Now the geezers, 'cause they made me crap sea urchins:
TAC - The aTACkers: Thoughts Factory:
No Way Out - The MireNo Way Out: Sometimes the recipe for excellent prog metal is simple: DT Kevin era patterns riding Metallica riffage. Classic yet new. The song goes on making right choice (no guitar solo) after right choice (vocal lines written with the vocalist's limitations in mind, hence enhancing him instead of hampering him). Great hooks, with a focking cherry on top represented by a piano/bass section pulled straight outta Images and Words, followed by a shameless Derek synyh solo. A relentless beast checking all my secret metal boxes.
The Mire: Imagine my excitement when I heard this starting like Total Eclipse of the Heart (the greatest secretly-prog-but-easypop ladytune in history), and imagine it doubled listening to the return of Young Mixolydian Vai Tone. After a brief stroll through magical ambient forest, it settles into Mangini era DT ballad territory (The Bigger Picture chorus). Strange and very good convoluted languid piece.
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kingshmegland - King Kongshmegland: Karmakanic:
Wheel of Life - Let In HollywoodLet in Hollywood: What a focking chimera. Whoish strumming, Police pace, late U2 riffage, Squire bass capers, Harold Faltenmeyer's Axel Foley's theme looming like a prankster ghost. Add roughly 764 tiny instrumental bits in every nook and cranny and it's almost beautifully maddening. When it decides what it is (the rock synth solo over an unforgettable rock riff) it really hits its stride. Fascinating yet undecided.
Wheel of Life: The song of the round, checking every prog box just like Tim's song checked the metal ones. How to explain ... it bests Neal Morse when he tries to best Genesis. And that's only the first station before turning into a Colosseum ambient piece full of major sevenths with Larry Carlton on wah duties, then into a Pink Floyd 6/8 patented ode, and back to Brit Prog glory. Before I forget, Jonas Reingold may be the most underrated bassist on the whole rock prog scene.
Match Summary: Two star starters beat an all-star and one role player.
Winner: TAC
King, you sent me wonderful prog bliss after wonderful prog bliss. Fock, I even loved your tank round song. It feels almost unfair seeing you lose while submitting the best song of the round, but TAC played two great tunes, while your second one was weaker. It was an unfortunate pairing, 'cause you would have crushed any other fogey this round. I have to thank you for all the laughs you generously provided in this roulette, and please keep happily busting chops from the Green Monster.
jingle.boy - Boston Bruins Blow: Frameshift:
La Mer - MiseducationLa Mer: Fock me if this isn't dress rehearsals for the Astonishing, i.e. the second best album by DT, and come at me bros. Big James' undefeated airy tone surfing some wise Elton John chicanery. Maybe a little too compressed in the verse and too reverbed in the chorus, but we're splitting sacred hairs here. Not a big fan of the drum machine, a great fan of the final electric explosion. I love piano driven tasty serenades, I love LaBrie. Focking cheater.
Miseducation: Mister Sebastian Bach has been one of my favourite vocalists while NBA Jam was fresh. Here he mostly sounds on his last leg, but the devilish spunk is still there to be reckoned with. There's a good sleazy rock chorus idea and the beginning of a good melodic guitar solo I would salvage, but the song wastes those goodies feeling its way among unconclusive industrial prog temptations. We are the youth gone wry.
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lonestar - Team Fuck Canada: Voices from the Fuselage:
Meteorites - EpiciniumEpicinium: Sorry mate, but unbearably nasal languid vocals on a r&b base could be the very definition of “not my cup of tea”. This is the classic tune I hear every Thursday on X-Factor, making the wife and me go: “Do kids like this? We don't know songs anymore, but it must be popular”, then the daughter replies: “I don't like it”, and I thank God and hug my family. Back to the song, it's a shame, 'cause the lyrics are rather noteworthy.
Meteorites: Huge improvement, actually a very brilliant and unique song doing a lot of things real good. The more it gets heavy, the more the vocals get better, and I can finally spot a great instrument inside the guy's throat. The heavy part is “heavy with lots of atmospheric space”, like something taken from The Real Thing (Top 10 modern albums for me), the hooks are solid, and the instrumental mid section is great when angry and sounds great when placid (finally a good use of vocoder trickery). Nice surprise.
Match Summary: One star starter and one bench warmer beat one star starter and one summer camp cut
Winner: Jingle
Lonestar, with the exotic prog metal grasp you have on my tastes, you had this in your hands, but you managed to send me something even worse than Miseducation, while staying on La Mer's level with your best output. The gratitude I feel for all the great acts you made me know is rivaled only by the regret of not receiving your epic and EP. It's been a great pleasure, please stick around!
Topic: Indiscipline's Roulette v. The Dirty Aftermath (Read 125499 times)
