I'm listening on my laptop and going to jot down some thoughts. Enjoy?!
Chrome Sandwich:
Starting with the chorus/hook is cool. The instruments sound good. I like the straight rock vibe. I think your vocals are too prominent in the mix. I think they could use some tightening up, pitch wise, between the multiple vocal tracks. The brief interlude between verse one and verse two feels like it could have used a melodic melody. I originally expected it to be a pre-chorus so it felt anti-climactic when the next thing was verse two. The band sounds a little thin to me when the rhythm guitar on one side switches to soloing. Judging from the drums I'm guessing the instruments weren't recorded live all together? If not it would have been cool to have the solo come in as a new track, centered, while the rhythm guitar on the side kept playing rhythm. Anyway, production notes aside, it's a fun song, I like the lyrics and the melodies, and the main hook is very catchy.
The Craic Pipers:
This is one of my favorites of the fight. It really hits for me, mood and tone and lyrics wise. For f's sake though, that acoustic guitar sound is awful.
Please re-record it with a mic instead of plugged in, if that's what it was. I guess the sound of it with the bit of chorus on it sort of fits the vibe but it sounds so cheap compared to the richness of the other instruments. You even managed to make the fake strings and horns sound pretty good, which is a feat. They're arranged really well. I think it would have been cool to have a big layered vocal part come in for the outro or something. I think the vocal could have overall played a bigger role, I guess. But anyway, good stuff.
Dead Ambassadors:
I'm digging the rocking. The chorus hook is cool, although I feel like maybe the vocal could use more intensity in the delivery of "Wheels on ice" but maybe I'm just imagining a soprano metal vocalist really belting this out Iron Maiden style, haha. The bridge feels a little lower in intensity than the rest of the song, it could have used something, maybe a new instrument coming in, to punch it up a bit. Good rocking song though.
The Freezing Hands:
You've got a good groove going to start. The drums are a bit repetitive and lacking in dynamic variation. Maybe if they're going to be so obviously programmed using more of an obvious drum machine sound, like an 80s drum machine, would work better. Or maybe if you're going to use acoustic drum samples through in a tiny bit of variety sooner on, like even just a super duper simple fill (snare hits on 4-and) or a cymbal crash etc. When they do change it's welcome. The biggest challenge for me is your vocal. It starts off on pretty shaky ground right when it comes in. It's really important to me as a listener that the vocal starts off solid and on pitch, otherwise I get worried about whether I can make it through the song. The pitch gets better but then the phrasing gets too loose for me. You've also got a good solid hook with the "I've got wheels on ice" part. The "I've got" backing vocal though has serious pitch issues. It doesn't blend well with the main vocals in the mix, maybe that could have been doubled with the two versions panned to the sides and a bit lower in the mix. I think overall it's too long, I think it could benefit from being tightened up to shave 1:30 off it.
heine:
This sounds great to start. The drum parts are nice, good fill leading into the verse. Yeah, rock! I really enjoy that dynamic change in the chorus. The band gets so intense I think the vocals could stand to have some more intensity. Also the phrasing sounds a little awkward or uneven or unsteady or unsure or something. You could stand to sound more confident of how your phrasing the chorus lyrics. Good solo, yeah! This is also a favorite for me of the fight.
Jim of Seattle:
I'm happy to see you back! I really enjoyed this. It's a bit outside my area of expertise to feel like I have much meaningful in the way of observations. Very well composed and played. I enjoyed the journey of it too. Please don't let any instrumental-naysayers discourage you, I at least would be happy to hear more music like this in Song Fight.
Johnny Cashpoint:
This is some better than average j$ for my ears. You've also got a good "wheels on ice" hook. I like that you're not singing straight quarter notes or eighth notes, you've got held out notes and syncopation, it's cool. I also like the textures and melodies in the instrumental sections. The bass is really great. It's a good overall coherent song, the music and the story all fit together and support each other.
The Mellfire Trifecta:
I like the rhythms, I can't tell what the initial intro is but the second part feels like it's an odd meter even though it's 4/4 which is cool. I think your vocals could actually stand to be more prominent in the mix. The "band" sounds great, I'm into the drums and bass and guitars, it's all gelling well. This is another song where the drums parts are not always very realistic so maybe a drum machine sound could have worked. Oh, this is nearing the end already. I like that it seems more or less through composed. The "ice" vocal section sounds great. It's hard for me to make out the megaphone vocal late in the song, that could have been louder. Cool song!
Pigfarmer Jr:
You are a very productive songwriter. I envy your ability to get 'em done. This one isn't speaking to me as much as the other one. I think the drums might have sounded better half time. As they are they feel weirdly overly driving to me, like the whole thing suddenly sounds a bit mechanical with their boom-bap coming in so strongly so soon. Otherwise it's a totally fine song.
The Rogue Fedoras:
AI generated guitar riff. Weird. This feels like a sound collage more than coherent music. You could stand to mix up your vocal phrasing more, less singing straight eighth notes. Your delivery sounds a little over exaggerated. I don't know, maybe it would work better for me if you did more of a spoken word thing and less of a speak singing thing. Overall this one unfortunately didn't land for me.
Yaks of the Industry:
I'm very happy with this and how it came out. It's the first Yaks song where I contributed the music. Usually I just sprinkle in some 80's tom toms and other miscellany. I wasn't sure if I could write the music and still have it sound like Yaks but once JB took over he worked his alchemy to make Yaks gold out of it. I did originally have half time drums in the bridge in my original drum track, but JB's drums sounded so good to me that I didn't think about the song needing a change-up in vibe. I love how JB chopped up Mo's guitar track, particularly in the solo before the final chorus.