RESULTS – ROUND 4 (FAVOURITE)kingshmegland: Pyramid Theorem – Another Day Slips By
Rich 2.5 + Other 3.0 = 5.5Nice song, although not a whole lot more than that really. I like the general vibe and I think they play really nicely, but the style was pretty straightforward and nothing really stood out or grabbed me (I’ve listened a couple of times but couldn’t tell you how it goes!). Pretty good though.
Nice. Very 80's Rush, for sure. In fact, the music is really excellent, but the vocals aren't just awful they're horrendous, which brings it down. These guys need to hire themselves a singer… someone call Charlie! Great keyboards, and despite the Rush influence there’s some originality in their playing. Overall I liked but again, those vocals. Ouch.
jingle.boy: Dec Burke – Small Hours
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.0 = 5.0I haven’t heard any of Dec’s solo work, but I really liked this. It’s a bit rough around the edges – the production isn’t so strong, and his voice isn’t as effective as it is in front of Frost’s powerful music, but it’s really nice music and quite catchy. Very nice guitar playing too. Good stuff!
Somewhere between Transatlantic and Yes. I don't know, I can forgive Yes for being Yes, but I've never been able to forgive Transatlantic for failing in the attempt. This song starts and moves along, and the guitar/keys duet at 2:50 grabbed me a bit. The solo at the end is ok. Over all it sounded very plain. Like a b-side pieced together from other ideas.Marvellous G: Dave Matthews Band - Warehouse
Rich 2.5 + Other 2.5 = 5.0This was a nicely done song, and a top quality live performance of it. I’ve of course heard of the Dave Matthews Band but frankly I know nothing about them, but I enjoyed this. It does go on a bit long though, and seems to meander a bit in the middle, but then for the crowd there at the time it’s probably great.
Ok, this is like cheating for this round. There's certainly no way I can crap on this band for musicianship - even though I don't care for them, they are very, very skilled. My problem with this band is that they never changed or adapted with the times, and have never shown me anything new. In the same way Nickelback annoys people for having a catalogue of samey music, this band has done the same (albeit with vastly better musicians).Zantera: Oceansize – Music For a Nurse
Rich 3.5 + Other 2.5 = 6.0This was quite beautiful. I’m somewhat familiar with Oceansize, but only their last couple of albums which I don’t recall being quite as slow and atmospheric as this. Great build up, not a lot happens in the song but it’s very well-paced. I need to check this album out, and I also need to give Frames another listen at some point!
Hmm, sounds like Buckethead at times, whom I quite enjoy. I didn't understand a lot of what I was hearing though. Tones and textures. But it caught me in a quiet reflective mood and so I quite liked it.Nekov: dredg – Ode to the Sun
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.5 = 5.5You’re a bit unlucky to send me the first song I’m completely familiar with since round 2, so I have to cap this at 3.0 I’m afraid. I love it though, such a great opener to a really nice album (although not my favourite on the album – the title track and Sang Real at least beat it, possibly others).
My first Dredg song ever. Are these guys British? It was like heavy U2 (yes I know U2 aren't British). I can't find anything wrong with it, it was ok. Certainly not my cup of tea though.lonestar: Speaking to Stones – Earth
Rich 2.5 + Other 3.0 = 5.5DAMMIT NICK, why all the long songs this round?
This song opens really well, the heavy riff in the opening minute gets head-banging along, which is always a good sign. After that it’s pretty good, and they play nicely but it jumps around a lot, and utilises quite a lot of power metal clichés (like the middle eastern section). I also don’t think the song warranted being as long as it was, I started to drift a bit around half way through. Nothing against long songs that shift around, but not always an ideal choice for song roulettes!
Pretty damned epic song you made me sit through there. Vocals we're not lights-out, but at least he could sing. This was a pretty good proggy power metal song. It was all over the place, but it grabbed me early, and I had to keep listening to see where they'd go. Well done.Ultimetalhead: Foxy Shazam - Oh Lord
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.0 = 5.0Another song I know very well. Such a ridiculously catchy song, and album as a whole. Pretty much every song makes me want to sing along!
Reminded me of Queen, for some reason. Certainly meant as a compliment. It was funny and fun, although that’s about it. I would counter this song with Scatterbrain - Don't Call Me Dude.Heretic: Scale The Summit – Redwoods
Rich 3.0 + Other 3.0 = 6.0This is a really frustrating track – it’s such nice music, they play well and they do a great job of writing rock music in a major key which a lot of bands really struggle. But there’s something lacking, and I think it’s because there just isn’t enough going on for an instrumental. The solo sections are great but for a lot of the song I’m sat there thinking WHY AREN’T THERE ANY VOCALS HERE?! I’ve still given you a 3 because I really like the music, but I feel like it could have been higher!
Interesting start, not dull, and great feet on the drummer. The song sounds like a bit of a jam session, but the more I listen it's not quite like "recorded jams" like LTE 1 & 2. This is more rough draft sounding. It's nice that way, because it kept me guessing. The central theme wasn’t completely obvious and they never FULLY committed to coming back to it. Overall, I liked.Gorille:
Rich + Other = TBC.
TBC.The scores after round 4:kingshmegland - 23
lonestar - 22.5
Heretic - 21.5
Zantera - 21.5
Ultimetalhead - 20.5
Nekov - 20.5
Marvellous G - 20
jingle.boy - 19.5
[Gorille85 – TBC…]
Still all to play for! We’ll allow Gorille to catch up if he returns soon, but he hasn’t logged in since 29th December, so we’re going to have to carry on without him for now.
Round 5 – ExperimentalOk, that round was a bit safe, and resulted in my co-judge being uncharacteristically reasonable. So let’s mix it up a bit this time. Send us something “experimental”. Interpret that however you want, but we don’t mean the music has to be totally out there, but it should do something new, something a bit different.
Poll
Topic: Roulette of Champions - FINAL RESULTS, pg 15! (Read 59028 times)