Yes, blame wolfking, Australia, and Blob. Anybody but me. ...
Seriously, though, sorry it took me so long this time around. I received a total of about 140 minutes of music this round, which presented a couple of challenges. One of the challenges was simply finding time to listen to everything enough, but of course I knew that would be an issue when I chose the theme. The write-ups were another problem, one which I hadn’t really thought about ahead of time; I found it pretty difficult to listen to 25 minutes (or an hour, as the case may be) of music and summarize my thoughts. It should go without saying that my write-ups ended up even longer than usual this round.
Quality was another issue. Every song I received this round was amazing. Quite frankly, none of you deserve to be eliminated this round. I’d like to just call it a four way tie for first place, but I couldn’t do that, so I had some tough decisions to make. Ranking these songs felt like trying to decide which of my senses are most important to me.
At any rate, my apologies for the wait. Without further ado, here are the results.
SomeoneLikeHim: The Flower Kings – ‘Stardust We Are’I had kind of a funny experience with this song. At first, it felt kind of incomplete vocally, and I couldn’t figure out why. Eventually, after a trip to Wikipedia, I realized what it was: I kept waiting for Neal Morse to chime in because I’m used to hearing Roine Stolt’s voice as part of the Transatlantic mix.
Anyway, enough about me being a moron. This is an amazing song. In some ways, it reminds me of great fantasy novels. It’s very majestic, and it has a marvelous sense of adventure to it; it takes you on a journey, and every step of the way, you’re eager to find out where the next step will take you, because you feel like you could go anywhere. The song’s imagination is simply wonderful. It evokes in me a sense of wonder, making me feel like anything is possible. Musically, the song is beautifully composed and impressively executed. Roine Stolt’s guitar playing positively sparkles with life, energy, and emotion. His vocals are also very nice, with some great melodies, particularly the refrains of the title later in the song. And some of the keyboard passages are just gorgeous; the section starting around the 15 minute mark is divine. In fact, I’m thinking ‘divine’ is a pretty good word to describe this song overall. I really can’t come up with anything to complain about.
lonestar: Silent Memorial – ‘Retrospective’Well, you were right to be confident. This song is pretty much mind-blowing. I’d say it’s honestly one of the best long-form songs I’ve ever heard. In the long run, I could even see this potentially giving A Change of Seasons a run for its money (and ACoS is one of my favorite songs ever, so don’t take this comment lightly). I can’t believe how consistent it is. Typically long songs have ebbs and flows to them, and this one does too, in its own way, but it never loses momentum; when it slows down a bit, it just feels like I’m catching my breath before plunging full speed ahead. Its intensity and sheer scope really encapsulate the meaning of the word ‘epic’, and yet it really doesn’t feel
long at all. It is twenty-two minutes long, but I get so lost in it that it seems like it goes by in the blink of an eye, which is remarkable. (Incidentally, at 22 minutes, this is actually the shortest song I received this round. That’s kind of insane when I stop to think about it.
) It’s extremely powerful, and as you said in your message, it really is the whole package: everybody’s on fire all over the place. I couldn’t single out a weak link if I tried. Just spectacular.
jingle.boy: Dimension Act – ‘Drawing the Lines of Mortal Existence’This one’s pretty phenomenal too. I don’t know anything about this band, but I already have a lot of respect for them, because I can
feel their passion flowing through this music. It almost feels like the music itself is alive, with its own thoughts, its own heartbeat, its own spirit, and its own emotions. As a suite, it manages to achieve a really grand scale, conceptually and structurally as well as musically. There’s a lot of depth to it, and its range is tremendous – as you said in your message, it has a little bit of everything, and it’s all blended together very well. It covers a lot of ground without ever taking a misstep. I love how philosophical it is. Sometimes when music tries to address philosophy, the results are contrived, clumsy, and cheesy, but that is not the case here at all. With this suite, they address huge concepts with grace, power, control, and a subtle sense of mystery, and their passionate vocals and instrumentation inspire a genuine yearning for understanding. And more to the point, the music is just terrific, showcasing an enormous amount of skill from everybody involved. Heck, even if you chop it into pieces, the individual tracks are more than capable of standing on their own; the opening track could have been a strong contender in the instrumental round all by itself, with some stellar guitar playing and some jaw-dropping drumming, and those trends continue throughout the suite. Excellent stuff.
wolfking: Green Carnation – ‘Light of Day, Day of Darkness’Clocking in at one hour and seven seconds, this was by far the longest song I received this round. In some ways the length is a definite advantage – the song really has time to stretch its musical legs and grow organically, and the build-up is incredible. It draws me in more and more as it moves along, so that by the time it’s over, I’m totally lost in it. The song also has a wonderful atmosphere holding it together; it has a feeling of consistency to it, a certain tone that it never really strays from, yet it never gets boring, either. For such a lengthy song to maintain itself like that is extremely impressive. That being said, the song is not without its faults. There a couple parts I just can’t get into. In particular, about halfway through it, there’s a section of female vocals that just doesn’t work for me – her voice is certainly impressive, but after a minute it seems like she basically just starts wailing, and I feel like it’s supposed to be a huge emotional moment, but it actually kind of hurts my ears.
Plus I do feel that the song tends to drag a bit during some of the slower passages. There are a couple points where I always feel like the song is winding down to a close, and I have to remind myself that there’s still a long way to go. Still, this is an excellent song overall. I’m not going to try to break down my favorite parts, but suffice to say that there’s a ton of awesome stuff here. Every instrument gets plenty of chances to shine, the choir parts are outstanding, the string arrangements are very well done, and the vocalist is great. I have very few complaints. Definitely epic.
Again, ranking these songs was absolutely not easy. But at the end of the day, it had to be done, so I did it…
Round Eight rankings:1. lonestar
2. jingle.boy
3. SomeoneLikeHim
4. wolfking
Sorry, wolfking, but you’re eliminated. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, though; as I said, there was just some ridiculously steep competition this round. You really don’t deserve to be eliminated for sending such an awesome song, but that’s just the way the ball bounces here I’m afraid. I'll understand if you're bitter, since I sort of kind of talked you into sending this song.
At any rate, thank you very much for your time and participation. I hope you've had some fun, because I certainly have; you've sent me some great music, and I'm really grateful.
Meanwhile, the Chef climbs back to the top of the pack again. Congratulations, lonestar. That song is unbelievable. I look forward to seeing what you’ve got left up your sleeves.
And with that, we’re down to three! An interesting mix, I think, with two veteran rouletters and a newcomer vying for spots in the final. At this point, I couldn’t pick a favorite. All three of you have played extremely well, winning at least two rounds each. Any of you would be a deserving winner. That being said, I still have to eliminate two of you, so let’s move on to the next round, shall we?
Round Nine: …Okay, I’m pretty much out of ideas for good themes at this point.
But that works out okay, because now that we’re getting so close to the end, I think you have all earned the right to be unleashed. Open round. Just send me whatever you want.
Do keep in mind that the ten minute warning is now back in effect. You’re still free to try to send a longer song if you want, but if you do, it’s at your own risk.
Since you three have all been very prompt about sending, I’m not going to bother setting a deadline. Just submit your songs as soon as you’re ready.
Topic: Jaffa's Prog Rock and Metal Roulette - Final Results posted!!! (Read 42878 times)