Part

I'm not too far off from you. This Is Not The Place doesn't work nearly as well for me on the EP as it does live. Dear World is a cooler song than Less Than for me. I'm into heavy music mostly so Not Anymore has to be higher.

Damn, I thought I was reading my own list there for a second, haha.

[sonic_discord]

I reserve the right to change my mind about this list, but for now this is my ranking:

The Idea of You
Ahead of Ourselves
This Isn’t the Place
Burning Bright (Field on Fire)
Over and Out
The Background World
Shit Mirror
Branches/Bones
The Lovers
Not Anymore
She’s Gone Away
Less Than
God Break Down the Door
Dear World,
Play the Goddamned Part
I’m Not From This World

*Disclaimer: This trilogy represents (to me, at least) some of the most exciting NIN material since the '90s, so I love ALL of the songs, including the ones I ranked at the bottom of the list.

[Esperanzan]

Dear World,
Less Than
Over and Out
Shit Mirror
Burning Bright (Field on Fire)
God Break Down the Door
The Background World
The Lovers
This Isn’t the Place
Branches/Bones
Ahead of Ourselves
The Idea of You
Play the Goddamned Part
She’s Gone Away
Not Anymore
I’m Not From This World

Very hard to rank the stretch from The Background World -> Ahead of Ourselves.

[Erneuert]

Here is how I rank all the songs from most enjoyable (can listen to endlessly), to tracks I really couldn’t care if I ever hear again. The ones in bold I definitely couldn’t do without. The other four... meh.

1) I’m Not From This World
2) Over And Out
3) Burning Bright (Field On Fire)
4) Shit Mirror
5) Ahead Of Ourselves
6) The Idea Of You
7) Not Anymore
8) The Background World
9) This Isn’t The Place
10) She’s Gone Away
11) Branches/Bones
12) The Lovers
13) Play The Goddamned Part
14) God Break Down The Door
15) Less Than
16) Dear World,

[elevenism]

Branches/Bones
The Idea of You
Ahead of Ourselves
God Break Down the Door
Not Anymore
Shit Mirror
This isn't the place
Less Than
Over and Out
The Lovers
The Background World
She's Gone Away
Dear World
I'm not From This World
Play the Goddamned Part
Burning Bright

Also, WOW! Look at us, actually typing out whole song titles!

Edit: I wanna see rankings from @kleiner , @RocketScience , @heavenly_bearded , @thelastdisciple , @Halo Infinity . You are hereby nominated to participate.

[heavenly_bearded]

I wanna see rankings from @kleiner , @RocketScience , @heavenly_bearded , @thelastdisciple , @Halo Infinity . You are hereby nominated to participate.

Fine.

Shit Mirror (because Robin fucking kills it live)
Over and Out (because xylophone Robin)
Ahead of Ourselves (should be the theme song for all the immature idiots in NIN FB groups)
The Idea of You
God Break down the door
Less Than
The Background World
Burning Bright (Field on Fire)
This isn't the place
Branches/Bones
Dear World,
Not Anymore
I'm Not From This World
Play the Goddamn Part
The Lovers (because holding a tape recorder to the mic is very underwhelming)
She's Gone Away (I hate the repetitive bassline and the severe depression this song puts in my head, maybe that will change with time but I don't think so)

Of course my opinion means nothing and will probably change over time.

[katara]

I need to work on the full list, but my least favorite from all three is "I'm Not From This World". Hands down.

This is my #1.

[Erneuert]

This is my #1.

Same here. I’d describe it as The Predator, or a similar menacing-looking alien creature, giving you a guided tour of the areas of its space ship.

[paul_guyet]

This is my #1.

VERY interesting... I don't hate it, it's just my least favorite of the sixteen EP tracks, although if INFTW was stacked up against all the other NIN instrumentals, it wouldn't rank very high. I just feel like not enough happens for a nearly seven minute track. I really dig 'Play The Goddamned Part' though.

[theimage13]

I feel personally attacked by anyone who put Burning Bright dead last, or put The Lovers in the bottom few. Will contribute my own ranking when I'm feeling more decisive, but the cliff notes version is that the entire Bad Witch LP will be tied for last place. Try as I might, I still just can't get into it. NTAE hit me pretty much right away, Add Violence took a couple spins before it finally clicked. Even after seeing most of it live, though, Bad Witch still just hasn't resonated with me.

[elevenism]

I feel personally attacked by anyone who put Burning Bright dead last

Isn't that... Isn't that JUST me?

I'm not personally attacking you. It's just the one I like the least.

[Microwave Jellyfish]

The Background World
Dear World,
Over and Out
Less Than
Burning Bright
The Lovers
Shit Mirror
God Break Down The Door
Branches/Bones
This Isn't The Place
Ahead of Ourselves
The Idea of You
She's Gone Away
Not Anymore
Play The Goddamned Part
I'm Not From This World

Same here. I’d describe it as The Predator, or a similar menacing-looking alien creature, giving you a guided tour of the areas of its space ship.

I firmly believe there's a massive, like beyond Dig It-levels of Alien Covenant influence on it. This doesn't make it a bad track, but an example of that "yeah, been there, heard that" reaction that's otherwise pretty rare upon first encounters with new NIN.

[katara]

I firmly believe there's a massive, like beyond Dig It-levels of Alien Covenant influence on it.

Beyond the ideas of a background pulse and ambient washes throughout the track, there's little resemblance.

[Erneuert]

Beyond the ideas of a background pulse and ambient washes throughout the track, there's little resemblance.

We ought to start an INFTW fan club.

[thelastdisciple]

The Idea of You
Shit Mirror
Ahead of Ourselves
Branches/Bones
Not Anymore
God Break Down the Door
Less Than
The Background World
She's Gone Away
Dear World
Burning Bright
Play the Goddamned Part
I'm Not From This World
Over and Out
This Isn't the Place
The Lovers


Something like that i think.

[ChipRock]

Relax guys here is the correct list:

01 The Background World
02 She's Gone Away
03 Less Than
04 This Isn't The Place
05 Over And Out
06 Burning Bright (Field On Fire)
07 The Lovers
08 Shit Mirror
09 Branches/Bones
10 Ahead Of Ourselves
11 The Idea Of You
12 God Break Down The Door
13 Not Anymore
14 Dear World,
15 Play The Goddamned Part
16 I'm Not From This World

[Max]

One thing that I am noticing is that I'm Not From This World is generally not faring well in this contest. But that makes sense. It's part of an album. As a single it doesn't do well. Is Pinion at the top of anyone's list? Is Black Noise?

It's like asking people what their favorite chapter of a book is. In some ways it's a weird question. It's not about a track as much as it is about the whole thing together and how it all fits.

I'm not saying to stop this, by all means have fun, but just pointing out why some tracks might not be doing well when considered in this way.

[BRoswell]

It may not rank super high on my list, but I really do like I'm Not From This World a lot. It's so tense and uneasy, like a sonic journey through a war zone. Obviously if you're into the more traditional rock tracks it's not going to appeal to you as much (as evident by some of the lists that have been posted), but for someone like me who really loves those long musical trips, that track is solid.

[katara]

Is Black Noise... at the top of anyone's list?

Yes.

Here's my contribution:

I'm Not From This World
The Background World
Dear World,
Branches/Bones
Ahead Of Ourselves
She's Gone Away
Shit Mirror
God Break Down The Door
Not Anymore
Less Than
Burning Bright (Field On Fire)
This Isn't The Place
Play The Goddamned Part
The Idea Of You
The Lovers
Over And Out

I'd like to add that all of these tracks are really fucking good. It was tough putting some of these near the bottom.

[Erneuert]

Yes.

Here's my contribution:

I'm Not From This World
The Background World
Dear World,
Branches/Bones
Ahead Of Ourselves
She's Gone Away
Shit Mirror
God Break Down The Door
Not Anymore
Less Than
Burning Bright (Field On Fire)
This Isn't The Place
Play The Goddamned Part
The Idea Of You
The Lovers
Over And Out

I'd like to add that all of these tracks are really fucking good. It was tough putting some of these near the bottom.

INFTW first and Over And Out last?! To me they just need to be side by side.

[katara]

INFTW first and Over And Out last?! To me they just need to be side by side.

This is a ranking of favourite to least favourite, not a playlist.

[Dryalex12]

This Isn't The Place
The Lovers
Dear World,
Burning Bright
Not Anymore
Ahead of Ourselves
She's Gone Away
Shit Mirror
I'm Not From This World
Branches/Bones
Over and Out
The Idea of You
God Break Down The Door
Less Than
Play The Goddamned Part
The Background World

[Dryalex12]

One thing that I am noticing is that I'm Not From This World is generally not faring well in this contest. But that makes sense. It's part of an album. As a single it doesn't do well. Is Pinion at the top of anyone's list? Is Black Noise?

Well, I do think Black Noise is better than most of the songs off HM, so yes, I am one of those people.

[Erneuert]

This is a ranking of favourite to least favourite, not a playlist.

I know. I mean to me, O&O is an extension/addition to INFTW. I thought you would like it as much as I do since we’re both fans of the former song - not put O&O dead last on the list. I guess the saxophones don’t do it for you? haha