News: Paralyzed official video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7m7l8iqGAk

I worked my way backwards - I got into power metal before classic rock and heavy metal, so there are lots of big artists missing from my collection. I’m not a big fan of shoehorning bands into genres, so I’m going to try to explain my tastes as best I can. I apologize this is so long and splits hairs. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to clear something up. I can’t keep up with all this dreampop neo-artwave turbogrind subgenre madness. Rock and metal get big sections of their own due to said madness.


I’m going to break this down as best I can. Honestly, I am not looking for much rock music - your best bet is in the ‘Classic/70s,’ ‘Post-rock,’ and ‘Other’ sections. Anything else is playing with fire.

60s on back: I don’t really know anything from this era of music. I know The Beatles’ biggest hits, early Zeppelin and Cat Stevens, that’s about it. 60s music doesn’t really speak to me, so choose carefully if you’re thinking about sending Beach Boys. All I know is that when I was a baby, I loved Kokomo.

What I like: I don’t know.

What I dislike: I don’t know.

What I’m interested in: Anything that will shed light onto 60s rock, maybe some bands that have become forgotten over the decades.

Classic/70s/Blues rock: This really is a crapshoot, unfortunately, without much consistency. I don’t like guitar-only bands – get a keyboardist in there, please – but they absolutely can’t overdo it with the corny 70s synth or Hammond organ sounds for me to like them. I hate songs about how great it is to rock, or songs about hot women and how they need some love, or Stevie Ray Vaughn-style blues rock in general. Basically, stick to the ‘interested in hearing’ list unless you like to live dangerously.

What I like: Led Zeppelin, Rush, early Toto, Neil Young's Harvest album, Bon Scott ACDC, various radio hits by ‘liked’ bands listed below …

What I dislike: Ted Nugent, The Eagles, BTO, Bon Jovi, Bad Company, Joe Walsh, Supertramp, KISS, The Clash, The Police, The Who, Stevie Ray Vaughn, many others along those lines

What I’m interested in hearing: Queen, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, Chicago, Emerson Lake Palmer, Crosby Stills Nash, Steely Dan, possibly CCR and Lynyrd Skynyrd – just to scratch the surface

80 Rock/Hair Metal/etc.: You’re playing with fire here. I cut my teeth on 80s rock so I know what I like and don’t like, and for the most part, I can’t stand any of it as an adult. If it’s modern 80s-sounding rock like Eclipse then I’m game, but still, be careful.

What I like: Asia, Guns N’ Roses, Toto, Motley Crue’s hits, some early Van Halen, that’s about it

What I dislike: Cinderella, Tesla, John Payne’s Asia, Thin Lizzy, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Warrant, Poison, Winger, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister

90s/2000s Rock – Grunge, Alternative, Garage Rock, etc.:  I cannot stand these genres or eras of rock. I don’t know what happened after the 80s, but something got in the water and fucked everything up. I really, really don’t like them, so please don’t send them to me unless you’re truly confident it’s going to be that diamond in the rough, so to speak.

What I like: Alice in Chains, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys (A.M. only, haven’t heard anything else)

What I dislike: The Offspring, anything with Chris Cornell on it, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Trapt, Staind, Static X, Sublime, Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World, The Presidents of the United States, Weezer, Lifehouse, Linkin Park, Local H, Royal Blood, Highly Suspect, etc.

Prog rock: I'm really interested in exploring prog rock regardless of the decade. King Crimson is good, but hard to get into for this since they aren't on Spotify. Van der Graaf Generator, Camel, Jethro Tull, Yes, non-famous eras of Pink Floyd are classic artists I'd like to explore, but also bands like Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, The Dear Hunter, Haken... take me away. This is a very good genre to pick albums from especially since so many old bands focused on 'the album experience.'

Post-Rock: I really enjoy post-rock but could use with some new bands since I haven’t really heard anything I dislike in this genre. I enjoy the ebb and flow of Explosions In The Sky, the electronic sound of God Is An Astronaut, and the haunting atmosphere of GY!BE – but I could use more.

What I like: Explosions In The Sky, God Is An Astronaut, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, ef, This Will Destroy You, Mogwai

Others: Randy Newman. I’ve heard it described as ‘baroque pop’ – give me more of that, the rock music that blends various styles and sounds of classical music or film score work. Kings of Leon is a modern band that I greatly enjoy who has floored me with every album they’ve released, and yet I can’t seem to find another band like them. Giving me something along these lines would be an easy way to please me.





Sigh. I’ve listened to metal my whole life and pretty much know what I like and dislike, and I’m really not interested in discovering new metal. Modern metal tries way too hard to do way too many things and I’m so sick of every band having to use growls in one way or another. If you send me metal, you’d do well to send prog - it’s the only subgenre I’m still interested in exploring.

Old-school metal: I don’t really have a definition for this - classic metal bands, I guess. This is similar to a lot of old rock bands in that older metal bands didn’t use keyboardists much, if at all, and so I find it very hard to stay interested in it when guitars are taking 100% of the action.

Old school bands I enjoy: Testament, Iron Maiden, first half of Megadeth’s career, very early Metallica, Death, Saxon, Exodus

Old school bands I do not enjoy: Motorhead, Slayer, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies, Korn, Rammstein, etc.

Power metal: I know everything I need to know about power metal, it’s my bread and butter, it shaped the foundation of my musical life. I don’t want or need any more in this genre, please don’t send me anything here unless it’s a truly revolutionary album - it’s highly likely I’ve already heard it anyway.

What I love: Stratovarius, Rhapsody, Sonata Arctica, Dragonforce, Cellador, Blind Guardian, Helloween, Iced Earth, Angra, Avantasia, Edguy, Kamelot, Power Quest, Cain’s Offering

What I loathe: gimmick acts like Gloryhammer, Twilight Force, and Alestorm; bands that try way too hard to blend multiple styles like Amaranthe; bands that blend growling and screaming with clean singing; bands that are carbon copies of Stratovarius; people aping Avantasia with their own terrible metal operas

Symphonic metal: I like symphonic metal that sounds like it was written by people with actual skill at orchestral arrangements or writing film scores, to the point that the metal actually takes a backseat so it serves the song rather than creates the foundation. I do not like symphonic metal that is your generic death/power metal with six hundred layers of generic strings and a 40-piece choir chanting generic and probably incorrect Latin.

What I like: certain periods of Nightwish, Fairyland, Aquaria, Rhapsody of Fire, Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody, early Avantasia, late-era Blind Guardian, Orphaned Land

What I dislike: Epica, Wintersun, anything that feels like traditional power metal tossed over a layer of generic choir chanting and symphonic tracks, anything that sounds like a pisstake of Rhapsody

Alt, Death, Thrash, Black, Grind, Core, Nu: I cannot stand any of these genres, I politely request that you not send them to me. Growling/screaming is tolerable in certain power and prog metal situations, but that’s about it. If you send me anything with growls, I prefer it be like Devin Townsend Project, or Kardashev’s “Between Sea and Sky” where there are surreal growls under a shimmering layer of synths and slow guitars but extremely fast drums.

Prog metal: There’s so much I haven’t listened to in this genre. Opeth, Dream Theater, later-era Symphony X and Angra, Voyager, Ayreon, these are some of my favorites, but I’ve also heard a lot of prog metal I dislike (BTBAM makes me want to vomit). It’s a crapshoot – send at your own risk. The new Orphaned Land was an impulse buy and instantly made me a fan, so the bar is very high, but try to keep the growling to a minimum.

Opeth: Because ya’ll love to debate Opeth. Pale Communion, Sorceress, Damnation, and Watershed are monumentally better than the rest of their catalogue. If you know of something like these albums, send them to me. If they’re like Still Life and MYAH, keep it away.





New Age: I am a massive Enya fan, and I also like Yanni and David Arkenstone. Beyond that I don’t know much. I enjoy lots of synth pads and shimmering, raindrop-like keyboard effects that invoke the feeling of tranquility and serenity. Basically, if it’s like Enya, I should like it.

Electronica: I briefly enjoyed dubstep for a time but don’t really like it these days. Dance/techno type stuff like Armin van Buuren is cool, but I’ve never known how to look into these artists because they don’t ever seem to release in the typical ‘album’ cycle that almost every other genre does. My favorite artist in this realm is Tycho; “Awake” is one of my most-played albums and my go-to for whenever I want to chill, shower, do household chores, or even work out. I also like Emancipator. Other than that, clueless, and while I’m not really looking for more, I’m open to it.

Rap: I really, really like Eminem and Kendrick Lamar because I enjoy the sound of their voices and their masterful control of lyrics, wordplay, and rhythm, but there’s not much in this genre that calls to me. Feel free to have fun with this, because while I’m not interested in club music, triphop, trap, etc. I know there’s good stuff and legends of the genre I haven’t heard.

Bluegrass/Country/Americana/Soft rock/etc.: This modern Chevy-ad country can take a hike, but when I hear old school, genuine country, I like it. The only album I’m familiar with is Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” and I love it. And that one song “Wildfire.” I love Robert Plant’s album “Raising Sand” with Alison Krauss, and Zooey Deschanel’s oldie-time sounding group She & Him. I don’t know anything about bluegrass – does Fleet Foxes count? I really enjoy them.

Pop: Florence + The Machine. Katy Perry. Lady Gaga. I may not like all their work, but I consider myself a fan, particularly of Florence. I’m not sure if Kimbra counts as pop, but I do enjoy her, although sometimes her vocal style borders rapping a bit more than I’m comfortable with, it sounds like she’s trying too hard. Overall not a big pop fan outside of those names but I’m game for women with killer voices. I don’t like Ed Sheeran.

Indie: I have no idea what the hell ‘indie music’ means anymore. I don’t really know anything in my collection that counts as this. I enjoy Elliott Smith, who I just found, and I’m gaga for Monica Heldal and her album “Boy From The North.” Bon Iver has that song Holocene which is lovely. I don’t know what else really fits here. MGMT? Foster the People? Alt-j? I’m not really into them, but someone with killer acoustic guitar skills and a nice voice, that’s what I like. I also love Zooey Deschanel’s indie outfit called She & Him.

Ska: I do not like ska from what I’ve heard, but I can’t say I’ve ever heard a ska album. Feel free to change my mind.

Punk: I’ve never willingly listened to punk music, so I’m not at all familiar with it. I can’t say I love it, but I’ve tolerated it more than ska, so you’re more than welcome to introduce me to something.

Jazz: I don't like traditional jazz. I like smooth jazz, or acid jazz, pick your poison, that's what I enjoy. Incognito and Urban Knights are two artists I really enjoy in these styles. I'm not really a Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock kind of guy, although I've played some of their pieces in jazz bands before. If you have stuff like Dolphin Dance, I'm down for that...

Classical music: Not for this roulette, but my classical tastes bleed over into music such as symphonic metal. I greatly enjoy Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Strauss, Wagner – I tend to prefer the romantic era. I also greatly enjoy world music, Gregorian chants, and ancient music (literally ancient, as in the Greeks, for example).

Film scores: Not for this roulette, again. Thomas Newman, Howard Shore, I really like their work. John Williams is fantastic. Hans Zimmer is pretty good although sometimes he goes overboard. I don’t know many names outside of them.

Video game soundtracks: Also not for this roulette. The soundtracks to 8-bit and 16-bit games shaped my love for synthesizers and synth lead tones. Nintendo soundtracks particularly have profoundly impacted my musical development – see Snowboard Kids, Golden Sun, Donkey Kong Country, Zelda, Mario, Pokemon. Motoi Sakuraba, Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Koji Kondo, among others, are noteworthy composers to me.

First.

90s/2000s Rock – Grunge, Alternative, Garage Rock, etc.:  I cannot stand these genres or eras of rock.

My man! 

Damn, was seeking some sweet revenge for the power metal round but seems all places have been taken

I think I can squeeze just one more person in if you want, Sacul. You have an interesting, dare I say eclectic taste in music, and I'd like to see what you have to offer.

EDIT: Put up a partial banned list, need to go sleep off a headache. Hope I covered all the bases... If more people want to join then I will expand the participation count, the first round will be elimination (and therefore last longer), and we'll go from there. I'll check later.

Seems I missed the signup.

Ahh not too late. You can still sign up, I'll just have a preliminary elimination round with everyone involved so this remains manageable!

Based on your comments on Randy Newman and Baroque Pop, I'm almost tempted to send you Scott Walker's The Drift. But that may be a little risky for an album roulette.

Are you doing eliminations each round?

Nope. Only at the start, if Sacul, TAC and others want in, then I'll pare it down to 8 again.

Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid on March 12, 2018, 06:26:23 PM

Based on your comments on Randy Newman and Baroque Pop, I'm almost tempted to send you Scott Walker's The Drift. But that may be a little risky for an album roulette.

Are you doing eliminations each round?

Nope. Only at the start, if Sacul, TAC and others want in, then I'll pare it down to 8 again.

Hmm, well I definitely wont send it if you do a preliminary elimination round...but maybe at some point.....

COOL! We got ourselves an elimination match in the works. Okay for real I gotta nap now 

"pisstake of Rhapsody" is a phrase of redundancy.

Actually, you know what..I'm IN!

Good, another roulette I can kick your ass in.

Even though you hate Tesla. How does anyone hate Tesla?

I wonder the same about Winger!?!

Got room for one more?

Yea, I really should've signed up for this too. An album roulette is something I want to actually get in on 

let me go write up a dissertation on why 45-50 minutes is the optimal album length
that being said i really dunno how many albums i have for this roulette regardless, haha

Maybe I'm spoiled by DT, but 45 minutes feels short to me.   I'm not planning on giving Firewings a bunch of 80 minute albums, but there are a lot that are over 60.

Firewings - not even Omni would qualify for this roulette...

Ooh, can I play? I'm sure I expressed interest in the roulette tracker thread!

I thought I was forgetting someone. You're in! Also LOL king 

I thought I was forgetting someone. You're in! Also LOL king 

You sure? I guess I can play and still mock everyone!

I will send tomorrow night!

WTF?? You might not live that long!

My liver mocks you Tim