Round 2 - Live Tracks. Tried to rank each entry based on the song itself and the performance equally. I tried not to compare performances as live songs are always going to sound different based on era, recording, venue, etc.... Full disclosure, I didn't listen to any of the studio versions of the song prior to assigning scores.
Jingle.boy: Avantasia - Promised Land (from The Flying Opera)
10
The roulette's first 10. And I'm all out of bubble gum.
Stadler: Rainbow - All Night Long (from David's Hall 1983)
9
Couldn't type three words in an email to my boss while listening to this with the amount of headbanging going on.
TAC: UFO - Rock Bottom (from Strangers in the Night)
8
I liked the music more than I liked the song, if you buy that. The song was good, but the music was a virtual clinic.
Shadow Ninja 2.0: While Heaven Wept - Vessel (from Triumph:Tragedy:Transcendence)
8
Never heard of this band. Impressive first listen.
Parama: Pain of Salvation - Iter Impius (from Be Live)
8
Only have heard a small smattering of PoS, none of it sounded like this. From my limited knowledge, Be is a concept album, which makes it a little different evaluating a song on its own (correct me if I am wrong here)
kingshmegland: Sieges Even - Tidal (from Playgrounds)
7
Solid entry from a band I've never heard of.
Sacul: Anathema - Untouchable Part 1 (from Universal)
7
Good submission, but falls short of the top tier of songs I got this round.
Tomislav95: Iced Earth - A Question of Heaven (from Alive in Athens)
6
Didn't care for the vocals, but the music was awesome.
Twosuitsluke: The Dear Hunter - Home (from The Color Spectrum)
5
Never given this band a good listen despite seeing it all over dtf.org, glad it got submitted. Good song and performance, but tough competition here.
Elite: Pain of Salvation - Handful of Nothing (from Ending Themes)
4
Not great, not terrible, not memorable.
home: Vulfpeck - Animal Spirits
3
Maybe in the same county as FunkyTown, but definitely outside the city limits. Still, got my foot tapping a little bit.