First of all, let me say thank you to everyone for being patient with me while I was dealing with personal matters. I'll tell you, this has been one of the hardest months of my life. Dealing with my own feelings, seeing the absolute anguish of the 2 families that lost someone, managing the fallout, etc etc. Things are still slowly getting better and I feel like I'm in the right headspace to continue this now. So thanks again to all of you.
So on with the first batch of results for round 4. These have been a long time coming. I also included some "remastered" cover art for the albums too. I wasn't completely happy with all of them, so I improved some of them.
Wolfking - The Wolf
1. Mastodon - The Wolf is Loose (0:00)
2. Blaze - Blood and Belief (3:29)
3. Saxon - Night of the Wolf (9:24)
4. Tribulation - Hour of the Wolf (13:23)
5. Megadeth - She-Wolf (17:31)
6. King Diamond - Follow the Wolf (21:01)
7. Wolfheart - The Hunt (24:27)
8. Green Carnation - Hounds (29:16)
First Impression - I think you Stadler'd your song choices here 
This starts off kickin with a band that should have probably been banned, but meh. The Wolf is Loose is such a banger of a Mastodon track and starts this off fantastically. Not much to say about it musically other than it's just a fantastic track. Next is another Blaze song. I'm getting exposed to more Blaze than I had hoped in this roulette, but at the same time I haven't regretted listening to either Blaze track so far. This one isn't exactly as good as the other one you sent me, but it's still a far cry better than anything he did with Maiden. The song might be a little longer than necessary, but not terribly so. I mean I can't really say where the track should be cut down. I especially like the chorus here, it worms its way into my brain and then the little instrumental section just after the first chorus is pretty sweet. I guess I'm going to have to finally give in and listen to some Blaze solo stuff. Thanks Kade....I guess
After this we get Night of the Wolf by Saxon. This is another one of those bands that I always meant to check out more, but always managed to slip past me. I'm not sure I really like the singers vocals a lot here. I kind of have the same issues with him as I do Tobias Sammet. The way he uses his vibrato and the obvious limits on range. It's not terrible, just not my cup of tea, if that makes sense. Instrumentally this is pretty nice even if the drummer is a bit boring. Would have loved to hear the drummer change things up a bit more and add a few more interesting flares. Hour of the Wolf starts off interesting, but falls into what I call Amon Amarthisms. Other than some of the cool atmospheric keyboard parts, this song doesn't really capture my interest much. Feels very death metal by numbers. Then we get She-Wolf and let me just cut right to the chase. Why didn't Dave Mustaine ever see fit to hire a proper vocalist. He is a gifted guitarist for sure, but the exact opposite on the mic. I know some people think he fits perfectly fronting Megadeth, but I beg to differ. This song shows both qualities in spades. Great guitar licks and bad vocals
Follow the Wolf brings things back up a bit. There's no denying King Diamonds ability to sing and hit some incredible falsetto notes. The problem with King Diamond's solo stuff, and by extension Mercyful Fate, is there is a certain quality to the music that just does not resonate with me at all. It's all seemingly perfectly executed, but it just doesn't do anything for me. Having said all that, this song is sprinkled with all kinds of cool parts. Like cool lead guitar flares, the aforementioned falsetto moments, and even some great drumming. Next is The Hunt by Wolfheart. If I'm not mistaken the frontman for this band is also the guy behind Black Sun Aeon, which I really like. Never listened to Wolfheart before now though. I actually really like this. Especially that 2 minute intro before the vocals kick in. Then the song just kind of kicks your face in. Great use of melody in the guitar leads and pummeling drums has me headbanging to this quite a bit
At times this reminds me of Insomnium and Enshine a little bit. Great song! Finishing things off we have Hounds. Green Carnation is another band I'm quite familiar with, but really only their first 2 albums. I know I gave the album this song comes from a listen back when it first came out, but don't remember it at all. This song goes through a lot of shifting styles and moods and I like it, especially as the closer here. I like the generous use of what sounds like Hammond organ and the great melodies throughout. Overall the first and last 2 songs of this EP are great, but the whole middle section just doesn't really do it for me musically.
Song Score - 7.7/10
I really like the way you tied your story in with the whole wolf theme throughout this. I can totally see where you are coming from in the story. The feeling of being stuck in a job and even though you are good at it and enjoy it to an extent, you wonder if this is what you are supposed to be doing, if there's more out there. Am I doing the right thing? Am I missing out? Should I make a change in my life? If so, what do I change? Where do I go from here? These are questions I've asked myself at times in my life. And then the whole part about looking back and realising the mistakes you've made and wondering what you could have done differently, I can relate to that so well. I think we all at one time or another wish we could go back and redo something in our lives. The She-Wolf and Follow the Wolf part is definitely relatable too. I can see my wife in some of the lyrics to those songs as well. Then closing out the story with Hounds is kind of brilliant, giving some closure, yet at the same time leaves so many questions in life....
Story Score - 9.5/10 +1 for bonus theme
For the most part I like the way this flows. I like the way you transitioned between Mastodon and Blaze on the beat. Also the acoustic guitar outro of Saxon to the electric guitar intro of Tribulation sounds similar and makes for a decent transition. But it's the last 3 songs that all flow together almost perfectly. The rest is all serviceable.
Flow Score - 8/10
Total Score - 26.2/30
TAC - Not Gonna Do It
1. Smiling-Shopping Cart 0:00
2. Persefone-Returning To The Source 1:53
3. James Labrie-Undecided 8:32
4. VOLA-Controllable 13:52
5. Death-A Moment Of Clarity 18:52
6. Horchata Network-Shopping Cart Chorale 27:49
First Impression - OMG...So starting off with Shopping Cart (I guess we are getting a meme story
), never heard of this band, never heard this song before. Perfect! What a way to set the tone of the album. It's really just an intro to the EP as a whole. Silly song.... Followed by something completely different, Returning to the Source. I've always been a fan of Persefone. Although the album this song is from is not my favorite, that would be either Aathma or Core. The biggest issue I have with this album is the herky jerky rhythms in most of the songs, they just don't appeal to me nearly as much as their other albums. I don't really know how to describe it. This song definitely has its moments of greatness, but sometimes it gets in its own way. Next we come to a song from an album I haven't thought about in a long time, even though I used to listen to this album a ton when it came out, Undecided. The problem is this album has not aged well for me at all. There are lots of issues that I tended to overlook when I was younger and my musical palette was much smaller. I had just gotten into Dream Theater in 2003 and wanted to take in any and everything even semi-related to the band, so of course this album made it into my rotation heavily. These days I have acquired so much music and in way more genres and styles than back then, this is one of the casualties of my changing standards. The sound is really brickwalled, the riffs are a little pedestrian, Mangini's drumming is weirdly unimaginative, the bass is buried in the mix, and it sounds dated to me these days. The one redeeming thing here is James sounds pretty good. Next is Controllable by VOLA. I had not heard this song before, because its from an old EP that I've never listened to before. I really enjoyed VOLA's first album a lot and this is a fair bit different. This sounds more like a band trying to find their sound. Not that it doesn't have some cool stuff going on, like the cool little keyboard parts and the occasionally quirky vocal bits. However this is missing a lot of the uniqueness that the band would go on to explore on their debut album. Good, but not great. Up next is A Moment of Clarity and now we are talking! This is from one of the very few albums that I overlook the poor production because the music contained within is just so good! Does the production suck? Yes. Does Richard Christy sometimes go overboard on the drums? Yes. Is the music sometimes too technical for its own good? Yes. However Chuck Schuldiner was a musical genius and this song and by extension the whole album is a tour de force of musical extremes. It's too bad that Chuck passed away at such a young age from pneumonia which was the result of his cancer treatment. I often wonder if Mike Portnoy would have ever ended up working with Chuck at some point had he not died. Anyway I digress, this song is amazing! And lastly we come to the "hidden track" Shopping Cart Chorale. Between the opening track and this one I definitely got a good laugh out of this EP.
Song Score - 7.5/10
So I'm aware of the Shopping Cart thread here. I believe I even participated in it a little. I can't remember if someone ultimately got the thread locked, but it was amusing back in the day. I like that you took this route for your personal story. I got a good laugh every time I listened to it. Especially with the personal tragedy I recently suffered it was a welcome reprieve from the more heavy personal story EP's I got this round. The song choices worked well for the story, even if they were a little cryptic at times. I even like how you did the little interlude sound of someone pushing a shopping cart in between Controllable and A Moment of Clarity. And even going so far as to putting a hidden track at the end and then a voice saying "Not gonna do it" at the end. Well played sir!
Story Score - 9/10 +1 for bonus theme
Now I know we've gone back and forth on this whole flow thing and I think it's the one thing that has pissed most of you off in this roulette the most. I'm just gonna start out here by saying it's an almost intangible thing, ineffable, if you will. Sometimes it's hard to describe why one thing works for me and another doesn't. Having said all that, I think this might be your best one yet. I can tell you are learning Audacity more, you even reached out to me a couple times on how to do certain things with the program. So your willingness to try to appeal to my sense of how an album should flow shows effort at the very least. The crossfade between Returning to the Source and Undecided was well timed. Then hitting Controllable on the beat was inspired, if not perfect because of the drastic change in production and abrupt key change.
Flow Score - 9/10
Total Score - 26.5/30
Jingle - Teenage Wasteland
Geoff Hughes - Happy Birthday Kid
Mr. Mister - Broken Wings
Bonnie Tyler - Holding Out for a Hero
Triumph - Magic Power
Arthemis - Alone (Acoustic Version)
Red Dawn - Flyin' High
Damnation's Day - Begin Again
First Impression - I see what you did there 
Best song of the round - Magic PowerStarting with Happy Birthday Kid, this is a bit of a quirky song. I have never heard this song before. Or if I have, I didn't realize it. In fact I've never heard of Geoff Hughes either. Glenn Hughes sure, but not this guy. Anyway, I digress. This isn't exactly might jam when it comes to music. It isn't a bad song, but not something I would purposely put on. I get why it's here, but we will get to that in the story section. Next is a song that I've always liked and one of those songs that brings me back to my childhood. This is one of those songs that would come onto the radio when I was driving around with my mom. It has a nice atmospheric quality to it, along with a great buildup. There's also some great drumming (what little of it there is) here by......Pat Mastelotto? Huh, I had no idea he was the drummer on this song or was even in this band. I, of course, know him from King Crimson....weird. Anyway, I love this song, unashamedly so. Great pick, not only musically, but to also scratch that nostalgia itch. Next is another childhood song memory, Holding Out for a Hero. This song is definitely of its time, very '80s sounding, but no less enjoyable. But wait why is it fading out so soon......Oh I see what you did there.........Oh wait, what's this? Another band doing the same song. You clever bastard! That was cool. We'll circle back to this in the story section as well. Now moving on to Magic Power. I absolutely love Triumph and I absolutely love this song. However that wasn't always the case. When I was a kid, my dad loved Triumph more than Rush and back then I was a Rush or nothing music listener, so I didn't want to listen to a Rush-sound-a-like. I came to my senses later in life. This particular song was also a grower. Even after I gave Triumph a proper chance this song didn't immediately click with me. Years later it came on randomly one day and it all just fell into place. I kind of place this on the same pedestal as The Spirit of Radio. It's a reminder to me of the importance of music in my life (yours as well, but once again, we will come back to this in the story section). Anyway this is one of those perfect 10 songs. Not much else to say about it. Although I can't help but wonder if The Spirit of Radio would have made it onto this EP if I hadn't banned Rush. No matter. Next we get into another song I hadn't heard before, Alone. Arthemis isn't a band I've ever listened to before. I'm going to have to listen to the original version of this song at some point, but this acoustic version is pretty nice. Although the muted drums in the background are more distracting and annoying that beneficial to the song. They should have just stuck to the sporadic floor tom hits to add to the atmosphere of the song. Would have made the song feel more powerful. Don't get me wrong, I do like this a fair amount, but it could have been better. The vocals also stand out here. We come to another song I've never heard, although now that I think about it, my dad may have had this album in his collection when I was a kid. I'll have to ask him. The album cover looks familiar. Flyin' High is a pure early '90s hard rock song, not dissimilar to something by Hardline. The vocalist also sounds familiar, but I can't place him. Anyway, this song sounds so triumphant and upbeat, I even like the somewhat cheesy keyboard flourishes sprinkled throughout. The song does get a tad repetitive, but eh... Lastly we have Begin Again. I could have sworn someone sent Damnation's Day to me in one of my roulettes, but I couldn't find it. I thought it was you, but perhaps not. Anyway, this song is great. Well sung, great lead guitar tone and solos, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. Fantastic! Overall a good showing of music.
Song Score - 8.5/10 +1 for best song of the round
So this story, or an autobiography told in music, if you will, is well told through not only the lyrics, but the way this was edited and the music contained within. You talked about why you chose Happy Birthday kid in the PM you sent me and I get it. It works for the story. I also like the way you used Broken Wings and interpreted the lyrics to fit your story. I can see them working either way. Perhaps the coolest thing you did story-wise was throwing the opening line of Black Dog in the middle of Holding Out for a Hero, but more than that transitioning the song from the original Bonnie Tyler version to the metal cover version. Thematically this was the coolest storytelling device used in this whole round, in my opinion. It works beautifully by representing the wide world that was introduced to you so long ago and that change from a casual radio listener to a lover of music. I had a similar revelation the first time I heard Tom Sawyer, then some lesser revelations later in life the first time I heard Fight Fire with Fire by Metallica and then The Glass Prison. It's those certain songs that make you want to explore deeper into all kinds of music. I love following that up with Magic Power as the pure joy of discovering and listening to music. Then there's the downward spiral of Alone and Flyin High and then the climb back out of being a teenage shit with Begin Again. I appreciate the story and the way it was told.
Story Score - 10/10 +1 for bonus theme
So the flow here isn't perfect, but nor is it bad. These songs all stand alone as their own entities, telling snippets of the story. Although there are flashes of brilliance, like in the aforementioned transitions within Holding Out for a Hero. Also the way the songs slowly change in style to show your musical growth and discovery helps keep things flowing well enough. Nothing stood out as being out of place either.
Flow Score - 8/10
Total Score - 28.5/30
Topic: Puppies (Re)Discovery EP Roulette V.4 (The Final Art!) (Read 81966 times)
