Puppies (Re)Discovery EP Roulette V.4 (The Final Art!)

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

 Have you ever wanted to work in a recording studio and mix/master/engineer a concept album or write a story put to music? Well, that is the whole purpose of this roulette! To let out everyone's inner recording engineer/story writer and let your creative juices flow (not those kind of juices Chad...I know you were thinking it). Which is why the banned list is so short and every round is either an EP round or Concept Album round. This isn't a roulette specifically for me finding new music, although I'm not opposed to that, but to perhaps see songs that I know well or even just sort of know in a new light, perhaps coupled with new songs that I don't know to hopefully bring new light to old songs or something to that effect. Long story short (too late), I want some stories curated into EPs and albums by you fine people. And really, who better than Dream Theater fans/Prog fans, who are no stranger to conceptual stories in their music. Time to get your creative juices flowing!

Now, I understand everyone's schedules and amount of time they have to devote to something like this is different. You aren't going to hurt my feelings if you don't have time to put together a story and EP for 5 rounds and can't/don't want to participate. If I only get a handful of participants, that's fine too, but the more the merrier! Plus I know you guys can do it, TAC's themed EP roulette went well back in 2019 and I think he had 14 participants! At any rate, I'm here to have fun and want all participants to have fun as well. So without further ado....

The Rules

- This is open to everyone
- No limit to number of participants
- 5 total rounds (4 EP rounds, 1 concept album round)
- There will be optional themes that will net you an additional point if you follow it.
- Each round will be rated using the same rules for EP/concept rounds that were used in my previous roulettes with some slight changes (see further Round info below)
- I strongly encourage all participants to edit their EPs and concept albums for flow and cohesiveness as this will have a much stronger impact on score this time
- Going along with the above point, please PM submissions with a link to download your EPs/Concept albums, or if you must you can just send me a song list/Spotify playlist...
- There will be eliminations before the final round (number TBD). I also reserve the right to Parama Rule 6, you have been warned
- Artists will not be banned after being used, however the individual songs will be banned from future rounds
- I will accept the same song from multiple people in any given round, as unlikely as that may be given the small banned list this time
- If you are confused by any rules please post here for clarification
- If you rage quit you will automatically go on my shit list along with Evermind 
- Speaking of, I hope Evermind joins this roulette
- I'll try not to be an evil dictator for the duration of the roulette
- Final rule, and this one is the most important. Have fun! If you are playing only to win, you are doing it wrong.
- Bonus Jingle rule ....Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat...

The Rounds

EP rounds - Length limit: 40 minutes or less
Round 1 - Optional Theme: Sci-Fi story
Round 2 - Optional Theme: Historical story or Alternate History story
Round 3 - Optional Theme: Fantasy story (think Lord of the Rings or Wheel of Time or A Song of Fire and Ice (AKA Game of Thrones), etc.)
Round 4 - Optional Theme: Your story (Your origin story, the story about you, or a made up story about you or your forum persona)

- EPs will be scored out of 30 points (10 points for song quality, 10 points for story, 10 points for flow) Story and Flow is the important thing here!
- EPs must contain at least 2 different artists and a minimum of 3 tracks, not included segues, intros, outros, etc.
- I also highly discourage instrumental tracks, unless you have a very good story reason for it. I will judge instrumental tracks harshly. You have been warned. This does not apply to segues, intros, outros, etc.
- Again optional themes will get you 1 additional point.
- There will be additional bonus points for my favorite song of the round and my favorite EP title.
- PLEASE TITLE YOUR EPs BEFORE SENDING THEM TO ME.
- I prefer EPs be edited to one track for the sake of flow, but I understand if you cannot do this or are time limited, in which case you can just send me a song list or a Spotify playlist, just know that this can affect the flow significantly.
- If you do edit your EPs together, please send timestamps of where the track splits are
- With regards to flow, you don't necessarily have to have each track flow right into the next, there can be a pause from one track to the next, but jarring cuts from one song to the next will negatively impact the flow score. At the same time songs that can be elegantly weaved together will significantly improve your flow score.

Concept Round - Length Limit: No less than 45 minutes, no more than 2 hours
No theme here. Go wild, use your imagination. Same rules as the EP rounds except the following:

- Concept albums will be scored out of 45 points (15 for song quality, 15 for story, 15 for flow)
- Concept albums must contain at least 3 different artists and a minimum of 4 tracks, not including segues, intro, outros, etc.

Participants:
- Cyril
- Jingle
- TAC
- Elite
- Ariich
- Kingshmegland
- Deadeye
- Wolfking
- Vmadera
- Stadler

I'd love to get some new people who haven't played in my roulettes before, if possible.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Standings
Ariich - 27.5, 27.1, 28.6, 28.9 (112.1)
Cyril - 27.7, 30.8, 26.2, 26.5 (111.2)
Jingle - 21.9, 25.5, 27.9, 28.5 (103.8)
TAC - 24, 25.75, 26.7, 26.5 (102.95)
Elite - 25.4, 27, 23.9, 26.4 (102.7)
Wolfking - 25.3, 24.8, 23.3, 26.2 (99.6)
Kingshmegland - 23.6, 16.9, 25.5, 27.3 (93.3)
Vmadera - 21.4, 19.9, 24.7, 25.8 (91.8)
Deadeye - 21.7, 23.1, 21.4, 24.2 (90.4)
Stadler - 19.8, Ragequit

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Anything not on the banned list is fair game.

Fully Banned Artists
Agalloch
Anathema
Between the Buried and Me
Coheed and Cambria
Devin Townsend (and all related)
Dream Theater
Enslaved
Fates Warning
Incubus
Iron Maiden
Led Zeppelin
Marillion
Metallica
Moonsorrow
Opeth
Porcupine Tree
Rush
Tool
Type O Negative

Banned Albums
Absu - Absu
A.C.T - Silence
AFI - Sing the Sorrow
Alter of Plagues - White Tomb
Angra - Temple of Shadows
At the Drive In - Relationship of Command
Ayreon - The Human Equation
Beatles - Abbey Road
Boston - Boston
Chevelle - Wonder What's Next
Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
The End - Elementary
The Fall of Troy - Manipulator
The Human Abstract - Midheaven
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Journey - Escape
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites
Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice
Mudvayne - The End of All Things to Come
Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked
Oceansize - Frames
Queen - A Night at the Opera
Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
Redemption - The Fullness of Time
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way
Riverside - Out of Myself
Shadow Gallery - Room V
Sieges Even - The Art of Navigating by the Stars
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Spock's Beard - The Light
Symphony X - The Odyssey
Threshold - Dead Reckoning
Transatlantic - Bridge Across Forever
Van Halen - 5150
Woe of Tyrants - Kingdom of Might
Yes - Drama

[Crow]

I mean yeah ofc i'm in
tho idk if i'm gonna have the time to actually write, like, proper stories for four EPs lmao but i definitely have the music for four EPs

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I mean yeah ofc i'm in
tho idk if i'm gonna have the time to actually write, like, proper stories for four EPs lmao but i definitely have the music for four EPs

The stories don't have to be elaborate, just coherent at the very least.

[Crow]

also song quality being 20% of the EP score is... hmm. not sure about that one, i can throw together any old batch of songs as long as the story and flow are coherent, basically? just like, the absolute worst music ever? 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

also song quality being 20% of the EP score is... hmm. not sure about that one, i can throw together any old batch of songs as long as the story and flow are coherent, basically? just like, the absolute worst music ever? 

- There will be eliminations before the final round (number TBD). I also reserve the right to Parama Rule 6, you have been warned

You'd be playing with fire. And I mean, why would you want to put together terrible songs...? 

[TAC]

In!!!

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

In!!!

Damn right you are!

[TAC]

I'm lost for the Fantasy theme. I don't know any of those shows. I mean I've heard of them but just never seen any.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I'm lost for the Fantasy theme. I don't know any of those shows. I mean I've heard of them but just never seen any.

Those were just examples. You can come up with your own fantasy based story. I guess in your case, think Keeper of the Seven Keys.

[Elite]

Love this. Yes please!

This is exactly the same type of roulette I'd like to run as well, given time. I might actually listen to everyone else's EPs as well

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Love this. Yes please!

This is exactly the same type of roulette I'd like to run as well, given time. I might actually listen to everyone else's EPs as well

You're IN!

[ariich]

Wow, that scoring system is extreme.

I'm of course in even though I clearly don't have enough time right now.

[TAC]

Congrats Ariich!

Well that was a fun roulette.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Wow, that scoring system is extreme.

I'm of course in even though I clearly don't have enough time right now.

I may revise the scoring a tad....

And of course you are in. You didn't have a choice. 

Congrats Ariich!

Well that was a fun roulette.

I know right?!?!

[ariich]

Love you guys.

[King Postwhore]

Welcome to my insane mind. I'm in.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Welcome to my insane mind. I'm in.

[jingle.boy]

Pretty sure I'm in. Haven't read the OP yet though, so I'm not fully certain what I'm getting myself in to.

[TAC]

- I also highly discourage instrumental tracks, unless you have a very good story reason for it. I will judge instrumental tracks harshly. You have been warned. This does not apply to segues, intros, outros, etc.

Interesting...

Round 4 - Optional Theme: Your story (Your origin story, the story about you, or a made up story about you or your forum persona)

Very interesting...

[Deadeye21]

Your banned list puts me on edge very quickly. I'll try, but I'm gonna get one round in and be out of artists if it's once and done.

And I can't really edit stuff together, so I'm very out of my league here.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Your banned list puts me on edge very quickly. I'll try, but I'm gonna get one round in and be out of artists if it's once and done.

And I can't really edit stuff together, so I'm very out of my league here.

Oh boy, you should see my banned list from my last roulette....
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54755.msg2623462#msg2623462

Also for those of you unfamiliar with editing tracks/stitching EPs together, I encourage you to look at a program called Audacity. It's free and can make editing songs quite easy once you get the hang of it. Like I said in my OP, it isn't necessary, but encouraged.
https://www.audacityteam.org/

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, I'm clearly not gonna win, cuz I have neither the time, appetite, or skill to do the dieting part. You'll get the songs, and you'll love them, goddammit!  Story/theme ... I should be good on those.

5 rounds ... yeah, I can do this.

[TAC]

Yeah, I'm clearly not gonna win, cuz I have neither the time, appetite, or skill to do the dieting part.

It's easy. Just watch your carbs.

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, I'm clearly not gonna win, cuz I have neither the time, appetite, or skill to do the dieting part.

It's easy. Just watch your carbs.

Haha. Damn auto correct. *editing*

[King Postwhore]

Yeah, I'm clearly not gonna win, cuz I have neither the time, appetite, or skill to do the dieting part.

It's easy. Just watch your carbs.

Can you nail a 6 inch spike with your penis?

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Yeah, I'm clearly not gonna win, cuz I have neither the time, appetite, or skill to do the dieting part.

It's easy. Just watch your carbs.

Can you nail a 6 inch spike with your penis?

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Yeah, I'm clearly not gonna win, cuz I have neither the time, appetite, or skill to do the dieting part.

It's easy. Just watch your carbs.

Can you nail a 6 inch spike with your penis?

Looks like the Real Genius quote went over everyone's heads 

[King Postwhore]

I was expecting it to go over Tim's head. 

[TAC]

Yeah, I thought the 6 inch spike comment was a bit weird. But you're weird so I didn't question it.

[TAC]

- I prefer EPs be edited to one track for the sake of flow, but I understand if you cannot do this or are time limited, in which case you can just send me a song list or a Spotify playlist, just know that this can affect the flow significantly.
- If you do edit your EPs together, please send timestamps of where the track splits are
- With regards to flow, you don't necessarily have to have each track flow right into the next, there can be a pause from one track to the next, but jarring cuts from one song to the next will negatively impact the flow score. At the same time songs that can be elegantly weaved together will significantly improve your flow score.

Being a fogey, I'm obviously having trouble with my flow.

I mean, I wouldn't call the ending and beginning of my songs jarring, but they are clearly separate songs. I mean, are you basically looking for a 35 minute SONG, or a collection of songs that tell a story? I've never bought an EP where every song weaves into the next one.

Minor gripage I guess.

[wolfking]

When's the cut off before this gets started?  This seems like a time consuming roulette but challenging and definitely some fun.  I need to think if I'll actually invest the time. 

The story part scares me though.

[wolfking]

- I prefer EPs be edited to one track for the sake of flow, but I understand if you cannot do this or are time limited, in which case you can just send me a song list or a Spotify playlist, just know that this can affect the flow significantly.
- If you do edit your EPs together, please send timestamps of where the track splits are
- With regards to flow, you don't necessarily have to have each track flow right into the next, there can be a pause from one track to the next, but jarring cuts from one song to the next will negatively impact the flow score. At the same time songs that can be elegantly weaved together will significantly improve your flow score.

Being a fogey, I'm obviously having trouble with my flow.

I mean, I wouldn't call the ending and beginning of my songs jarring, but they are clearly separate songs. I mean, are you basically looking for a 35 minute SONG, or a collection of songs that tell a story? I've never bought an EP where every song weaves into the next one.

Minor gripage I guess.

I'm guessing the songs are submitted as one file but we'd just give Puppies a breakdown of the songs included.

[Lonk]

When's the cut off before this gets started?  This seems like a time consuming roulette but challenging and definitely some fun.  I need to think if I'll actually invest the time. 

The story part scares me though.

Yeah, I want to join, but not sure I can put in the time for it, I'll see if join but have to think about it first lol