Here they are.
Evermind: Joan Baez - Diamonds and RustI have little doubt that this is the song that Tyrias was talking about when he said he loved it from the first five seconds. If it’s one of the other two, I’ll be very surprised. Because that’s exactly how I feel about this song. The first five seconds in themselves are such an amazing introduction that lead so well into the main instrumental motif of the song, which is also really good. The guitar and piano here certainly aren’t the main focus, but they’re really good and quite interesting, particularly by the standards of a song like this.
Her voice, of course, is the main attraction, and she has a spectacular voice. Just really beautiful and versatile, stylistically and emotionally. Evermind, you said this:
425, I think this song will connect with you too. I know this is no Susanne Sundfor, but I swear, Joan Baez is a better singer for me, and the whole song is so strong in both instrumental and vocal melodies and vocals department it's ridiculous. Also, remember how you didn't like the lyrics in Roger Waters song in Round 4 so you even took away some points from me? Well, maybe this song will make you give me some additional points for the lyrics instead. I think Joan's a great lyricist and this is one of her finest works.
I can’t disagree with any of this (well, except the very last part—I can’t comment since I don’t know her other works). This is a really strong song that I like quite a bit. It’s my favorite of this round. Whether that’s enough to win the roulette, I do not know, and that’s 67% out of my hands, anyway. But you won the round as far as I’m concerned.
Nekov: Subsignal - The Size of Light on EarthSo here’s a pretty nice prog rock song. I think this is a good song that has several things going for it. The vocalist is good, he manages to have a high voice that is still pretty warm and emotional. There is a nice, uplfiting-sounding chorus which is memorable and pleasant.
The instrumentation is solid, I like the synths which are the main focus of the song, and I think the guitars do exactly what they should do in a synth-heavy prog rock song. There’s a solid musical progression through the song that takes it to a solid climax.
In short, this is a good song; I have no complaints about it whatsoever. There’s a good chorus that I like quite a bit. But at the same time, it doesn’t cross that line from good into great. I do like this song a fair bit, but I’m afraid it’s just not going to be enough to win the round.
Sacul: Kashiwa Daisuke - StellaThis is such a Sacul thing to send it’s crazy. This is like the epitome of, as Evermind eloquently put it, “Zantera / Sacul music.” Which means no one has any idea how well I will like it, since sometimes I give Sacul really good scores and sometimes I’ll, to use Sacul’s term, “meh” them. And I’ve been trying to keep it vague how I feel about this song. One reason for that is supense, and the other is that I don’t quite know myself. But let’s dive in.
Okay, the first three minutes are supremely obnoxious. The glitches are so unnecessary and so unhelpful. The song will get going on some very nice track, with a string part or a guitar melody, and then boop bzzt fjflahghalgh it jumps over into something else. It kind of drove me just a little bit crazy the first few times how it doesn’t ever stick with something. Or at least transition to other things without the glitching. I’m sorry, Sacul, but I don’t think I’ll ever appreciate glitching. Why do they do this?
And unfortunately, the glitching doesn’t entirely go away after the first few minutes. It keeps cropping up at various intervals throughout the song, usually when the music has been going on a pretty melody for a while, there’s a glitch. I don’t really appreciate it. I don’t see why the composer would break through a sequence of beautiful music to make it sound like my headphones have been damaged.
So that’s the expected rant about glitching.
On the other hand, this song has a lot going for it. There are a ton of beautiful melodies that really draw me in. I can see what Sacul loves so much about this. There are so many different instruments: strings, piano, drums, guitar. And it goes through so many different sections, so many different moods. There’s so much to take in.
Which is part of the problem of sending this in a roulette. It’s like Parama sending Light of Day, Day of Darkness. It’s just too much for me to really get a handle on what all is going on within a reasonable time span for a roulette round.
Here’s the deal with this one. This is like Evermind’s Roger Waters entry with the lyrics. There is a lot that I love in this song, but it’s also somewhat marred by the glitching. Asking me to score this is like asking me to score a beautiful painting after tossing splotches of paint haphazardly on it. And I only have 45 seconds after first looking at it come up with a score. I don’t know how to score that. I don’t know how to score that at all. And yet I came up with a score. So there you go.
But really, I like very much a lot about this piece. I just wish there was a version where the intro made sense and all the glitching was removed. I know you don’t, Sacul, because I know you like that stuff. But honestly, this would be a very high scoring song for me if not for those glaring problems. Not only that, it would probably be a song that I would really love and come back to frequently, that I will listen to much less frequently because of those issues. But I still genuinely like it in spite of everything. So take that as you will.