Deep Purple - When a Blind Man Cries (Evermind)
I recall liking Machine Head by this band, and was surprised to get this tune. Actually, you sent me lots of old songs on this round. Back to the song. It's quite sad, really. I like the solo, it reminds me a bit of David Gilmour. The rest is a bit repetitive, with not so much variation. But I guess it's something normal with old songs. But I liked it. 6/10
Red House Painters - Katy Song (Shadow Ninja 2.0)
What a great singer - I love that his voice sounds like it was recorded in an abandoned old chamber. The first half of this song has parts that remind me to John Lennon's Imagine, specially the guitars. Hopefully the second half has those gorgeous vocal harmonies and some great guitars or whatever going in crescendo till the end. Although it doesn't vary that much, I really liked it. 7.5/10
Led Zeppelin - That's the Way (Tom Bombadil)
This song is a bit more melancholic than sad, actually. But it still quite nice. The main riff is cool, but those guitars in the background are amazing. I liked this song, despite not having that much variety. And because the band wasn't my cup of tea, you gain the extra points, by a small margin. 7/10
Alter Bridge - Blackbird (mikemangioy)
Oh yes this is one of my fav songs of the round. Everything here is damn awesome: the epic chorus, the heavy sections, the singer, and dat solo. My only complaint are the quiet parts, which aren't bad, but aren't as memorable as the rest. I think I listened to the band's debut some months ago, and kind of liked it, but never gave it a second listen. This is the less sad song of the round, and you were close to losing points for not sticking to the theme. But this tune has enough feelings and melancholy, so you were saved by a small margin. Beware for the future, guys. 9/10.
Gov't Mule - Forevermore (Elite)
Southern rock? Heard of the genre, but never listened to it. And the atmosphere of this song is awesome. It starts slow, but the middle section is great. I like the singer's voice and the guitar solo. This was really an interesting song. Great choice dude. 7.5/10
Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings (Lucien)
Classical music is kind of tricky for me. By one side, there are some composer who I absolutely love (Beethoven and Bach), and other that I can't get into (Mozart and Tchaikovsky). But man, I didn't expect this at all. Ok, I was expecting you to send me something in this vein, but forgot that classical music was still done in the past century and even nowadays. And I have to say: I loved this song. It's so emotive, so moving - it makes me wanna cry, without words, just beautiful music. I read this has been used in a lot of films and media, and I might recall listening to it somewhere, but it doesn't matter. I love how the songs goes from being fucking depressed to look for some light, reaching a superb climax. Just to return to the sadness. Amazing. My fav of this round. 9.5/10
Kevin Gilbert - Song for a Dead Friend (jingle.boy and Scorpion)
Not only it was funny when Evermind told me to beware of somebody who might send this song. It was hilarious that two persons send the same tune :lol . But they were fine to make this a tie, and both receive the same mark.
So, this is a damn depressing, hopeless song. I struggled for choosing if this or Lucien's was sadder. Either way, this is great. Good singer, lovely piano, and superb atmosphere. This is really a good song, despite being somewhat repetitive. It makes me think of gray, desolated scenes, and feel miserable. 8/10
dredg - Cartoon Showroom (Nekov)
This was in interesting song, because it has lots of instruments and sounds I'm used to hear in post-rock, but this is alternative rock! Cool choice. Great singer and atmosphere. More melancholic than sad, but equally good. The last crescendo is lovely. I saw this album on a top 50 here and added it to the to-listen list just because the guy had a similar taste to me. It seems that it's not even the band's best album. Impressive. 8/10
Brand New - Limousine (Tyrias)
After hearing lots of praise for it, I tried to listen to this album several times. First, it was on YT but this netbook works awful with Flash. Then, it wasn't on Spotify (at least in my country). I even tried downloading it ( :yarr ), but the mp3 files were corrupted or something, but my mp3 player didn't play them. Finally found it on Grooveshark. And boy, what I have been missing. I liked most of this song, and thought is was weird but good. But that crescendo end climax is absolutely epic :hefdaddy . Even if it is a bit repetitive till there, it's fucking awesome. Dat guitar solo :heart . Even the awkward ending was good. This is my send fav song of the round, paired with Lucien's. Amazing. Also, never heard this pot-hardcore/emo thing. I'm not sure if the last one is really a genre or just a style, but the former is definitely a genre. So have some extra points for that. Great job dude. 9.5/10
Saddest song of the round (Theme Winner - 4 points)
Kevin Gilbert - Song for a Dead Friend (jingle.boy and Scorpion)
Special points
Nekov, song from the to-listen list (2 points)
Tyrias, song from the to-listen list (2 points)
Tyrias, genre I've never listened to (3 points)
mikemangioy, song from the to-listen list (2 points)
Elite, genre I've never listened to (3 points)
Tom Bombadil, band I don't like but your song was great (5 points)
Positions
mikemangioy - 36
Elite - 35
Tyrias - 32
Shadow Ninja 2.0 - 28
Evermind - 26
Tom Bombadil - 26
Scorpion - 25.5
jingle.boy - 24.5
Nekov - 24
Lucien - 22.5
Round Four
Life is beautiful, isn't it?
Send me the most wonderful, beautiful, gorgeous song you can think of. My fav albums on this vein are Anathema's Weather Systems, Blackfield's Blackfield II, Opeth's Damnation, and even Porcupine Tree's In Absentia. But send me what you think beautiful songs are.
It's Saturday evening here, so...
Tenhi - Huomen (Tom Bombadil)
Nice minimalistic song, and great atmosphere. Although I don't understand the lyrics, the singer is great and makes a good job, specially when singing out loud, like in a chamber. Never heard this neo-folk thing - the closest is Ulver's Bergtatt, when it gets folky. It works great on the background, but it is too simple for my taste. Nice anyways. 7/10
Half Moon Run - No More Losing the War (Shadow Ninja 2.0)
This song was similar to the previous, as both are folk-y and dark. But this is different, of course. I like the singer's voice and the effects on the vocals. Love the atmosphere. Great guitars on the background. Short, but good song. 7.5/10
Storm Corrosion - Drag Ropes (mikemangioy)
This is like, my third attempt to Storm Corrosion. Heard it a few months after it's release, but disliked it. Gave it another chance earlier this year, and nothing. I've listened to lots of music since, and thought it might change my appreciation of this. The dark, bleak atmosphere is great, and so does Mikael's voice. It all goes great till 2.19 when those weird effects appears. After that, it gets weird. Like, so much. Some parts are cool, and other not so much. The vocal counterpoint is awkward, but awesome somehow. The rest of the song has some boring sections, and some neat ones, like the guitar solo and when the piano appears here and there. Overall is weird, even for Steven's standards. If I had liked it a bit more, you would have earned the special points. But, well... 6.5/10
Susanne Sundfor - White Foxes (Tyrias)
This is an interesting choice. The synths and her voice are lovely. Somehow, this is fairly electronic, yet it all feels alive and dark. specially with how the vocals sound. The chorus is great, and so does the rest of the song. I'm a noob on electronic music, but I love what I've discovered so far - so don't be afraid to send that kind of stuff. This is great stuff. Baroque pop? Interesting genre. 8.5/10
Russian Circles - Burial (Nekov)
This is creepy. Definitely the darkest tune from this round. I'm not a big fan of post-metal, specially if it includes senseless growls. Or at least in the style of Isis' Panopticon. Good thing this is just instrumental. I think I've heard this band mentioned a few time on the post-rock thread. It has some post-rock, indeed. But also lots of heavy, distorted guitars. There are some intense moments, with great work on the drums. I'm not a big fan of the guitar tone, specially during the first half. But what the hell, the ending is great. 7.5/10
InVertigo - Darkness (jingle.boy)
This band must be really underground since they aren't on Sputnik nor have more than 1K plays on Spotify - they're on PA though. About the song. It's quite proggy and has lots of variations, that it never gets boring. And although I like this tune so much, specially after the first half (when it gets awesome), it isn't really dark. Just because it's on the title, it doesn't automatically apply for the theme. I'd give this song an 8.5 if it was another round. But... "What could be better than a song titled "Darkness"". That it actually was dark. 5.5/10
Alcest - Souvenirs d'un autre monde (Lucien)
I've heard the new Alcest album everywhere. On lots of tops and what-I've-been-listening-to lists. This seems to be one of their first works, when they were black metal with shoegaze, I think? It doesn't matter - this is awesome. I love the ethereal atmosphere and what the guitars does. It kind of reminds me to modern Anathema. Although it'd seem awkward that the singer was too static while the song was energetic, it actually works great. I love this shoegaze thing - will have to listen to Loveless soon, it seems. Gorgeous. 9.5/10
Amon Amarth - Embrace of the Endless Ocean (Scorpion)
I think the closest I've listened to melodeath is Opeth, but they're too proggy and folky, so they don't count. You were woried wether this would be a total hit or complete miss. Congratulations - it's the former. I love how this song focuses on songwriting and a clean production rather than masturbating over senseless riffs and the cookies monster with common cold. The growls are cool, they guy has talent. The guitar work is also amazing, it never gets boring and does lots of things. I know that death metal can get way more extreme, so I appreciate this degree of intensity. I dislike death metal in the vein of Death's Symbolic. But this is another thing. Awesome. 8.5/10
Need - Mother Madness (Evermind)
My problem with prog metal in general is how unoriginal most of the genre is. It's like they took Fates Warning's songwriting, added some acoustic guitars a la Queensryche, and a few DT melodies. I've listened to lots of artists that don't even have a signature sound nor focus on songwriting. My fav bands of the genre do actually mix their music with another elements and really care for being original, making great songs and never repeat themselves no what other have done before. So I was fairly skeptical when you and Elite sent me prog metal, since the songs were not genre-bending. On a first listen, this was bad. But after some spins, it grew a bit on me. It actually has lots of variety and it's fairly interesting. My only complaint are the vocal lines, which aren't so original and are reminiscent of thrash metal. And had some cheese here and there. But it was a good song anyways. 7.5/10
Flaming Row - Time Mirror (Elite)
Another prog metal song, with some power metal. I've seen some users on this forum masturbating over the band's new album, and was curious when you sent me song from them. Dude, this is great. I love the chorus (kind of reminds me to Symphony X) and when the female singer appears. The heavy moment at 2.20 is :metal . Too sad it's short but whatever. This song has a nice balance between drumming, guitars, and synths. The instrumental section is quite creative and interesting. Cool song. 8.5/10
Darkest song (Theme Winner - 4 points)
Russian Circles - Burial (Nekov)
Special points
Tom Bombadil, genre I've never listened to (neo-folk) (3 points)
Lucien, genre I've never listened to (shoegaze) (3 points)
Scorpion, genre I've never listened to (melodic death metal) (3 points)
Tyrias, genre I've never listened to (baroque pop) (3 points)
Evermind, song from a genre I dislike but what you sent was great (5 points)
Elite, song from a genre I dislike but what you sent was great (5 points)
Nekov, song from a genre I dislike but what you sent was great (5 points)
Positions
Elite - 57.5
Evermind - 55
Nekov - 53.5
Tyrias - 51.5
Scorpion - 50.5
mikemangioy - 50
Shadow Ninja 2.0 - 48.5
Tom Bombadil - 46.5
Lucien - 43.5
jingle.boy - 42
Round Six
Music for Airports
If you have been too lazy to google this, then let me explain it. The title of this round is a reference to the Brian Eno album, Ambient 1: Music for Airports. So - send me some ambient (duh) songs. My fav albums on this vein are Ulver's Shadows of the Sun/Messe, GYBE!'s F#A#Infinity, Devin Townsend's Ghost, and Stars of the Lid's And their Refinement of the Decline. If you don't have this kind of stuff, just send laid back songs with a huge, unique atmosphere. With a great focus in sound rather than in songwriting. I have some ambient records on my to-listen list, by the way.