I already had this idea brewing a week ago, and the discussion in wolfking's serendipitously swung in this direction a couple days ago, so this might be a good time to have a thread dedicated to it. I know jingle had a whole thread years ago devoted to the top 50 songs he's received in roulettes that I skimmed a few months ago, but rather than just focus on mine, I think it would be more fun to have numerous roulette hosts participate.
It's really too early for mine still, as I've only hosted a roulette once, and it's only half a year from the end of it, so I don't have a ton of perspective yet, but I'll give it a go anyway to get things started. Despite running only one roulette so far, I had a lot of rounds, about half of them being multi-song rounds, one of which included a lengthy EP, so I do have a basis of approximately 650 songs sent to draw from.
---
Top 10 songs sent in my roulette:Circus of Fools - "Eris (To the Fairest One)" - sent by TACThis evoked a lot of elements of one of my favorite bands, Deadlock, with a monstrous guitar sound underpinning a delightful dual vocal approach, subtle electronics, and viola soloing.
Dissona - "Another Sky" - sent by ariichOne of the most common templates for super-high scoring songs seemed to be this template of kitchen sink prog metal, but more melancholy than the stereotypical prog metal fare, with enough variety and less common elements to justify an extended running time, but not too bizarre to be off-putting.
Dreamgrave - "Monuments" - sent by TACThis hit the same kid in a candy shop aural ecstasy that Dissona did, but with more acoustic than electronic focuses.
GUNSHIP - "Dark All Day" - sent by CrowI'd heard their first album and this song, but it hadn't stuck yet. Dunno why, this is the electronic/pop equivalent of the previous two metal songs. Highest scoring song of my roulette.
Kimbra - "Cameo Lover" - sent by SoundscapeMNThe perfect marriage of older and newer pop elements, this was way better than the previous album I'd heard from her.
Psychonaut - "Violate Consensus Reality" - sent by NachtmerrieOne of the strongest builds I've heard, this had the perfect atmosphere which explodes halfway through and remains riveting throughout. The best song of the whole roulette, staving off a last minute push from a stronger EP for victory.
Rannoch - "Despair" - sent by NachtmerrieThe best-sounding and most interesting metal guitars of the roulette, this powerhouse of a song is exactly what I like from modern metal.
Talk Talk - "Living In Another World" - sent by SaculOne of those bands I'd always heard about and never got around to, the cyclical movement of the different sections is endlessly intoxicating, for some 80s pop perfection.
The Black Queen - "Ice To Never" - sent by SaculI had no idea beforehand how versatile Greg Puciato is. A soulful and industrialized version of synthwave was exactly the seeming contradiction I didn't even know I needed.
The Far Meadow - "A Gentle Warrior" - sent by HOFThis was the first of a number of songs that made me realize that I'd been totally overlooking the lighter side of the more modern prog scene, modernizing the better elements of the old Yes sound. Spectacular vocals and drum sounds in particular, this was the sort of feast for the ears to kick off my first round and make me glad I'd decided to run one.
Honorable Mentions:Arion "At the Break of Dawn" (soupytwist), Better Lovers "Sacrificial Participant" (twosuitsluke), Big Big Train "The Florentine" live (HOF), Black Peaks "Slow Seas" (Evermind), Camera Obscura "French Navy" (soupytwist), Caro Emerald "I Know That He's Mine" acoustic (Nachtmerrie), Carpenters "Superstar" (twosuitsluke), Cigarettes After Sex "K." (senecadawg2), Ereb Altor "With Fire In My Heart" (TAC), Ivar Bjornson & Einar Selvik "Skuggsja" (Lethean), Joan Baez "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (Stadler), Kalandra "Borders" (Evermind), Katzenjammer "Demon Kitty Rag" (soupytwist), Loreena McKennitt "The Bonny Swans" (senecadawg2), Ours "Sometimes" (SoundscapeMN), Paramore "The News" (Tomislav95), Pepe Deluxe "A Night and a Day" (SoundscapeMN), Riverside "Left Out" (Buddyhunter1), Seven Spires "Gods of Debauchery" (soupytwist), Seventh Wonder "The Red River" (Tomislav95), Sieges Even "Tidal" (Puppies_On_Acid), Submotion Orchestra "Hard To Stay" (ariich), Svalbard "Open Wound" (Nachtmerrie), The Skints "Live East Die Young" (twosuitsluke), Yaatri "Vipassana" (HOF)
---
A playlist of these, the top 10 are alphabetical #1-#10, then the honorable mentions alphabetical #11-#35.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0UWcwqU4bt9O5clhZOgRN9---
Share your own top 10 songs received in your roulettes, or whatever number or format feels appropriate.