I got through the ratings in record time this round and so didn't bother with the teaser quotes.
There really wasn’t anything that blew me away this round ,but there also wasn’t anything I really struggled with either. The first 3 or 4 tracks ended up being growers and I moved up a few ratings from 8.5 to 9 ,but on my last couple of listens I moved most of them back down
1) Haven: Deliver Me – jjrock88 Rating= 9You certainly like your Tate sound alikes JJ – this guy sounds like he’s trying to channel a mix of Tate , Elvis and Plant.
He does a good job but isn’t quite strong enough to absolutely nail it. I can’t say too much more about this – it’s very strong melodic metal with good performances all round. I feel that the next few songs that got 8.5’s had higher highs but also had some flat points and therefore came out a bit worse off overall.
2) The Black Mages: Maybe I’m A Lion – Bolsters Rating= 8.5 + 1 bonus = 9.5I have zero interest or time for computer games and so I really only know of The Black Mages by reputation and the odd sample I have checked out. I’m pretty certain that this is one of the better tracks of theirs that I have heard. I wouldn’t say that the musicianship is quite as stellar as most of the instrumental stuff in my collection but it certainly had me tapping the foot. It seems pretty clear that they had Deep Purple in mind here and that’s not a bad thing. Like many of the instrumentals received in the roulette this is more like a rhythm based backing track/structured jam with a solo rather than a more complex instrumental “song” with lots of lead guitar melody , but all the same I enjoyed it. I initially had this rated as a 9 but over time it felt a bit less like a tribute to Deep Purple and more of a rip-off in parts.....the midsection is basically Burn with a few changes.
3)Need: Lifeknot – Evermind Rating=8.5This song has a sort of progressive modern metal vibe to it that took a little while to connect to but once it did I quite liked it. The main riff (once things speed up) is simple but effective , there are plenty of textures in the song and that’s often a plus for me. Each time I thought the song was beginning to drift there was something fairly catchy shortly around the bend and that’s the key to good prog for me. Short attention span and all. There is certainly a huge mish mash of influences going on here –outside of their own unique vibe I hear everything from touches of DT, thrash,Pantera, Fates Warning (mostly the vocal) to a whiff of Alice In Chains. It all comes together pretty well though and , although I wasn’t rapt in all of it (the chorus is a bit of a grungy plodder) ,overall I thought it was a good effort. It’s hard to go much above 8.5 for a song where the chorus is my least favourite part .
4) Chaos Frame : Giant Killer – TAC Rating=8.5This is a bit like Evermind’s song in that it is a bit all over the place in terms of pacing/structure , even allowing for its progressive nature . Like Chad I loved the pre-chorus/chorus – the jumpy rhythm briefly brings Fates Warning to mind – but overall I felt that the various parts of this song didn’t come together in a way that was quite as cohesive as Evermind’s. The instrumental mid section was quite cool though and on the whole I liked the song. Plenty of highs but also a few sections,particularly in the verses, that weren’t quite at the same level and dragged down the score a little. I didn’t feel it was far enough below Evermind’s to take you down to 8 , so it’s 8.5 for you too.
5) Evil Masquerade: Black Ravens Cry –wolfking Rating= 8.5I can see why you like this Kade – nice melodic chorus (which really carries the song) and the riffs/ verses/solos have a bit of a Dio/Sabbath/Rainbow touch in there. As we’ve discussed I have checked out plenty of their stuff and never been particularly impressed and so ,once again ,you have picked a song I quite like from a band that I don’t rate all that highly on the whole. Good work. The main riff is a bit of a plodder which I don’t mind, seeing as the chorus gives the song the lift it needs. The chorus really carries this song actually. The solo section is typical classic rock/metal style ,something which Flyman tends to like infusing his music with , but did plod a bit and take some of the life out of the song for me. I rated this relatively low to start but it grew on me with repeated listens.
6) Amorphis: Silver Bride – Big Hath Rating= 8.5Based on what I have read about Amorphis (and your helpful intro) I think they might be one of those bands that have different eras and even material within albums that make it very hard for someone like me (who doesn’t like growls) to get a read on them without sampling a whole swag of material. A good compilation band for me perhaps. And this is one of the reasons why I came up with the “DTF Fave” idea in the first place – so you guys could make a much more informed selection of tracks than I would have done through random sampling.
There were some growls under the outro chorus but not enough to really impact the song adversely. The song itself is quite catchy in a modern power metal sorta way ,although the main riff (while catchy) is rather generic power metal fare. The solo section was pleasant enough but could’ve done with a touch of shred or a more substantial resolution. Overall it was an enjoyable listen .
7) Marketa Irglova: Time Immemorial – Sacul Rating= 8.5Well this makes splent’s submission seem like death metal. As you said in the thread this is a “nice ballad” . I have basically no female singer/songwriter stuff like this in my collection to compare it to , but I found it quite a soothing ballad that would be very pleasant listening when I am in the mood for something laid back. That’s not very often I must admit but still........maybe I will surprise you here with my rating again but this is very easy to listen to with some nice melodies and rated accordingly.
8) WarMAchine: Eternally – jingle.boy Rating= 8Luckily for you nobody sent Taylor Swift
This is fairly predictable melodic rock (the old “basic chord progression with changing base note” trick) with some very obvious Harem Scarem influence – even forgetting the involvement of the Hessmeister himself on backing vox. It actually reminds me a bit of another Canadian band (Emerald Rain) with a similarly inferior vocalist (vs Harry) who used to enjoy ripping off Harem Scarem .
The verses are pretty repetitive , the chorus is decent and the solo section is good too. All good , but nothing really stands out to me compared to anything else in the genre. Having said that it was a nice enough listen and rated as such,.
9) Mr Mister: Uniform Of Youth – splent Rating= 8Well now you’re getting heavier mate haha.................Mr Mister. This song comes from the same album as the famous Kyrie and Broken Wings ,so it’s quality. This sort of pop rock isn’t my normal cuppa tea but I do like Richard Page’s voice and he does a pretty good job of combining the lite keyboard heavy AOR sound with some decent guitar/bass work and in the end it’s very easy to listen to. I didn’t find this song quite as catchy as some of their other songs but it’s quality pop rock.
10) U.K.- Caesar’s Palace Blues – erwinrafael Rating=7You can tell from the moment that this starts that the drumming is going to be a large part of the attraction of the song. I have of course heard of Bozzio but never really had a dedicated listen to his drumming. The song itself is just okay and rather repetitive in terms of the limited vocal sections......it is obviously intended more as an excuse for the instruments to do their stuff. The keys and violins were well integrated into the song but the tone of those instruments at times was very harsh and a bit like nails on a chalkboard. I know it’s live but still............
I found it hard to separate my liking for the unusual instrumentation and the drumming from the fairly token vocal sections and the grating tone of the instruments at times.
11)Neal Morse Band: The Grand Experiment – kingshmegland Rating= 7There have always been elements of Morse’s music that I have liked – obviously MP does a good job where he’s involved and there are some other strong musical moments. But I must admit I have always found the songs of his that I have sampled a bit too “fluffy” and that’s the case with plenty of “pomp” music – some of the stuff by Styx has the same effect on me . I don’t know how else to put it but , aside from some of the solo guitar work, they lack any sort of edge from the material I have heard and sound a bit too much like the world’s most kick ass church band to me
This is a nice enough song........it’s all very “pleasant” and there were some cool moments but on the whole I think I might have made the right move by just buying the guitarists solo album. I can’t say that I find Morse’s voice strong enough to elevate the song either.
12)Sebastien: The Walls of Lyman Alpha – Lowdz Rating = 7As you know I have already heard this and , to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the album as a whole. I think it’s serviceable , pretty generic power metal with the obligatory anthemic chorus and a “wall of sound” production . The intro to the solo section sounded promising but I struggled to find anything special about the song or the album really. In the OP I listed a 7.5 rating as meaning a solid song that I would be happy enough to have on semi-regular rotation and for me this song is a tad below that mark. Not terrible by any means but not doing much for me either.
Before the standings I will do a little summary of bonus points available from here and we’ll just cross them off as used:
DTF Fave Bonus Point Available:
jjrock88
Lowdz
splent
Instrumental Bonus Point Available
TAC
Big Hath
wolfking
kingshmegland
Sacul
Evermind
No Bonus Points Available
Bolsters
jingle.boy
erwinrafael
STANDINGS
Still very much anyone’s game – the range has blown out a touch but not too much has changed aside from a decent move by Mr Bolsters thanks to a strong entry with bonus point.
Evermind 10.5+9.5+9+8.5 = 37.5
jjrock88 10+10+8.5+9 = 37.5
wolfking 9.5+9.5+9+8.5= 36.5
Bolsters 9+9+8.5+9.5=36
Big Hath 9+9+9+8.5 = 35.5
Lowdz 8.5+9.5+9+7.5 = 34.5
erwinrafael 9.5+7.5+10 +7=34
Sacul 9+9+7.5+8.5 = 34
TAC 9+8.5+8+8.5 =34
splent 9+8+8.5+8= 33.5
jingle.boy 8.5+8.5+8.5+8 = 33.5
kingshmegland 8+8.5+9 +7.5= 33
Banned bands
Almah
Amorphis
Anathema
Angelica
Apple Pie
Ayreon
A.C.T
Animals As leaders
Big Wreck
Black Majesty
Blondie
Blind Guardian
Buckethead
Chaos Frame
Cryonic Temple
Dead End
Death
Down
Evil Masquerade
Haken
Haven
Holst
Ice Age
Iron Maiden
Jimi Hendrix
Jon Lord
Karnya
Last Crack
Mandroid Echostar
Mark Knopfler
Marketa Irglova
Mr Mister
My Soliloquy
Mystery
Nazareth
Need
Opeth
Orphaned Land
Pablo Cruise
Pain of Salvation
Pandora's Box
Portishead
Primal Fear
Queen
Queensryche
Riverside
Sebastien
Shineback
Sieges Even
Skid Row
Steven Wilson
Stream of Passion
Steely Dan
Steve Vai
The Black Mages
The Blitz
The Mob
The Neal Morse Band
The Sacrificed
Throne of Chaos (TOC)
UFO
U.K.
Warmachine
X Japan
Yanni
Topic: BL5150 Roulette - Ghost Protocol......GRAND FINAL RESULTS (Read 69616 times)
