Rate the Song Above You

[Dream Sphere]

Good starting riff. The symphonic elements are incorporated well. The vocals I'm not a huge fan of. They're still pretty good. When the song gets more vocals driven for what I imagine is the chorus it loses me a bit. The instruments right after are good, the middle of the breakdown was kinda boring but it got better. After a little vocal part I'm liking the symphonic stuff over the breakdown riff. I don't like the first repetition of the chorus, but when here vocal tracks start harmonizing with each other for the climax I actually like her vocals quite a bit.

7/10

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pqN-9i0rC-Q

[Mr. Purple]

Dream Sphere's pick:
Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond

Originality: 4\10
Variation: 3-4\10 The drums are very repetitive, simple, and mostly unchanging throughout the song. The background guitar is basically doing the same thing as well. The vocal line doesn't vary much for most of the song. The only area of decent melodic and rhythmic variation is in the solo guitar part that pops up from time to time and the ending segment.
Complexity: 4-5\10 Stuff goes fast, but most parts seem pretty simple.
Catchiness: 3\10 Lots of dissonant unresolved and wandering melodies. I would almost say he is off key in many places, but they seem to do that on purpose in metal.
Mood\Emotion: 2\10
Lyrics\Meaning: 3.5\10
Highlight: All places with the solo guitar parts were good. 6:26-7:28 is great. The drums finally change to something interesting, and they slow enough to interact with the vocals and guitar. The guitar sounds cool, and the vocal melodies finally resolve.
Cultural bias score(My Taste): 2.5\10 Not my tendency. The last bit was enjoyable.
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Stepdad - My Leather, My Fur, My Nails
This song always makes me smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9dMZz1gIwU
Listen for how all the background melodies intertwine.

[miniboes]

Stepdad - My Leather, My Fur, My Nails
This song always makes me smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9dMZz1gIwU
Listen for how all the background melodies intertwine.

The instrumentals are weird but nice and fun. I really, really dislike the vocals on this one though; it feels like they're going for high notes they can't actually sing properly. The song gets catchier near the end, and the vocals sound better. If the whole song had been the quality of the last part it'd probably be an 8/10. However, it was in my opinio not: 6/10.

Atreyu - When Two Are One
https://youtu.be/wuV4lkO7fR8

[Mr. Purple]

Miniboe's Pick:
Atreyu - When Two Are One

This song's style sounds a lot like Avenged Sevenfold. I thought I didn't like anything from Atreyu, but you found the one song I missed

Originality: 5\10
Variation: 6\10 Has significant changes throughout the song. The vocal line covers a wide range, though it repeats quite a bit.
Complexity: 4\10 Pretty simple beat with a guitar that just mirrors the vocal line or drums most of the time.
Catchiness: 8\10 Very catchy melodies with more than enough repetition to get it to sink in.
Mood\Emotion: 4.4\10
Lyrics\Meaning: 4\10It doesn't seem too deep or insightful, but works well for this.
Highlight: I liked the whole thing
Cultural bias score(My Taste): 7.8\10 I love this kind of thing. Music that is very catchy with a hard edge. I Will definitely be adding it to my punk playlist and listening to it a lot.

I would post harder stuff, but I need to balance you guys out. So much metal in here.
The Moss - Cosmo Sheldrake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62RvnXZgHwQ

[miniboes]

This songs style sounds like a combination of Billy Talent and Avenged Sevenfold. I thought I didn't like anything from Atreyu, but you found the one song I missed

When someone sent me this song I was like 'Damn, this band must be awesome'. Turns out I don't like any of their other songs. So I had the fortunate reverse of your experience

I would post harder stuff, but I need to balance you guys out. So much metal in here.

I am a slave to the ratings. Metal is a relatively small part of my collection, actually. (Rock 1500 songs, Pop 700, Metal 250, 200 folk, 100 blues, and the others 200 or so in total)

The Moss - Cosmo Sheldrake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62RvnXZgHwQ

Very pleasant, fun and chill. However, it is pretty monotonous. Great as background music when just chilling, worse for when you're doing more active stuff. 7/10

I'll join you in posting softer stuff.
Harry Chapin - Cat's in the Cradle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUwjNBjqR-c

[Dream Sphere]

My parents played this song quite a bit when I was a kid. The guitars, bass and percussion are all good and catchy in the good way along with the vocals. Good inclusion of symphonic instruments. Good lyrics too. I most like that guitar line that plays at the end and elsewhere, very catchy in a good way.

7/10

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lrFZlhXVoJ0

[Red]

It wasn't bad. It sounds a bit grunge, which I'm not a fan of. As fucking always, the instrumentals are above average all the same. The lyrics are something I'd expect a pubescent 12 year old to say though.
6.7/12

https://youtu.be/DqLysVUDlq4

[Dream Sphere]

Mudvayne - World So Cold

I don't like the vocals or riffs much. Too much in the alternative metal camp for me. The breakdown like part was decent until the vocals got silly. The guitar lead after is decent. The drums had some pretty good parts.

6/10


This next song lyrically involves Friedrich Nietzsche's decline into insanity.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nRha4UxWu6M

[Lightningman_42]

This next song lyrically involves Friedrich Nietzsche's decline into insanity.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nRha4UxWu6M

Overall, I'd say 8/10 on this one.

Cons:
-Drums were boring and repetitive. Always really fast; perhaps it could have had some slower tempos, and changes in tempo?
-At times the lyrics are really difficult to make out, as if he's shouting without really enunciating the words. Especially from 2:17 to 2:27, when he shouts,
"From far beyond I can hear them sing. I hear angels sing songs of innocence. I hear the angels sing!"
It was only thanks to some person leaving ALL of the lyrics in a comment (very helpful) that I actually knew what the lyrics were here.

Pros:
-Dramatic, emotional descriptions of a slowly approaching, but inescapable insanity.
-Exciting, complex guitar riff from 3:00-3:52.
-Overall quite impressive melodic complexity for both vocals and guitar.


My turn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQlYXdhN9iU

I'd love to share my thoughts on it, but I should let someone else do that. I'll just say that it got stuck in my head, and I listened to it several times repeatedly. I was first introduced to it via a trailer for an upcoming video game (November 11, 2016). I'll leave a link for that as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgx4pSu4LHc

[Mr. Purple]

I wish there was a standard for the rating scores. It almost seems useless based on how variably people seem to rate things. This is basically the metric i'm using(my taste score). What are you using?
1 - "Terrible experience"
2 - "Seems bad"
3 - "Tolerable"
4 - "Didn't enjoy it, but I can imagine people liking it"
5 - "Indifferent"
6 - "Enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn't seek this out."
7 - "It was a solidly enjoyable song. I would like to listen to this at least a few times more"
8 - "This is now one of my go-to songs"
9 - "One of the best songs I've ever heard"
10 - "Perfect song" or "My new favorite song."

----------------------------
Lightningman_42's song choice:
Ruelle - Take It All

Originality: 6.3\10
Variation: 3\10 Repeats the same patterns, but add things on to create an effective build up.
Complexity: 2\10 Nothing to speak of.
Catchiness: 4\10
Mood\Emotion: 9\10 Clearly the point of the song, and does an excellent job at it. Very epic.
Lyrics\Meaning: 5.5\10 Really helps craft the mood.
Cultural bias score(My Taste): 8.4\10 I built a playlist around this song, so it's definitely part of my taste.



Here is a song in a similar mood focused vein :
Krister Linder - Dare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T19X22LY0hQ