Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion
21: MandoPony – Sweet Apple Acres
20: AcoustiMandoBrony – A Long Way from Equestria
19: Aviators (feat. Bronyfied) – One Last Letter
18: Forest Rain / Various – The Massive Smile Project
17: Friendship is Witchcraft – The Gypsy Bard (Extended)
16: ShadyVox – Pony Rock Anthem
Come with me
Rule 1b: available from MandoPony's Bandcamp
This MandoPony number is no longer available from his own YouTube channel... but happily, it's still up on his Bandcamp, so I can freely include it here. Country is a rather under-represented style in the fandom, and I'm not well enough versed in the genre to be able to say much about this – except that it works pretty well as a song about, well, Sweet Apple Acres and its renowned apples ("and more"). It's certainly pretty catchy, and Mando's voice doesn't sound out of place to me, at least. You can pick up the song in HQ for 50 cents from MandoPony's Bandcamp.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 17 Jan 2012
A collaboration between MandoPony and Acoustic Brony (now known as Re:Make), this is a song that actually premiered on Everfree Radio, which may not have hurt it in the voting! It's a yearning ballad that partly laments how our own human world is so far from Equestria and partly expresses the hope that we can help make our world something a bit more like Equestria. Maybe some of the lyrics in the verses are a little bit awkward, but the overall impression is very good. I'm not sure about HQ versions: there's a working Soundcloud link in the video description, but you can't download it.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 21 Jan 2012
One of Aviators' first unquestionable classics, from his early album The Adventure, "One Last Letter" opens with a haunting piano line that continues almost throughout the song. It's not a peaceful song at all, though, as the heavy guitars and synths quickly confirm – that's Bronyfied's influence. This is the story of an Equestria where Discord won in "The Return of Harmony", and of Twilight's desperate appeal to Princess Celestia to help. Aviators made a VIP version for the second Balloon Party album in July 2012 that you may want to check out; it's quite noticeably different. I prefer the original, though, which you can get as part of the name-your-price The Adventure album on Aviators' Bandcamp. (Get the whole thing, not just this track – for some reason it's $1 on its own!)
Rule 1: uploaded 30 Apr 2012
This is a collaborative effort between more than a dozen singers and musicians, co-ordinated by Forest Rain. It was produced for Bronies for Good's first Seeds of Kindness charity album project. It's what you think it is: a whole bunch of people taking part in singing Pinkie Pie's most famous song. Some of them have solos, and it's interesting to see the names now. They range from people who still have a massive following (Forest Rain herself, The Living Tombstone, Mic the Microphone) to those whose star has rather faded (Kryptage, Osoth, Spectracle). Jenny Nicholson is in there, as well. There's a nice PMV by BronyDanceParty, too. I'm told the way to get this in HQ is to buy a more recent Bronies For Good album, which will open up links to old editions like this as well.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 5 Jul 2012
This is an extended (surprise!) version of the song Pinkie Pie sings in Friendship is Witchcraft episode 7, "Cherry Bomb". The person who made the longer version is currently on YouTube as SAFR Projects, but I'm not sure whether they had that name back in 2012. As you'd expect if you've seen FiW's version of Pinkie, this a deceptively upbeat and cheery song that – once you actually listen to the lyrics – turns out to be all about Pinkie's miserable fillyhood as an orphan. It's not easy to explain! Both YouTube and FLAC versions are available via direct links in the video description.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 26 Jul 2019
I think that biofreak5000 is the same person as ShadyVox, given the very high view count on this video. Even if they're not, this one would qualify under Rule 3 as it's still enormously popular. It's a ponified parody of the LMFAO song "Party Rock Anthem" (the one that popularised "Every day I'm shuffling"). This time it's Vinyl Scratch and Neon Lights controlling the club beats, naturally with some assistance from Pinkie Pie. I prefer this to the LMFAO original, in all honesty, maybe because it's two minutes shorter, lacking the non-musical intro, and so it feels tighter. Unfortunately a hacked account many years ago means that there's no HQ download available.
Man, it's been a real long time since I heard the Smile Project. That is still a really great thing that happened. I seem to recall the video had footage of everyone singing (I specifically remember Cyril's solo). Maybe that upload's no longer around.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember that video at all, so sadly I can't help. Actually I don't remember the project either -- I wasn't that much into fandom music in my early days, which probably explains it.
DeletePony Rock Anthem was originally uploaded on ShadyVox's old YouTube channel on 22/05/2012. That channel was eventually terminated and the video was reuploaded on 18/07/2012 on ShadyVox's new (current) channel. That video was later made unavailable sometime in 2014. biofreak5000 is just a reuploader.
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