Ranking the Songs of G5 · 6:14pm Nov 13th, 2021
Even if the songs kind of blended together for me, I can't deny that they were pretty well put together for the most part. They just needed to branch out more into different genres instead of all trying too hard to sound like modern pop (a prime example of what happens when you try to follow modern trends too closely). Ultimately, there was a total of eight songs in "A New Generation", two of which were credits exclusive and two of which were in-universe. But which ones stood out and which ones were duds or snooze fests? Well, let's find out. Like the previous lists this one is the result of my personal opinion so please respect it.
8. The Dance-Off Song: I'm not sure what it's called since even the official fan wiki doesn't list it, but it's the song that plays on the Dance-Dance Revolution like machine that Alphabittle challenges Sunny to. It probably fits the bill for a generic song you might see on the song selection for such a machine, they probably didn't wanna get tangled up trying to find a public domain song that would be good to dance to. But they could've tried a little harder to make it sound unique, or even just re-cycled one of the earlier songs but with an instrumental track. Plus, as I recently realized from a YouTube post, Sunny didn't have to be the one to challenge Alphabittle. Instead of Pipp encouraging Sunny to feel the rhythm, Pipp should've been the one to challenge Alphabittle. She could still struggle because she's not used to dancing on her own two hooves and the track is unfamiliar to her, and Sunny or Zipp could be the one to encourage her not to give up. It'd accomplish pretty much the same thing and would've given Pipp a much needed chance to shine.
7. It's Alright and 6. Together: They're both pretty average credit songs, really. Even "Rainbow" from the 2017 movie felt like more of a credits song despite it having questionable lyrics in-universe (it's supposed to be what Twilight sees in Tempest, but if that's the case it makes no sense for Songbird Serenade to be performing it). It wouldn't surprise me if they just threw these two songs together for the soundtrack and credits and called it a day. I mean yes, you don't really wanna spend a lot of time on the credits song, but surely they could've put a little more effort into it. Or if they really didn't wanna spend too much time, why not remix one of the songs we'd already gotten in the movie? As it is, both these songs are pretty interchangeable. Not really bad so much as they completely forgettable. A shame too considering the credits saw fit to acknowledge Lauren Faust for helping revive the brand (even though as far as we know she's had no role whatsoever in the creation of G5).
5. Glowin' Up: At least this song makes sense for being the genre it is. Pipp is established as a pop star and a social media influencer, so of course she would have a song like this. But FiM was mostly good at integrating pop without making it forgettable, even in the movie. Again "Rainbow" showed how the genre could be used while keeping it at least somewhat memorable. Yes, maybe they intentionally designed the song to be as generic and modern pop esque as possible so that we'd focus more on what's going on during the concert. And maybe they intentionally made it "empty" so as to comment on Pipp's fame being shallow. But assuming that was the case they succeeded a little too well. It's not even a case of "Stylish Suck" which in and of itself is hard to do without coming across as cringey at best.
4. I'm Lookin' Out For You: The visuals are fine but the lyrics are kind of iffy. Of all the songs in the movie, this one feels the most like it just pauses the story to feature it. Sunny and Izzy have just started on their journey and this song doesn't tell us much we couldn't already figure out for ourselves: They're willing to help each other and stick by each other, making sure neither of them runs into danger. We already knew Sunny was a good singer, so this mostly just seems to have been made to show off Izzy's singing. But we'd get another song that would demonstrate that better. Still, at least I actually remember this song, which is more than I can say for all the songs below it. I apologize if I'm kind of vague with these explanations, that in and of itself highlights the problem with the songs more or less blending together in the same genre. Almost none of them try to stand out.
3. Fit Right In: It's a little bit confusing to have a song named this when we had a song of the same name in FiM, though this is definitely the better one to have that name. For the most part this song is nice, though the rap part with Izzy is another prime example of trying to appeal to today's trends. It's the kind of low effort rap that gives the genre a bad reputation. An interesting detail to note is that when Izzy sings "Watch us shake our unicorn butts", Hitch is shaking his butt to the opposite side of all the others. I don't know if that was intentional or not but it's a nice little re-watch bonus. This song shows off Izzy's singing talents better than "I'm Lookin' Out For You", this is very much Izzy's song and it's kind of a shame that she and Sunny are the only ones who got songs that show us who they are and what they want. We really needed something like that for Zipp and Pipp.
2. Gonna Be My Day: Basically Sunny's "I Want" song, and it features some pretty good visuals. It was so primed to become memorable and had they not made every song in the movie a modern pop song this one would've stood out so much more than it did. As it is, I think the visuals are what sell this song more than lyrics. This is the extent to which we see Sunny with rollerskates, as well as some kind of wagon that presumably involves smoothies. And this song lets us see all of Maritime Bay, really giving off a sort of San Francisco vibe with its street trolleys and view of the sea. About the only thing to fault it for is the line about "building walls" while I swear we see a red colored pony. It's a sign of what so many feared the movie would be, an overt political statement. And thankfully, it seems they quickly realized how preachy and annoying that would be and toned it down in favor of a more buddy road trip sort of movie.
1. Danger, Danger (Angry Mob): Having consulted the fan wiki, it turns out that Sprout had a singing double (the only character in the movie to have one as far as I know). If that was the case I wouldn't have known since the singing double sounded just like Sprout's normal voice. It makes sense for them to go all out on the villain's song here, Disney has practically made it an unspoken rule of animation that the villain must always have the greatest visuals for their own song (with few exceptions). The lyrics do fall into the pit of being generic, conveying the obvious message of them being an angry mob. This is probably the closest Sprout gets to being a credible threat, which is to say he's only slightly able to be taken seriously here. It says more about the situation caused by Hitch's absence and Phyillis' desire to exploit it than it says anything about any sort of skill or talent Sprout might have. It's the one that stands out the most for me, the one that tried the hardest to be something more than what it was. So ultimately, it takes the top spot.
And there you have it.
Honestly, “Danger, Danger” is what I consider to be the most atrocious song of the entire film, and it’s another reason as to why I think Sprout is the movie’s worst character. Throughout the whole thing, all Sprout did was get up in everypony’s face and wasn’t even trying to conceal his ulterior motivations. When the background characters followed him regardless of how terrible he was at manipulating them, it fueled the impression that their brains were the size of fleas!
Danger, Danger and Fit Right In are my two absolute favorites
Glowin Up is a close third
Gonna Be My Day is a close fourth
Looking Out For You is in fifth, but again pretty close to the others
And then the other three are interchangable. Good for what they are, but nothing I really love
5606804 It's easy to look the other way or miss the warning signs when fear is what controls you. And in the absence of genuine authority, there's always going to be someone looking to fill the vacuum to further their own goals. Sprout is no exception, he was an opportunist.
5606807
That’s still no excuse, though. Even in a scared state, people would still be smart enough to smell a rat!
It's Alright actually is the Dance-Off Song, meaning this should be a Top 7 Ranking instead of Top 8.
Fit right in is the best
5606848 I didn't know that.
Gotta disagree with Izzy's rap verse in Fit Right In. It's no more egregious than Pinkie's Rapping History of the Wonderbolts. It's not meant to be taken seriously, just a funny gag.
Also a nice bridge between Pinkie and Izzy.
I just remembered another reason as to why I hate “Danger, Danger”. Compared to other villain songs like “Be Prepared”, the song wasn’t even impressive on a visual-level. In other villain songs, the villains in question would approach manipulating others with charisma and an unpredictable nature. The way Sprout approached manipulating the residents of Maretime Bay on the other hand…not so much. It basically made him come across as an idiot no matter what he was doing.