ariich’s fogey roulette (v7) – FINAL RESULTS

[lonestar]

 

Definitely wasn't

[HOF]

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HOF – The Blue Nile
1. Over the Hillside
2. Tinseltown in the Rain
3. Heatwave
4. The Wires Are Down

First impression: Great vibe, love the sound, but musically it’s not doing anything for me on first listen.

Final opinion: Ok let’s start with the positives. I love the sound here, and would not have guessed it was from the 80s. I guess it’s probably been remastered more recently in terms of the fullness of the sound, but the style and the mix honestly sounds not dissimilar to what some synthpop and electronic artists are doing these days. Very chilled vibes and creative use of different sounds and ideas. The problem I had was how little I was getting from it musically. However, I’ve softened on that, and after multiple listens it has grown on me a bit - Heatwave especially did not interest me at all at first, but now has a really nice groove to it that kind of reminds me of Lemon Jelly. So overall I definitely like it, I just wish the music lived up to the production.

Score: 7.4

Well, the first impression had me fearing the worst, but this could have been worse. They are all about subtlety and minimalism with lush soundscapes that provide a vehicle for Paul Buchanan’s voice. I could have given you one or two other tracks that have a bit more going on, but for the most part this is what they do. I almost sent one that was even more minimalist, but decided that might hurt me. I guess I was right! I go through these periods where they are all I want to listen to. Hats is one of my top 5 albums of all time, and A Walk Across The Rooftops is really almost just as good. If you ever get a chance both are worth a full listen.

[ariich]

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HOF – The Blue Nile
1. Over the Hillside
2. Tinseltown in the Rain
3. Heatwave
4. The Wires Are Down

First impression: Great vibe, love the sound, but musically it’s not doing anything for me on first listen.

Final opinion: Ok let’s start with the positives. I love the sound here, and would not have guessed it was from the 80s. I guess it’s probably been remastered more recently in terms of the fullness of the sound, but the style and the mix honestly sounds not dissimilar to what some synthpop and electronic artists are doing these days. Very chilled vibes and creative use of different sounds and ideas. The problem I had was how little I was getting from it musically. However, I’ve softened on that, and after multiple listens it has grown on me a bit - Heatwave especially did not interest me at all at first, but now has a really nice groove to it that kind of reminds me of Lemon Jelly. So overall I definitely like it, I just wish the music lived up to the production.

Score: 7.4

Well, the first impression had me fearing the worst, but this could have been worse. They are all about subtlety and minimalism. I could have given you one or two other tracks that have a bit more going on, but for the most part this is what they do. I almost sent one that was even more minimalist, but decided that might hurt me. I guess I was right! They are all about the lush soundscapes and providing a vehicle for Paul Buchanan’s voice. I go through these periods where they are all I want to listen to. Hats is one of my top 5 albums of all time, and A Walk Across The Rooftops is really almost just as good. If you ever get a chance both are worth a full listen.

Depends what you mean by minimalist. I've no problem with subtle and minimal instrumentation - the Joan Baez songs that won the round didn't have very much going on, but they were rich in melody and harmony.

And yeah I'll certainly give a listen to those two albums. I'm going to make sure I check out every artist I'm sent, unless there are any I actively dislike.

[Sacul]

Yeah Jig of Life is my favorite track of hers, glad you liked it. Her catalogue is quite varied tbh, I'd recommend The Dreaming if you want something more experimental, or 50 Words for Snow for a completely different, very emotional, ambient-ish, piano-driven experience.

I think I know what I'll send now, was about to go with some stuff but maybe I'll go the folk route like Ev and Cyril did

[romdrums]

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romdrums – Tears for Fears
1. Shout
2. Mothers Talk
3. Sowing the Seeds of Love
4. Swords and Knives

First impression: I’m digging the production and the rich sound, but it’s a little… unexciting maybe?

Final opinion: This submission is very much in two halves, and I have pretty different feelings about each. The first two songs come from Songs From the Big Chair, and are very much in a new wave, synthpop sort of style. They kind of remind me of Depeche Mode, but without the sense of melancholy that makes their best music so captivating. I love the sound of these two songs, but musically I’m still not finding them too exciting (even though I gather Shout is one of their biggest hits). The other two songs then are from The Seeds of Love, which seems to have a very different style, more of a pop-rock, psychedelic vibe. In some ways the production isn’t quite so interesting here, but the music is fanastic - really richly melodic and with some top-notch hooks, especially in the title track.

Score: 7.8

Based on this, you'll really dig The Seeds of Love as an album.  I think they're both must own albums, but I think you may appreciate the looser, more organic nature of The Seeds of Love.  There's a lot of very lush moments on that album, the middle section of Swords and Knives being a particular highlight for me.  Happy exploring!

[Stadler]

Tim, I know you know, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.

yeah this seems to be the only one that's really lingered over the years in the cultural conversation

also i don't think cats in the cradle was his song or even a song he recorded

Oh shit!

That's Cat Stevens isn't it?

Harry Chapin.   My god, man.   

[TAC]

Tim, I know you know, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.

yeah this seems to be the only one that's really lingered over the years in the cultural conversation

also i don't think cats in the cradle was his song or even a song he recorded

Oh shit!

That's Cat Stevens isn't it?

Harry Chapin.   My god, man.   

 . Oh boy.

[Buddyhunter1]

First place in twosuits' roulette, last place in yours. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

I already have my submission locked down and it's pretty much the opposite of Slayer. Will send soon!

[HOF]

Based on this, you'll really dig The Seeds of Love as an album.  I think they're both must own albums, but I think you may appreciate the looser, more organic nature of The Seeds of Love.  There's a lot of very lush moments on that album, the middle section of Swords and Knives being a particular highlight for me.  Happy exploring!

The Seeds of Love is wonderful (both of those TFF albums are). For my money, the big 3 80s art-pop albums would be The Seeds of Love, The Blue Nile's Hats, and Talk Talk's The Colour of Spring. But Kate Bush's Hounds of Love is way up there too. We had submissions from three of those in one round, and Talk Talk is banned already, so that might make me shift my send list a bit.

[Nekov]

I think that's a fair assessment. I agree that the Prophet is the weakest of the 3 and I maybe could have avoided sending it but well, what's done is done.
I already know what I'll send next. Should be in you inbox soon.

[HOF]

Depends what you mean by minimalist. I've no problem with subtle and minimal instrumentation - the Joan Baez songs that won the round didn't have very much going on, but they were rich in melody and harmony.

And yeah I'll certainly give a listen to those two albums. I'm going to make sure I check out every artist I'm sent, unless there are any I actively dislike.

I suppose all of that is a bit subjective. I love the vocal melodies in these songs at least, but I definitely understand it not grabbing you. One man's minimalist is another man's boring probably.

Have sent round 2!

[Kwyjibo]

Alrighty, I’ll take that score with pleasure. 

Glad you liked Level 42. If you want to check them out further I would recommend starting with True Colours, that’s my personal favorite.

If you go backwards from there, you get a lot of cool, funky stuff, with lots of instrumentals and lots of bass. I like this period better than their later more pop-oriented direction.

Their most successful record is certainly Running In The Family, not bad but I would rank it more in the lower third. Not really funky anymore, more pop.

And from there on you get more and more pop and less and less funk. The bass isn’t really prominent anymore. Staring At The Sun is the last solid record, imo. After that you get one or two good songs per album, but all in all they don’t appeal to me anymore.

[twosuitsluke]

OK, so on reflection, and the success of Cyril and Sacul's entries, I'm going to steer clear of metal the next round. I'll be sending later today, 90% sure on my entries at this point.

[Kwyjibo]

Sent, it's 80s times again 

[Evermind]

It's all downhill from here I guess. Enjoying the lead while it lasts!

Oh, and as far as Joan Baez's Diamonds And Rust... Been listening to the Priest version since probably 1981, but up until a few months ago, I had literally never heard the Joan Baez version. I pulled up this video on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ST9TZBb9v8

Being written about Bob Dylan, the old pictures of the two of them adds to the song. I think I watched this video every night for about a month after I had seen it.

Tremendous!

I honestly don't like Priest cover of this song very much, but love the original. Such an excellent song and it seems Rich agrees with this too.

OK, so on reflection, and the success of Cyril and Sacul's entries, I'm going to steer clear of metal the next round. I'll be sending later today, 90% sure on my entries at this point.

I don't have a lot of pre-90s non-metal, guess I'm screwed.

[ariich]

As I've said before:

As a general rule, how well I rate one artist (good or bad) should not be taken as indicative of a whole genre. I'd say pay more attention to the stylistic elements that I do or don't like.

[twosuitsluke]

As I've said before:

As a general rule, how well I rate one artist (good or bad) should not be taken as indicative of a whole genre. I'd say pay more attention to the stylistic elements that I do or don't like.

That implies I'm going to really dissect, or even read, your reviews. Unfortunately I don't have time, I have a roulette to run don't you know.

Folk good

Thrash bad

That's my takeaway 

[ariich]

Cool, I look forward to receiving some terrible folk music.

[twosuitsluke]

Cool, I look forward to receiving some terrible folk music.

Or great thrash

[Crow]

Cool, I look forward to receiving some terrible folk music.

Or great thrash

A contradiction if I've ever heard one!

[Buddyhunter1]

Cool, I look forward to receiving some terrible folk music.

It's on the list for round three.

Sent! I'd be surprised if nobody else was planning on sending this artist.

Or great thrash

A contradiction if I've ever heard one!

- Vektor
- That one King Gizzard album
-
-
-
-
-
- ? ? ?

[Crow]

vektor are kind of tolerable but i haven't thought of them in ages
i hated that king gizzard album so
there are like a few good classic thrash tracks i guess. i really like megadeth's holy wars and absolutely nothing else from them. metallica's best songs were either ballads or all closer to classic heavy metal than thrash too tbh. creeping death and orion and stuff like that lol. uh. hit the lights off their debut is actually pretty solid though, it has a manic energy that's kinda hard to hate
i got one revocation album and thought it was ok but not really for the thrash elements in particular
idk i don't like my metal fast and mindless like that, generally speaking 

[twosuitsluke]

Or great thrash

A contradiction if I've ever heard one!

- Vektor
- That one King Gizzard album
-
-
-
-
-
- ? ? ?

Good lord, Infest the Rats Nest isn't even really thrash as far as I'm concerned. It has a few thrashy parts but I feel sorry for all their fans who think they know what thrash is after listening to that album alone.

Also you sent Slayer so don't pretend you don't know good thrash 

Cyril, how can you like Holy Wars bur not the rest of Rust in Peace?

Does

Not

Compute

[ariich]

I do love some of Megadeth and Metallica's albums (more of the latter, some of the former). In terms of modern thrash, yeah Vektor have some awesome stuff, thanks to Puppies for turning me on to them!

[TAC]

In terms of modern thrash, yeah Vektor have some awesome stuff

[twosuitsluke]

You'll like that other one that came out this year that I think TAC posted in the albums thread? Terminalist?

[TAC]

You'll like that other one that came out this year that I think TAC posted in the albums thread? Terminalist?

It wasn't me.

[Buddyhunter1]

In terms of modern thrash, yeah Vektor have some awesome stuff

Speed that up about three times and it'd be quite fitting for most of their songs.

[Crow]

Good lord, Infest the Rats Nest isn't even really thrash as far as I'm concerned. It has a few thrashy parts but I feel sorry for all their fans who think they know what thrash is after listening to that album alone.

it sucked either way so who cares 

[Ruba]

Glad you liked it. Killing Joke is a quite new find for me and I'm more interested in their 90s/2000s output when they turned into more industrial/metallic direction, but I've quite liked some of their 80s songs too. I wanted to play it safe though and sent just the strongest song of that era I know. They're an interesting band into whose discography I want to get more acquinted with.

[Buddyhunter1]

I must say, as someone who hardly ever listens to anything from before the 90s, the process of forcing myself to do so in order to actually have things to send has been enjoyable! Discovered at least a few things I probably wouldn't have checked out otherwise.

[TAC]

I must say, as someone who hardly ever listens to anything from before the 90s, the process of forcing myself to do so in order to actually have things to send has been enjoyable! Discovered at least a few things I probably wouldn't have checked out otherwise.

Buddyhunter Fogey Challenge Roulette??

[ariich]

Glad you liked it. Killing Joke is a quite new find for me and I'm more interested in their 90s/2000s output when they turned into more industrial/metallic direction, but I've quite liked some of their 80s songs too. I wanted to play it safe though and sent just the strongest song of that era I know. They're an interesting band into whose discography I want to get more acquinted with.

Interesting that that's the direction they took later on, sounds like quite a shift although I can sort of hear a hint of industrial approach in the song you sent. I'll be very intrigued to explore their stuff once the roulette is over.

I must say, as someone who hardly ever listens to anything from before the 90s, the process of forcing myself to do so in order to actually have things to send has been enjoyable! Discovered at least a few things I probably wouldn't have checked out otherwise.

Really glad you're getting something out of it too!

That discovery of older music I don't normally bother with is exactly why I'm doing this roulette, and it's been highly successful so far. That first round had an average rating of 7.93, which is really far off the 8.07 and 8.08 average scores in the first two rounds of my last roulette. You guys rock.

[Buddyhunter1]

I must say, as someone who hardly ever listens to anything from before the 90s, the process of forcing myself to do so in order to actually have things to send has been enjoyable! Discovered at least a few things I probably wouldn't have checked out otherwise.

Buddyhunter Fogey Challenge Roulette??

Don't count on it! Fogey music is good but only in moderation.

[King Postwhore]

Just like Tim.  In moderation.