SOMESONGS - ROUND FIVE

[the idiot king]

Try to look at it from a different perspective. Your song score was a 6+. That means better than okay after all judges weighed in. There are only three choices: 10, 5, and 0. So a lot of judges had to rate many aspects of your song as good (or, at least, okay) for you to achieve that score.

And there were three competitors who didn't submit a song at all, so how can you be "last"?

Do you like your song? I assume, yes. Mr. Orange liked your song! So there you go.

Sometimes the reviews are going to come after the scores, because people are just getting their scores in under the wire recently. (Not sure why. Life, I guess.) So hang in there (cat meme)—I'm sure there will be more reviews to come. I'm sorry you are feeling sullen. Go write another song!

Well as I said above, I was just surprised at the lack of feedback. It's no sweat off my back if my track is the lowest scoring of the submitted lot - and my attitude is much better now that I know reviews are forthcoming.

[Mr. Blonde]

Great collection of songs. I’m glad this title inspired you.

ADD - You hooked me almost immediately by shifting the key right after the intro. (Or at least giving the impression of shifting the key.) I also really appreciate the internal near rhymes of heard/word, cursed/word, and deserve/word. Ramping up the intensity without really adding any additional instruments is a neat trick. The drums (is that you?) are so spastic and energetic. The Trump quote at the end is perfect. You really have a great “band sound” for what I am assuming in one person. Too bad (or not, I guess) that you ignored the challenge, because it probably cost you 60 points, which would have put you on top of the standings. But who cares! Great song.

Caravan Ray - The opening borders on American Cop Show Theme—you just need some wacka-wacka guitar. I’m appreciating your forays into groove-based music, even if it doesn’t always resonate with me completely. You have a good sense of when and how to mix things up in these repetitive scenarios—rarely do your songs seem overly long. I thought the lyrics were just okay, but they’re pretty effective in the context. I appreciate that some effort was made to execute the challenge but I don’t think that’s a high priority for you anyway, and that’s okay.

Glenn Case - Can I start by saying that all your songs for this competition seem to be slightly clipped at the start? (Not overloaded, but trimmed.) I’m not sure what’s going on there. Lots to like about this song, which ultimately left an “okay” overall impression on me. The “from now on” part could have come straight from a solo John Lennon record. It’s passionate and intense (and my favorite part of the song.) Some of the lyrics (even the tagline “I’m proceeding to stonewall”) seem a little clunky to me. And perhaps too spare. I wanted more of that raw honesty I mentioned earlier. But what do I know? You won the round!

The Idiot Kings - I’m writing this after your post about being upset with the results, so my words will probably be tempered or at least tinged with guilt. I’m sorry, but I didn’t like this song. Well, to be fair, I thought it was “okay,” but there were elements of it I didn’t like at all. Most notably, the lyrics, which I thought were a little simplistic for such a heavy topic. Your voice does sound really good here and I enjoyed most of your singing. The “Where is the control?” part seems out of place for the song and also kind of naïve in the context of this subject. (I haven’t met a lot of heroin users, but I’m guessing “control” is not something they maintain for very long.) The section that comes right after that moment is the least interesting part of the song for me—it has none of the melodic charm of the opening verse as it vacillates between those two chords a half-step apart. You win me back a little bit after that in the next part, but I think the damage is done. I’m also guessing you lost a lot of points across the board for the challenge, because simply making edits to your arrangement didn’t seem like enough of a connection to the prompt.

Tomorrow - I thought your song made the best effort at executing the challenge. I was much happier once all of those layers were stripped away. This is a solid performance. Decent lyrics overall - heartfelt and poignant. I found the mix to be a little too bright and tinny. I mention this mostly because the scores were so close that, as insignificant as it may seem, it may have cost you the win in the round. The drums were also a little too busy for my tastes, but maybe that was so you had something to strip away. I don’t think that kitchen sink opening had to be that extreme to be effective when it was whittled down.

One round to go!

[Mr. Brown]

I was under the assumption that there would be constructive criticism from the judges, and we heard from one.

I will try to finish up reviews tonight... or do a once over with whatever I have and just go with that.

[Mr. Brown]

I found this to be a very strong round. I ended up just throwing (most of) my notes out and just jotting down a couple of sentences while re-listening. Honestly, picking a favorite is hard. It changes every time I listen through.

Add - That dirty organ is gorgeous. Combined with the non 2/4 snare it gives me Santana vibes in the intro. I found the lyric to be one of the strongest this time. This might be my favorite of yours in the challenge (so far?) I like this.
Challenge: Am I missing something?

Caravan Ray - That chorus energy via the vocal/lyric/melody is great and engaging. I really do like how this one is put together. Two songs in a row to start with a rhythm that seems a departure from the usual and that works very well for me. I like this lyric.
Challenge: Not much here that I can see, tbh.

Glenn Case - I seriously love how well this arrangement works. It doesn't check the challenge box, it obliterates it and makes for a damn good song.
Challenge: Easily the best execution of the round even if it's straight forward and obvious. The best part is it works so damn well.

Idiot Kings - I enjoyed listening to this quite a bit but it probably doesn't stand up quite as well as most of the other songs on repeated listens for me and I noted the lyric didn't work as well for me. I liked the bass intro that seemed maybe a hair long after a few times through. I wonder if you didn't have the second intro with the guitar, if it just hit, how it would land for me. Maybe not good, but it occurred to me. The contrast in sections were excellent and I didn't find one that I thought was poorly executed. Not my favorite of the round but my overall impression is that this is a good song.
Challenge: Seemed like more or less random instruments/elements adding and dropping. It worked very well in the song but didn't hit the challenge for me.

Tomorrow - I like this one, too. And listening back I think my only nits are in the lyrics which may or may not be fair to you. That chorus melody is catchy, ear bending. Another good song in a strong group of songs.
Challenge: Well executed, the second best execution of the round and it works well for me.

[the idiot king]

The Idiot Kings - I’m writing this after your post about being upset with the results, so my words will probably be tempered or at least tinged with guilt. I’m sorry, but I didn’t like this song.

Oh no apologies needed! In case I wasn’t clear my only issue with the score was the lack of feedback. Everyone likes different things, no offense taken. I didn’t realize reviews were still incoming, so forgive me being a bit needlessly aggressive about it.

[Jefff]

ADD - The drums (is that you?) are so spastic and energetic.

Yeah, on my electronic kit with some healthy quantization.

Challenge: Am I missing something?

Nope, I skipped it this time. I deserve the 0s.

[mo]

I have to admit I’m a little disappointed that this seems to be all the drama we’re getting over this. No pointed fingers, no recriminations, not even one bag of flaming poop

[frankie big face]

I have to admit I’m a little disappointed that this seems to be all the drama we’re getting over this. No pointed fingers, no recriminations, not even one bag of flaming poop

HAHA. Well, we had the Halloween extension drama—that counts! One of our goals was a relatively drama-free competition, and we seem to be achieving that. But there is one more round to go!!

Also, I think the fact that (almost?) everyone here knows one another IRL probably helps. Everyone has good intentions.

[Caravan Ray]

I have to admit I’m a little disappointed that this seems to be all the drama we’re getting over this. No pointed fingers, no recriminations, not even one bag of flaming poop

HAHA. Well, we had the Halloween extension drama—that counts! One of our goals was a relatively drama-free competition, and we seem to be achieving that. But there is one more round to go!!

Also, I think the fact that (almost?) everyone here knows one another IRL probably helps. Everyone has good intentions.

SomeSongs traditionally goes apeshit in Round 6. Happens every year. Poop bag about to explode…. hold my beer.

[mo]

beer held, in drooling anticipation, is that ten words yet