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General => Archive => General Music Archives => Topic started by: kirksnosehair on April 23, 2013, 10:51:06 AM
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OK, so, yeah. I'm doing a Roulette.
Pretty simple, really. And I'm gonna keep it simple so that I can keep it manageable in the time I have available for listening/reacting/scoring.
Rules will be simple:
The following individuals are invited to participate if you like (no pressure!)
lonestar (confirmed)
obscure (confirmed)
jingle.boy (confirmed)
ich bin besser (confirmed)
Dr. DTVT (confirmed)
TAC (confirmed)
nekov (confirmed)
Scorpion (confirmed)
Elite (confirmed)
Wolfking (confirmed)
1. I like progressive rock and progressive and power metal. It may seem "close minded" but that's what I'm interested in exploring. Examples of bands I really like: Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, Spock's Beard (both versions), Transatlantic, The Flower Kings, Symphony X, Andromeda, Avantasia, Ayreon, Savatage, Beyond The Bridge, Threshold, Serenity. Dislikes: Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, heavy music with a lot of growling. Minimal growling (think: Watershed-era Opeth) is OK, but if I'm being 100% honest I prefer no growls, sorry.
2. There are 8 people listed above, I think a nice round number like 10 would be good. I picked the 7 above because I seem to have similar tastes to them from what I've seen posted here, plus, well, obscure :heart :P We'll do a total of 5 rounds.
3. I will PM the folks above to verify participation. If you're in, you can just send me a song for round 1 - submissions for round 1 will be closed on FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013, unless they come in sooner.
4. Youtube links are OK, Grooveshark is OK, but since I do the majority of my listening in my car, the preferred format is MP3 if possible. You can email me songs at my GMAIL address which is, astonishingly, kirksnosehair@gmail.com :omg:
5. If a couple of people beyond those listed above would like to get in, go ahead and PM me. Please don't be offended if I don't pick you to participate. I will select people based on WHEN their PM arrived to be fair.
6. Songs will be scored on a 10 point system with 10 being best, 1 being worst.
7. If you send me a song I already know I will ask you to kindly resubmit.
8. A list of about 80% of what I own in terms of music can be downloaded here. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55966936/KNH_Music.txt)
I think that's about it. Did I miss anything? I know, I know, fucking rookies :\ :lol
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I'd be happy to participate.
However, I'd be shocked if I sent something that you weren't familiar with.
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Glad to be invited and of course I'm participating with that line up of players. This will be fun
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TAC, Scorpion and nekov, you are confirmed, thanks :metal
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And sent :smiley:
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I'd love to participate, but will graciously bow out to allow someone who could probably contribute much better to participate because:
1. I've never done a roulette and don't really understand how they work
2. I actually don't listen to a whole lot of progressive/power metal, and would likely have VERY little to offer outside of what is already on your list of things you like or do not like.
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Do you have anything like Last.fm or so, so that we know what you already know?
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I'd love to participate, but will graciously bow out to allow someone who could probably contribute much better to participate because:
1. I've never done a roulette and don't really understand how they work
2. I actually don't listen to a whole lot of progressive/power metal, and would likely have VERY little to offer outside of what is already on your list of things you like or do not like.
Fair enough, thanks ;D
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Do you have anything like Last.fm or so, so that we know what you already know?
Sorry, no, but I will see if I can make a list from my iTunes library.
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OK, here's a link to a text file (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55966936/KNH_Music.txt) that has my entire iTunes library in it. This is not ALL of my music, but probably 80% of it.
I will also update the first post.
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Will any of the rounds have themes to them. I'm gonna have to dig deep for this.
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Re-sent because apparently Barry know 80% of the music I know :yeahright
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I'm entirely in (like Flynn). I can't send an mp3 until Friday (traveling), but can send a YT/Grooveshark link to hold you over until then.
*thinking*
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I'd love to participate, but will graciously bow out to allow someone who could probably contribute much better to participate because:
1. I've never done a roulette and don't really understand how they work
2. I actually don't listen to a whole lot of progressive/power metal, and would likely have VERY little to offer outside of what is already on your list of things you like or do not like.
1- it's easy. You send a song to the roulette owner, and they 'grade/score' it. It's a competition, so the participant with the best score at the end is the winner. Of curse the REAL winner is the one running it, as they get exposed to a ton of new bands/songs.
2- you'd be surprised. Everyone's got something to offer (even Coz ... He did good in mine).
Jump in the pool. The water's fine.
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Jump in the pool. The water's fine.
The warm temperature is because I peed in the pool. Thought you should know
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Will any of the rounds have themes to them. I'm gonna have to dig deep for this.
Nope, it's free and clear, although I really like [Portnoy] Epics, nothing but fuckin' epics [/Portnoy]
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I'm entirely in (like Flynn). I can't send an mp3 until Friday (traveling), but can send a YT/Grooveshark link to hold you over until then.
*thinking*
You're in man, thanks....
And Youtube works if you have to that's fine
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Jump in the pool. The water's fine.
The warm temperature is because I peed in the pool. Thought you should know
You probably submitted Flo(a)tsam too! No floaters! Please!!
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2. There are 8 people listed above, I think a nice round number like 10 would be good. I picked the 7 above because I seem to have similar tastes to them from what I've seen posted here, plus, well, obscure :heart :P We'll do a total of 5 rounds.
:lol
I'd be honoured to participate in your roulette :heart
so I had figured my first submission but saw that another album of theirs is in your list.. not this one though.. so I guess it's a no-go, no?
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2. There are 8 people listed above, I think a nice round number like 10 would be good. I picked the 7 above because I seem to have similar tastes to them from what I've seen posted here, plus, well, obscure :heart :P We'll do a total of 5 rounds.
:lol
I'd be honoured to participate in your roulette :heart
so I had figured my first submission but saw that another album of theirs is in your list.. not this one though.. so I guess it's a no-go, no?
I'd prefer to hear stuff from bands I'm not familiar with if possible
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I won't reveal the song or artist yet, but Scorpion already smacked me upside the dome :eek Excellent submission, brah :tup
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You're welcome. Hope that I can continue like that for the next four rounds as well. :metal
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dat guitar solo :hefdaddy
dat chorus :hefdaddy
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*gets nervous*
:p
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:lol
Don't worry, I'm easy (https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/bsmoke.gif)
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*gets nervous*
Not here... :\
And sent, let's do this thing....
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I was contemplating participating, and then sending you Anabassis songs every round until you booted me, but then I thought better of not having to look over my shoulder every 5 seconds the next time I'm in the Boston area.
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:rollin
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:lol
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Listening to lonestar's round one submission now.
This competition is going to cost me a fucking c-note, I can already feel it :lol
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bosk ahahaha :lol
RJ damn you
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:xbones
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I'm in. Can I send The ANABASIS first round :) ?
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I'm in. Can I send The ANABASIS first round :) ?
I'm kinda familiar with them already :P
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-1 to the doc for repeating the joke :p
edit: and sent
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I was contemplating participating, and then sending you Anabassis songs every round until you booted me, but then I thought better of not having to look over my shoulder every 5 seconds the next time I'm in the Boston area.
I'm in. Can I send The ANABASIS first round :) ?
What's The Anabasis?
;D
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I think my musical tastes are pretty similar to yours, I'll have a go if there's still space.
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I was contemplating participating, and then sending you Anabassis songs every round until you booted me, but then I thought better of not having to look over my shoulder every 5 seconds the next time I'm in the Boston area.
Barry from the south and me from the north. You're fucked.
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OK, here's a link to a text file (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55966936/KNH_Music.txt) that has my entire iTunes library in it. This is not ALL of my music, but probably 80% of it.
I will also update the first post.
That's quite a list. Damn, I was going to use Enbound and Halcyon Way.. >:(
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I'm in, if you want stuff Nem likes :biggrin:
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Dayum... If Wolfie, king, or Elite are in, what is already a dynamite roulette is gonna get downright sic.
Double Dayum ...just went thru the file you posted. There are a few bands there I didn't know anyone (or at least only a couple of other posters) were a fan of ... Superior, Shattered Skies, InVertigo, Red Circuit, Echoes.
Still got plenty of arrows in the quiver though. I know exactly what I'm sending. PM on the way ...
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I'm in, if you want stuff Nem likes :biggrin:
:lol :tup
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Sent.. although I expect everything I send to get rejected!
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I think my musical tastes are pretty similar to yours, I'll have a go if there's still space.
You're in :yarr
I'll add your name to the first post.
I've got room for one more.
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I'm in, if you want stuff Nem likes :biggrin:
And Elite rounds out our Roulette at 10 participants.
May the person who wins win! :hat
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Whoa, and TAC submits a fucking smoking tune!
This song definitely calls for three dancing bananas with my head on them: (https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif) (https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif)(https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif)
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The fact that you haven't mentioned mine makes me think you didn't like it :'(
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The fact that you haven't mentioned mine makes me think you didn't like it :'(
That's exactly what it means.
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The fact he hasn't mentioned mine is because I'm still pondering (and validating possible bands).
But don't worry all, I'm shyte at roulette's. Looking back on all the ones I've participated in, other than Nem's v1 and RJ's, I usually finish last or 2nd last. You're all good to go.
Damn for letting Kade in... now I can't use any of the gem's he gave me. >:( :lol
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The fact that you haven't mentioned mine makes me think you didn't like it :'(
I've only heard it once, and I was on my way out of the office, plus taking three phone calls at once from customers, so I didn't have time to really give it a good listen yet. Don't let first impressions that I'm posting here make you think I didn't like it. I'm listening to it now and I DO like it.
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Crap. :P
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This thread made me listen to The Anabasis again.
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This makes thread makes me see the big boss every now and again :biggrin:
The fact that you haven't mentioned mine makes me think you didn't like it :'(
That's exactly what it means.
:lol :lol :lol you bastard!!! I lol'd so hard!
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OK, so I have round one submissions so far from:
nekov
obscure
lonestar
scorpion
TAC
ich bin besser
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Is a download link okay for you?
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Damn, late to the party as usual. Would've enjoyed this competition ;D Not from Chad of course, as he says he's crap at this :lol
Unless you like Celine Dion of course...
I better get back to work. If David Cameron knew what he was paying me for he'd not be happy.
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wut? Are you working at 10 Downing Street?
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Is a download link okay for you?
Yes, I have the file you sent now, thanks
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wut? Are you working at 10 Downing Street?
Oh God no. I'm a psychiatric nurse in the NHS. Dave technically pays the wages :biggrin:
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Damn for letting Kade in... now I can't use any of the gem's he gave me. >:( :lol
Use whatever you want bro, but I know who you are talking about. :lol
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4. Youtube links are OK, Grooveshark is OK, but since I do the majority of my listening in my car, the preferred format is MP3 if possible. You can email me songs at my GMAIL address which is, astonishingly, kirksnosehair@gmail.com :omg:
Is wma format okay?
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Damn for letting Kade in... now I can't use any of the gem's he gave me. >:( :lol
Use whatever you want bro, but I know who you are talking about. :lol
LIES!!!
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I picked 20 bands I think I could send Kirk...hopefully you guys can send 15 and I'll pick up the other 5.
Sent
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wut? Are you working at 10 Downing Street?
Oh God no. I'm a psychiatric nurse in the NHS. Dave technically pays the wages :biggrin:
oh gotcha :tup
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Sent! Stiff competition already!
I think I got a dozen or so bands I'm gonna be drawing from, despite the immense overlap between my library and Barry's.
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4. Youtube links are OK, Grooveshark is OK, but since I do the majority of my listening in my car, the preferred format is MP3 if possible. You can email me songs at my GMAIL address which is, astonishingly, kirksnosehair@gmail.com :omg:
Is wma format okay?
Yes, any audio file format is fine.
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OK, jingle.boy's re-submit is good, so now the accepted first-round submission list looks like this:
nekov
obscure
lonestar
scorpion
TAC
ich bin besser
jingle.boy
The others still have today and tomorrow to find something to submit, so no worries.
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I'll send mine in about 12 hours.
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I'll send mine in about 12 hours.
You sure think this a lot don't you? :P
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:lol No not really, just meant I'll do it tonight after I get home from work which is about 12 hours. :lol
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I'll send you mine in about 12 hours.
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I'll send you mine in about 12 hours.
(https://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/jobertson_are-you-taking-the-piss.jpg)
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sent bitches
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OK, I now have round one submissions from:
nekov
obscure
lonestar
scorpion
TAC
ich bin besser
jingle.boy
wolfking
Dr.DTVT and Elite are the only two that need to send me something.
Guys, please try to do so sometime in the next 7 or 8 hours, because I'm putting it all on a CD (including the internet linked tracks, of which I recorded the audio streams to create MP3s) so I can give multiple listens over the weekend and then put up results and comments on Monday.
Thanks everyone ;D
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Will I ever spend a whole day without being called a bitch... :dunno:
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:lol
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:rollin
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Will I ever spend a whole day without being called a bitch... :dunno:
I know how you feel. :lol
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hug?
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:hug:
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Sent.
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Will I ever spend a whole day without being called a bitch... :dunno:
I know how you feel. :lol
Your making me sick you nancies. :lol
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Will I ever spend a whole day without being called a bitch... :dunno:
I know how you feel. :lol
Your making me sick you nancies. :lol
Bite me bitch. :laugh:
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:corn
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Will I ever spend a whole day without being called a bitch... :dunno:
I know how you feel. :lol
Your making me sick you nancies. :lol
Bite me bitch. :laugh:
aaaaaand.. welcome to the bitch club :lol
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OK, only one participant needs to submit a track: Dr. DTVT
Everyone else is all set :metal
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To be fair, I've had submissions bounced twice, so it is less about me not paying attention than bad luck. I submitted the same song as wolfking last time.
Since I'm at work, you'll get a youtube or grooveshark link then I'll send you the file when I get home.
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You know it's gonna be tough when the Doc gets rejected!
I've spent all week staring at my CDs and my iPod going WTF?
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I just got rejected again. The first and third time I found 2 bands that weren't in the text file, and the second time I sent the same song wolfking already did. I'd send something ultra rare, but since I'm at work I don't have my music collection so I have to find on youtube.
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Whoa :lol
:sympathy:
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Exactly the reason I sent a fairly deep band list to get a lay of the musical landscape. Despite not being on the nosehair ipod, he already knew about 1/3 of those I checked on. I too have some ultra-rare stuff if it comes to it, but I think I've got my attack plan laid out.
Like I said earlier, it's not like it matters.... My roulette participation is all about a race to the bottom. :metal
Pretty amazing out of the massive DTVT and wolfking libraries, the two of you would pick the same f'n song!!! :eek
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Yay!! I get to follow this roulette as a bitch!!
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If this gets rejected because he owns it...I'll be very impressed.
I probably would have sent this band down the line, but the song I wanted to send I can't find on youtube.
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Yay!! I get to follow this roulette as a bitch!!
Bitches on all roles :metal
who'll be the coffee bitch? Barry needs one in the studio ... consider it an opportunity ;)
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If this gets rejected because he owns it...I'll be very impressed.
I probably would have sent this band down the line, but the song I wanted to send I can't find on youtube.
I guess you're very impressed then, eh? :lol
What's that, like 4 songs you've sent so far? And this is only round one. You've got about 90 minutes before I leave work for the weekend. I am hoping to have everything burned to a CD and on my iPod so I can listen on the way home from work and at the gym tomorrow morning.
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Mine works best at the gym :biggrin:
:p
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OK, everyone has submitted tracks I've never heard, so submissions for Round 1 are now closed.
Results will be up on Monday
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After a fourth rejection because my psychic powers failed me, I went with something that I was pretty sure wasn't going to get rejected, although I have no clue how it will do. If the song I wanted was just on youtube or grooveshark this could have been avoided. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I know what you're getting in the future.
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After a fourth rejection because my psychic powers failed me, I went with something that I was pretty sure wasn't going to get rejected, although I have no clue how it will do. If the song I wanted was just on youtube or grooveshark this could have been avoided. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I know what you're getting in the future.
Actually, that was a good pick. I dig :tup
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and the second time I sent the same song wolfking already did.
This is fucking crazy!!
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Just a quick drive-by update. Listening is going very well. I've spun every song a total of 4 time so far and I will be listening to the entire CD two more times front to back tomorrow morning, then I'll post the results.
Very stiff competition in round one. We may end up with as many as 5 of you tied.
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And the other five tied for "you suck". :lol
*certain I'm in one of those groups* undoubtedly the latter
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I bet that's one awesome CD! Feel free to drop off a copy!
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After a fourth rejection because my psychic powers failed me, I went with something that I was pretty sure wasn't going to get rejected, although I have no clue how it will do. If the song I wanted was just on youtube or grooveshark this could have been avoided. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I know what you're getting in the future.
Actually, that was a good pick. I dig :tup
I like it too, obviously. At the time I wasn't sure, but thinking back to a band you got me into last year and some other bands we have in common, I realize it wasn't much of a risk at all. I just wished I could have saved it for later because I don't think anyone else here could have given you that track.
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I can't wait to see the list of submissions. This roulette could cost us all some money!
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I can't wait to see the list of submissions. This roulette could cost us all some money!
20-40-60-80- ..... yup. Good news is I just cashed in all the coins I toss into a jar at the end of a day. $57. Got me some music-spending money. And if RJ's recommendations are any good (by the tally on my recent top 50, that's a given), Karnya and Absolute Priority are and absolute priority. :D
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RJ has been telling me about reviewing Absolute Priority for about 4 months... they were definitely an absolute priority to him to :lol
and I won't tell you that I was feeding many other albums down his throat
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I think it's been more like five :rollin
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ehahahah.. a band name I'd never pick.... provides so much material for bad jokes :lol
and maybe it's the curse :lol
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So... uhm... it's Monday. How 'bout it? The Earth isn't turning any slower!
:corn
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OK, sorry it took a while, I was slammed at work today, plus had a new staff member starting this morning.
Anyway, without further delay, I give you the results of Round 1:
Dr. DTVT
Band: MindMaze
Album: Mask of Lies
Song: Never Look Back
MindMaze is a female-fronted hard rock/power metal band from Allentown, PA, featuring a lot of great riffs and harmony guitars. The track "Never Look Back" reminds me quite a bit of mid-era Iron Maiden musically, although with Sarah Teets (yes, her last name is Teets) on lead vocals, it also has an almost Pat Benetar sound to it as well. This is not a bad thing. This track was released ahead of the album as (I suspect) a single. My only gripe with this song is that after a while it seems a little bit on the repetative side and kind of loses a bit of steam towards the end, but with that said, the track was good enough that I will probably end up buying their album.
Score: 7.5
Elite:
Band: Mastadon
Album: The Hunter
Song: Black Tongue (The Hunter)
Mastadon is a metal band hailing from the USA. The music is powerful and dark. Almost overwhelming. I found it a challenge to understand what the vocalist was actually singing in this song, but with that said, I thought the vocals fit in quite well with this style of music. In general, I've avoided Mastadon in the past having heard a few of their tracks with coarse vocals, which I do not like. In the context of this competition, however, this is a very good song and certainly a worthy one.
Score: 7
ich bin besser:
Band: Dante
Album: November Red
Song: November Red
Dante is a German progressive metal band. Musically, this is quite impressive stuff. A nice blend of I&W/Awake-era Dream Theater style progmetal with keyboards in the mix, but not prominently so. Plenty of changes in time signature keep you a bit off balance and some unique phrasing on the guitar solos keep things interesting. Unfortunately, the vocals were not my cup of tea. They're not bad vocals, per se, just the sound and timbre and delivery at times was a bit distracting. A band like this would really kill with a Russell Allen type of vocalist. Lots of potential here for sure.
Score: 6.5
jingle.boy:
Band: Hardline
Album: Double Eclipse
Song: In The Hands of Time
Hardline is an American hardrock band that once featured Journey's Neal Schon. This song is the closing track on their debut album, it was actually written by Neal Schon as were all 13 tracks on the album. "In The Hands of Time" This seems to be a band that could have made it big had they hit the scene 7 or 8 years prior to the wave of shitty shoe-gazing grunge that emerged in the early 90's. This song extremely catchy with a huge sing-a-long chorus and some great guitar work. Probably not something I'd be in a big rush to go out and buy the CD, but nonetheless, in the context of this competition, it's a fine contender
Score: 6.5
nekov:
Band: Iluvatar
Album: Iluvatar
Song: In The Eye
Iluvatar is a neo-prog band that are likely influenced by Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Marillion, Arena, Pendragon, IQ and perhaps Jadis. "In The Eye" reminded me quite a bit -at least musically- of some of the Arena albums I own. Some excellent guitar work and a quite progressive style of music with some interesting keyboards and meandering arrangement. No shortage of Mellotrons either, which is always a good thing in prog. I'm pretty sure that this will be a band I will end up exploring more of once this competition is complete.
Score: 7
Obscure:
Band: DGM
Song: Reason
Album: Momentum
DGM is an Italian progressive metal band. "Reason" is the opening track from their 2013 album "Momentum" and this track features Russell Allen (Symphony X, Adrenaline Mob, etc) on lead vocals. Musically, I was reminded of mid-era Symphony X. Even though I was given an MP3 file, I found the production values to be very, very good. Some really great guitar riffing and drums and of course the vocals of Allen are killer. I wish he'd sing like this in Symphony X. I will definitely be exploring this band's material in more detail after this competition is completed.
Score: 8
lonestar:
Band: Pomegranate Tiger
Album: Entities
Song: New Breed
Pomegranate Tiger is an experimental instrumental progressive metal band from Ontario, Canada. They're relatively new to the scene having formed in 2010. This is very dense and fairly complex instrumental prog metal. Generally speaking (with a few exceptions here and there) I don't really get into a whole lot of instrumental stuff, but I found this track intriguing enough to motivate me to add them to my list of bands from which I will probably go ahead and make a purchase at the end of the competition. The music is all over the place. Time signatures change frequently as does the direction, style and mood of the music. Many listens were required to "get into" it, but those listens are each rewarded with a new little nuance that was missed on first listen. Reminded me a little bit of LTE in places, but definitely more complex in terms of arrangement.
Score: 8
Scorpion:
Band: Reverence
Album: When Darkness Calls
Song: After The Leaves Have Fallen
Who the hell are these guys and why haven't I ever heard of them? Apparently Reverence is a power metal band formed fairly recently and featuring former members of Savatage. I didn't have a lot of time to look into them and their website is not very helpful, but this is a killer ballad with one of the best guitar solos I've ever heard anywhere at any time. And the vocals? Holy shit, this guy's vocal range, style and delivery is just amazing. The ONLY thing holding this back was the fact that I had to listen to a shitty re-recording of a YouTube video. Top shelf power metal. I will be buying their album probably today.
Score 8.5
TAC:
Band: Daedalus
Album: The Never Ending Illusion
Song: A Journey To Myself
Daedalus is an Italian Progressive Metal band that weilds a powerful mix of influences including rock, prog rock, metal, classical, jazz, ambient and even electronica. Formed in 2000 they released their first album "Leading From a Mistake" in 2003, then released the album from which this song was taken in 2009. The music reminded me a lot of I&W-era Dream Theater with slightly less-hair-metalish sounding vocals. Keyboards/synths are prominent throughout, but there are still plenty of guitars here. This is definitely another band I'll have to dig into further once this competition is complete.
Score: 8
Wolfking:
Band: Vanishing Point
Album: Embrace the Silence
Song: Hollow
Vanishing Point is a Power/Progressive Metal band from Australia - they seem to lean more in the Power direction. Their music is played in the symphonic style with lots of keyboards/synths and quite melodic with a lot of vocal harmonies incorporated into the choruses. This song features a very nice guitar solo, flashy, but not over the top. The band does an outstanding job of carring melodic ideas throughout the entire song, building on a couple of themes through an instrumental section which peaks with a refrain of the chorus. Sigh....more money I will have to spend!
Score 8
Scores after Round 1:
scorpion 8.5
TAC - 8
obscure - 8
lonestar - 8
wolfking - 8
Dr. DTVT - 7.5
Elite - 7
nekov - 7
ich bin besser - 6.5
jingle.boy - 6.5
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Hey Scorp, at least thank me for the Reverence. I started the thread on them last year.
And yes, that album kicks all sorts of ass! :metal
Kirk, if you want to save your money, I'll burn you a copy. Same for Daedalus and DGM. You know where to find me!
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TAC... never knew anyone else here with Daedalus. That's a fantastic album.
Oh, and I told ya'll you had nothing to worry about. :biggrin:
I know exactly what's going out this round.
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Pretty even round to start with only 2 points separating the best from the worst (which non surprisingly was jboy). This will be a tough one to the end. I think I know what to send next
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Yeah it's a great album. That's a great song too.
If Reverence won the round, I might have to go a bit more metal. I've got a shredder on deck.
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Yeah TAC, thanks for that. :biggrin:
Anyway, since you seem to be digging the power metal route, I think I'll stick with that.
EDIT: Sent, yo.
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Sent
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Glad you liked VP :metal
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Listened to Scrop's and RJ's. Nice tunes. The others I already knew.
I predict improvement this round. My submission hath been delivered and accepted.
Oh, and people need to stop picking my choices - I had Mindmaze on the shortlist of possibilities, as well as DGM. :getoffmylawn:
Oh well, there's other Italian powerhouses out there still to be used.
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I have no clue what to send now. :lol
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Love that MindMaze album.It's up there for album of the year so far. It's battling with MorningStarlett and Vandroya.
And the Reverence is good too.
The Hardline album is a Melodic Rock classic.
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Are we listening to the same Daedalus album? I only remember it being extremely derivative and unoriginal. Never cared to give it a third listen.
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Will there be an instrumental round?
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Will there be an instrumental round?
Any round you want is an instrumental round.
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I kind of wish there were themes for each round, it would make choosing a song a lot easier.
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Come one guys, coming up with good bands he doesn't have is hard enough. Why the add the extra level of difficulty?
Then again, Daedalus did well so maybe the bar isn't that high.
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Oh, and people need to stop picking my choices - I had Mindmaze on the shortlist of possibilities, as well as DGM. :getoffmylawn:
Oh well, there's other Italian powerhouses out there still to be used.
(https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu51/senemn/hahajingle_zps17c9b301.jpg)
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:lol
And sent....
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OK, Round 2 submission is sent.
Torn between two songs (same band). So tough..
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Come one guys, coming up with good bands he doesn't have is hard enough. Why the add the extra level of difficulty?
I would agree with that.
I have one band in mind that has a smoking instrumental, but a really cool epic, which I would rather use the epic. But if there was an instrumental round, I'd use the instrumental.
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Will there be an instrumental round?
Any round you want is an instrumental round.
Right, the only "rule" is send me stuff you think I'll like.
With that said, you're probably putting yourself at a slight disadvantage with instrumental stuff since I don't really listen to or buy a whole lot of it.
Don't get me wrong, I love LTE, but they're pretty unique for me.
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Come one guys, coming up with good bands he doesn't have is hard enough. Why the add the extra level of difficulty?
Then again, Daedalus did well so maybe the bar isn't that high.
Right, and that list I provided is really only about 75% to 80% of my CD collection. I still own about 500 Cassettes that aren't even on that list.
Us senior citizens be having big music collections, yo. :P
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Right, and that list I provided is really only about 75% to 80% of my CD collection. I still own about 500 Cassettes that aren't even on that list.
I call bull-shit. If that file is 75-80%, then how come you know 50% of the bands I checked on? Oh, wait... it's cuz we both have AWESOME tastes in music. Never mind.
Us senior citizens be having big music collections, yo. :P
Word. Although, some of the 'junior' citizens in this roulette have a big-ass collection.
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Will there be an instrumental round?
Any round you want is an instrumental round.
Right, the only "rule" is send me stuff you think I'll like.
With that said, you're probably putting yourself at a slight disadvantage with instrumental stuff since I don't really listen to or buy a whole lot of it.
Don't get me wrong, I love LTE, but they're pretty unique for me.
Yeah that's what I figured. I'll use the epic in a future round.
I didn't send the metal shredder this round. Went with a band that I wanted to get in before someone beat me to it.
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Oh well, there's other Italian powerhouses out there still to be used.
Good, cause I sure as hell wasn't sending them.
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Oh well, there's other Italian powerhouses out there still to be used.
Good, cause I sure as hell wasn't sending them.
I used one in this round.
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jingle knows what band I'm talking about. Wasn't trashing the one you sent, just the one I think jingle was implying.
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It's all cool. I didn't take it that way. Seems there's an Italian band joke going on on this page that I'm not privy too. :lol
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Sent.
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Calling Elite and ich bin besser ;D
I can't burn a disc and start listening until you guys submit.
Same game plan as Round 1. As soon as I have all of the songs, I will burn a disc, copy them to my iPod and listen to nothing but these songs until Monday when I'll post the results.
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The Kirksnosehair Roullette 5 disc set. ;D
Bet that will be an awesome collection.
BTW, did you grab the Reverence album yet?
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Cool, take your time. I got two submissions that I have to wait until they're officially released to send.
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Cool, take your time. I got two submissions that I have to wait until they're officially released to send.
Insider trading. Someone call the SEC, wait, I mean the RIAA.
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I didn't know Gordon Gecko knew how to cook.
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:rollin
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The Kirksnosehair Roullette 5 disc set. ;D
Bet that will be an awesome collection.
BTW, did you grab the Reverence album yet?
Haven't had a minute to breath at work. So, no not yet, and I've got piano lessons tonight and a 90 minute studio session scheduled too :|
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Mine is uploading right now. Will send the link soon.
Damn, this is going fast... So had to make my decision quite quickly.
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Am I going too fast? I figured one round per week would be about the right speed :)
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It's a good pace man.
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OK, good, only one submission left for round 2. I'll send Elite a PM
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I hear ya, you'll get it tonight.
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Thank you, sir. Even tomorrow is fine, since I won't get to burn a disc for Round 2 until tomorrow anyway.
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It's a good pace man.
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It's a good pace man.
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It's a good pace man.
And sent as well! :)
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It's a good pace man.
Fortunately it's not Adam Sandler's "At a Medium Pace" :lol
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:lol
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It's a good pace man.
Fortunately it's not Adam Sandler's "At a Medium Pace" :lol
"See that shampoo bottle now, stick it up Barry's ass!" :lol
Those crazy Euros and being several hours ahead of us...you'd think the extra time would allow them to send sooner :biggrin:
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Alright, this round is going to be even better than the last one. Everyone has submitted, and listening has now commenced. I will listen to the disc a few times giving each song a chance to sink in a bit, then post results. ;D
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Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnndddddddddddd............................. :corn
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Happy listening!
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Man, there is some killer music in this round :eek (https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/edhorns.gif) :eek
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Man, there is some killer music in this round :eek (https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/edhorns.gif) :eek
Awesome! :metal
Can't wait to see what everyone else sent in!
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Man, there is some killer music in this round :eek (https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/edhorns.gif) :eek
Awesome! :metal
Can't wait to see what everyone else sent in!
Yeah, I'm curious as well. Unlike the last round, I didn't get confirmation that Barry digs it right away, so I'm hoping that doesn't mean that I flunked this one (though I don't think).
Anyway, there was some killer stuff last round, and I'm sure there'll be some this round as well.
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Yeah, where are the dancing bananas?
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(https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif)(https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif)(https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif)(https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif)(https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif)
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:lol
:metal :metal
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:tup
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Thread got pushed to the second page so I think we might need this
(https://imghumour.com/assets/Uploads/Buff-O-Bump.jpg)
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Just because something goes to second page doesn't mean it's forgotten. Other people are having discussions which shouldn't be pushed to page 2 just for us, especially since listening takes time if done properly (several listens per song).
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How are those listens going Barry?
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Going great, I've had a good solid 5 listens to the disc, and I am currently working on the write-ups and scoring. I will have it posted today. :hat
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Giggity!
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:tup
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:corn
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:corn
Think I'm gonna go buy me some stock in Kernels (https://www.kernelspopcorn.com/)
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At the pace the doctor is moving at, that would be a prudent investment.
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At the pace the doctor is moving at, that would be a prudent investment.
I think we need to get him some Head & Shoulders, and upgrade him to a 'medium' pace.
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Dr. DTVT
Band: Dimension Act
Album: Manifestation of Progress
Song: Industrial Evilution
Dimension Act is a Norwegian melodic progressive metal band. Their debut album, "Manifestation of Progress" was released in 2012 and if the submitted track, "Industrial Evilution" is representative of what is on that album, I'd say they've hit the scene with a bang. The music is tight and crunchy with plenty of keyboards to enhance the texture. I hate making comparisons to Dream Theater because it's almost a cliche, but it reminded me a bit of Awake-era Dream Theater. That's not to say they are clones. Far from it. While they certainly are delivering fairly typical music for the genre, it's definitely well-crafted and performed by skilled musicians. My only slight criticism, and what I would consider the weak spot in this band, is the vocalist. The vocals are OK, but I tend to be a little on the fussy side when it comes to vocals and there was something about the timbre of this guy's voice that didn't sit well with me all the time. That said, the backing vocals helped quite a bit to make up for that. All in all, a very good submission.
Score: 7.5
Elite
Band: Touchstone
Album: Wintercoast
Song: Original Sin
Touchstone is a progressive rock band from Hertfordshire, England that formed in 2001. "Wintercoast" is the band's second full-length release (2009) and has been compared stylistically to Marillion, but also features some heavier, guitar-driven music which sometimes garners the band a "heavy metal" label. "Original Sin" is the 6th track on this album and is a ballad. It's a nice song with nice melodies and good instrumentation. The vocalist, Kim 'Elkie' Seviour, has a beautiful voice. And the lyrics seem spiritual, which makes sense given the title. I like a good ballad and this one is decent, but I didn't really connect with it all that much. I often found myself wondering if it was almost over so I could get to the next song.
Score: 6.5
ich bin besser
Band: Diablo Swing Orchestra
Album: Pandora's Pinata
Song: Voodoo Mon Amour (Pandora's Pinata)
Diablo Wing Orchestra is a Swedish avant-garde metal band formed in 2003. "Pandora's Pinata" and in fact all of their music is a mix of influences ranging from progressive and symphonic metal to classical to jazz. The instrumentation is an interesting mix of traditional metal pieces (distorted guitar, bass, keys) and horns (trombone and trumpet). I have to be honest: My first impression was along the lines of WTF? But it grew on me after a few listens. I'm not too crazy about the female lead vocals in the beginning of the song, but she dialed back the operatic style as the song progressed, so it was OK in the long run. The musicianship here is off the hook. These people can definitely jam. And I am very impressed on that front. I don't know that this is a style of music that I'd actually have any long-term interest in listening to, but in the context of this competition, it was a pretty cool submission that came with some risk, given that ich bin besser has known me for the better part of a decade, perhaps longer.
Score: 7
jingle.boy
Band: Powerworld
Album: Human Parasite
Song: Human Parasite
Powerworld is a German power metal band and "Human Parasite" is their second album, released in 2010. This is straight-up, hard rocking power metal with all of the trimmings. Heavy, guitar-riff-driven music, acrobatic guitar solos, a big, huge sing-along chorus. There really isn't too much more to say about a band like this. Quality music, quality vocals, great instrumentation. Probably my only slight beef with the track would be that it gets just a tiny bit repetitive with the chorus, but that's just nit-picking.
Score: 7.5
lonestar
Band: Karnya
Album: Coverin' Thoughts
Song: When The Silence Remains
"Coverin' Thoughts" is the debut album from Italian Power/Progressive Metal band Karnya. I am, in a word, blown away by this band. Definitely going on my list to buy this album. The guitars are crunch as hell and the keyboards are also smokin'. Guitar solos, keyboard solos, amazing dual harmony keyboard/guitar solos, and the vocalist delivers too. I really can't wait to hear the rest of this album. Quite an incredible piece of work, especially for a debut. Everything about this reeks of quality and craftsmanship. The song feels almost like a journey and its abrupt ending leaves me feeling spent and frankly wanting more.
Score: 9
nekov
Band: Aghora
Album: Formless
Song: Open Close The Book
Aghora is a Miami, FL based progressive metal band with two albums, the first of which featured two member of the progmetal band Cynic. Their second album "Formless" was released in 2006 and that is where this track came from. The music is dense with pounding double-bass/heavy riffing intermixed with ambient passages with a female vocalist singing a lead melody in what sounds like either Phrygian or Harmonic Minor mode, which gives her vocals an exotic slant. She's certainly a decent vocalist, but perhaps a bit one-dimensional. The guitarist in this band is absolutely incredible. A listen or two with headphones uncovered a few more layers to this music that were not immediately apparent when listening on the car stereo. It's got a subtle complexity to it that I find compelling, but I found the non-stop double-bass drum to be somewhat distracting at times.
Score: 6.5
obscure
Band: The Great Gamble
Album: Book 1
Song: Breach At Fort Mycenae
This.Fucking.Band.Rocks. Hard to believe they're not signed. In a crowded genre full of Dream Theater wannabees and progmetal cliches, somehow this band manages to sound fresh and different. Part of it probably has to do with the vocalist, who is, so far in this competition, the best pure vocalist I've heard. There are almost no effects on the vocal tracks on this album. Just a pinch of reverb. Dude has awesome pipes and great, bold texture. The music is sophisticated, but not overly so. I absolutely LOVE the use of solo violin in spots. The stripped down production manages to sound robust on the strength of the performances, songwriting and musicianship. Stellar stuff here.
Score: 9.5
Scorpion
Band: Ring of Fire
Album: Dreamtower
Song: Until The End of Time
Ring of Fire is an American neoclassical progressive/power metal band from California that formed in 2000, fronted by former Yngwie J. Malmsteen collaborator Mark Boals after the release of his solo album "Ring of Fire," the band also included guitarist Tony MacAlpine, "Planet X" drummer Virgil Donati, grammy-award winning bassist Philip Bynoe, and keyboardist Steve Weingart. Ring of Fire released three studio albums between 2001 and 2004. This particular song reminded me quite a bit of early Symphony X, but the extremely high-pitched vocals were a bit distracting. Tony MacAlpine is a killer player and naturally the drumming was great as well. I found the lyrics here to be a bit on the goofy/cheesy side, which I sometimes actually enjoy, but somehow the mixture of neoclassical themes, ball-pinching vocals, and lyrics about journeys to distant stars didn't really add up for me.
Score: 6
TAC
Band: Odd Dimension
Album: Symmetrical
Song: Light Speed Journey
Odd Dimension is a progressive metal band from Italy. Plenty of keyboards and crunchy guitars in the 3+ minute intro to the submitted track. Musically, I loved it, but the vocals (here I go again!) would definitely be an acquired taste for me. I admit that I am a bit fussy when it comes to vocals. But vocals aside, this music is very nice with great melodic sensibilities and some very good instrumentation. I really enjoyed the piano refrain of the main melody around the 6:45 mark. Not much else to add here. I think if I can wrap my head around this vocalist, I'd definitely want to further explore this band.
Score: 7.5
wolfking
Band: Eyefear
Album: The Unseen
Song: The Unseen
Eyefear is a progressive metal band from Australia. Musically, I was reminded of Evergrey. And the vocal melodies definitely helped with this as did the dark imagery of the lyrics and the dark mood of the music....bordering at times on an almost doom-ish sound. About 1/2 of the vocals are delivered in harmonies. Some pretty killer guitar and synth solo trade-offs in the middle of the song prevent it from getting a bit too repetitive. All in all, I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away. I actually really liked the riff that was used as an outtro and sort of wanted to hear that expanded upon.
Score: 7
Leader Board:
obscure - 17.5
lonestar - 17
TAC - 15.5
Dr. DTVT - 15
wolfking - 15
scorpion 14.5
jingle.boy - 14
Elite - 13.5
nekov - 13.5
ich bin besser - 13.5
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All right! Movin on up. Lots of awesome tracks there (fortunately, not gonna cost me a ton of money since I've got a few of these already). Checkin out the rest this afternoon.
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Nice, Karnya's album is rock solid, beginning to end. Just an unbelievable debut.
Now, I need just the right song to surpass the Lady....
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:sad:
I thought you were going to dig that one. Maybe that song wasn't the best choice but you should check the band for sure.
Will be sending shortly
Edit: Sent
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Holy crap!!! It's so much fun to send tunes to someone whose musical understanding you can trust!!!!
also...
(https://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu51/senemn/ecstasy_gif_5_by_jlegend83-d49v74m_zpsb8e8826a.gif)
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Round 3 submitted.
Wow, the vocal pickiness has me rethinking my Round 4 submission. Damn, and it's a great track too.
Still, 3rd place after two rounds in this field, I can live with that.
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OK gents and Lady, sending in round 3. See if I can knock Nem off of that top spot.
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To help people out, here are some of my top vocalists:
Andy Engberg (Speaking To Stones, Section A)
Russell Allen (EARLY Symphony X, Ayreon)
Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
Ray Alder (Fates Warning, Redemption)
Neal Morse (Spock's Beard, Transatlantic, Neal Morse Band)
Hasse Froberg (The Flower Kings, Hasse Froberg and the Musical Companion)
Daniel Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation)
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Well now I'm as confused as a baby in a topless bar. I was sure I knew what I was about to send, but now seeing this favorite vocalist list, and I'm torn. Either way, I got a feeling a Jesse "The Body" approach will be coming soon ... win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.
Russell Allen (EARLY Symphony X, Ayreon)
How early? Their debut?? :neverusethis:
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Well now I'm as confused as a baby in a topless bar. I was sure I knew what I was about to send, but now seeing this favorite vocalist list, and I'm torn. Either way, I got a feeling a Jesse "The Body" approach will be coming soon ... win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.
Russell Allen (EARLY Symphony X, Ayreon)
How early? Their debut?? :neverusethis:
Didn't really care much for Rod Tyler, no ;)
But I like Damnation Game more than either of their last two albums.
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Second round in a row without having to re-send makes me feel good about my musical knowledge :hat
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How early? Their debut?? :neverusethis:
:rollin :rollin :rollin
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Second round in a row without having to re-send makes me feel good about my musical knowledge :hat
Yup. That's a victory in itself!
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Hmmm...no clue as to what to dish up this round. I thought mine would have scored a little higher, especially after seeing your fav singers.
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Hmmm...no clue as to what to dish up this round. I thought mine would have scored a little higher, especially after seeing your fav singers.
Yeah, maybe he should change his name to Kirksearhair. ;D
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:lol
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RJ, that song is awesome. I'm listening to that album now on Spotify. Loving it.
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Hmmm...no clue as to what to dish up this round. I thought mine would have scored a little higher, especially after seeing your fav singers.
Yeah, maybe he should change his name to Kirksearhair. ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/2sREC.gif)
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RJ, that song is awesome. I'm listening to that album now on Spotify. Loving it.
It is a serious ass kicker. Pretty damn close to starting a thread about them, they are so damn good.
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RJ, that song is awesome. I'm listening to that album now on Spotify. Loving it.
It is a serious ass kicker. Pretty damn close to starting a thread about them, they are so damn good.
what the fuck is stopping you??? You know a bunch of us will pile on, and start a following just like Beyond The Bridge.
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ok :)
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*goes to find that thread*
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Hmm, maybe I should have sent a different Touchstone song.. Well, there's still rounds to go, so I'm not exactly out of the game yet. Bring it on!
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I have to be honest: My first impression was along the lines of WTF? [...]
but in the context of this competition, it was a pretty cool submission that came with some risk, given that ich bin besser has known me for the better part of a decade, perhaps longer.
No risk, no fun. :hat
Let's see what else I can find.
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I have to be honest: My first impression was along the lines of WTF? [...]
but in the context of this competition, it was a pretty cool submission that came with some risk, given that ich bin besser has known me for the better part of a decade, perhaps longer.
No risk, no fun. :hat
Let's see what else I can find.
I admire your spirit, my friend :biggrin:
(https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/UltraPhotoGallery/393/14/Ytsecon%20031.jpg)
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(https://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2ebgoP5pa1r57zb7.jpg)
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Round 3. Let's get it on! (https://www.reocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/5495/crapbigger.wav)
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Hmm, maybe I should have sent a different Touchstone song..
I'll be honest, I got some of Touchstone's albums to write reviews on, and I think the absolute best I could have given any of them was C- so I didn't write anything, and that would have been a generous C- since the album I gave a C is much better. Nothing caught my attention, it sounded like homogenized generic prog.
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Hmm, maybe I should have sent a different Touchstone song..
I'll be honest, I got some of Touchstone's albums to write reviews on, and I think the absolute best I could have given any of them was C- so I didn't write anything, and that would have been a generous C- since the album I gave a C is much better. Nothing caught my attention, it sounded like homogenized generic prog.
They've been coming up in my Amazon.com recommendations for a long time. I've listened to samples a few times, and checked out a few youtube videos but never really felt compelled to pull the trigger. The track Elite submitted was OK, but like the other stuff I've heard it didn't really leave me wanting to hear more.
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SONG SENT!!
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I've got half the submissions for round 3 so far. :)
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Sent.
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Sent... hopefully I'm not milking this cow too much. But Barry seems to like the juice, so I'm optimistic my upward trend will continue.
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Sorry dude, I've tasted that particular milk already :lol
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Sent.
Yeah, that was actually an excellent pick, except, I own the album. I posted a thread here about them when I bought it. :)
But you're definitely on the right track in terms of style and sound. That's right in my wheelhouse.
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Sorry dude, I've tasted that particular milk already :lol
There must be at least 2/3 overlap in our library! This is maddening :marriageanalogy:
reloading, and going with a band already confirmed to be good ... just gotta figure out which song.
Edit... and over the fence to you Captain.
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I'll send something when I get home. I'll actually be home tonight...I almost forgot what that is like.
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Sent.
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I'm actually not sure how to submit 10 songs that he don't know or that haven't been submitted yet... :lol
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Sent.
Yeah, that was actually an excellent pick, except, I own the album. I posted a thread here about them when I bought it. :)
But you're definitely on the right track in terms of style and sound. That's right in my wheelhouse.
Shit, I couldn't find it in your list. Well, let me find something else. You're absolutely right that the band is awesome :P
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Sent.
Where did you send it? I didn't get anything from you.
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I have a suggestion, just to prevent wasting your time sending me stuff I already have, you should shoot me a quick email (or PM) first to make sure I don't have what you intend to send.
There have been several submissions this round of music I already own. Granted, those are not on my iPod list, but my iPod is 64GB and between my CD collection (about 1200 discs) my cassette collection (around 500 of these) and my vinyl collection (about 100 of these) my iPod is in no way comprehensive.
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Sent.
Where did you send it? I didn't get anything from you.
oops... really?!
let me check!
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OK, I've got everyone's submissions now. Thank you once again for all of your efforts. I know I have a rather vast collection of music and pretty specific tastes, but you folks have really zeroed in on me quite remarkably. In fact, the submissions in the last two rounds have been so good that I've already purchased 3 albums! Two of them from THIS round :lol
I won't let the cat out of the bag on that until Monday when I post my results, but if this keeps up I can easily see myself buying at least another half dozen albums before this is even over with :hat
Listening Mode: Engaged (https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/knh.gif)
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Looks like were doing our job then bro. Also, at the end please list all albums purchased from the roulette.
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Ooh, goodie, can;t wait for the results :)
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Round 4 sent this morning.
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Round 4 sent this morning.
Eager beaver!
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Dr. DTVT
Band: Cairo
Album: Cairo
Song: Silent Winter
Cairo is a progressive rock band formed in 1994 in San Francisco, USA. Their music is in the same vein as that of classic prog bands like ELP, Yes and Genesis, but with a slightly more modern sound, particularly the keyboard patches. The music is definitely keyboard driven, and a bit of research on them revealed that they are essentially a 3-piece with keys, drums and bass, using session players and guests to fill in the guitar parts. I like the song, the melodies were good, the vocals were good, the keyboard playing was good, the instrumentation was good, the production values were good, but it didn't WOW me. I'll probably check them out further down the road a bit.
Score: 7
Elite
Band: Persona Non Grata
Album: Quantum Leap
Song: Imaginative Mind
Quantum Leap is the second album from Greek progmetalers Persona Non Grata. This is a pure slab of straight up progmetal in the Dream Theater/Fates Warning vein, with maybe a bit of a darker edge here and there. The vocalist here is really good, his voice displays range, character, emotion and excellent pitch control. This band doesn't break any new ground in the genre, but the music is well-crafted, the production sounds crisp and the song was interesting enough to put this band on my list of bands that I definitely need to check further into.
Score: 8
ich bin besser
Band: Lazuli
Album: 4603 Battements
Song: Je Te Laisse Ce Monde
Lazuli is apparently a French progressive rock band formed in Southern France in 1998 by Claude and Dominique Leonetti. I had a very difficult time listening to this song for a few reasons. First off, the music is definitely way out of my comfort zone. Secondly, the vocals are not sung in English. Now, I fully realize that some people believe this should not be a disqualifying factor and that I should probably judge the music on its own merits. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. I strongly prefer that the music I listen to be sung in a language I can understand and that is English. I'm also not into the sort of quasi-electronica soundscapes this group lays down. Basically, there was not much here for me to like.
Score: 5
jingle.boy
Band: Freedom Call
Album: Crystal Empire
Song: Ocean
Freedom Call is a German power metal band featuring Daniel Zimmermann (Gamma Ray). "Crystal Empire" is their second album, from 2001. It features a driving double-bass drum beat and gigantic sing-a-long choruses with layers and layers of vocals made to sound like a full orchestra. It's got a big, huge epic feel to it. There was nothing new here regarding the genre, but I found it to be a pleasant song that I enjoyed listening to.
Score: 7
lonestar
Band: Absolute Priority
Album: Hunter
Song: Fear of the Night
Absolute Priority is an Italian progressive metal band with all the fixin's. They've got the crunchy guitars, the keyboards and synths, the drummer, and a killer vocalist. The music is heavy yet melodic, the instrumentation is interesting and compelling. While they are not going to win any awards for innovation, that's not necessarily a band thing. These guys are smokin' musicians, the guitar player is particularly impressive with the solo in this song definitely in the jaw-dropping category. Definitely a band I am going to end up making a purchase from. Excellent.
Score: 8.5
nekov
Band: Iron Savior
Album: Megatropolis
Song: Megatropolis
Iron Savior is a German power metal band headed up by multi-instrumentalist and producer/engineer Piet Sielck. The music is really good, with great guitar riffs and a driving beat, and solid overall instrumentation. If it were not for the lead vocalist, I probably would have enjoyed this quite a bit more, but I found the scratchy, gravel-ish vocal stylings of the singer to be pretty off-putting. I suppose if I listened a bit longer it would be something I could adapt to, but I'm not sure. It's too bad, because the guitar playing was quite good with a cool dueling guitar solo that merged into a harmony guitar solo as kind of the centerpiece of the song.
Score: 7
obscure
Band: Souljourners
Album: Mind Control
Song: The Avenger
Souljourners are an unsigned group of youngsters (at the time of recording the entire band was under 22 years of age from what I could glean off the internet) and they have self-produced something that is truly unique in the genre of progressive metal. The music sits on the fence between progressive metal and popular metal. The vocalist sounds a bit like __________________(insert current radio-friendly pop-metal band here) but that is not a bad thing at all. Musically, these guys have written an outstanding album. I wish they'd had a bit more advice in their production process, because the mastering is very hot, almost too hot, but I suppose I can live with it. The songwriting and instrumentation here is outstanding. I expect this band will be signed soon and many of us will be hearing more from them.
Score: 8
scorpion
Band: Distorted Harmony
Album: Utopia
Song: Blue
Distorted Harmony is a progressive metal band from Israel and Utopia is their debut release. It features 6 tracks, most of which are in the 7 to 9 minute range with the closing track clocking in at over 12 minutes. Musically, they blend quite a few influences which include the classic prog outfits like ELP, Genesis and Yes, but also more modern sounds like those of Pain of Salvation or Fates Warning. There are lots of interesting time signature changes here to keep the listener guessing, but also plenty of great melodies and hooks. I think this is another band that is going to break out in this genre at some point. Very high quality stuff here, any fan of progmetal should definitely check these guys out. I already bought the album, in fact.
Score: 9
TAC
Band: Constantine
Album: Divine Design
Song: The Darkest Grace
Constantine is a Finnish melodic progressive metal band. This song, The Darkest Grace, is great. I found the music to be extremely well-crafted and the instrumentation to be very well-executed. Some really, really great guitar work and the keyboard textures provide an excellent accompaniment. Musically I definitely heard influences of Dream Theater/Fates Warning/Iron Maiden. Some of the riffs here are just awesome head banging stuff. Instrumentally, it smokes. It's probably the best of this round in terms of music. Unfortunately, the vocalist is....not my cup of tea. Especially during the quieter parts of the music where the vocals are leading it. When the music picks up and the vocals take more of a back seat, and/or when there are backing vocals mixed in, it gets a bit better, but overall, I just can't take this guy's vocal style and sound and I don't think I could handle a full album of it.
Score: 7
wolfking
Band: Vision Divine
Album: Destination Set To Nowhere
Song: Beyond The Sun and Far Away
I really do love concept albums, doesn't matter what the topic is. This album, from German outfit Vision Divine doesn't disappoint on that front. It's about a group of people who leave Earth in search of a better world. Vocalist Fabio Lione (who is apparently new to the band), who did a very, very brief stint with Kamelot, is one of those high-register style vocalists, but he also sounds pretty good in the lower registers. What stands out here is the guitar and keyboard playing, which I really enjoyed. Although I have to admit the vocals are pretty well done as well. All in all, even though I've sort of heard of this band before and listened to a few samples from them on Amazon, I was surprised at how much I ended up liking this song after I heard it a few times. I will probably have to explore them further.
Score: 7.5
Leader Board:
obscure - 25.5
lonestar - 25.5
scorpion 23.5
TAC - 22.5
wolfking - 22.5
Dr. DTVT - 22
Elite - 21.5
jingle.boy - 21
nekov - 20.5
ich bin besser - 18.5
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Distorted Harmony is awesome.
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Distorted Harmony is awesome.
I bought the digital album. Listened to it once so far. Excellent stuff :hat
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Distorted Harmony and Constantine :heart I listened to Lazuli back when they got that album out but I don't remember any of it.
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:sad:
I can't seem to nail it.... I already know what to send next so let's hope everything goes well....
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:laugh:
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Kirk will definitely not like the vocals for Round 4 but I'm committed to the track, musically.
Kirk forgets that I PMd him last year some great Vision Divine tracks, including Beyond The Sun And Far Away.
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:sad:
I can't seem to nail it.... I already know what to send next so let's hope everything goes well....
Ditto. Time to get radical.
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Damn... :-\
But to my defense: Lazuli is probably the best live band I know. Love those guys!
Hmm, what to submit next... I really have to think about that. And it won't happen before Saturday, I fear. Very busy schedule this week - at work, but also concert-wise.
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And sent
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You know, I'd be doing so much better if you just loved the music I love the way I love it.
Oh, wait, you do for the most part - that's why I can't send my best gems... you have them all already!
Sent.
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Nice, trust me, one you hear the whole album, you'll be amazed. As thorough a concept album as any I've heard.
So Nem and I are tied for the lead, this is gonna be fun. :)
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exactly hun ;)
you or me.. all the same for me... :-*
I'm in....
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I'm in....
That's what he said.
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I may have to just kind of suck it up on the vocals for Constantine because musically, it's absolutely brilliant. I've gone back to that song a few times for an extra listen or two. The riffs and song craft are really outstanding. A pretty long track seems to go by pretty quickly, but that vocalist.. :|
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I'm in....
That's what he said.
But not what she felt
:neverusethis:
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I'm in....
That's what he said.
Oh my :rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin
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exactly hun ;)
you or me.. all the same for me... :-*
I'm in....
o/
:biggrin:
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I'm in....
That's what he said.
But not what she felt
:neverusethis:
Flawless victory. :clap:
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KirksNoseHair's Simple
Roulette Smut Thread
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Hmmm....I thought that song would have gotten a high score, can't seem to get a home run.
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Hmmm....I thought that song would have gotten a high score, can't seem to get a home run.
It's a great song Wolf. Mermaids would've probably been a little catchier.
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Hmmm....I thought that song would have gotten a high score, can't seem to get a home run.
It's a great song Wolf. Mermaids would've probably been a little catchier.
I was torn between this of Beyond. I don't know, Beyond just has an amazing chorus to me, I just like it better than Mermaids. The whole album is seriously amazing though.
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Yes it is!
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Sent man.
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Hmmm....I thought that song would have gotten a high score, can't seem to get a home run.
It's a great song Wolf. Mermaids would've probably been a little catchier.
I was torn between this of Beyond. I don't know, Beyond just has an amazing chorus to me, I just like it better than Mermaids. The whole album is seriously amazing though.
I definitely enjoyed it and I will probably end up getting at least one of their CDs, it's just that in the context of this roulette and this particular round, there were artists I liked more.
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Hmmm....I thought that song would have gotten a high score, can't seem to get a home run.
It's a great song Wolf. Mermaids would've probably been a little catchier.
I was torn between this of Beyond. I don't know, Beyond just has an amazing chorus to me, I just like it better than Mermaids. The whole album is seriously amazing though.
I definitely enjoyed it and I will probably end up getting at least one of their CDs, it's just that in the context of this roulette and this particular round, there were artists I liked more.
That's cool.
Song sent.
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Still waiting for round 4 subs from Elite and ich bin besser
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And you'll have to wait one more day. ;)
But I think there's no way I can submit 7 more songs that you don't know or that you'll like, based on the songs so far... So I'll give it one more shot and see what happens.
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And you'll have to wait one more day. ;)
But I think there's no way I can submit 7 more songs that you don't know or that you'll like, based on the songs so far... So I'll give it one more shot and see what happens.
I think there's only one more round after this ... at least the OP said 5 rounds.
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Yeah, I thought it was 5 rounds.
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Okay, I'll send something when I'm home (~6-7 hours). I can't guaranteed that you'll like it and I'm also almost out of stuff to send.
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OK, yeah, it's five rounds, just like I put in the OP. I'm afraid I won't be able to include your song on my listening CD, ich bin besser, which means I won't really get much of a chance to hear it before scoring it on Monday.
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I still got tons of tunes for ya Barry. :metal
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Gnarly, man
(https://www.kirksnosehair.com/Portals/0/images/smilies/headbang.gif)
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I still got tons of tunes for ya Barry. :metal
The well is fairly deep here too... though I seem to be throwing some whiff's.
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I still got tons of tunes for ya Barry. :metal
Well I don't! :lol
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:dunno:
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I still got tons of tunes for ya Barry. :metal
Well I don't! :lol
Me neither... Guess I pass.
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And we have our first casualty :lol
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Which probably makes it easier for you to judge.. Results when? :)
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Results today, but much later in the day. I didn't get all the songs until the end of the week.
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:tup
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Sounds good :)
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Round 5 sent this morning.
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Dr. DTVT
Band: Power of Omens
Album: Eyes Of The Oracle
Song: Test of Wills
Power of Omens is a San Antonio, TX based technical progressive metal band with two albums, both of which have submissions in this round. Since the submissions came in at almost the same exact moment, and were from two different albums, I decided to keep them both and just try to judge them on their merits. First impressions, particularly from the second submission were to think of a band with a remarkably similar sound/style to early/mid-era Fates Warning (post-Arch era). "Test of Wills" is a sprawling 19:55 epic that I honestly did not have enough time to fully absorb, but which I definitely found a great deal of enjoyment in listening. I have really not heard anything quite like this band. This is not music for those who do not wish to be challenged with the task of what I often refer to as "active listening" for one must truly engage in and perhaps even study a piece like "Test of Wills" to fully realize it. Sadly, the album appears to be out of print. Because I'd really love to hear the entire album, but I'm not ready to plunk down $39.95 for a used copy from someone on Amazon.com. I probably would have scored this a 10 if it were a bit more condensed, but even as it is, this is one amazing slab of art.
Score: 9.5
Elite
Band: Mr. Bungle
Album: California
Song: RetroVertigo
Mr. Bungle is an experimental band from Eureka, CA, formed in 1985 by some high school kids. They are known for genre-hopping and the use of a variety of instruments and samples in their music. I have heard of them and seen them mentioned here and elsewhere, but never felt compelled to buy any of their music upon hearing samples of their output on YouTube. The track "RetroVertigo" served as confirmation for me that this is not a band that I would have a lot of interest in pursuing. I did not find anything about it particularly interesting or moving and frequently found myself wanting to fast-forward to the end of the track to move on to the next song on my disc. Sorry, Elite, but this was a swing and a miss.
Score: 5
ich bin besser
Band: none
Album: none
Song: none
ich bin besser has dropped out of the competition after 3 rounds
Score: 0
jingle.boy
Band: Mystery
Album: The World is a Game
Song: Pride
Mystery is a Canadian progressive rock band formed in 1986 by guitarist/keyboard player Michel St-Père. "The World is a Game" is their latest album. Since 1999, noted vocalist Benoit David (often compared to Jon Anderson of Yes) has taken the role of lead vocalist in Mystery. Musically, the song "Pride" is a meandering slice of progressive rock in the vein of Transatlantic, early Spock's Beard, or Gabriel-era Genesis. It features plenty of big, huge bass-pedal-soaked soundscapes and soaring guitar solos blanketed in warm analog synths and strings. Michel's songwriting is really very good and I'm actually not sure why I haven't checked this band out yet, since I've had several conversations with Michel about potentially featuring him on a song or two in my own band's next album. This is quality prog rock and I will likely end up buying this album.
Score: 8.5
lonestar
Band: The Omega Experiment
Album: The Omega Experiment
Song: Karma
The Omega Experiment is a 2-man technical progmetal band from Michigan. This is a self-produced album and all things considered, I'm extremely impressed with it. Impressed enough that I will very likely buy the MP3 album from Amazon.com. This is not quite as challenging a listen as previous entry Power of Omens, but it's close. And considering the self-produced aspect, and the fact that I'm listening to an MP3 file, the production values are, frankly, amazing. Musically, it runs the gamut from fast and technical (I can haz blast beatz?) to melodic and orchestral. The occasional and very sparing use of harsh vocals was a little bit of a turn off since I am not a fan of grunting and screaming, but it was used infrequently enough that I could definitely withstand it provided the rest of the album features it at this level. This is a crowded genre that's overflowing with mediocrity and garbage, and this band managed to put together a sound that, while clearly influenced by others, they've also managed to sound pretty unique.
Score: 8.5
nekov
Band: Genius
Album: Episode I - A Human Into Dream's World
Song: There's a Human
This album is part one of a trilogy written by Daniele Liverani. This song is a straight-up power-metal rocker. My research on the album itself seems to indicate that both the album and the arist/composer are highly regarded in the prog rock community, but this song may not be the best overall representation of the body of work as a whole. I think it's difficult to judge a conceptual piece on the merits of just a single track, but nonetheless, based on this track and the strength of the vocal delivery, I am interested in exploring it further. I don't think there's anything particularly innovative or unique about it, but it sounded pretty cool to me.
Score: 8
obscure
Band: Reign of the Architect
Album: Rise
Song: Leaking Wounds
"Rise" is a very recently released album (April 16, 2013) by symphonic progressive metal band Reign of the Architect. From the band's official website: "Reign of the Architect started as a multinational studio project in October 2008. A cooperation between Yuval Kramer, guitarist of the highly acclaimed Israeli metal band AMASEFFER and Mexican drummer Mauricio Bustamante with the basic storyline written by the Israeli metal singer Yotam ‘Defiler’ Avni, the lead death metal singer of PREY FOR NOTHING. They wrote ROTA’s debut album ‘Rise’, a Sci-Fi concept album, only by e-mailing each other combining their own regional musical influences, such as Mediterranean and Latin music, as well as film soundtracks into the language of progressive metal."
The track "Leaking Wounds" is the 6th track on the album. It's got an immediacy and urgency to it that I find hard to describe. It's probably the main riff. Overall I enjoyed it although I found the vocal delivery to be a little bit too over the top by the time the song came to a conclusion. Still, it's pretty good.
Score: 7.5
Scorpion
Band: Power of Omens
Album: Rooms of Anguish
Song: As Winter Falls
As with the first submission, this one reminds me of Fates Warning, probably even more than the first submission, mostly due to the intro to this song. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will buy it. The music is breathtaking and jarring. The drumming in particular is amazing. Unexpected. Unnerving. The vocals are awesome and the guitar player. I think he's a fucking octopus or something. I really would love to hear this in the context of the entire album.
Score: 9.5
TAC
Band: Glass Mind
Album: Haunting Regrets
Song: Your Name In Silence
Glass Mind is an unsigned progressive metal band apparently from Mexico. "Haunting Regrets" is, from what I could find online, their only album. The song "Your Name In Silence" is the 4th track from this album. I found a lot to like here and will probably explore this band further. Musically, it's melodic and progressive with plenty of keys, a lot of great guitar playing and the songwriting is solid. Vocals, while not bad were a bit difficult to understand. I'm not sure if it was due to an accent or the production, but it didn't make too much difference in my enjoyment. Overall, I like it. Not too much else to comment on at this point. Quality stuff.
Score: 8.5
wolfking
Band: Sieges Even
Album: Paramount
Song: Tidal
Sieges Even were a progressive rock band (some refer to them as progressive metal, but I'm still not sure why) from Munich, Germany. They split in 2008 and some of the members went on to form the prog rock band Subsignal. Paramount is their 7th album, released in 2007. The song Tidal is the second track from that album. I found this music to be very engaging, with an interesting arrangement and great vocals, particularly the vocal harmonies. It reminded me a bit of early Spock's Beard or maybe Transatlantic. After I had listened to it a few times, I thought it sounded somewhat familiar and as it turns out I did own their 1991 album "A Sense of Change" but that album features a different lead vocalist and the style was quite a bit different than this album. I don't know that I'd be rushing out to buy this album, but I did enjoy it.
Score: 8
Leader Board:
lonestar - 34
obscure - 33
scorpion 33
Dr. DTVT - 31.5
TAC - 31
wolfking - 30.5
jingle.boy - 29.5
nekov - 28.5
Elite - 26.5
ich bin besser - 18.5
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Kirk. I'm glad you liked the Glass Mind track. It's a great album. I thought I was definitely going to lose points because of the vocalist, but he really sings that song with emotion. Sounds like Burnt Offerings era Matt Barlow. Haunting Regrets is a great album.
In Round 3 I lost points for the Constantine track because of vocals. On the track I sent, he sounds a little like Axl Rose, but the rest of the album it sounds like if John Arch sang on No Exit. Don't give up on them untill you try a few more songs.
I would've assumed that Power Of Omens was off limits. Anyway, yes, the drumming is incredible. But it's so busy, I find it very distracting.
I submitted THE SHREDDER for Round 5. Going out in Metal style
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Kirk. I'm glad you liked the Glass Mind track. It's a great album. I thought I was definitely going to lose points because of the vocalist, but he really sings that song with emotion. Sounds like Burnt Offerings era Matt Barlow. Haunting Regrets is a great album.
In Round 3 I lost points for the Constantine track because of vocals. On the track I sent, he sounds a little like Axl Rose, but the rest of the album it sounds like if John Arch sang on No Exit. Don't give up on them untill you try a few more songs.
I would've assumed that Power Of Omens was off limits. Anyway, yes, the drumming is incredible. But it's so busy, I find it very distracting.
I submitted THE SHREDDER for Round 5. Going out in Metal style
Yeah, it's very busy, but something about it drew me in, probably the vocals in combination with the similarities to mid-era Fates Warning, which I really enjoyed.
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Wow ... Solid round. PoO and Sieges Even I both love. You're writeuos on all the others leave me very intrigued.
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Well, I knew sending something out of a concept album was gonna be a bit hard but I sure am glad you liked it and you'll enjoy the whole work for sure.
I'll see what I send next... I'll probably go out on a limb since it's the last round
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Sieges Even :heart
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Hey Mason, thanks for introducing me to Power of Omens. :D
Anyway, final round sent. No matter the result, I had a lot of fun and I hope you did as well with my submissions, Barry. :metal
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Sent
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Sieges Even :heart
:metal
Man, there's some interesting bands that round that I need to check out I think.
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How the hell do I still get 5/10 if you continuously wanted to skip the track? :lol
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How the hell do I still get 5/10 if you continuously wanted to skip the track? :lol
Yeah, you're probably lucky Ichy Bin didn't beat you! :lol
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Sieges Even :heart
:metal
For everyone who loves prog, soft atmospheric stuff and is easily moved by good lyrics, The Art Of Navigating By The Stars is an album that will change your life. It changed mine.
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Sieges Even :heart
:metal
For everyone who loves prog, soft atmospheric stuff and is easily moved by good lyrics, The Art Of Navigating By The Stars is an album that will change your life. It changed mine.
Yeah, that's a special album, amazing sounds and atmosphere, and perfectly performed and written.
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Just want to say I'm very pleased to see tons of IQ on your list Barry. :tup
And sent!!!
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I corrected a mistake in my scoring. Not sure what happened there, but the correction puts lonestar, um, all.....er....alone :P at the top of the leader board
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:RJ:
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Damn, how could I forget Sieges Even? :facepalm:
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Calling:
Elite
Scorpion
Wolfking
Everyone else is set for the final round.
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Right, sending now.
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Re-sent.
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Scorpion's all set, I didn't get anything from you, Elite, you may want to try again.
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Ok, I just did a little investigating, and holy crap that Genius trilogy is genius. I gotta pimp the guest vocalist list across the three albums - Lande, Allen, Gildenlow, Gioelli, Eric Martin, Lana Lane, DC Cooper, Toby Hitchcock, Mark Boals, Edu, Steve Walsh, Oliver Hartmann among others. It's a who's who of all my favorite vocalists. Everyone in this roulette should check it out - and for the non-Spotify crowd, all three are up on Grooveshark.
:tup :tup to Diego on this one.
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:D
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Scorpion's all set, I didn't get anything from you, Elite, you may want to try again.
My bad, sent again. Did you get it now? :)
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Ok, I just did a little investigating, and holy crap that Genius trilogy is genius. I gotta pimp the guest vocalist list across the three albums - Lande, Allen, Gildenlow, Gioelli, Eric Martin, Lana Lane, DC Cooper, Toby Hitchcock, Mark Boals, Edu, Steve Walsh, Oliver Hartmann among others. It's a who's who of all my favorite vocalists. Everyone in this roulette should check it out - and for the non-Spotify crowd, all three are up on Grooveshark.
:tup :tup to Diego on this one.
I only have the third one I think, but it's incredible.
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Scorpion's all set, I didn't get anything from you, Elite, you may want to try again.
My bad, sent again. Did you get it now? :)
Yeah, you're all set.
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Song sent again.
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OK, everyone's all set, disc is burned, and it's a long weekend. Results will be posted on Tuesday :hat
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:birch:
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OK, everyone's all set, disc is burned, and it's a long weekend. Results will be posted on Tuesday :hat
:caffeine:
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It's Tuesday already OMG why are there no results!!!! :P
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Dr. DTVT
Band: Worlds
Song: The Fifth Wheel
Album: Out of The Cold
Worlds is a progressive rock band from Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was a challenge to find anything about this band on the internet. Their MySpace page looks like it hasn't been updated in a few years and I was unable to find their CD anywhere. That's a shame because I enjoyed the song quite a bit. They appear to be unsigned and I'd estimate that the lack of label support manifests itself a tiny bit in the somewhat anemic sounding production values on the recording. However, with that said, there's a lot to like here. If you took classic-era Rush and combined it with Yes you might have a sound similar to what Worlds sounds like. It's too bad they haven't been promoted more, because there's a ton of potential here.
Score: 8.5
Elite
Band: Jeff Buckley
Album: Grace
Song: Grace
Jeff Buckley is an American sing/song writer/guitarist. He released on full studio album, titled "Grace" before he died in an accidental drowning in 1997 at the age of 30. His music reminds me a little bit of Neal Morse's first two solo albums, although it's more guitar-oriented than piano-oriented. Although Elite thought I might not like this, and while I admit I wasn't exactly crazy about it, the music was actually quite nice. It's probably not something I'd rush out to buy right away, but that's not a quality judgement. I found the music to be quite melodic and sort of uplifting in feel. I don't have a whole lot to say about it other than it's not bad at all.
Score: 7.5
jingle.boy
Band: Toxic Smile
Album: Retrotox Forte
Song: Raised
Toxic Smile is a German Progressive metal band formed in 1996. The album "Retrotox Forte" is their second album. The composition is quite reminiscent of Dream Theater's early output in that it's quite complicated with quite a few time-signature changes and odd meter riffs. This is among the best submissions I've received in this roulette. This album will shoot straight to the top of my "to buy" list. Musically, I found this to be a bit more eclectic than standard prog/metal, and given that the musicians in this band have a lot of jazz influences, that's not too surprising. Good stuff here.
Score: 9.5
lonestar
Band: Incura
Album: The Lost EP
Song: Here to Blame
Incura bill themselves as a "Theatrical Hard Rock" band and they are from Vancouver, BC. Seems they have yet to release a full, proper album and have undergone numerous lineup adjustments since their inception, but they've managed to carve out a niche for themselves in the Canada progressive rock scene. Musically, it's pretty chuggy, with a vocalist that reminds me a little bit of Pat Monahan (Train) at times. I will have to take their word for it on the "theatrical" description since it's difficult to form such an opinion from a single 4-minute track, but it was definitely good enough that I would like to hear more from them.
Score: 8
nekov
Band: Von Hertzen Brothers
Album: Nine Lives
Song: Insomniac
Von Hertzen Brothers is a Finnish prog rock/prog metal band made up of three brothers. They cite Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Pink Floyd among their influences. This track certainly reminded me of the first two, not so much Pink Floyd, but I'm guessing other songs on their album have more ambient tones/moods. I must say, this was a bit out of my comfort zone and I was taken by surprise at first. I wasn't sure what to make of it after a couple of spins. But the more I listened to it, the more I got accustomed to the melodies, which are definitely not standard fare. This music challenges the listener a bit, but pays great dividends to those who rise to that challenge. A bit inaccessible to start, but downright catchy by the time I'd had 4 or 5 listens. Very cool grooves and riffs with very interesting melodies and excellent musicianship all around. Will definitely be exploring these guys further.
Score: 9
obscure
Band: Tellus Requiem
Album: Tellus Requiem
Song: Oblivion
Tellus Requiem is a Norwegian symphonic/neo-classical(ish) progressive metal band comparable to old-school Symphony X in some ways. Crazy-killer guitar soloing and keyboard soloing. Crushing riffs and big, huge orchestral production values. I very much enjoyed the music these guys delivered. The one thing that I found a bit off-putting was the vocalist. Not that he's a bad vocalist. But as you've all seen from this roulette, I am finicky when it comes to vocals. This guy's timbre was a little on the nasally side for me and I found it very difficult to understand what he was singing. But those are really minor gripes and I think the music definitely makes this a band worth checking out.
Score: 8
Scorpion
Band: Tetrafusion
Album: Horizons EP
Song: Spider Silk
Tetrafusion is a progressive metal band from Louisiana. The Horizons EP, from which the submitted track is taken, plays like one long continuous track that moves and weaves itself into and out of various moods and feels. I found the music to be extremely well-crafted, although slightly repetitive at times. They made me think that if Dream Theater were to morph into a djent-style band, this might be what they sound like, with the exception of the vocals, which were a bit on the bland side. Tetrafusion's strength is definitely in their compositions. I've downloaded their Horizons EP, which is free on their bandcamp page and have enjoyed listening to it.
Score: 8
TAC
Band: Hibria
Album: Defying The Rules
Song: Millennium Quest
Hibria is a heavy/speed metal band from Brazil, known for their speed and technical prowess. They cite bands such as Metallica, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, etc as influences. It's easy to hear why. The music is heavy, riff-oriented, double-bass-driven, with some pretty cool breaks in there featuring twin harmony guitars (a la Iron Maiden) and even a twist of Neo-classical influences in the ripping guitar solos, complete with sweep arpeggios and harmonized diminished scale runs. I will probably buy this album just to hear the rest of the guitar solos and the riffs. I also found the vocalist to be quite good.
Score: 8.5
wolfking
Band: Seven Tears
Album: In Every Frozen Tear
Song: Hollow Ground
This was an interesting submission. A really heavy sounding yet melodic song with some extremely cliche lyrics, delivered by a somewhat gruff-sounding vocalist with quite a bit of power but not a lot of range. I enjoyed the song, but at the same time thought I was listening to a demo whenever it came up. Dull-sounding production didn't help either. It's too bad, because the chorus was pretty good and the song was decent overall.
Score: 7.5
Final Score:
lonestar - 42
obscure - 41
scorpion 41
Dr. DTVT - 40
TAC - 39.5
jingle.boy - 39
wolfking - 38
nekov - 37.5
Elite - 34
ich bin besser - 18.5
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55966936/Fun/lonestar.gif)
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:woot: Didn't finish in last!! Congrats to RJ... he's on a bit of a roll lately in Roulette's. :clap:
"eclectic" is an excellent way of describing Toxic Smile. Had a feeling you'd be all over that one.
Now I gotta go check the songs I didn't know (Worlds, Hibria and 7 Tears.)
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Congrats Chef, you showed the lady how it's done ;D
Regarding VHB, I'd say that's one of their most accessible songs of them so I'm not sure what you'll find when you check them out but then again it's obvious you have a different taste than mine so you may find the rest of their work to be easier to listen to.
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Well, Top 5 in THIS group is OK in my book. I'll take it.
Plus NO song got rejected. I still can't believe it!
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Second place ain't too shabby. I had hoped that RJ would stumble in the last round a little, granting me a victory or at least a tie, but congrats nevertheless. Here to Blame is a fantastic track, I thought about sending it, but I wasn't sure if the vocalist would appeal to Barry.
Thanks for hosting this Barry! I had a lot of fun. Now go and enjoy the shit ton of new awesome music. :birch:
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Yeah, I've got my work cut out for me and enough spending in my future that I should put in a few hours of O.T. here at work to cover the costs :lol
BIG THANK YOU to everyone for playing! It was a lot of fun! :yarr
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Fuckin' A bro!!!! Sweet!!! That's a hell of a group of participants, you all are awesome. Got a ton of checking out to do.
Thanks for running a class A roulette, and happy listening.
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jingle.boy
Band: Toxic Smile
Album: Retrotox Forte
Song: Raised
Toxic Smile is a German Progressive metal band formed in 1996. The album "Retrotox Forte" is their second album. The composition is quite reminiscent of Dream Theater's early output in that it's quite complicated with quite a few time-signature changes and odd meter riffs. This is among the best submissions I've received in this roulette. This album will shoot straight to the top of my "to buy" list. Musically, I found this to be a bit more eclectic than standard prog/metal, and given that the musicians in this band have a lot of jazz influences, that's not too surprising. Good stuff here.
Score: 9.5
Okay, I admit that I don't know you well enough, Barry... I thought of submitting a TS tune (like this band a lot and seen them live, too), but I thought you'd prefer the harder stuff in this roulette... Oh well... I should have continued... :lol
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No worries, bro :biggrin:
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Btw, it's not their 2nd album: https://www.toxic-smile.de/DISCOGRAPHY.html
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Thanks for having me Barry :heart
Congrats ma darling :-* :-* :-*
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Thanks Lady. Any success I have in roulettes is a shared one. ;)
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Congrats to the champ.
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Btw, it's not their 2nd album: https://www.toxic-smile.de/DISCOGRAPHY.html (https://www.toxic-smile.de/DISCOGRAPHY.html)
heh, I never found that page. I'll have to check out some of that other stuff
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Oh, and some German proggers call Steven Wilson "the Marek Arnold of the West". Marek is originally from Eastern Germany and has a lot of projects going on. Very prolific (Toxic Smile, Seven Steps To The Green Door, Flaming Row...). Great guy and musician!
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Marek was also on Shawn Gordon/Henning Pauly's Psychic for Radio project I believe... along with Martin Orford and a few other quasi-household prog names (guys from Prymary, Fates, Gekko Projekt...)