CANNONBALLERS

CANNONBALLERS Default Song List Review

Tier List Easy Guide
Tier SS: This song is one of the best songs I’ve heard this year. I need this song for my personal collection immediately. The song randomly pops into my head and I don’t mind. I can loop this song repeatedly without getting tired of it.
Tier S: High quality song that I enjoyed immensely. The song ranks highly on my personal best songs list whether overall or for the current version of the game.
Tier A: Great song that I enjoyed a lot. The highest tier a song can get for just being good without having something else push it above and beyond for me.
Tier B: A solid song but there’s some issues I personally have with the song that make it not sit well with me in one way or the other.
Tier C: Not a bad song, but the very definition of a normal boring song. I don’t hate the song and wouldn’t mind listening to it every now and then, but it’s a struggle to remember what the song sounds like.
Tier D: A pretty bad song, but it could have been worse. I might listen to it again to either reevaluate it or because I got bored.
Tier E: Somehow I made it to the end of the song, but anything further than that is asking too much from me. There is no redemption for songs in this category.
Tier F: My life is worse for having experienced this song. Just hearing it brings my head into contact with the nearest wall. Prolonged exposure to the song induces despair and suicidal thoughts.

At a Glance Tier List
Tier SS
* ChaserXX

Tier S
* Battleground
* Exhaust Hype
* FREEDOM
* No Limit 2 dAnce feat. 大山愛未
* Only for now
* Static State

Tier A
* 1001 –Escape-
* ACCELERATE
* Back Spin Sweeper
* DEADHEAT
* Midnight Lady
* Temple of Anubis
* 純真可憐デザイア

Tier B
* Abraxas
* Arca
* Break Stasis
* COSMIC☆WONDER☆REVOLUTION
* FUTURE is Dead
* Get Up! Feat. Kanae Asaba
* HAT TRICK
* LUV DRIVE
* Nothing but Theory
* O/D*20
* SPEED DEMON
* Xperanza
* うさ☆かめ 大戦争！
* 神謳 -RESONANCE-

Tier C
* AA -rebuild-
* Best of Me
* Chemical Cookie
* THE CANNONBALLER
* UMMU
* VOX RUSH
* エディブルフラワーの独白
* 草原の王女 -奇跡を辿って-

Tier D
* Acidiva 303
* Alpheratz
* Amor De Verão
* SPEED
* ハイ＊ビスカス ft. Kanae Asaba
* 共犯ヘヴンズコード
* ナイトシティー・アヴァンチュール

Tier E
* I Love You
* I’m Coming (2017 Version)
* The Chase
* ラストセンチュリーメランコリック

Tier F
* Hella Deep
* Mira
* Be a Hero!

In Depth Opinions
1001 –Escape- / SOUND HOLIC feat. Nana Takahashi
        This is basically SOUND HOLIC doing a Touhou piano song. However, for what it is the song came out really great. The song doesn’t stand out as being really amazing like a few of the other SH songs in BEMANI like ALBA or SURVIVOR, but this is still pretty good quality for being a little different from what they usually go for in IIDX.
        Tier: A

AA -rebuild- / D.J.Amuro
        This is… a thing. That exists. It’s not awful by any means, but I’m definitely questioning why Taka decided he wanted this song to exist. Also questioning Taka’s love for that awful ‘skree’ cymbal that he also used in X. That is not a sound that needs to be in any song. Efforts were better spent elsewhere and I wish that Taka would go back to what made SINOBUZ passable for him.
        Tier: C

Abraxas / SYUNN
        I REALLY wanted to like this song as it tries some interesting ideas and SYUNN had been interesting me a little with his previous Bemani songs, but it falls a little flat in a few areas and it feels like SYUNN was trying to build a song for IIDX with fast patterns and complex layers rather than just doing what he’s been doing. I don’t hate the song as much as other people probably do, but come on SYUNN.
        Tier: B

ACCELERATE / Sota Fujimori
        There are 2 Sota songs, with no real in between for me. There’s the Tier A/S ‘This is really amazing and I love it’ Sota with the likes of Arabian Rave Nights and Transport and then there’s the Tier C ‘eh, you’ve heard one Sota song you’ve heard them all’ fluff like Illuminate or Modular Technology. Fortunately, this song falls into the former category. It’s no Transport, but it’s a nice Sota song that I’ll enjoy listening to for the next few months.
        Tier: A

Acidiva 303 / ni-21
        I’m still unsure how ni-21 keeps coming back to IIDX. I mean yeah sure he brings a certain style of hard Dance to IIDX, but his songs aren’t enjoyable to listen to and that’s  my #1 criteria when I’m deciding what to play at an arcade. It’s better than Acid Pumper but worse than Affection.
        Tier: D

Alpheratz / Xceon
        Eh, you’ve heard one Xceon song you’ve heard them all. Xceon needs to reinvent himself and fast. The song isn’t bad but when you’re just sticking to formula you aren’t really improving and that is stagnation, which is the worst thing an artist can have happen. I’m that guy that doesn’t hate Xceon’s Piano-centric IIDX stuff despite everyone surrounding me telling me they all sound the same (which is true, I’m not doubting that) but even I have a limit to what I can tolerate from an artist.
        Tier: D

Amor De Verão / かめりあ feat. ななひら
        This seems to be the divisive song of the style with half of people loving and the other half hating it. I’m in the later camp because I STILL can’t stand ななひら as a vocalist. Musically this song does everything right. It has a good progression and nice sounds and is excellent at what かめりあwanted to do, but the vocalist brings the entire thing downhill faster than one of those mountain tree slide things.
        Tier: D

Arca / Akhuta Symphonic Orchestra
        For being an orchestral song in IIDX this song is pretty good at being ambient and dramatic without going over the top, which is something I feel like Akhuta does very well. It’s not ground breaking, and it’s nothing I’ll be tripping over my feet to rush to play, but like Stella Sinistra before it it’s a nice addition into IIDX that I don’t mind.
        Tier: B

Back Spin Sweeper / DJ TOTTO
        One of the things I like about TOTTO is how he can take new ideas into his songs and make it sound so refreshing and enjoyable. This is another fine addition to TOTTO’s repertoire that I enjoy a lot, but I could have done without the ending of the song turning into Adularia. The first half was something interesting and new(ish) for TOTTO and then he turned around and went ‘okay here’s Adularia’.
        Tier: A

Battleground / kors k
        A lot of people are quick to try to compare this to the shadow but honestly the two songs aren’t anything similar and people need to stop that. That aside, this is a typical kors k banger in that he flexes his creative muscle, does some cool stuff and doesn’t let up on the throttle throughout the entire song just like we’ve come to expect from him. He’s not really doing anything groundbreaking here, and he’s done better stuff, but it’s still a really solid piece of work like we’ve come to expect from him.
        Tier: S

Best of Me / Maozon
        Maozon usually does great stuff, but this is not one of his better works. The interlude is out of place and really jarring and honestly the song would have been a lot better without that there. The opening of the song is fine, and the ending of the song is fine. That middle part just isn’t really meshing well with the more high energy stuff that surrounds it. Could have been good but instead finds its way into the land of mediocre due to the interlude just being plain weird.
Tier: C

Break Stasis / Akira Complex feat. Hommarju
        I know the artist is Hommarju & Akira Complex but really this is an Akira Complex song that Hommarju slapped the last 20 seconds onto in order to sneak it into IIDX. I don’t hate Akira Complex, but his style of music isn’t something I particularly enjoy listening to. That being said, this is a pretty good for what he does, but is still in that “it’s not bad but it’s not something I would listen to regularly” problem I run into with Akira Complex.
        Tier: B

ChaserXX / HuΣeR
        Well here it is. The song that singlehandedly saves the entire version and makes me circle sites like a shark waiting for a GST to drop. These are rare and each version usually gets 1 or, if it’s very lucky, 2 of these out of me. Everything about this song is what I’ve come to expect from HuΣeR, and his seamless transition from a House song in the first half into a Techno song for the second half actually caught me off guard and I had to go back to figure out how it happened. Every aspect of this song blows me away and there isn’t a single part of melody that takes anything away or makes me wonder what thought process went into decisions. After 3 versions of amazing songs from him I truly believe HuΣeR is god’s gift to Bemani.
        Tier: SS

Chemical Cookie / YUC’e
        I want to like this song, because it does some really interesting stuff, but at the same time it also does some really bad stuff that makes me hate it. The alternating between going ‘oh this is neat’ and ‘eeeeehhh’ leaves me at the end of day with the opinion that the song is okay. I wouldn’t mind giving YUC’e another shot next version to see if she can do something better.
        Tier: C

COSMIC☆WONDER☆REVOLUTION / 猫叉Master+
        This is basically IIDX’s version of TWINKLING, which I always held as being 猫叉Master’s best vocal track in pop’n music. It’s poppy while still retaining a lot of the aspects of 猫叉Master’s IIDX music that he refined from his time as a IIDX SD. While it doesn’t turn heads and doesn’t do anything to make people drop everything to play it, it’s enjoyable and different from what 猫叉Master’s been producing for IIDX in recent years.
        Tier: B

DEADHEAT / DJ Myosuke
        It’s Myosuke, who I have pretty high standards of because I enjoy his style of Hardcore, so it’s pretty good. That being said, this song sadly only falls into ‘pretty good’ category, unlike Devil’s Gear and Valgus, which both hit the ‘amazing’ category, and the main reason for that is because the song seems a little off in a few spots. It almost seems like Myosuke took the theme of ‘racing’ and amped up the BPM to the song as a result. The end result is that the song feels a little too fast and a little too muddled in a few spots. I feel like if the song had been slower it would have maintained that ‘amazing’ standard quality that Myosuke usually does for IIDX.
        Tier: A

Exhaust Hype / DJ Noriken
        Leave it to Noriken to bring his special UK Hardcore to IIDX, which never ceases to put a dumb smile on my face. Noriken is actually my favorite Tano*C artist, and this is a good showing of why that is. Good synth choices, nice melodies, and a nice flow that makes it so nothing really stands out as being jarring or out of place. Good varieties keep the song fresh and enjoyable throughout its entirety, making this another solid Noriken song.
        Tier: S

FREEDOM / USAO
        This is basically ZED’s big brother. Unlike ZED though, this is more than just being the same song looped twice with variations on the second pass through. Nice variety and complexity keep it enjoyable and USAO teases with some nice samples. I feel like the song could have ended nicely 20 seconds before the end, but I don’t hate USAO for teasing us and it did give him a nice chance to Drop the Ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-ass. It’s not hitting BroGamer or Invoker levels USAO but it’s a really nice and enjoyable song that I appreciate.
        Tier: S

FUTURE is Dead / C-Show
        Alright let’s get this out of the way: I don’t really care for this song. It’s nice, but I don’t really like this style of C-Show and would have preferred something more in line with Invitation from Mr.C or On the FM. I appreciate C-Show trying a different style of ‘Holic’ from his usual fair, but this isn’t really the way to go in my opinion.
        Tier: B

Get Up! Feat. Kanae Asaba / MK
        I keep hoping that MK will recapture the magic with do the thing with each version he does a new song, and while the songs he does aren’t bad by any stretch and are certainly enjoyable to listen to, he’s just not getting back to that level of magic that made his first IIDX song so enjoyable for me. I still like what he does and don’t want him to stop, but he’s falling just a little short.
        Tier: B

HAT TRICK / P*Light
        There’s some neat ideas presented in this song, but there’s also some weird ideas that crept into the song as well. It’s a good attempt at modernizing Hands Up by infusing some Hardstyle into the genre, but the 2 styles clash really rough. P*Light tried his best to make them behave and play nice, but it’s just too different styles that make it a little rough on the edges. It seems like P*Light was trying to recapture the magic of STARLIGHT DANCEHALL a little and missed the mark on this one.
        Tier: B

Hella Deep / MASAYOSHI IIMORI
        This song is Hella Bad. I didn’t understand the appeal of Break Over and I don’t understand the appeal of this song. There’s actually quite a lot I don’t understand about this song. I don’t understand why MASAYOSHI picked the synths he did, I don’t understand why he made the musical decisions he did, and most importantly I don’t understand why this song exists.
        Tier: F

I Love You / O/iviA
        A wild Taka alias has been spotted! It’s not MOON, but it’s basically trying to be MOON. And that’s kind of the problem we’ve run into with Taka. Taka is too busy chasing the ghosts of his past successful songs that he’s not innovating or doing anything new anymore. Every song is trying to be another MOON, or Broken, or ΕΛΠΙΣ. Anyways, the song falls flat of being anything meaningful or good and is instead just 2 minutes of synths and vocals that end up just being a waste of a song slot at the end of the day.
        Tier: E

I’m Coming (2017 Version) / Pa’s Lam System
Oh? Says here that this song is from an album called Whatever. How fitting, because that’s exactly my opinion of the song: a very dismissive ‘whatever’.
        Tier: E

LUV DRIVE / RoughSketch feat.Aikapin
        The first half of this song is only okay, because it’s trying to do something weird and has some weird synths going on that I’m hoping the OST will buff out in an acceptable matter (HA!) but once we get into the second half of the song it turns into something really enjoyable that is actually pleasant. It’s no Muzik Loverz or No Tears but it’s not bad.
        Tier: B

Midnight Lady / Dirty Androids
        I don’t really hate D/A House. In fact, I find it some of the most relaxing and enjoyable music in IIDX and D/A is the one House artist that I actually don’t mind, but I really wish he would do more of his faster works in IIDX like Empire State Glory or RISE as those are some of my favorite songs in those styles. Sidetrack aside, this is yet another D/A song that does great stuff. More reminiscent of his Wanderlust works, I would definitely call this one of the best slow D/A songs in IIDX and would put it up there with Miami Sunset Drive.
        Tier: A

Mira / Akhuta
        Ears: Bleeding. Teeth: Gritted. Life: Worse for having experienced this song. This song is a nightmare. The synths hurt my ears, the musical choices make me cry, the ending of nonsensical and seems to just be something to get to the ending, and most importantly, it swings too drastically between styles where it just sounds like chaotic noise. I expect more from Akhuta than this piece of trash.
        Tier: F

Nothing but Theory / lapix
        Confession: I didn’t really like 〆 and this is just more of the same from that. It’s not bad, but it’s not the lapix who gave us stuff like Foolish Hero and Inner Spirit. Once the song gets going it’s pretty enjoyable, particularly once the piano kicks in. There’s plenty of variety and it stays interesting throughout the entire song, but it’s just not a style of lapix that I care for personally.
        Tier: B

No Limit 2 dAnce feat. 大山愛未 / Y&Co.
        Remo-Con has bounced back from that slump that he has been in with this nice dance tune. He called this Hyper Techno but really it’s more like… Dance Rave? It’s got elements of his Rave songs and that Dance style that makes classic Y&Co. songs so that would probably be the best way to describe it. Anyways, this is a good quality that I’d put up there with Set U Free as one of the all-time best Y&Co. songs.
        Tier: S

O/D*20 / Ryu*
        Ever since Ryu escaped from Happy Hardcore Hell in PENDUAL he’s been doing at least 1 or 2 really good songs for each version that get away from his usual stuff. This is once again another good example of that as it does a nice job of showcasing something different from Ryu. If I had anything negative to say about the song, it’s that it’s pretty repetitive, but I feel as if that may be the fault of the original OVERDOSER over Ryu’s abilities. Either way, a nice refreshing outing from Ryu into the world of Techno.
        Tier: B

Only for now / RINA SOUND PRODUCE:KAZUYA TAKASE
        Here’s the sleeper song for the version. It’s a really enjoyable song that will probably get removed in a few versions because it’s not Bemani and therefore a lot of people won’t play it, and that will genuinely make me very sad, which is pretty impressive for a first time commission artist to do. Really this song comes about as close to that elusive Tier SS song as possible without quite crossing into it because it’s a really amazing song that I’ll listen to and play at the arcade all version long and then far into future versions but it didn’t hit that “I need this song NOW” feeling that all my Tier SS songs do.
        Tier: S

SPEED / Mutsuhiko Izumi
        This song isn’t really bad, it’s just bad for IIDX.  I’ll probably do fine once it’s eventually ported to GITADORA, but its IIDX life is most likely going to be very brief. Honestly it’s just a matter of the fact that people don’t play IIDX to play a rock song of this style. If this were a GITADORA song I’d probably like it a lot more and be nicer to it, but it just doesn’t sit well being on IIDX.
Tier: D

SPEED DEMON / GUHROOVY feat. NO+CHIN
        I was a little nervous because the first 30 seconds of the song are really sub-par, but once the song gets going through that hiccup it turns into something pretty enjoyable. I wouldn’t call it top-tier GUHROOVY like LAX5, but it’s got some good points going for it that make it enjoyable to listen to.
        Tier: B

Static State / Nhato
        I’ve really been digging Nhato’s IIDX stuff since he came into the fold with copula, and this song is no exception. It’s not on the level of Nowhere, which is a shame because it showed a lot of promise for being up to that quality with the opening. It’s still a nicely produced song that I’ll enjoy head bopping to for several months whether I’m listening to it or playing it in the arcade.
        Tier: S

Temple of Anubis / Massive New Krew
        This is really solid MNK but I’m a little confused by the genre as this just seems like straight up Hardstyle with no real Psy aspects to it at all. Other than that genre issue the song does everything I enjoy about MNK. Catchy melody, driving bass, good progression. The interlude stands out as being a little weird and out of place, but other than that one issue its enjoyable. It’s definitely Not UN1TE or HADES good, but it’s still really nice.
        Tier: A

THE CANNONBALLER / L.E.D. feat. YURiCa/花たん
        Right. Eurobeat. Someone take LED to Eurobeat School stat. Nothing about this song is Eurobeat. Moving on to the song itself, it’s sadly just another forgettable LED vocal song. Just like CHRONO DIVER -NORNIR- and SHELTER OF THE MIND it blends in with the other recent vocal LED songs of recent times that I’ll probably forget how it goes in a few days. It’s not bad by any stretch, just unmemorable.
        Tier: C

The Chase / DJ Mass MAD Izm*
        It’s DJ Mass, so I know he can do good stuff. But this is just… Garbage. It’s so minimalistic and simple that it doesn’t live up to its name at all. I saw this as the chance for DJ Mass to go back to the great days of Red or Digitank System but instead we get… this. Re:BouceKiller and Samurai Scramble were passable but this is the first truly garbage DJ Mass song I’ve heard.
        Tier: E

UMMU / t+pazolite
        My first thought when I saw the title was that this would be similar to QLWA, but sadly that is not the case. Instead we’re left with a wannabe REDALiCE song. I’m genuinely curious whether t+paz was forced to do this song or if he chose to write this. Either way we are left with a song that stands out not because it’s good but because it’s very bad for what I know t+paz can do.
        Tier: C

VOX RUSH / 青龍×sampling masters MEGA & sampling masters AYA
        When I saw this song on the tracklist for AO-∞ I was hoping it would be just as great VOX UP. Sadly neither the full version nor this cut are as great as that song. To add insult to injury this cut of the song is very weird and does a few weird things. It’s not an awful song, but it’s not winning any prizes and it’s definitely not getting plays out of me.
        Tier: C

Xperanza / aran
        Full disclosure time. aran is an artist that everyone treats as being really great and while I want to enjoy his stuff as much as everyone else he’s just too hit or miss with me. Sometimes he puts out a really great song, but for the rest of his stuff I’m just left with this feeling of ‘ehhhh, it’s not bad, but I don’t see it’. That being said, this is somewhere in between those two points. It’s not cutting edge and isn’t winning any awards, with some ideas leaving me with that old feeling of ‘ehhhh’ but it’s also a good song with a lot of good ideas and melodies also. The main problem I have is that the first 30 seconds are really stellar and then it kind of wanders around with different ideas for a little bit with ‘good but not great’ ideas before deciding to be serious again for the ending of the song.
        Tier: B

エディブルフラワーの独白 / OSTER project feat. 常盤ゆう
        File the serial numbers off a wac song and this is the end result. It isn’t ‘Hard’, and it isn’t really amazing in any regard, but it is better than what OSTER has been putting out for IIDX recently. Honestly I wish OSTER would go back to doing stuff like her Devilz series because I haven’t found a lot of her stuff in IIDX enjoyable since she joined Beatnation RHYZE (is that even still a thing?).
        Tier: C

ハイ＊ビスカス ft. Kanae Asaba / Xceon
Eh, you’ve heard one Xceon song you’ve heard them all. Xceon needs to reinvent himself and fast. The song isn’t bad but when you’re just sticking to formula you aren’t really improving and that is stagnation, which is the worst thing an artist can have happen. I’m that guy that doesn’t hate Xceon’s Piano-centric IIDX stuff despite everyone surrounding me telling me they all sound the same (which is true, I’m not doubting that) but even I have a limit to what I can tolerate from an artist.
        Tier: D

純真可憐デザイア / HuΣeR feat. Fernweh
        Obligatory vocal rock song from 96- oh right he quit. Who’s our fallback guy? Guess it’s HuΣeR. Like 96’s vocal rock songs in IIDX before this is a pretty solid song that I enjoy more than I care to admit to most people. The main difference to the two people however is that this is a lot more Anime OP than any of the songs 96 ever did for IIDX. That isn’t a bad thing for an anime loving guy like me, but for other people it might be a bit off-putting. I liked the overall feel and flow of the song and as I’ve mentioned before enjoy how HuΣeR runs a tight ship with a lot of thought put into everything. Nothing ever feels tacked on or extra with any of his works and that extends to this work as well. It’s not up with HuΣeR’s more electronic oriented stuff such as ECHIDNA but I enjoyed the song a lot.
        Tier: A

共犯ヘヴンズコード / D-Evoke(与那嶺雅人/小日向翔)
        Here we come across that ‘song everyone likes but I really can’t stand’ for the style. It’s trying to be up-tempo swing and capture the charm of a few of the previous swing-inspired songs from IIDX but in this instance it doesn’t really work.  It’s not like the song production has any faults or bad ideas. It just all comes together in a way that I find comes off really badly for me personally.
        Tier: D

ラストセンチュリーメランコリック / DJ Taku aka ☆Taku Takahashi(m-flo)
        Simply put, this is a song stuck in the earlier era of beatmania when m-flo did previous songs for the series. It’s certainly an idea to run a nostalgia trip, but beatmania and bemani in general has moved on from these kinds of songs and artists and this song needs to move on out with them.
        Tier: E

ナイトシティー・アヴァンチュール / 森永真由美
        This song is forgettable in every aspect. The song is pretty flat, with simple progressions and evolutions before hitting a simple guitar solo to ‘mix things up’. I’d say the song is the very definition of average in a bad way but the song is so average that I actually can’t stand listening to it.
        Tier: D

草原の王女 -奇跡を辿って- / 劇団レコード
        I usually enjoy 劇団レコード’s IIDX songs because he usually takes his style and infuses electronic elements into them in ways that make the songs fresh and enjoyable, but what we’ve instead encountered here is a pop’n music reject. Unfortunately this isn’t even a good pop’n music reject. There’s nothing interesting or compelling in this song and the end result we’re left with is a 劇団レコード song that feels phoned in and half-assed. Not one of my favorite songs from such a great artist.
        Tier: C

うさ☆かめ 大戦争！ / ARM×狐夢想 feat. I've:柚子乃 & RINA
        Here we have the rare ‘ARM Denpa song that I actually find enjoyable to listen to’. I think what does it for me is that a lot of parts of this song seem to take inspiration from my favorite ARM song, Blessed Mary of Valour. While there’s a lot of zany antics in this song typical of ARM Denpa songs it’s built in such a way that the song doesn’t want to make me skip past it instantly. The only real thing that holds it back is the fact that the interlude is such a shift in styles that it feels out of place.
        Tier: B


Be a Hero! / 中島由貴
        This is one of the worse songs I have ever heard in Bemani and I will afford it no further opinion. I’m only including it because it’s technically a ‘new’ song for CANNONBALLERS.
Tier: Super F

神謳 -RESONANCE- / SOUND HOLIC feat. Nana Takahashi Vs.GOD PHOENIX Prim
        A lot of this song feels really forced and part of that seems to be that an artist group that really doesn’t have the right style for it got told to do a hard song for KAC. All in all, for SOUND HOLIC this is really bad and, while still in general enjoyable to listen to, isn’t something I’m proud of seeing one of my favorite groups putting out.
Tier: B

Overall CANNONBALLERS
        Honestly things only look ‘decent’ for CANNONBALLERS so far, and I’m hoping future unlock events will redeem the style. Unlike SINOBUZ and copula before it which really shined on the default songlist there’s a lot of ‘good but not great’ and ‘okay’ going around for the default songs on this list with a few songs shining above all the others.