The newcomer remark at least makes me hopeful for a decent grade What I sent is a song I really love, both the music and lyrics. But ballads are very personal and can be utterly boring if they do not connect much (to a larger extent than most other types of songs for me because of the often slow and more "simple" nature).
Well, any grade above 5 is decent enough, in my opinion. You're free to disagree though.
And I totally agree with your statement about the ballads, I've found a few of those a little bit boring and unmemorable. Which ones? Scroll down to find out!
Round 2: Results
wolfking: Lord – New HorizonsTen seconds in and I already quite like this one; forty seconds in and I’m seriously in love with this one. The soulful singing is complemented perfectly by the acoustic guitar playing in the background. This song is a whole load of concentrated awesomeness until the saccharine electric guitar comes in; that’s where it drops to merely good. I have a feeling it just becomes too sweet and happy to my taste in these moments, while the verses have this longing feeling that really appeals to me. However, despite this punctuated sweetness, the singer manages to impress me, and the guitar solo that comes at around 2:30 is seriously captivating, and the way how they end it with those passionate lines is totally the satisfying and the right one, it makes me want to crank the volume up a fair notch. This song is a bit weird, I mean, it’s the chorus I usually love in the ballads, and here I love everything to bits except the chorus. And since I’ve grown to like it too after a few listens, I can just admire the consistency in your entries so far. Great choice, man.
8.5/10
senecadawg2: Mazzy Star – Fade Into YouI haven’t checked any information on this, but I assume it’s kind of singer-songwriter stuff? Regardless, this is quite nice. Simple acoustic melody with something like a lap-steel guitar in the background, enhanced with a dreamy, haunting voice of hers. The tune instantly reminded me of a song after one of The Walking Dead (videogame by Telltale) episodes in the second season. This track is just so peaceful and wistful, it’s a total pleasure to listen to, and your description is just spot on. The solo in the middle is yet another highlight, strikes me as something Gilmour would do on his solo work. Also, I assume this is some glitch with YouTube version of this tune, sometimes the sound just stops midway for me and continues after a few moments (like at 3:17 on the word “your”). Well, I don’t take in into the consideration, because obviously it’s not how it’s supposed to be. Anyway, subtle keyboard touches, those rare lap-steel guitar sounds beneath the steady acoustic beat and the ethereal female voice on top of this, it all forms a beautiful, enchanting picture. I rated it 7 initially, but with subsequent listens this gem grew even more, and I’m almost in love with this song now.
8.5/10
lonestar: InnerShine – Divided in TwoAlright, this song was mediocre on my first listen, but it appeared to be a huge grower. At first, I wasn’t even sure if it was a ballad, and I thought it was quite underwhelming. However, after a few listens, this song is pretty neat. The calm piano intro, a chunk of clean guitar, a tranquil verse, everything is fascinating until we go into the chorus territory. This is where the song almost loses me, but manages to get me back with the intense part where the title line is repeated. I enjoy all the instrumental parts, and overall this song is good, but chorus kind of kills the excitement for me. This is one of two progressive rock ballads in this round, the second was sent by Mason, and while I’m not incredibly fond of either, your song was superior. Not as good as your previous submission though. But, the ending is total brilliance, that I agree with.
7/10
Dr. DTVT: Xen – Find a WayAnd here’s the second progressive rock ballad I’ve received this round. You’ve mentioned this band is basically Enchant, and I totally agree with this. So, naturally, I expected this song to be either hit or miss with me, because that’s just the way I feel about Enchant, I love some of their work, and I can’t get into some other songs. Well, this song is closer to “miss” in my book. It’s not bad, it’s some cool, nice and happy prog rock with a few cool twists, but to be fair, it’s just nothing special. I guess some of my dislike comes from the fact I prefer my ballads to be more sad, instead of this upbeat, energetic kind of tune. But it’s still decent, and I also enjoy the solo in the end quite a lot. I will check out this album too, because out of curiosity I went ahead and checked out Existentialist, and while I gave it only one listen, it probably would’ve got an eight. Turns out I really prefer sad or depressing ballads to the happy ones. But you didn’t send it, pity, so instead you get…
5.5/10
Scorpion: Dog Fashion Disco – Desert GraveI saw the band’s name and nearly decided to dismiss the song completely, but the first few seconds hooked me alright. While being only 3:22 in length, this song is all kinds of awesome, at least the most of it. The main part reminds me of something Knopfler would record, it’s just so peaceful, playful and lovely. Very good instrumental part starting at 0:50 too. I love the bar-like, relaxed atmosphere of the song. For a short number, it contains a lot of surprisingly good stuff, but I really could’ve done without the weird transition at 2:30 to the more quiet part of the tune. But, whatever, you really went outside of the box with this one, and you didn’t let TAC’s work in the first round go in vain, preparing the ground for kicking more asses in the future rounds. I’ll check those guys out after the roulette.
8/10
bl5150: Ten – Soliloquy/The Loneliest Place In the World“So, let’s see what Brent sent me here. It’s a ten minutes long song, and a ballad, so it just can’t be as great as he descri—“
Those were my thoughts in a nutshell when I started to listen to this one masterpiece. And when the song got to this spectacular chorus at around 1:50, I was blown away completely. When I was thinking about the “ballads” round, I expected some weird choices, but as I’ve made it fairly well known I enjoy hard rock and power metal, I thought I’ll get a lot of these sappy, a bit epic, predictable ballads with sweeping guitar solos. Instead, I’ve got a lot of (still enjoyable, of course) singer-songwriter stuff, progressive rock, ambient, whatever, but the kind of ballads I really have a soft spot for, those were missing until I gave a spin to this one. I knew I could count on some of you guys to deliver in this round, and man, you did just that. This song is perfection in almost every aspect. The vocalist is awesomely brilliant with mindblowing vocal melodies all around (hell, I was humming this chorus for the last two days already), the acoustic and electric guitars are just unbelievable, and despite the song being 10:29 in length (seriously!), it doesn’t feel long at all. I feel like I can spin it all day and never get tired of it. Do I acknowledge this song is a bit sappy and cheesy and whatever? Yes. Do I care? Not at all. Seriously, this is one of the best songs I’ve heard in the last few years. Another album, and, possibly, the whole band’s discography to check out. You’re going to make me bankrupt if you keep going like that, really, and I’m definitely not going to complain about it.
9.5/10
Sacul: Ulver – EOSYou asked me if I consider Gilmour’s latest solo stuff ballads, and I do, but while this has a bit of resemblance to those, but I think Seneca’s entry is much more Gilmour-like. I like the atmosphere on this one, it’s a seriously relaxing track. I guess it’s more ambient than anything. I’ve heard something like that a few times and I enjoyed it, but my problem with this kind of songs is they’re not quite memorable for me. After five listens in, I doubt I can remember any single standalone moment in the song at all, only the overall picture and the mood. I guess I’m just not accustomed to such music. But, when I’m actually listening to this track, it’s a nice listen. I wish the ending wasn’t so sudden though.
7/10
ErHaO: Damian Wilson – When I Leave This LandI’ve meant to check out Damian Wilson’s work for a long time, but somehow I never did. The way this song started, well, this was really unexpected, because I subconsciously tend to confuse Damian Wilson with Dan Swano. Yeah, I know.
Well, whatever, this indeed feels like some singer-songwriter stuff, and, weirdly, a lot of songs this round are like that. Well, this is enjoyable and soft and nice, but it lacks something to grab me. This is emotional alright, this is definitely a ballad, but it lacks something — something that really can hook me. Enjoyable song, but not something I’m willing to check out impatiently.
5.5/10
Tyrias: Susanne Sundfør – The BrothelSo you had pretty much nothing to lose after your quite low mark in the opening round, and now you came up with this entry. And it seems like you will have something to lose now after this round, because this song is just lovely. Haunting, soulful and touching, it really captures my attention at every listen. I love a good female voice with the fine melodies, and this is exactly how I can describe it. Her voice reminds me of Candice Night in some moments, yet more quirky and unpredictable. I wish the song ended at 5:10 though; even though the ending is beautiful too, it just doesn’t fit the rest of the song, in my opinion. However, otherwise I have no complaints; I’ll be checking this album out after this is over. Oh, and I’m also fond of the lyrics in this one.
9/10
Parama: Sigur Rós – Heysátan So, first and foremost, this band’s name and their song titles are damn annoying to type. I’ve heard about Sigur Rós, obviously, but I think I haven’t checked them because of non-English lyrics, and probably because the genre is quite outside my comfort zone. I feel like this song hasn’t lived up to my expectations, because for apparent reasons the only thing I can think when I see the title is “Hey, Satan!”, and I expect some heavy distorted guitar slaughter with death metal growls all over it. But instead I get this nice, dreamy song. It’s not a bad thing, but it has the same problem of being unmemorable to me. I even struggle to write anything coherent about it. Not something I want to explore, I think, but nice enough for a few listens.
6/10
mikemangioy: Foo Fighters – StillThere’s that problem with ballads, despite how touching the music and the subject may seem to some people, some other people will find the song boring. I know this is frustrating, and I’ve met this kind of thing when I’ve played in some roulettes before (and I probably will meet this again when I will play in yours), but you kind of knew what you were going for signing up for this one. And some ballads, like this, can be quite personal too, and the enjoyment depends on that. For me, well, this song is plain boring, it has almost nothing going on. I don’t know, maybe it gives a nice breathing space in the album’s context, maybe something else, but as a standalone song, well, it doesn’t have anything of interest to me. But, compared to your previous entry it’s definitely better, because it’s not some nearly unlistenable thrash. I was going back and forth between 4 and 4.5 for this song, and I think I’ll settle on…
4/10
Shadow Ninja 2.0: The Tallest Man on Earth – Like The WheelI’ve heard of this singer-songwriter guy, and while I wasn’t meaning to check his work out, now I kind of have to, haha. Well, and this is actually quite lovely song. Its simplicity, tranquility and the vocals melodies with a quiet piano arrangement are all the huge advantages to me. But there’s one thing I really disliked about it: the way this guy actually sings the lines. I’ve found his way of singing, his enunciation or whatever this thing is called really annoying. He’s got a nice voice, the music is good, just fitting for “ballad” round, but the way he sings, well… I almost can’t stand it, and that’s very disheartening. He’s pulling some moments just fine, and on the other I wanted to turn this song off. It grew on me a bit, but it’s still somewhat awkward. It’s a pity, this song could’ve been a nine, but because of that singing style, well, it’s not a nine. But it’s still a good one.
7.5/10
Standings with a cut line,
which doesn't matter until we get past Round 6, so don't worry about it now (the second post in this thread is also updated):
bl5150 - 18.5
wolfking - 16.5
senecadawg2 - 16.5
lonestar - 16
Scorpion (with a guest appearance from TAC) - 15.5
Dr. DTVT - 14
___________
Parama - 13
Sacul - 13
Shadow Ninja 2.0 - 12
Tyrias - 12
ErHaO - 11
mikemangioy - 7
Overall, Top 6 stands unchanged. Brent is on fire so far, Kade and Seneca went up a few places, surpassing Mason and RJ. Scorp manages to keep the place TAC secured him in Top 6. However, the people beneath the cut line aren't far behind, Parama and Sacul are only one point behind, SN and Tyrias two points less. All it takes one good song from either of you, and some of the leaders to slip up, and there are still four rounds left until the elimination, so everything is possible so far, I think!
Additions to the banned list:Lord
Mazzy Star
Xen
Ten
Dog Fashion Disco
Susanne Sundfør
The Tallest Man on Earth
Boston (I forgot to add this one at the beginning)
And on we go to the round 3!