CyrilWe Never Learned to Live - Radio SilenceTheme - cold, bleakI get the cold and bleakness out of this song. Unfortunately that's about all I get out of it. It did grow on me a bit over time and, to be fair, the song isn't terrible. The first time I heard it i just felt underwhelmed. After a while I started to enjoy the natural rises and falls of the song. It has a tiny bit of a Devil Sold His Soul vibe to it. It just isn't quite as impactful as that band. At least, in my opinion.
7/10___________
Taylor Swift - Cruel SummerTheme - bright, happy, positive, happy 2So over the last few years I've been enjoying more Pop music. Mostly in the realm of the more artsy/ethereal/dreamy pop, but I have found a few other gems out there that I truly enjoy. Then there is still the vast majority of pop music that I just can't stand. Tired/terrible/lame vocal melodies, repetitive/boring synth beats, terrible repetitive lyrics, annoying sounds, etc etc. Unfortunately this mostly falls in to the latter category. The one saving grace here is the lyrics aren't god-awful and the music isn't too boring. I do have a measure of respect for Taylor Swift and what she has accomplished for herself and she clearly has some talent. However I find I don't like her music for the most part.
5.2/10
KatteloxIhlo - ParhelionTheme - makes me think of cold, airy, icy landscapes, wide and open; the album art has a lot to do with this, admittedly, but the music is very crisp and breathyI think this is better than the other two Ihlo songs I got earlier in the roulette, but don't get too excited yet. It's still not reaching in to "great prog metal" territory. I find the vocals in this song much more enjoyable than the other Ihlo stuff I've heard so far. The music is more interesting. Then again, the music overall wasn't terrible in the other Ihlo songs. However there is still way too much reliance on djenty rhythms. I'm just not getting what I crave in music from these guys. There just isn't enough for me to latch on to for the song to be truly good, let alone great...
7/10___________
David Glen Eisley - Sweet VictoryTheme - this is warm and uplifting as fuckWell, this was unexpected. I never knew who did this song. I too have seen that Spongebob episode with this song, but never heard it outside of that. It's actually exactly as you describe it, "uplifting as fuck." It's actually a well put together song. There's song great guitar riffs and melodies, along with some very 80's sounding guitar leads. The vocals are actually mostly well done. I have a few nitpicks here and there, but nothing worth noting.
8.8/10
LetheanMindfeed - Open Your EyesTheme - Lyrical similarities with The Enemy WithinThis is the song I struggled with the most as far as production is concerned. It's very tinny sounding. There's no punch. It all comes across as very dry. This is unfortunate, because the song itself is actually pretty good. There are some issues I have with the vocals in spots, but the music generally is very melodic and enjoyable. I just wish the production was better.
7.5/10__________
Enchant - The ThirstTheme - Lyrical similarities with Middletown DreamsSo this band is going on my permanent band list after this roulette. The songs I've been sent from these guys are nothing short of a revelation for me. Having said that, this song might be the weakest of the songs I've been sent by Enchant, but it's still great. The only problem I have is some of the vocal parts, but they are minor issues. The rest of the song is great and my thoughts on the other Enchant songs basically fit here too.
8.9/10
TACGreg Lake - Nuclear AttackTheme - Much of Grace Under Pressure was about nuclear war.That crunchy guitar riff at the beginning is pretty cool. The guitar tone reminds me a bit of Counterparts era Alex Lifeson mixed with a bit of Brothers In Arms era Dire Straits. There's some great guitar leads here and well structured drums. Nothing particularly fancy, but all very fitting for the song. The weakest part of the song might be Greg Lake's vocals. They aren't bad, but they aren't quite as enjoyable as the rest of the song. Even the Europe-esque keyboards are enjoyable.
8.5/10__________
Narnia - ArmageddonTheme - Related to Manhattan ProjectYou definitely have a type of Progressive/Power/Neoclassical metal that you tend to gravitate towards. This sounds similar to other stuff I've received from you in previous roulettes. This is quite good though. I don't think it's quite as good as Greg Lake, but there are some sick riffs here. Along with some great drumming, if a little predictable. The vocals are mostly pretty good. The vocalist reminds me of someone that I can't quite figure out who. Anyway, this is another solid song from you.
8/10
NekovHearts of Black Science - FacesTheme - To me one of them involves "downbeat" synths, the other one is more "upbeat" synths, and both are great at what they do. My two songs for this round are from the same band and represent just that, heavy use of synths, one of them bleaker, the other one happier.Wow, this song is like if Pink Floyd and Tears for Fears had a baby. The guitar riff at the beginning sounds like a straight up rip off of Run Like Hell. However, this song ends up sounding nothing like Run Like Hell. This is a song that I can't quite put into words what I think of it. There is something magical about it. It has those ethereal and dreamy qualities that I love in music. The vocals are quite enjoyable and fittingly powerful in the chorus. Other than those thoughts, it's hard to describe why I like this so much.
9.1/10_________
Hearts of Black Science - Until MorningTheme - To me one of them involves "downbeat" synths, the other one is more "upbeat" synths, and both are great at what they do. My two songs for this round are from the same band and represent just that, heavy use of synths, one of them bleaker, the other one happier.This song..... that opening synth is just.....perfect! The atmosphere is incredible here. Reminds me of M83 circa Saturdays = Youth. This song is much warmer and upbeat than the last one, but no less powerful and magical. The vocals might be a touch more palatable here, but they lose a bit of the power from the previous song.
9.3/10
Train of NaughtWe Lost the Sea - BogatyriTheme - cold/chilling atmospheres. Sad story behind the song.Every time I listened to this song I just didn't get anything out of it. It was too slow and plodding, it had nothing particularly memorable about it, it felt way too long for what it is, I was expecting some vocals based on the little write up you sent with the song. I was all ready to score this fairly low. Then the last listen right before doing the write up, everything just clicked. The slow build, the thick yet cold atmosphere, the thudding bassline, the jingly guitars. I might have got Stockholm Syndromed here, but I don't care, haha!
8.5/10__________
Latitudes - Body Within a BodyTheme - cold/chilling atmospheresI'm not sure this is necessarily better than the other albums I've heard by this band. This is definitely enjoyable for me. I particularly like the guitar sound throughout. The vocals could have used more changups, but they aren't bad for what they are. That's not really the point of the song anyway. Like this bands other albums, I don't think I would really call this Atmospheric Sludge Metal. It's more like Post-Rock with some touches of Black Metal influence. It's a sound that I always easily enjoy. This is another band that is going on my permanent banned list after this roulette.
8.7/10
EliteTouchstone - Original SinTheme - quite bleak, but still manages to be positive in a wayI really struggled with this one. There are aspects here that I really love and other things that I don't like at all. Take the lyrics for example, some of the lines I absolutely love and are pretty neat, then there are lines that I hate. The lyrics were either written by 2 different people or a Bipolar person. The music on the other hand it very slow and....not exactly samey, but not varied enough. However, there are some incredible musical passages here. That guitar solo at about 2 minutes in is incredibly melodic and amazing and short enough to not be a ridiculous wankfest. I really have no idea how to really rate this song.....
6.3/10_________
Lör - SpectrumTheme - grandeur and positivity throughout, even though the lyrics tell a different storyTAC sent me Lor in my first roulette and despite some rough edges I really liked what the band was doing. I never did end of checking out the album. It was one of those things that just kind of fell through the cracks. This song has all the same problems and same things I love. The song writing is really great, the production leaves a lot to be desired, the vocals are varied and enjoyable, at the same time they could stand some maturing or stylistic choices, the keyboard melodies are awesome, the keyboard patches are not. The song is epic in nature, but could use a little trimming. Musically the band uses a great variety of sounds that all work really well together. Again the guitar solos really stand out. This song isn't quite as good as the other I heard, Eidolon, but it's still a great track.
8.6/10
TomislavLeonard Cohen - You Want It DarkerTheme - song is about death, similar to AfterimageI tried, I really tried. The atmosphere is amazing here, but, and this is a huge but, the vocals do not jive with me. I don't mind spoken word in my music, but not like this. This is just spoken poetry. I like my spoken word more like Hibernal, where it tells a story. Or maybe background clips from radio/TV/movies/etc. I know this album is quite popular among many different people, but this just doesn't work for me.
5/10__________
Thrice - HurricaneTheme - love song, not too sure but it might even have same theme as Emotion Detector, complications in relationshipOne more band that gets to go on my permanent banned list after this roulette. The melodies that Thrice uses are always enjoyable. They seem to be master song craftsmen at least on everything I've heard from them pre-Palms (I didn't really enjoy that album). The guitar melodies are great, the vocals are great, I like the contrast between the verses and the choruses. This song kind of reminds me of some of the more emotional and melodic Foo Fighters stuff. This is a compliment by the way.
8/10
AriichClosure in Moscow - I'm a Ghost of TwilightTheme - the band is generally underrated IMO and has really great songwriting. Quite a cold bleakness to itAnd yet another band getting put on my permanent banned list after the roulette. Very melodic, very moody. I get that cold bleak atmosphere that you mentioned. I like the progression in this song. It makes it seem like a more epic song than its length would suggest. The vocals work really well towards that end as well
8.7/10____________
Closure in Moscow - VanguardTheme - the band is generally underrated IMO and has really great songwriting. Upbeat and full of energy and grooveI love this! It's like bits of Mars Volta, Protest the Hero, Coheed and Cambria, and The Fall of Troy all rolled into one. Great energy and nice melodic groove.
9/10
RomdrumsJolly - Circuit HeavenTheme - touches on a few of the lyrical themes on GUP: global threats, sentient robots, etc. Musically, it combines the epic nature of Between the Wheel, Red Sector A, and Distant Early Warning with the lighter hearted nature of Kid Gloves and Red LensesThis song is a strange beast. There are parts of it I like and parts that I don't care for. With their first few albums it's pretty much the same. Although it ends up being mostly a positive experience overall with Jolly and this song in particular. The vocals aren't as good as other stuff I've heard from Jolly. There are a lot more synths than I remember from previous albums. I like what the synths add for the most part. The song also has some very memorable parts that I get stuck in my head and end up humming to myself. Like I said this song could be better and I've heard better from Jolly, but overall it's a decent song.
7.5/10___________
Mr. Mister - Is It LoveTheme - has a big mix with lots of bright synths, big drums. There’s a bit more sophistication to this song, much like RushWould I be offbase saying this sounds very similar to So era Peter Gabriel? It has a definite 80's sound and production. Those synths could be outtakes from Sledgehammer
The drums in particular have a very 80's artificial sound to them. This is understandable since everyone and their mother was experimenting with electronic drums at the time. This leans heavily on pop sensibilities, which I don't mind, since it's that 80's pop sound. Overall it's a good song, although one that I hated on first listen
8/10
StadlerPearl Jam - In My TreeTheme - I hate Grace Under Pressure. I mean, it's not horrid, but it's so disappointing compared to the rest of the catalogue, that it's always been a low point. I still listen to it, at least once a year, to see if it "clicks" (as Afraid Of Sunlight had with Marillion). It hasn't as of yet. And the same with "No Code" by Pearl Jam. I love love love Ten, and the album following No Code, Yield, but No Code is a wasteland for me. Except for "In My Tree", a sleeper on a dead albumWhy does Eddie Vedder sound like Dave Matthews singing through a Chris Cornell filter here to me. No matter, this song has a flaw. The drums don't let the rest of the song breathe. They are way too busy for the song. Also the style of the song doesn't exactly work for me. There is nothing pulling me in and making me want to come back to it.
6/10__________
Pearl Jam - Given To FlyTheme - Power Windows is a revelation. Not a perfect album, but it's what p/g SHOULD have been (the difference for me is in the drum sound; if p/g had PW's drum sound it would be a whole different ballgame). It was the first Rush tour I saw, and that side one is amazing (HUGE fan of Marathon and Manhattan Project). And so Yield; it was a return to the more classic rock of the first two records, and away from some of the trendy, arty navel gazing of Vitalogy and No Code. And thus, "Given To Fly" (which not coincidentally, echoes that most classic of rock bands, Led Zeppelin)This song is much better. This has all of the classic Pearl Jam-isms, if you will... Eddie Vedder sounds like Eddie Vedder....This really just sounds like a good Pearl Jam song, not much else to say about it.
8/10
Scores
Train - 18.5, 19, 16.7, 13, 13.6, 16.9, 17, 17.9, 17.2 = 149.8
Romdrums - 17, 16.75, 18.7, 16.5, 16, 14, 16, 15.5, 15.5 = 145.95
Kattelox - 17.5, 14.7, 14.2, 18.9, 14, 16.5, 16.5, 17.8, 15.8 = 145.9
Ariich - 16.25, 17.25, 12.5, 12, 17.7, 18, 16, 16.7, 17.7 = 144.1
Elite - 10.5, 16, 17, 18.6, 14.2, 14.5, 16.8, 17.8, 14.9 = 140.3
Nekov - 17, 16, 14.8, 14.3, 16.5, 15, 12, 16.3, 18.4 = 140.3
Cyril - 15.25, 18.25, 16.5, 17, 14, 13, 16.1, 17.5, 12.2 = 139.8
Tomislav - 16, 16, 16.5, 16, 12.5, 15, 16, 12.4, 13 = 133.4
Lethean - 13.5, 16.5, 11, 18.2, 11.6, 14.5, 12.5, 16, 16.4 = 130.2
TAC - 11, 11, 17.2, 16, 14.5, 11, 17, 15.5, 16.5 = 129.7
Stadler - 14, 16.3, 14.2, 11, 13.5, 17, 10.5, 13.5, 14 = 124
It seems we have a tie for 5th place between Elite and Nekov. I'm just going to let both of you compete in the final round.
Thank you everyone else (Cyril, Tomislav, Lethean, TAC, and Stadler) for joining. Even though you don't get to move on to the finals, I did get some very enjoyable new music from each of you. And that is what these roulettes really are all about, for me at least. Thanks again! I'll have some more thoughts later.
Topic: Puppies' Rush Roulette V.3 (Ultimate Post-Roulette Mega Rundown!) (Read 84399 times)