Round 8 ResultsSo here we are again, behind schedule as usual.
Eliminations incoming.................
Scar: ICE - L I feel this is yet another strange choice from you Scar, although I respect the ‘not playing it safe’ approach. This is taken from some computer game right? I do love me some computer game music but this style (which is like something off a Dance, Dance Revolution game) isn’t quite my thing. I like the slowed down sections and all the strings that feature at these points but it’s the EDM parts that lose me, I’m afraid. It’s also a bit on the long side so kind of fails to keep my attention. There are honestly some parts that I really like in this song but ultimately it doesn’t hold up so well as song, on the whole.
5.5/10 + 0.5 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 6Sacul: Igorrr – Tout Petit Moineau Wow, this song. This song has two very distinct styles, vocally, that are very different and certainly polarize my opinions. It starts out with operatic singing and then the electronic side of it comes in. You hear flashes of the more powerful side of her voice, which is not operatic (which I prefer). She then mixes these two styles of singing throughout the song, along with yelps and screams (honestly it’s really impressive and I’d definitely see this live if I had the chance. I’m just not sure it’s my thing for listening at home). The orchestral element (as you’d said) are sampled strings. It fits the theme fairly well but not really in the way I’d hoped. With everything else going on my ear completely forgot the strings were there at all. It's a bold choice but not something I think I would choose to listen to.
6.5/10 + 0.25 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 6.75Splent: Giuseppe Verdi - Dies Irae (from Requiem ) Well, I was already familiar with this piece before, as everyone probably is. This has probably been in countless films but I tried not to let that effect my score. It obviously nails the theme pretty well and is a powerful piece of music but it is VERY short. It’s over before it really even gets going. I can’t score it low because it is pretty good but I also can’t score it too high either, because of the length. This is just great goosebump inducing music, enough said.
6/10 + 1 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 7Tomislav95: Goldfrapp - Clay I think I may have actually seen Goldfrapp at Glastonbury festival back in ’05 or something. I’m pretty sure my brother is/was a fan. This may have been a risk as I don’t really listen to much music in this style, if I’m honest. It fits the theme quite well and there is some nice instrumentation. I do like her voice and it’s definitely not terrible, it’s just not the sort of music I really have the urge to listen to. The strings do increase my enjoyment of this song and the way it builds is pretty good. Her voice is easily the best part of this whole thing and I could see why people would love it, but personally women's voice's rarely do it for me the way guys voices do.
6.5/10 + 0.5 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 7 Stadler: Yes – Turn of the Century I’m well aware of Yes as my Dad is a pretty big fan of the early Yes albums, especially. I’m not sure what I was hoping from this. It’s got a floaty kind of air to it and the orchestral element is all as a backdrop to the (mainly) acoustic guitar. The vocals are quite nice and just like the Yes vocals I’ve heard in the past, if I remember correctly. There is an instrumental section halfway through which introduces some piano and also a fairly restrained electric guitar solo (in contrast to the mainly acoustic guitar). I quite like the solo actually and the way it continues on behind the vocals. The orchestral element is quite minimal here if I’m honest and it’s just subtly adding to the sound of the guitars. This is fine but I was hoping for more in the way of the theme, I guess.
7/10 + 0.25 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 7.25home: Ivar Bjornson & Einar Selvik’s Skuggsja - Skuggsja Another song where I really didn’t know what to expect. This was the song, in the tidbits, where I said that it takes me on a journey. That’s totally how I feel about this. The beginning part has a tribal feel to it and coupled with the video it makes me feel of the wilderness, nature and a more organic way of life. That kind of appeals to me. I don’t mind the spoken word style of vocals, though it’s not this songs strongest point. I’m not sure what language this is in but that also doesn’t effect it negatively as I don’t always really focus on lyrics anyway. The song takes a little while to get going but once it does it kind of mezmerises the listener. I’m not sure this song feels so orchestral to me, like I said, it feels more tribal. There are strings and stuff but they feel like a traditional style string instrument. That’s ok though as I did use the Erhu as an example of string instruments that I’d accept. Is the whole album in this style? I find this interesting more than anything and it was also the most difficult to score in this round. Looking forward to what else you can throw my way.
7/10 + 0.5 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 7.5 Shadow Ninja: Cloud Cult – Unexplainable Stories As I’d mentioned in the tidbits (I think), this is like Biffy Clyro (I know I didn’t actually mention the band name) with a kind of trip-hop beat and a sense of grandiosity. I wasn’t sure on it at first but it’s grown on me a bit. It fits the theme better than some of the other songs here and has a good use of horns at the beginning (which I like). The trip-hop sounding beat is nice as well as I do like it when different genres blend together (that maybe shouldn’t work). I have no idea who these guys are but I’m intrigued. This is a great example, for me, of where a song is vastly improved by the orchestral instruments, even though the song would’ve worked without them, other than the intro that is. I suppose it may be a little on the short side and although I do like it there isn’t really any part of the song that I LOVE!
7.5/10 + 0.75 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 8.25WebRaider: Xerath – Unite to Defy I’ve definitely been aware of these guys for a while and I was kind of expecting Train to send them in this roulette, at some point. No one, other than you, really went for the full on metal song in this round. This is sort of what I had in mind with this round, something heavy which is complimented by some form of orchestral music. I’m happy with the approaches that some of the other guys took as it really paid off for some of them. This was one song I was going into with a bit of expectation and although I wasn’t let down it didn’t completely grab me by the balls. This has everything that should tick all my boxes but it falls down somewhere, it could be the vocals. It also feels a little on the short side and I was almost waiting for the ‘best’ bit to come. It's like I'm wanting myself to like it more than I do. It does kind of fit them theme in pretty much the way I’d hoped though so I can't fault you there.
7.5/10 + 0.75 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 8.25Scorpion: Clint Mansell – Death is the Road to Awe As I’ve not seen the film that this piece of music is taken from I’ve got no context as to what type of scene this is the accompaniment to. That being said this is still an emotional piece and has some really powerful moments. It does take quite a while to build but when it starts, around the 5 minute mark, with a drum beat that steadily grows it seems to be going somewhere. It does drop off at around the 6:20 mark only to start building again. By 7:30 I finally get the climax I’ve been waiting for but I’m not sure it’s enough. It is over quite quickly and I don't feel it’s worth the wait. The highs in this song are great but there aren't quite enough of them. Like, the 30 second period right at the end (before the final 30 seconds) is pure gold. Maybe if I watched the film I’d appreciate it even more but as I haven’t, it’s good without being great. This obviously fits the theme really well as it is a full orchestral movie score.
7.5/10 + 1 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 8.5Train of Naught: So Hideous - Yesteryear I didn’t really know what to expect from this as I’ve not heard of this band before. I wasn’t expecting those black metal style screams though. I don’t really have a problem with them as they sound so distant and low in the mix that they aren’t the focal point. I quite like vocals like that sometimes, especially with that style of screaming, as I’m kind of focusing on the music and the vocals don’t overpower and distract too much. Musically this is ok, it does fit the theme fairly well and has strings featured in large chunks of the song. The drumming is really good and pretty prominent throughout the song whereas the guitars are more low-key and just bring the whole sound together. The crescendo at the end has a larger orchestral presence and that part really is the best part of the song. I will likely check out the whole album. It definitely uses a more atmospheric approach, which I am liking more nowadays, compared to a few years ago. I'm actually giving this a final listen at home with my good headphones on (as I did with all the songs so there is no unfairness) and it sounds really huge. I really do love how the drums sound in this, really cool song.
8/10 + 0.75 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 8.75 Elite: Ulver – Son of Man Elite, I think this is easily the best song you have sent so far. I’ve been aware of Ulver for a number of years, for some reason I always thought they were going to be similar to Enslaved, don’t ask me why. This is quite dark and a bit creepy but the atmospheres are great. The best bit is the singers voice I think, it works really well with the song and he has a great range. He also reminds me of Einar, of Leprous fame, at times as well. Not sure if that was intentional or not but I like it. I like the way this starts to build around the 3:45 mark, this song is probably the most ‘epic’ of the round and I think I was struck from the first listen. I suppose it fits the theme a bit more loosely than some of the other songs, at times, but there are some great full-on orchestral moments and the highs are really high. We even have some Christmas song-esque bell chimes at points, which work really well. Listening on my headphones now I'm also picking out the little sounds in here that bring back memories of the Final Fantasy 7 soundtrack, awesome. The last 2 and a half minutes are especially great. I really like this a lot and will certainly be checking out more.
8.5/10 + 1 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 9.5Parama: Oceansize – The FrameI’m sure I’ve been aware of these guys for a number of years, like I had a friend who was really into them at some point. I think I may have also read your ‘Top 50 Albums’ thread where you had a few of their albums, if I remember correctly. Ok, so I really quite like this. It starts very simple and it’s all very subdued. There are lots of nice little sounds that are dropped in around the guitar that build on the overall sound before the vocals come in. I really like the guy’s voice and this is totally the sort of thing I can see myself singing along to. There are some lovely vocal melodies and he’s just got a soothing voice. The music kind of keeps pace through the first half of the song and there is actually quite a lot going on musically. It fits the theme well as the orchestral element accompanies, compliments but also takes its chance to shine at certain points. I really like some of the drum work from around the 6 minute mark and I love the way this song feels like it has a constant slow build all the way through it. It feels well timed, it’s not rushed and it’s the sort of 10 minute song that doesn’t feel like 10 minutes at all. It’s actually kind of great and I hope that this sort of song isn’t a one off for these guys, I’ll definitely be checking this out. I’d say this fits the theme really well. You could’ve gone with a song that was an all-out orchestral affair but this compliments without becoming something that fades into the background. Really good choice of song.
9/10 + 0.75 Theme Bonus
Total Score: 9.75 Scores 12. Scar - 46 + 6 =
5210. Splent - 45.5 + 7 =
52.510. Shadow Ninja - 44.25 + 8.25 =
52.59. Stadler - 45.5 + 7.25 =
52.758. Elite - 46.5 + 9.5 =
567. Sacul - 50.75 + 6.75 =
57.56. Tomislav95 - 50.75 + 7 =
57.755. WebRaider - 51.25 + 8.25 =
59.54. Parama - 51 + 9.75 =
60.753. Home - 54.25 + 7.5 =
61.752. Scorpion - 53.75 + 8.5 =
62.251. Train of Naught - 55.75 + 8.75 =
64.5So there we have it, Parama has managed to sneak into the top 4 and push out WebRaider.
Honestly guys, thank you all so much to those who have been eliminated (I'm very used to how that feels). I think everyone has at least sent me one song that I've LOVED and given me plenty of bands to check out. I will look forward to compiling a 'best of' compilation once this is over.
For those of you who are still in, give me those epics
Topic: Twosuitsluke's First Ever Roulette v. Final results are in.... (Read 77566 times)