RouletteMania! v. Do It, Gregg!

[Train of Naught]

LSD is Psychonaut?

[Podaar]

LSD is Psychonaut?

I think so.

...and I'm pretty sure Black Bolt is Karnya.

[Indiscipline]

Right and right!



Do I remember a life? Gary Moore

I'm trying, bub. I'm trying. Porcupine Tree

Now I'm in a great Austin Powers mood The Animals

My tremolo picking is like a tyre gun Ted Nugent

Avanantaqualung Toehider

Every music decade has its drug. Is it LSD's turn again? Psychonaut

“This city is afraid of me. I've seen its true face” Bruce Springsteen

Test the guitar man for PEDs, trust me. MindMaze

There's cheese, and there's Mont d'Or. Treshold

The western male national anthem Randy Newman

I wasn't aware Black Bolt sang in a band Karnya

Aural porcelain iamthemorning

There will always be a soft spot in my heart for porn music Lettuce

Now we know there's a starman waiting in the sky David Bowie

[TAC]

Podaar, can you post the playlist? Did you do it on Spotify?

[jingle.boy]

I'm hoping the Mount D'or reference was a positive one.  I was equating "cheese" to the quality / type of the song.

[King Postwhore]

You missing mine?  lol

[TAC]

Your is Mount D'oh.

[Podaar]

Podaar, can you post the playlist? Did you do it on Spotify?

Round 6 playlist

TAC,

This playlist includes everything except Karnya, which wasn't available on Spotify. Send me a PM if you need me to email you an .mp3.

EDIT: Nevermind, here's a YT link.

[TAC]

OK, thank you.

I actually own the Karnya, so I already have that.

[Indiscipline]

[TAC]

The ending to Meet The Sloth kind of reminds me a little of the ending to Keeper Of The Seven Keys.


I love Intensities In 10 Cities. I even had that on 8 track as a kid.

[jingle.boy]

Awesome... listening now.

And I too own the Karnya album.

[Podaar]

It's too bad more people didn't buy it, maybe we could have had another album by them.

[Indiscipline]

The "Okay, cute" Group



Chris: The Animals – It's My Life

Now I'm in a great Austin Powers mood

If you thought this was gonna get a shit vote in my roulette, well, you don't know me and my fetish for context. Can you find a heavier (except for The Sonics, but we don't count accidents due to lack of production) and deeper overall rythm drive line in 1965? Another middle-eight anticipating the classic I- / VIIb / VIb heavy metal chord progression? This song, put in its context, rocks lyrically as well; while the three major rock acts on the planet at that time were crying “help me” or “how does it feel to be on your own?” or “I can't get no satisfaction”, Eric Burdon (by the way, the man responsible for the best male rock vocal performance of the sixties: House of the Rising Sun) was stating “I do whatever the fock I want”. If that's not rock, then I don't know what it is. 

Score: 6.5


romdrums: Lettuce – The Crusher

There will always be a soft spot in my heart for porn music

If you thought this was gonna get a shit vote in my roulette, well, you don't know me and my fetish for porn music and blaxpoitation flicks scores. Said that, this tune is nothing but an experiment / study on groove manipulation: what happens if we slow down every focking bar's fourth movement a little bit? According to my wife, the result is utterly irritating; her husband, on the other hand, finds it incredibly enjoyable and borderline addictive, almost the same way I can't resist the notorious Rain's slow down (the lesson, as always, whatever you hear, the Beatles have done it before). Too bad I'm not awarding theme points on this round, because this is a damn near perfect entrance music for sexy sleazy wrestlers ala WCW Diesel. 

Score: 6.5



Stadler: Ted Nugent - My Love Is Like a Tire Iron

My tremolo picking is like a tyre gun

If you thought this was gonna get a shit vote in my roulette, well, you don't know me and my fetish for rock guitarists who A) Brutally overpower their instrument B) Play louder live than everything else combined on tape C) Are as clean as they're fast while valuing volume more than distortion*. Except for casual radio passages of Cat Scratch Fever and Stranglehold, I knew the Nuge only for his work in dad's Amboy Dukes albums, and I must admit I am pleasantly surprised by the way his violent but superfocused solo adds value to a tune which is basically a Motorhead injection inside a MC5 corpse. Last but not least, I gotta admire the innate confidence in choosing such a title as self representation.

*Rory Gallagher, Ritchie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler, SRV, Brian Setzer, Alvin Lee ...

Score: 6.5



Podaar: Karnya – Stronger

I wasn't aware Black Bolt sang in a band

If you thought this was gonna get a shit vote in my roulette, well, you don't know me and my fetish for decibel gifted rock baritenors capable of belting paint off car bonnets. So this guy has Serj Tankian's power, Jeff Martin's range, AND he's a quite educated and talented guitarist? Focking unfair, even Steve Marriott level unfair, but thank goodness he's here because, except for the overall feeling of aggression (tiresome when constant and never downshifting gears) and the proggish instrumental runs (fast and clever but devoid of significant melodic lines), the man is pretty much the only really memorable feature in this rocker. I call it the Heavy Roadrunner DT Syndrome: when sophistication defuses raw power while aggression undermines musical complexity. Oh, and I'm a pussy, of course.

Score: 7



Katt: Randy Newman – I Want Everybody to Like Me

The western male national anthem

If you thought this was gonna get a shit vote in my roulette, well, you don't know me and my fetish for classy ragtime treats and social commentary delivered without grandstanding. Not only I strongly believe the bravest act a man can perform is to acknowledge his share of weakness and cowardice, but having this particular man - belonging to the Great American Songbook's pantheon and constantly awarded by the American Myth and Conscience Foundation Machine (Hollywood) - playfully admitting that indiscriminate eating the Pursuit of Happiness Sacred Cow's meat can lead to some soul shattering disease is down right brilliant. Of course, if I couldn't understand English, this would be just a funny jingle, and that counts in the great scheme of roulette things.

Score: 7

[Podaar]

Well, that was disappointing because a)

If you thought this was gonna get a shit vote in my roulette...

No, I did not. I actually really love this tune and thought you might as well.

And b)

Oh, and I'm a pussy, of course.

Pussies can really take a pounding, you're more of a gonad. 

[The Walrus]

Oh thank god, I at least scored better than Turd Nugent. I'll take it. Sorry Stadler. 

[Evermind]

I've got a fairly good feeling about this round now!

[Stadler]

Well, that was disappointing because a)

Oh, and I'm a pussy, of course.

Pussies can really take a pounding, you're more of a gonad. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Indiscipline]

Well, that was disappointing because a)

If you thought this was gonna get a shit vote in my roulette...

No, I did not. I actually really love this tune and thought you might as well.

And b)

Oh, and I'm a pussy, of course.

Pussies can really take a pounding, you're more of a gonad. 

Ok, cute 

[The Walrus]

Well, now I know what to send Indi for my first submission next round.

[Indiscipline]

After all, it's spelled genitalia 

[The Walrus]

  !!

[Indiscipline]

The "Hey, good one!" Group:



Elite: Bruce Springsteen – New York City Serenade

“This city is afraid of me. I've seen its true face”

The Boss confuses the shit out of me. On one hand I can't stand his 80's mannerisms, on the other he's the artist who has amazed me the most live, energy wise; on one hand I consider Born to Run an overproduced mess way more guilty of anything, say, Aja has ever been accused of, on the other The River is one of my 100 desert island songs. Here everything is clear: a delicate act of musical love – with all the right musical touches but the obnoxious strings -  towards that fauna Bill Hicks used to call “serious pockets of humanity” and their habitat. It makes me think of some sort of Taxi Driver storytelling, only by someone in love with the subject instead of despising it.

Score: 7.5


Puppies: Porcupine Tree – Don't Hate Me

I'm trying, bub. I'm trying.

Now I'm telling you what this great band – and spectacular rythm section – really needs to do. They need to sit Wilson down, serve him a glass of brandy, and tell him: “Look Steve – can we call you Steve? - we are really grateful for all this amazing music you toss our way, and for the money, of course, but you need to step the fock down from vocals duty, really. No, we're serious. You can't have it all. You have the brains for it, but your voice and charisma suck. No, let us finish, sip your brandy. Step the fock down, be our producer and sound engineer and we will go down in history as the new Pink Floyd and you the new Alan Parsons as Indi uses to say. Everybody's happy, everybody's filthy rich. We're not asking, by the way. Do it now. We are not above Barreting you. Brandy's on Gavin.”

Score: 7.5



Train: Psychonaut – Sananda

Every music decade has its drug. Is it LSD's turn again?

I don't know what current genre this song belongs to, I don't know how to describe the genre this song should belong to, I don't even know what the sweet fock this song is talking about. What I know is I'm being told a story using huge sounds, limitless panoramas, extreme care in both letting the big epic moments ring out and spinning the quiet threads. Tension and release, build-up and vent off, dynamics and spacing: the real lost arts in songwriting. Respect those laws, and even a forty seconds fade-out at the end of a ten minutes song can be perceived as necessary. Everything sounds epic and dramatic despite the absence of harmonic wizardry or instrumental virtuosism. I wouldn't be against a sensible brandy sitdown with the singer though.

Score: 8



Sacul: David Bowie – Lazarus

Now we know there's a starman waiting in the sky

I've never liked David Bowie. I mean, he's responsible for a couple of immortal tunes and I've always respected his uncanny ability to sniff out talent, sorround himself with incredible teams, and promote the hell out of everchanging packages. Maybe it's due to the constant re-invention and fad adjustments, but he's always sounded phoney to my ears, a dandy exploiting rock and pop tropes (and a huge … charisma) in order to surf the relevancy wave. Now, suddenly, a man who has made a spectacle of one hundred imaginary lives, offers the world a song making a spectacle of his death, and it sounds more powerful, urgent and heartfelt than anything he's ever recorded, except maybe Life on Mars. I know, sometimes death is a great career move for a rockstar, but this tune would have shaken me even if the Duke had recovered and lived on.

Score: 8

[TAC]

I've got a fairly good feeling about this round now!

Yeah, you've got the top spot sewn up.

[King Postwhore]

I needed a bigger score.  Can't wait to see the result.

[lonestar]

Oh man, well look at that.

[Indiscipline]

The “primo stuff” Group:


(the following three songs are totally equivalent to my tastes and satisfaction. The only difference is they tickle three different bones respectively: the heavy metal one, the progressive rock one, and the progressive metal one. I have all kinds of bones.)



lonestar: MindMaze – Fight the Future

Test the guitar man for PEDs, trust me.

If fighting the future means a lovely rejuvenation of a glorious past, then few titles have been more appropriate. I bet all the money Covid is costing me that, if you slow this tour de force down by half, you're able to recognise every bloody guitar riff penned by every bloody NWOBHM artist between 1979 and 1983. The homage to the founding fathers continues by applying a brutal dose of German original power metal killer drumming and boiling the mixture to californian speed metal temperature. That's already nice work, but what makes the whole product shine is the oustretched symphonic vocal line riding those hellish rythms in constant fascinating and mutually beneficial opposition. The guitar solo is amazing, even if they've chosen to play it through South Park Kenny's throat. Those bastards.

Score: 8.5



king: Anasazi – And the Grudge

Wait, is there a third Morse brother?

Papa Morse must have gotten a bit of hanky panky going on amidst the French Alps because this guy sounds a lot like Neil with an accent, or maybe it's the acoustic verse being so similar to Innocence and Undying Love's verse (one of my favourite melodies of the new millennium) deceiving me. All ado aside, the verse is great, the riff is brilliant, the final chorus is glorious, and if this song were a track inside Transatlantic's phantomatic upcoming album (and Neil Morse / Transatlantic is utter blue blood as far as I'm concerned) I would be a happy customer. I'll tell you more: this tune would belong in the next group if it didn't dwell too much after the mid point; there's really no need for me to listen to two riffs for four minutes. Major points for being from Grenoble, like Andre the Giant.

Score: 8.5



jingle: Treshold – The Hours

There's cheese, and there's Mont d'Or.

If all progressive metal songs worked like this one I probably wouldn't hate progressive metal. They – as King Diamond would call Them – have 1253 things going on at the same time (so nothing is really going on), this one basically has 4: intriguing stripped down new wavish rythm, Beethoven melody, guitar behaving like a cello in an orchestral environment, vocals as restrained as emotional while tonally ultra-pleasing. They have either senseless spamming of cheese (pleasant melody) or no pleasant melody (cheese) at all, this one smells like melody by one of the best cheesemongers in history: Beethoven (sorry, Joe and Bender). They change frenetically and all you can remember is “that 23/8 section” or “those five consecutive sweeps in C#minIIb”; this one evolves organically and rationally, so you can remember a mothereffing song, even if it loses steam and repeats itself now and then.

Score: 8.5

[TAC]

So I have to get an 11 and Evermind has to get a 9.

[lonestar]

 

[The Walrus]

Threshold coming in anything but last place absolutely fucking baffles me   

[TAC]

Threshold coming in anything but last place absolutely fucking baffles me   

It does seem kind of high to me.

I actually think Damian Wilson is awful.

[Indiscipline]

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Threshold coming in anything but last place absolutely fucking baffles me   

It does seem kind of high to me.

I actually think Damian Wilson is awful.

Yeah, Damian Wilson is my least favorite Threshold singer.

[jingle.boy]

Threshold coming in anything but last place absolutely fucking baffles me   

I got two words for ya ....



Know thy host

I have all kinds of bones.)[/i]

I pretty sure that King and cheffy-poo don't mind me speaking for them... we're glad to have boned you.

[jingle.boy]

Oh, and I think I'm totally fine with losing to toehider, Gary Moore (even if he is covering a Kiske tune! ), and iamthemorning.  Three excellent tracks.