Some of you guys seemed to be under the impression that an 8 is a low end mark from me or something...well this round will set you straight.
Rd 1 was just a really strong round across the board and you guys did a great job. This round..
And in a rather unexpected development ,the most memorable songs and melodies (there’s that word again) of the round were from some classical music and a piano/string ballad. If anyone had predicted that at the start of my roulette they would’ve been advised to check in to a padded cell stat . Very little is turning out the way I thought it would so far in this roulette.
Before I get to the marks I will respond to a couple of PM questions by reiterating how I go about marking songs. I don’t get into rating the various aspects of the music individually – musicianship, catchiness,production, songwriting etc....... and average that out. I try and keep things simple so it’s just a matter of letting all these things filter through the ear drums into a single question – how often do I want to play this song in the future , if at all. I have been regularly checking back on the little summary I did of the ranking bands in my OP so as to remain as consistent as possible with that.
A lot of this round’s scores will no doubt be ditched at the conclusion of Round 5 , so let’s push ahead to Round 3 with a renewed sense of purpose
Those of you trailing a bit and holding back your best songs for the later rounds might want to bring a song or two forward and worry about replacing them later because, for the last time , a perfect score is still theoretically possible from here.
1) Dead End: Danse Macabre – erwinrafael Rating : 7This song is from a Japanese band , sung in Japanese and takes me back to 80’s Loudness – just not quite as good in my opinion. I don’t mind the tone in the vocal (the Japanese guys all have a similar sound) and the non-English lyrics don’t bother me. I like a good part of the song but the main riff is real unimaginative generic 80’s metal and grated on me a bit – my favourite part was the solo section which is pretty cool , again reminding me of Loudness with the crunchy backing rhythms. Overall I rate it a solid song but that’s all.
2) Stream of Passion : Wherever You Are – Bolsters Rating – 8 + 1 bonus =9There seems to be some aspects in common to Arjen’s music and my feelings about it – some very nice (often female) vocals/harmonies and keys interspersed with plodding metal power chords , which tend to drain much of the life out of the songs for me. For a guitar head like me it might shock you but my favourite parts here are the vocals/keys both with and without the palm muted guitar. This shorter song contained less of the plodding metal than the Dickinson track of the last round and thus scored higher.
The main melody – “wherever you are......” - reminds me a bit of a haunting Enya-like atmosphere (or early Within Temptation) which I don’t mind at all in small doses. When the guitars kicked in and sped up a bit underneath the female vocal at the end I enjoyed that more in terms of the “metal” parts of the song. A hard one to mark as I quite enjoyed three quarters of the song – in the end I lent towards an 8 rather than my initial 7.5 because the non-guitar parts and vocals were so nice.
One bonus point here as it qualifies as “Arjen stuff” as he is a key writer/performer here.
3) Blondie :Living In The Real World - TAC Rating= 6This sort of punkish pop really isn’t my cup of tea which I am sure comes as a huge surprise to everyone. It’s not a song that is irritating enough to really make it a tough listen and as a pop tune it’s catchy enough I suppose , but I have no real desire to hear it again.
4) Riverside : Driven To Destruction – kingshmegland Rating 6.5 + 1 bonus = 7.5This band can obviously play and I quite liked the atmospheric intro /lead in riff the covered the first couple of minutes, but in the end this track isn’t too different to the ones I have sampled that saw them send up on the DTF faves list. Unfortunately the sort of prog metal that gives me goosebumps (I&W being the pinnacle) and this sort of stuff aren’t really in the same universe - to my ears anyway. The instrumental break around 3.20 was quite nice but aside from that and the intro I found the vocals just okay and the rhythm guitars/keys pretty “noisy” with little in the way of memorable melodies or rhythms.
5) Queensryche: Right Side of My Mind - jjrock88 Rating = 7.5The Primal Fear track in the last round was an example of where I hadn’t bothered to check out all of a band’s albums due to finding the band very inconsistent . I just couldn’t be bothered searching for the nuggets. You did a great job of finding a huge nugget with your Round 1 selection. Queensryche are a different kettle of fish though – one of my favourite bands and the fact is that in most cases like this ,if I don’t own an album then there’s probably a good reason.
I will admit that this is better than the vast majority of stuff that I have heard post- Promised Land , so it’s a canny selection, but it has much of the vibe of an average track from the Promised Land (or HITNF) era which I don’t rate very highly either. A decent enough song that I would be happy to throw on every now and then.
6) Holst: The Planets Op 32- IV Jupiter – Big Hath Rating 8.5 + 0.5 bonus =9Big Hath picks up the first half bonus point for taking me way out of my comfort zone . I own zero classical albums so there’s little doubt there - I did study plenty of classical in my music studies over 20 years ago and did play in a number of orchestral performances (hidden away at the back with my Steve Vai Ibanez JEM
) , but that’s about the extent of it. The music here does have a very dramatic feel that is obviously very much at home in movie scores and there were many familiar moments , especially the melody at 1.40. I had to really have a long think about rating this one using the stated criteria and in the end I came to the conclusion that while I am too set in my ways at this point in time to be handing out 10’s for this style of music (meaning I am drooling over it and wanting to replay it immediately)– or listening to whole classical albums in a single sitting- I do have a great enough appreciation for the writing/performance to award an 8.5 +0.5 I would happily listen to this on regular rotation as a bit of a break from my usual stuff. So a risky submission that has come off for Mr Hath who has elected not to use his instrumental bonus point here.
7) Buckethead: Soothsayer – Lowdz Rating 8.5 + 1 bonus = 9.5I am glad to get some Buckethead music here because I really can’t be stuffed wading through his daily new album releases to find a few nuggets. The name of this song does ring a bell in that I am pretty sure I have heard it mentioned as one of his best. One thing I will give it is that it didn’t seem like 9 minutes , so that’s a good sign , and the opening lick while very simple is a quite catchy and soothing melody. From a technical and songwriting perspective I don’t get the feeling that he’s quite in the absolute upper echelon of players but having said that I did find it an enjoyable listen and have rated accordingly. Is this from one of his top 50 albums Paul?
8) Sturm und Drang: Last Of The Heroes - jingle.boy Rating = 7.5You’re not making things easy for me Chad. This is solid melodic metal with a huge sound that reminds me a bit of bands like Brother Firetribe and the like. I could say I have heard it all before , but in this case I actually have
Unfortunately the thing that stands out like dog’s balls here is that , aside from a few notes being thrown around for cover, the main riff (guitar/key) is a blatant rip off of the Pretty Maids’ classic Future World......being a Pretty Maids fan yourself I am surprised that it didn’t jump out at you?? Then I had to have a good think about how much that actually affects my enjoyment of the song. The answer is it does a little bit ,but not enough to mark it down hard (as some might). Solid song which luckily did have some of its own personality outside of the issue with the main riff.
9) Animals as Leaders: Tooth and Claw – splent Rating = 4.5 +1 bonus = 5.5At one point in my life I played guitar in a band that (amongst other things) did DT covers , so it’s not as if I don’t appreciate the precision involved in some of these djenty rhythms but to me I am afraid most of this down tuned/7 string staccato, syncopated , dissonant stuff just registers with my brain as noise after a short while...............like 5 seconds. There are some breaks (1.30 and 2.30) in the song where some nice melodies/rhythms happen but it’s all too short. Sorry splent- not my style of instrumental at all. Despite your place at the bottom of the standings you can afford this little hiccup after your first round score , so don’t sweat it........yet
10) Porcupine Tree: Shallow – Sacul 8 + 1 bonus = 9You mentioned that you thought it was a risk sending this and I think you’re right
The sort of grungy edge that this has isn’t something I normally like at all but , in the same way that I like AiC’s Man In A Box , there’s enough catchy stuff/variety going on with the rhythms to offset that to a large extent. I am not sure if this is enough to get me to check out more PT or not.
11) Cryonic Temple: The Sleep Of The Innocent/When Hell Freezes Over – wolfkip Rating = 8This one has a nice instrumental intro that builds into a solid power metal song. The music is pretty standard stuff but catchy enough to get me tapping the feet and the guitars after the solo section have a real majestic feel. The singer took a while to get used to – to me he sounds like he would fit well into a Bay Area thrash band and the melodic power metal style is a bit out of his comfort zone. In the end I got myself to the point where he wasn’t annoying me and I suppose it adds a bit of originality that he doesn’t sound like everyone else. Good song.
12) Jon Lord: Pictured Within – Evermind Rating = 9.5Once again Evermind produces something that illustrates that I am open to being pushed around a little if the right ingredients are there. The piano and strings work together here to create a lush landscape of melodies within a melancholy ballad. I wouldn’t say the singer is a stand out but his voice is perfect for this song and a great vehicle for Lord’s music which is a really nice listen. Not quite far enough “out there” to attract the half bonus point but definitely not within my normal listening zone. You’re on fire mate – so far you have shown an ability to distil what I like in my music and use it to pick great songs from artists/styles that wouldn’t normally be my cuppa tea. Add a shredding guitar solo and it would’ve been a ten
Standings: *= number of bonus points used Only jjrock is yet to use a bonus point.
Evermind 20*
Sacul 18*
Lowdz 18*
Big Hath 18*
Bolsters 18*
jjrock 17.5
erwinrafael 16.5*
wolfking 16*
jingle.boy 16*
kingshmegland 15.5*
TAC 15*
splent 14.5*
These standings are only indicative until we reach round 6 , but with 2 rounds out of the way
Banned:
Ayreon
A.C.T
Animals As leaders
Blondie
Buckethead
Cryonic Temple
Dead End
Holst
Jon Lord
Karnya
Mystery
Pain of Salvation
Primal Fear
Queensryche
Riverside
Stream of Passion
Steely Dan
Steve Vai
Throne of Chaos (TOC)
Topic: BL5150 Roulette - Ghost Protocol......GRAND FINAL RESULTS (Read 68907 times)
