The Vice Quadrant in Chronological Order and Song-By-Song Explanation?
I recently got my sister into TVQ, and she requested I send her all of the songs in chronological order! I couldn't find a premade list, so I decided to make my own for her, and figured I'd share it here as well! I also included a song-by-song explanation to explain why I listed each song in the order I did.
Anyway, more rambling and list under the cut!
Personally, I like the way they are originally ordered best (my list is pretty messy), but I figured listing them all in order could help increase my own comprehension of the lore and how each song relates to it (something I initially struggled with when getting into the album).
I should note that I've only discovered TVQ. 2 days ago. And I have very little to no understanding of SPG lore outside of it (something I am intending to change soon!). So there are likely a lot of inaccuracies in this list! I just figured I may as well try my hand at a solid summary of it! If you see anything wrong with the list please let me know!
Most of this list is based entirely around the timeline on SPG's website (with many words being taken directly from the timeline), as well as the booklet that comes with the purchase of the album.
START (Both Universes)
RE: "The Vice Does Tight" (The Necrostar reaches across time and space to influence the universe. The implications of this song span throughout the entire timeline.)
"On a Crescendo" (A revolution in technology is starting, creating the need for astronauts to go to space.)
"Burning in the Stratosphere" (Commander Peter Walter IV says goodbye to his girlfriend, Holly, who he was planning to propose to soon. A beam from the portal created by Rabbit's core shoots off...)
SPLIT, UNIVERSE PRIME:
"Commander Cosmo" [First Part] (Peter Walter IV is hit by the beam, transforming him into Captain Cosmo. He does not reveal himself to be Peter Walter IV, causing the world to believe he is dead.)
"Hold Me" (Holly laments the death of her lover.)
MEANWHILE, UNIVERSE OMEGA:
"Progress and Technology" (Commander Peter Walter IV's/The Astronaut's ship is missed by the beam. His contributions to science and technology have caused the revolution to progress far enough so as to become immoral.)
"Daughter of Space" [First Part] (The beam from the portal hits a secret russian space probe, mixing with the DNA on board and forming The Daughter of Space/Cosmica. The Necrostar's influence through time and space causes her to find a locket of Peter Walter IV and Holly. She takes on the appearance of Holly.)
"Fire Fire" (On two separate occasions, Commander Peter Walter IV/The Astronaut watches fire burn his crew. It is unclear whether or not the second fire is inadvertently caused by Cosmica.)
"Daughter of Space" [Second Part] (The Daughter of Space finds Commander Peter Walter IV/The Astronaut's ship and crew and accidentally destroys them. However, she recognizes The Astronaut from the locket and saves him.)
"The Speed of Light" (The Astronaut struggles to come to terms with his new inhumanity as a space god while also traveling around space with Cosmica.)
"Soliton" (Cosmica and The Astronaut sustain each other and dart around space.)
"Cosmic" (Cosmica and The Astronaut fall in love, and both have stopped caring for much other than each other.)
MEANWHILE, BOTH UNIVERSES:
"Commander Cosmo" [Second Part] (While Cosmica and The Astronaut are doing their thing, Commander Cosmo struggles with his immortality. He flees from Universe Prime to Universe Omega to trap himself inside The Necrostar with hopes that it will kill him. Unfortunately, this brings The Necrostar to life.)
"The Vice Does Tight" (Jumbo the Space Whale traps Commander Cosmo and The Necrostar in an interdimensional prison. The Necrostar reaches across time and space hoping to create carnage due to its hatred of Commander Cosmo.)
BACK ON UNIVERSE PRIME:
"SteamJunk" (Wink is sent out to find another habitable world due to Peter Walter VI's concern about a cosmic disturbance (the Necrostar).)
"Where I Left You" (Wink searches for the green apple planet.)
"Sky Sharks" (The Necrostar resummons sky sharks to Universe Prime, except this time, Commander Cosmo isn't there to fight them. Stream Powered Giraffe fends them off instead, accidentally burning up the whole planet.)
"Starburner" (Ravaxis Starburner, an old friend of Captain Cosmo, searches for The Nectrostar in hopes of freeing Captain Cosmo. He requests Steam Powered Giraffe's help in saving Universe Prime.)
"Wink the Satellite" (Wink returns home after finding the green apple planet and also requests help from Steam Powered Giraffe in saving the green apple planet.)
"Where is Everyone?" (Companions of Steam Powered Giraffe discuss where SPG went.)
"Gg the Giraffe" (Gg sings a song about how awesome she is to prove that she should've gone with Steam Powered Giraffe. Everyone leaves.)
"The Pulls" (Hatchworth thinks about gravity while out in space with the rest of SPG, and sings a song about it.)
"The Space Giant" (SPG saves the green apple planet from The Space Giant and returns home, leaving Wink with the planet.)
"Super Space Blaster Centi-Asteroid Invaderpedes 2" (On the way home, Rabbit sees a bunch of space whales and tries to get the other members of SPG to look.)
"Whale Song" (The crew sings a song about the space whales. Unbeknownst to them, the whales are fleeing from The Necrostar.)
MEANWHILE, UNIVERSE OMEGA:
"Over the Moon" (This is a miscellaneous SPG song that Rav listens to while searching for Captain Cosmo.)
"Star Valley Night" (See above.)
"Rav to the Rescue" (Rav blows up The Necrostar, freeing Captain Cosmo, while also hoping he will fight The Astronaut and Cosmica.)
"Starlight Star-Shine" (Rav's favorite SPG song that he puts on to jam to while leaving the fate of Universe Omega in Captain Cosmo's hands.)
"Oh No" (Commander Cosmo fights and separates Cosmica from The Astronaut. He then convinces her to let The Astronaut die.)
"The Necrostar" (A surviving piece of The Necrostar fuses with the dying Astronaut, forming The Necronaut. The Necronaut vows to destroy the universe and earth.)
END.
If you're someone wanting to listen to each song in chronological order, without repeats, I would recommend the following order:
"The Vice Does Tight"
"On a Crescendo"
"Burning in the Stratosphere"
"Progress and Technology"
"Fire Fire"
"Daughter of Space"
"The Speed of Light"
"Commander Cosmo"
"Hold Me"
"SteamJunk"
"Sky Sharks"
"Where I Left You"
"Starburner"
"Wink the Satellite"
"Where is Everyone?"
"Gg the Giraffe"
"The Pulls"
"The Space Giant"
"Super Space Blaster Centi-Asteroid Invaderpedes 2"
"Whale Song"
"Over the Moon"
"Soliton"
"Star Valley Night"
"Rav to the Rescue"
"Starlight-Starshine"
"It's Cosmic"
"Oh No"
"Necrostar"
(You'll notice that this order is a bit different than the one above. This is because, for the songs that are related to 2 events, I chose their most important event. I also spread out the songs relating to Cosmica and The Astronaut more, since their dynamic occurs over a long period of time).
Additional Notes:
It is my understanding that each member of the band wrote their own story in the same universe, and the albums combine these stories. Isabella Bunny Bennett wrote the Commander Cosmo storyline, David Micheal Bennet wrote the Astronaut and Cosmica storyline, and Sam Luke wrote the Wink storyline. I tried to keep each member's songs and storylines mostly separate from the others because of this, despite popular theory (for instance, I've found many people saying "Where I Left You" is a song about Rav searching for Commander Cosmo, but I've doubted this, because I didn't understand why Sam Luke would write a song for Bunny's storyline. The artwork for "Where I Left You" also appears to depict Wink's blue core as well as the green apple planet.)
Similarly to above, I've based a LOT of the story on the artwork. For the songs that I've labeled as miscellaneous, I did so largely because the artwork doesn't seem to connect to any of the main stories.
I've found many people saying that Bunny said that Peter Walter IV is NOT The Astronaut? The timeline suggests otherwise though. I can't find where she said this, so I'm wondering if that's a misinterpretation.
I know I'm definitely missing a lot of information. I haven't been able to find many posts about the band answering questions about the lore (even though I think they exist based on other summaries of the plot I've found?) and I haven't listened to many SPG songs outside of TVQ. I also haven't read the comics.
Anyway, that's basically everything! Again lmk if I missed anything! Thanks :]
“Adoration of the Queen is something really we can't have sense of now, because our royal family is almost like a tabloid joke, but Elizabeth was seen as this semi-divine being.”
- Anne Marie Duff on her character, Elizabeth I of England.
