Round One results, 6 of 18First three results here:
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Odd Palace - Things To Place On The Moon (2018), submitted by ParamaFirst impression: Energetic, occasionally quirky and consistently engaging. Second half slightly weaker, but still solid. First album I’ve listened to but I feel pretty confident this is making it to round 2.
Final opinion: You were correct that this was yours, and you were right to identify this as something that I’d enjoy, I guess from the experience of us both being in each other’s roulettes previously. I dig it a lot. Thrice meets Dear Hunter with a bit of Closure in Moscow thrown in. Vocally he reminds me at different times of the singers from Fair to Midland, Manchester Orchestra and occasionally even ORBS. I like that there are plenty of quirky moments in songs like Chemical Solution and the title track that make the album that bit more dynamic and surprising but still consistent enough in style and mood that it all hangs together very well.
Score: 8.5--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mystery – The World Is a Game (2012), submitted by EvermindFirst impression: All perfectly nice, but to be honest nothing really stood out until the last song which has some cracking stuff. Not sure what I think about the singer for now.
Final opinion: I just can't get over how much this sounds like Rush a lot of the time. But mid-tier Rush, for my tastes. There's nothing bad about any of it, but there's very little that particularly interests me either, and that hasn't changed with subsequent listens. Except the big epic closer, which is really good and has some absolutely brilliant moments and brings the score up a bit. Everything about it is just punchier and more immersive than the rest of the album. It’s a song I can definitely see myself going back to on occasion and although I'm not usually a song listener, it's long enough to sort of work as an EP. The rest of the album, though, I'm not sure I'll want to bother with again.
Score: 7.0--------------------------------------------------------------------------
White Walls – Escape Artist (2013), submitted by EliteFirst impression: Sounds like a band that has potential but hasn’t found their feet yet. Some really good moments but others that fall pretty flat for me.
Final opinion: Further listens haven't really changed my opinion here. There are lots of good ideas and so much potential, and instrumentally there are some great moments, but a lot of the vocal melodies just don't do anything for me. Not that I dislike his voice in itself, it's either the melodies themselves or his fit to them, or maybe it's the production. Loose Ends is a great example of this - really good music and one groovy vocal line in the middle, but the rest of it just doesn't work for me. Oddly they feel more convincing to me in the heavy shouty parts. I enjoyed it enough that I'll check out future albums to see how they develop, but I can't see this one getting many more listens from me.
Score: 7.0--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ranking so far1. Parama: Odd Palace - Things To Place On The Moon - 8.5
2. Katt: Toto - IV - 8.0
3. Jingle: Evership – Evership - 7.5
4=. Evermind: Mystery – The World Is a Game - 7.0
4=. Elite: White Walls – Escape Artist - 7.0
6. Indiscipline: Gentle Giant – Acquiring The Taste - 6.5