I was initially a bit underwhelmed with this round but thankfully pretty much everything grew on me ; even the worst song of the round was solid. There is a big group of songs in the middle ground with scores around 8 that fall into the “quality song but very generic” category. The top 4 or 5 were clearly the best and it took me some time to get the scores to the point where I thought they were reflective of the quality/enjoyment factor of the song but also with an appropriate spacing in ratings between them. I have given a couple of tens , more because I thought they deserved a clearly better score than the 9's than thinking they were perfect. I am happy with how I have rated things to achieve the desired effect but in hindsight I think I would go for a score out of 100 (or even 20) to allow more room to step ratings.
1) Fish : Cliche – Evermind Rating:10I have never really got into the Marillion catalogue in depth but I am aware of Fish and the debate over the eras of the band. But essentially I am coming into this song with little knowledge of the guy. I can’t say that his vocal strikes me as being particularly full of raw talent but as we know from other guys that “talk-sing” or have a low key delivery (Knopfler/Gilmour for instance) it can be the character of the voice that matters and provides a vehicle for the magic of the music. And although the guitar sounds nothing like Knopfler I do hear the same sort of lush soundscapes that are the mark of prime time atmospheric Dire Straits.
The deceptively simple little guitar lick (it’s barely long enough to be called a “lick”) over the top of the lovely keyboards is very effective and the end result is a lovely,moody and atmospheric ballad with some nice lyrics. It sounds fantastic too with every instrument (incl bass) crystal clear.
2) Odyssey “ Amon-Ra – Big Hath Rating : 10You have probably noticed me use the word “plodder” as a derogatory term towards music a number of times. As a general rule if there are good melodies involved I love soft slow music , I love fast heavy music but I generally struggle with slow heavy (doomy) music (esp when downtuned) and this track has elements of that. It plods along for the first couple of minutes (juuuuust pacy enough to avoid annoying me), admittedly with some nice melodies , but it did really need the change up at that 2 minute mark for my sake. There were also plenty of elements of this song that I immediately liked though – the Saharan/Middle Eastern edge to the melodies ,the instrumental change ups etc.....esp the keyboards near the end. The lyrics (something I normally don’t really notice) were also interesting and brought to mind one of my favourite songs (Ten’s Pharoah’s Prelude/Wait For You) .
Initially
I found the plodding verses a touch repetitive throughout the song , but on the other hand it is only second to Evermind’s song this round in terms of songwriting ........the change ups/progressive nature elevated the song greatly and it's one of the few songs this round with any real character/originality. It was a big grower and over repeated listens the quality of songwriting won me over properly and so you achieve a 10 and 2nd favourite of the round.
3) Coldspell: Night Falls – wolfking Rating: 9This was quite a grower – on first listen I had this in the “generic” basket with many of the others in this round but on subsequent listens the strong song writing here began to reveal itself. Nice melodies from a band that I had checked out through samples and not bothered with – I am now reconsidering that assessment
4) Reverence: Gods of War – Lowdz Rating: 9This is a much easier listen than the first few songs – bread and butter for me and I like this a lot more than I should to be honest .
I feel guilty ranking this up there near the top three songs , but we’re ranking on enjoyment mostly and occasionally a mega cheesy “by the numbers” song like this will still grab me , despite my best instincts 
This is another upcoming release submitted by Paul and something I likely would’ve got in coming days. Given the line up (esp Doc from Savatage) I was right on to their debut but didn’t end up buying as what I sampled didn’t grab me. This song certainly has nice hooks but it’s pretty close to as generic as power metal gets both musically and lyrically...............somehow I still really enjoyed it though
I would equate this to something I would expect from Axel Rudi Pell ......even down to the rhythm guitar tone . I was expecting more from these guys in terms of song writing – it needed a strong vocal performance to make it and I got it .
5) Lucifer’s Friend: Cool Hand Killer – TAC Rating: 9Despite often struggling with what I would call the “70’s sound”
I enjoyed this.........it’s very straight ahead bluesy hard rock (not unlike early KISS in terms of the groove and guitar sound) with some NWOBHM elements to the vocals especially. Some nice fiery rhythm guitars/fills in there added some spark to the song. Soundwise I would’ve guessed mid –late 70’s rather than early 80’s but that rawness doesn’t detract from it – possibly adds to it in this style. Funnily enough I first came across this band only this year when I saw their recent retrospective album and then I started to put the pieces together with the Uriah Heep connection etc...
6) Beyond The Black: Hallelujah – Bolsters Rating:8.5Like Reverence and Coldspell this is a band that I checked out early days and decided that they were good but nothing special. This song doesn’t dissuade me from that view when compared to the best of bands like Within Temptation and Nightwish but it was definitely a good listen and not unlike the style of Within Temptation’s The Unforgiving. The opening riff...........that guitar tone?.........pretty much taken from Allen/Lande playbook but that’s where those similarities end. I can’t say that the limited use of growls added anything for me , but there wasn’t enough of it to annoy me too much either. To me this is a strong song but still pretty run of the mill symphonic power metal
7) Guardian : I’ll Never Leave You – jjrock88 Rating: 8.5This is a nice enough song jj but like many songs in this round it’s pretty generic stuff musically and lyrically. I am actually a fan of Guardian and Jamie Rowe’s voice and this is one I never got around to finding – Fire and Love is a great album and an old favourite though. Solid track with a nice solo section........that nice heavy solo section was likely the difference between an 8 and 8.5
8) Seals and Crofts: Summer Breeze – splent Rating: 8.5The start of this made me think an episode of Law and Order was about to start or something
I do of course know this song and once again mate you are testing the limits of my wimpiness here – and I could almost swear Cat Stevens is singing here
Nice and melodic with a quality of songwriting that deserves a good mark but not quite getting the marks seen in the last round for the soft 70’s rock as I liked those a touch better.
9)Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe : Order of the Universe – erwinrafael Rating: 8I should give you a bonus point for sending the most Yes related music in the history of roulettes mate – I’ve lost count
Another nice listen here erwin –
strong vocals which is always a great start but in the end I found the music a little on the bland side , a bit keyboard heavy and not quite varied enough to hold my attention fully for 9 minutes. Trim some fat off the song and it might have rated a bit higher.
Speaking of the vocals it shows what a fine line things can be with me. I hear quite a bit of Geddy Lee in his voice (who I don’t like as a singer) and yet Jon Anderson’s vocals seems to connect with me for some reason.........just that little bit of extra power/edge to it I think.
10) T.O. Joker – Live It Up – jingle.boy Rating: 8Pretty much copy and past most of the above here too. Quality but pretty generic melodic rock............
it took me a while to think who they remind me of most and I think it’s Autograph(mostly the vocals) . You get some kudos for sending something good that is very rare though
11) REd House : Shudder To THink – kingshmegland Rating 8This is quite catchy alternative pop rock king and I did enjoy the listen but there wasn’t anything in the melodies or the playing that really stood out to me and demanded a rating > 8. If only I wasn’t an Unruly Child fan you might’ve been up for a 10/10
12) Destiny Potato – Indifferent – Sacul Rating: 8Did I mention i have permanent djent lag?
As soon as I heard that dissonant down tuned stuff opening this track I really wanted to switch off stat.........this sort of music is up there with rap in terms of my least favourite ,as exemplified by by sub-5 rating for Animals As Leaders (the only super low mark in the whole roulette). Thankfully though the djenty aspects were used much more sparingly than expected in what is overall a fairly melodic song with some more than passable female vocals. About double the score I was expecting for you after the first 20 seconds
.
So..........round 10 is complete and where do we go from there?
What would a metalhead’s roulette be without taking it "over the cliff" and up to 11 eh ?
I will write up some concluding remarks for everyone at the end of the roulette but for now it’s where we say a big thank you and sayonara to the bottom six. You guys really have been a ripping group for a roulette as there has been a great mix between familiar music that I have missed and those pushing the boundaries of my taste.
Standings as at the end of the regular competition rounds below:
FINALISTS
Evermind 10.5+9.5+9+8.5+8.5+8.5+9+10 = 73.5
wolfking 9.5+9.5+9+8.5+9 +10+9+9=73.5
Big Hath 9+9+9+8.5+9.5+9 +9+10=73.5
Bolsters 9+9+8.5+9.5+9.5+9+10+8.5=73
jjrock88 10+10+8.5+9+8.5+9+8.5+8.5= 72
Lowdz 8.5+9.5+9+7.5+8.5 +9+9.5+9= 70.5
ELIMINATED
TAC 9+8.5+8+8.5+7.5+9.5+8.5+9 =68.5
erwinrafael 9.5+7.5+10 +7+9+7.5+9+8=67.5
jingle.boy 8.5+8.5+8.5+8 +8.5+7.5+9+8=66.5
splent 9+8+8.5+8+8+7+9+8.5= 66
Sacul 9+9+7.5+8.5 +9.5+7+7.5+8=66
kingshmegland 8+8.5+9 +7.5+7+7.5+7+7.5= 62
I decided that I didn’t want to zero off the scores for the final but I might as well have with half a point separating the top four. And there’s only 3 points between any of the finalists – so with Rd 11 scored out of 20 you are all in with a show here. Paul is going to have to kill it ,but still in there.
As specified earlier we are after a “20 min EP” – 18 minutes as a minimum and I will allow up to 25mins as long as no song BEGINS after the 20 min mark. The number of songs, genres etc....are up to you but each song on the EP must be from a different artist. And as I have mentioned previously , focus on good songs rather than how the songs flow etc..... good flow/album experience might be enough to break a draw if the songs are neck and neck but otherwise the songs win the day.
Hopefully it won't happen but If there is a tie at the end of Rd 11 we will have a one song tiebreaker.......no scores - the song I like best wins.
I don't have a great feel for how prepared you guys are for Rd 11 ............is a cutoff date for entries of Friday okay - as per our regular timeframes - or would you like some extra time (end of the weekend)?
Banned bands
Al Di Meola
Almah
America
Amorphis
Anathema
Angelica
Angels of Babylon
Apple Pie
Ayreon
A.C.T
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
Animals As leaders
Bent Knee
Beyond The Black
Big Wreck
Binary Creed
Black Majesty
Blackfield
Blondie
Blind Guardian
Buckethead
Burnclear
Cans
Chaos Frame
Coheed and Cambria
Coldspell
Cryonic Temple
Dada
Damnation Angels
Dead End
Death
Destiny Potato
Disturbed
Down
Evil Masquerade
Fish
FOghat
Glenn Tipton
Guardian
Haken
Harlequin
Haven
Heavenly
Holst
Holy Shite
I Mother Earth
Ice Age
Inglorious
Iron Maiden
Jimi Hendrix
Jon Lord
Karnya
Last Crack
Lucifer's Friend
Mandroid Echostar
Mark Knopfler
Marketa Irglova
Max Webster
Mr Mister
My Soliloquy
Myland
Mystery
Nazareth
Need
Odd Dimension
Odyssey
Opeth
Orphaned Land
Pablo Cruise
Pain of Salvation
Pandora's Box
Portishead
Primal Fear
Queen
Queensryche
Reverence
Rick Wakeman
Riverside
Saint
Seals and Crofts
Sebastien
Seven tears
Shineback
Shudder To Think
Sieges Even
Spock’s Beard
Skid Row
Stargate
Steven Wilson
Stream of Passion
Steely Dan
Steve Vai
The Black Mages
The Blitz
The Mob
The Moody Blues
The Neal Morse Band
The Pineapple Thief
The Sacrificed
The Hsu Nami
Theodore Ziras
Throne of Chaos (TOC)
T O Joker
TRemonti
UFO
U.K.
Unisonic
Vicious Rumors
Voodoo Circle
Warmachine
X Japan
Yanni
Yes
Topic: BL5150 Roulette - Ghost Protocol......GRAND FINAL RESULTS (Read 57757 times)
