Since I listened to them all, I thought I'd post some brief thoughts while waiting to find out my fate from TAC. Everyone put in a lot of work so I may as well provide some commentary. I'm not proof-reading or formatting so ignore typos and stuff.
I only listened to each once, so I'm sure my thoughts would be different if I had given these time to grow on me more.
Posted in the order I listened:
Faizoff - I was a little bit worried that a couple of the songs on my album might not go so well with the others, but your album was full of totally different styles and made me feel like maybe that didn't matter so much. I thought the story was really cool, and more than a little sad. Favorite tracks were the Sherinian and Orphaned Land. I guess Primus or the Dixie Chicks would be my least favorites. What I've heard of Primus seems like they're talented, but just never something I really enjoy listening to. The Sabaton was a great addition too - that song really gives off a vibe that totally fit the story.
Buddyhunter - I don't think I really like King Gizzard; or Dethklok, so this was a harder listen for me. With the King Gizzard tracks, I do remember liking some better than others but overall they didn't seem to work for me. There was a Vektor track I really liked a lot though - the first one didn't leave a huge impression but I'll go back to it because I really liked the second one. It was really epic which worked towards the end of the story too. A story that on one hand seems totally far fetched, but then again doesn't with the way things seem to be going.
Evermind - This was probably my favorite story; it more real than most of the fiction concept albums, and that's not a criticism of anyone else's because mine isn't exactly based in reality either. It just did a great job of painting a picture in my head and I could imagine the old man. "Disc 1" was a really enjoyable listen, and I want to revisit it some time. My favorite track was Shades. Disc 2 just didn't really work for me at all. Totally fit the story, but it's just not music that does anything for me at all. But I'm glad I listened to it, because I at least learned something - even though that something was that I guess I don't like Leonard Cohen or Mark Knopfler. Two names I've heard a lot, but didn't know anything about other than that Leonard Cohen is the Hallelujah guy. I don't really think I liked the other guy either, but I guess I liked him better than those two.
Wolfking - Evergrey
This is one that I might need to revisit in chunks. Overall, there were too many vocals that I just don't care for, but I heard stuff musically that I thought could be cool. I don't think Sepultura or Trivium will ever be my thing (and I've seen both live), but maybe I'll give some of the others another go. A Touch of Blessing was my favorite and maybe one of the Triviums least favorite. I thought your story was pretty cool, even though Kat
(telox) went way overboard there at the end.
Sacul - Our tastes don't seem to be in line very much, but I liked this more than the first few tracks led me to expect. Dredg is a band I've heard of but never really listened to much. I guess I've had an image of what I thought they might sound like based on the name, but I was way off base. I liked both tracks and they were my favorites on the album. Least favorite was the Beth Gibbons.
Ariich - I hadn't heard of One I Cinema but The Mirror really stood out. I've never been able to get into Scar Symmetry and this time was no exception, but between the One I Cinema, Myrath, and at least of the Tremonti songs, there was plenty here for me to enjoy. I think I should listen to the Disillusion track again for sure - that's a band I've listened to just a few times on recommendations, and I've never gotten in to them, yet still feel like there might be something there, if that makes any sense.
Stadler - This concept album reminds me of riding around in my parents' car. OK maybe not the whole thing, but definitely the Billy Joel and Elton John, and Joe Cocker.
I thought this was a very cool idea, and it takes the listener for a nice journey through Stadler-ville. You even mentioned tending your own garden, which was totally perfect given that I added it to my concept album too.
I thought about doing something like this for Puppies' concept album, but the artists I would have wanted to send for something like it were already banned. Favorite tracks - My Wave (love this song), and Solbury Hill for songs I already knew, and Evidence of Autumn for a song that was new to me. Least favorite was Brett Eldridge.
Puppies - I enjoyed the BTBAM tracks! Wasn't expecting that when I saw them on the playlist.
This was a great album and I told Kattelox to listen to it even though he also has BTBAM reservations. Obviously my favorite track is Angra but I thought most of it was really good. I'll need another listen to pick out which specific songs I liked most but it made a really good first impression.
Cyril - can you ask some of these bands to make an instrumental version?
I am definitely going to listen to this again because there were so many instrumental moments where I stopped and thought about how awesome it was. But I was listening to it on my PC while working on my laptop, so I didn't make a note of what was what. I'll have to go back a couple songs at a time so I can enjoy all of the intricate stuff without feeling overwhelmed by the vocals.
Elite - this was super cool. I liked the story and loved the songs. Of course it doesn't hurt that it had two great songs that you sent me in my roulette, and I'm also a fan of Caligula's Horse and Voyager. The least favorite song was Mr. Bungle and it didn't really seem like it went with the others; for a favorite new song I'm going to have to listen again. Even the harsh vocal tracks sounded really cool; maybe I'll go with the Shining track as a favorite for now because it was intense, and good-weird.
Jingle - was this the longest concept album? It definitely felt like it went on for a long time.
But I didn't want to find out what the abridged version was because what if the best songs were left out?
There was a lot of good stuff here that I wasn't already familiar with. I think I only knew the Pagan's Mind and Orden Ogan tracks; I may have heard the Serious Black too. I might be with TAC in picking the Odin as my least favorite; and I think Section A or Ostura might be my favorites. I did look at the story along with listening, but didn't read lyrics or anything to see how they might tie in.
Romdrums - I thought this was a very enjoyable listen. Like Cyril's, I wasn't looking at the track names while listening so I don't have favorites to pick out, but I didn't hear anything I didn't really like. I enjoyed the world travel story too - I always find that sort of thing interesting and it seemed to fit the sound of your album really well.
Kattelox - I don't know what to say about this that Stadler didn't already say better. Your album does help us to better understand, and it must have been very hard to put it all together. Hopefully also a little cathartic too. I started the first song before TAC posted the write-up, but after that I made to read each part with the song it went with, and it was very emotional. At some point I was reminded of the song Estonia by Marillion - not because of the music but some fo what you wrote (and that's a beautiful song to listen to with tissues ready). Explosions in the Sky was my favorite track to listen to.