Nick's Roulette: Final Results Posted

[Nick]

BOOYAH!!!!

Awesome.  I had a few ideas regarding what to send, but this song kept popping back into my head.  Glad you liked it Nick.  Sieges Even have really evolved over the years.  I love their last two albums the most.  Tidal is from their last album Paramount.  This probably is the best song on the album, but the whole album is filled with great playing and atmoshpere and some terrific melodies.  Their album before Navigating By The Stars is tremendous also.

Surprised Nick didn't mention the musical similarities to Rush in the instrumental break of "Tidal," especially dat bass.  Sounds so much like Geddy.

I shall have to re-listen.

As for the scoring on Ytse, it was technically 2 seconds over as I said songs should be under 7 minutes, meaning no greater than 6:59.59, but it doesn't matter either way. I didn't want to let it go this round only to have someone go 5 or 10 seconds over later and then complain, either gotta keep to the rule or not have it at all. In any case I don't think the song would have gotten more than 2 or 3 points anyway so it was a good time to make the mistake.

[Ravenheart]

I sent a black man beating a drum.

[wolfking]

BOOYAH!!!!

Awesome.  I had a few ideas regarding what to send, but this song kept popping back into my head.  Glad you liked it Nick.  Sieges Even have really evolved over the years.  I love their last two albums the most.  Tidal is from their last album Paramount.  This probably is the best song on the album, but the whole album is filled with great playing and atmoshpere and some terrific melodies.  Their album before Navigating By The Stars is tremendous also.

Surprised Nick didn't mention the musical similarities to Rush in the instrumental break of "Tidal," especially dat bass.  Sounds so much like Geddy.

Good observation, quite Rush indeed.  Oliver is such a fucking amazing bass player.

[YtseBitsySpider]

YBS, your description sounds like the band in this thread.  Have you listened to them (or anyone esle in the thread?  I bought the album based on what I heard).

I will check out that thread and that band.
I thought Nick had long known and enjoyed Karnivool.
Deadman, and Change are fantastic tunes.

The challenge for me in this roulette is finding stuff he hasn't heard. His collection of music eclipses mine probably 4 or 5 fold.  But, perhaps some instructions to Nick, as this is his first roulette.
The purpose of game is to introduce to music you may not have heard before. You may not like it, you may hate it, you may love. The most important part is to keep an open mind in your reviewing.
This is why I haven't run my own yet. I don't have an open mind "right now". I'm very opposed to anything with any kind of wishy washy, weak whiny vocal sound. Im into harsh brutal up tempo power.

[jingle.boy]

Holy schneiky did I just take the mother of all risks with my submission.

The challenge for me in this roulette is finding stuff he hasn't heard.

On this, I agree... and believe I am in the same predicament.

The purpose of game is to introduce to music you may not have heard before.

Agreed, but it doesn't necessarily need to be a whole different style or genre diverging from one's core tastes.  Given the group here, we're mostly prog/rock enthusiasts.  Seth and Z probably are more radical than you, Mason, Wolf or I (from what I can tell from previous roulette's and top 50s).  Given our tastes, maybe that's all that Nick wants ... to get exposure deeper into prog/rock.  Who knows?

Or maybe I'm just nutty from a little jet-lag and only 1 cup of coffee so far this morning.

[wolfking]

It's hard to actually decide what to send each time as usually there are so many options.  And I also wonder what you guys might send and how my picks might stack up.  And you guys are right, it's difficult to know what Nick is actually looking for.  He might want something different or he might want more of the same.  I guess that's why he chose us, he knows he'll get a broad spectrum.  Maybe he has no preference what he wants, he might just want new music, no matter what it is.

Also, song for round 2 has been sent.  Not sure about this one.

[YtseBitsySpider]

well...I believe he's not big into screamers or hard core thrashy metal.

So.

I sent him some Killswitch Engage.
Who's singer....I think is black.

[wolfking]

He sure is.  Howard Jones.  Fucking great singer.

[Dr. DTVT]

I don't think Nick isn't against thrash metal, but growls are a definite no-no for him.  I kind of lucked into my choice as I wasn't really aware the main guy was black until last week, and my second choice would have done well too I believe, although I thought I might get dinged for making another safe choice.

[ariich]

Sent'd.

[jingle.boy]

I don't think Nick isn't against thrash metal, but growls are a definite no-no for him.

Depends on the context of the song I suppose.  Rage of Despair is all about the growl/screams; Dan Swano does some good growling on both Star One discs too.  And we know how he feels about those albums 

I'm not a fan of scream/growls either, but they have their place/moments. 

[Nick]

First off, Seth is holding everything up now!

As for musical exploration. Yes, I'm hoping to get some stuff I haven't heard before and expand my musical grounds. HOWEVER. I warn you now that the farther you move away from my usual stuff the less of a chance it has. This isn't from not having an open mind, it's just that if I had found other stuff was more interesting to me I obviously would have moved that direction more already. I generally don't like growls or screams but I have a round that is themed around that coming up, perhaps even next.

At the end of the day it really is a toss up, something you think it really good but that I'll also enjoy.

[Dr. DTVT]

I warn you now that the farther you move away from my usual stuff the less of a chance it has. This isn't from not having an open mind, it's just that if I had found other stuff was more interesting to me I obviously would have moved that direction more already.

While I listen to a slightly wider range of music (I'm not opposed to growling if it works / is done right), I love this statement.

[wolfking]

I warn you now that the farther you move away from my usual stuff the less of a chance it has. This isn't from not having an open mind, it's just that if I had found other stuff was more interesting to me I obviously would have moved that direction more already.

While I listen to a slightly wider range of music (I'm not opposed to growling if it works / is done right), I love this statement.

Agree.

[jingle.boy]

I generally don't like growls or screams but I have a round that is themed around that coming up, perhaps even next.

ah crap.  Me = screwed.

[Dr. DTVT]

Are we waiting on Rapekins or Nick?

[Nick]

Still waiting on Seth.

[ClairvoyantCat]

Sorry, I'm busy as all fuck this weekend, but things will clear up right afterward.  Sent. 

[Nick]

Sweet, I'll try and have things updated tonight.

[Nick]

Raven: Alice in Chains – Your Decision (4 pt)
HERE THEY COME TO SNUFF THE ROOSTER!!! Sorry, had to get that out of my system. Song pretty much sounds like what I’ve come to expect from Alice in Chains and as such was enjoyable to me but nothing out of the ordinary.

DTVT: Animals as Leaders – Isolated Incidents (7 pt)
Some instrumental goodness right here. Kinda went outside the bounds of other instrumental music I have for the most part. I like how well layered it is, and how the mind is focused on everything easily even when there is a clear lead part, you manage to hear it but easily access the full picture as well. 

Rich: Animals as Leaders – Song of Solomon (6 pt)
They say great minds think alike. Apparently so do the minds of Mason and Rich. I prefer the previous AsL track because this one doesn’t seem to breathe as well, a tad too busy. Still manages to be a pretty kickass instrumental track, but perhaps a few figurative knobs were turned to 11 when they did not have to be.

JB: Artists Against Apartheid – Sun City (1 pt)
JB wasn’t kidding when he said he was taking a shot with this one. The message of the song is certainly a good one, but this quite simply sounds like a genre that shouldn’t be on the Disney Channel twisted so it could be on the Disney Channel. The song certainly could have appeal to certain groups, but I’m just not in that group.

Seth: Enter the Hunt – Alone (9 pt)
There are times that this song reminds me of why I love Anathema. Perhaps a bit heavier than typical Anathema, but there is a certain edge to the song that just goes straight to my heart. Song isn’t very diverse, beat never really varies, but I can’t help just loving the melodies from start to finish on this one. Production seems a tad lacking, but that’s about my only complaint.

PC: Kanye West – Slow Jams (2 pt)
Well this was certainly… interesting. Admittedly my knowledge of Kanye ends at his popular meme and South Park’s amazing episode about him, and after this I feel that I can crawl happily back into that bubble. I’m not going to say there weren’t things to like about this song, but they were hard to find amongst a lot of stuff that I simply didn’t enjoy.

YBS: Killswitch Engage – My Curse (5 pt)
I think this would be one hell of a workout song. Love the instrumental intro prior to the vocals, and generally the parts with clean vocals I really enjoyed. And I certainly dug a lot of the energy behind the sections with some screaming, but as is often the case I think the screaming was used too liberally. The guitar work in parts of the song really reminds me of Scale the Summit.

Wolf: The Mob – One Track Mind (8 pt)
This helped me remember another band in my arsenal I actually know with a black dude, King’s X. Doug Pinnick seems to bring some of the best grooviness from King’s X to this side-project track. As with King’s X I can really imagine this being quite awesome live, and as is I find it to be quite an awesome track.

Updated Standings
King: 9+8 = 17
Chemmie: 8+7 = 15
Dethklok10: 6+9 = 15
Bad Teeth: 4+6 = 10
Zander: 5+4 = 9
Kim Jong Il: 7+1 = 8
Spidey: 1+5 = 6
Tingle: 2+2 = 4

[YtseBitsySpider]

Wow now Tony MacAlpine........

[Nick]

As a little side game for this next round, along with your submission I ask you to pick a number between 1 and 8. Basically you've all been assigned a random number. If you pick your own number you get 3 bonus points. If you pick the mirror of your number (1/8, 2/7, 3/6, 4/5), then that person gets 2 bonus points. If you pick any of the other 6 possibly numbers that person loses a point.

Round 3: Grow(l) on Me
It's not huge secret I generally don't like growling or screaming. However there are some exceptions. I believe that they can be used sparingly very effectively. Examples include a lot of Amorphis material, some Riverside songs, some Ayreon and even a few tracks on the new James LaBrie album. My point is that is small amounts, used as a proper accent to clean vocals I think that harsh vocals can really improve a song. Now I don't actually expect a lot of growling to grow on me, but I hope we can expand the amount of bands I'm familiar with that can use it well in songs. If a song is over half growling or screaming it's automatically going to get dropped to the bottom, that's not what I'm looking for. I would like songs with mostly clean vocals with some harsh vocals used well. Please keep submissions under 6 minutes for this.

[wolfking]

Wow now Tony MacAlpine........

T-Mac was the first guy I thought of, but I didn't think any of his work would be instantly accessable to Nick.  Thought of Ring of Fire, but I knew the Mob would give me more points.

[Dr. DTVT]

I thought about Tony MacAlpine, and as much as I like his Maximum Security album, I thought Nick would appriciate the fuller sound of Animals as Leaders; also I had played a T-Mac song during one of my guest blocks, figured I'd send something new to Nick.  Looks like I was right about that.

I got ideas for this round, I'll have to think about them tomorrow.

[wolfking]

I have a feeling a few of us might be on to the same line of bands for this next round.  I'm actually finding it hard to find songs that are less than 50/50 or in the growls.

Nick, what happens if two of us happen to pick the same band, is that allowed?

[jingle.boy]

Nick, what happens if two of us happen to pick the same band, is that allowed?

Clearly, since Animals as leaders showed up twice last round.

Guess I shoulda stuck with Prince.

I know exactly I have no idea what I'm sending.  Hopefully it's not Now that my first choice is already in your arsenal.

[Nick]

If two people send the same song then whoever sent first gets to use it, however if you happen to pick the same artist that is fine.

[Dr. DTVT]

That six minute thing is killing me.  I had three songs I wanted to send, but they were all between 6 and 7 minutes.  I know what I'm sending now, just have to get home to do so.

Speaking of which, from Thursday thru Sunday I won't be able to send anything unless a link is good enough, as I will be out of town for the holiday.

[Nick]

That six minute thing is killing me.  I had three songs I wanted to send, but they were all between 6 and 7 minutes.  I know what I'm sending now, just have to get home to do so.

Speaking of which, from Thursday thru Sunday I won't be able to send anything unless a link is good enough, as I will be out of town for the holiday.

I'll likely allow the next round to go a good while because of the holiday, no worries.

[Perpetual Change]

The halfgrowls/half clean thing killed me, as well as the under 6 minute thing. But I think I still managed to send out something very good.

[Nick]

It doesn't even have to approach half and half, the song can have very minimum growling and still be acceptable.

[Perpetual Change]

Hahaha, no. I could have sent something far better with ALL growls/harsh vocals. What I wound up sending barely has growls at all... they're just kinda like there for flavoring.

[Nick]

Hahaha, no. I could have sent something far better with ALL growls/harsh vocals. What I wound up sending barely has growls at all... they're just kinda like there for flavoring.

Perfect, though I never actually received an email with you with the song, just the number you wanted.

[skydivingninja]

Let me get this straight: NO ONE sent Living Colour, Abstract in the Sky (Volk's stuff) or King's X last round?  I am disappoint, DTF.

[Dr. DTVT]

Nick has King's X.