Qualification Round 2. It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), all of these comments are simply my opinions. They're probably wrong, but they are mine.
Head of the Class:bl5150:
The Poodles - Before I Die
Another 'cracker' here. Killer rhythm section, especially the bass lines. Chorus was absolutely killer, with a nice keyboard run accompanying it. Brent's in the zone.
Mystery Machine:
Age of Nemesis - Another Existence
So I was fully planning and expecting to fire Mystery’s ass if he (making the assumption now) didn’t give me the best song of the round. And mutha fucka, he pretty much did - this track was neck and neck with Brent for best of the round. This was virtually flawless… opening with a great riff, and some really tasty guitar/keyboard unisons. It had me at 'hello', and never let go.
Honor Students:Bolsters:
Slash/Myles Kennedy - Beneath The Savage Sun
Why did I never check out any of this stuff? Excellent rockin tune. Myles has an amazing voice, and I gotta check more of this and Alter Bridge out. There wasn’t anything not to like here.
Big Hath:
Arion - Shadows
This had a lot of elements to love… nice lyrics, fantastic vocals with some wicked screams blended in with some beautiful harmonies, and a wonderful guitar/keyboard duel. Got me some investigating to do with these guys.
Zook:
Whyzdom - Asylum of Eden
Fantastic intro. At first, the rough female vocals to open didn't do much for me, but they grew on me. The rest of the song however was very strong. Dumbass band name though.
senecadawg2:
Helker - Begging for Forgiveness
Excellent tune, and vocally I can totally see the comparison to Dio. The best part of the song was the outdo. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was gonna be strong enough to save ya, but alas, the song continued to appeal.
Evermind:
Rainbow - Black Masquerade
Very Very good… loved the main melody, and Doogie is a solid vocalist. This was a pretty safe pick. Not stellar, but very enjoyable.
jjrock88:
Judas Priest - Blood Red Skies
This was not at all what I would've expected from a JP song (with what sounded like programmed drums, and keyboard elements). But it left a good first impression, and second, and third. See more below on my thoughts for Priest overall.
wolfking:
Judas Priest - One Shot At Glory
Similar to JJ’s above, I liked it plenty, but wasn't wow’d off the bat. Upon multiple listens, I really started to like it a lot. I’m still not sure Priest is an act that I’ll go back and completely rediscover, but maybe some kind of ‘best of’ package or recommendations from the group. It’s one of those bands that passed me by, and I don’t know that I feel a compelling need to completely rectify that.
Should've studied harderTAC:
Shadowquest - Last Farewell
On first listen, I was worried, as nothing really stood out. Of all the songs, this was the least memorable initially (though, some reasons I remembered other songs are not for good reasons!). In the end, I found this to be good melodic metal, but certainly wasn’t anything that wow’d me. Vocally, it was kinda bland - not bad though, just bland.
Lowdz:
Paul Laine - Dorianna
This was some pretty straight forward hair metal, a little too safe. Nothing all that memorable here. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing great either. If it was a burger, it was meat and a very thin patty - not very filling at all.
Expelled:Prog Snob:
Lord of Mushrooms - Grace (Dedicated to)
Some really good elements, some meh. Felt stitched together like a quilt with lots of different squares. Might have gotten better with a few more listens, but there was as much that I didn’t appreciate as that which I did.
lonestar:
Wings Denied - The End of History
Same RJ formula again, but this one felt very one-dimensional vocally. Excellent solo, but the djent-like guitar riffs I can only take for so long. There was lots I liked about this, but there was lots that I felt like I’d had enough of.
Nekov:
Aghora - Garuda
For a 3 minute song, the first 90 seconds felt like a slow buildup. The last 1:20 was frantic technical prog goodness - and then it ended faster than JLB singing Pull Me Under. I was left with a set of sonic blue balls, and highly disappointed. Just when things got going, it ended.
Dr. DTVT:
Phideaux - Gift of the Flame
Started nice, then got eclectic as all hell. Lots of different shit going on here - some good, some odd. For every Evergrey, Spock’s Beard and Flaming Row where our tastes are perfectly aligned, there’s more than a handful of bands like Soul Secret/Consortium Project and Phideaux/Ghost where we’re at least 6 degrees of separation. If this was playing it safe, I’m not sure if taking a risk would’ve done you better or worse.
Elite:
Native Construct - Passage
Lovin the creativity, and diversity; then came the thrash…. Thankfully it was short, but it was still there. Woulda been way better without it. This song was all over the place, and really felt like it didn't have any cohesion. There was lots to love, but also that wtf secton about 2/3 thru. It was like eating a great steak, then getting a huge chunk of grizzle that was unexpected... and puts a pawl on the whole experience. I just didn't feel a lot of the diversity was needed. Sadly, you went from first to worst.
So, what are the results?
In:
Big Hath
bl5150
Bolsters
Evermind
jjrock88
Lowdz
Mystery Machine
TAC
senecadawg2
wolfking
Zook
I decided to let 11 proceed, as I just didn’t have it in me to take Mystery over one of the ’named’ players. But, Mystery knocked it out of the park, so they’re in.
Out:
Dr. DTVT
Elite
lonestar
Nekov
Prog Snob
Sorry boys.
More ‘guidelines’ tomorrow as we get ready for the real show.
Topic: The jingle Roulette Trilogy - Final Results - no more mind games (Read 81247 times)