Nur Ein XI Round Zero "This Is Not A Test"

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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by inevitableguy »

BenKrieger wrote:Lyrics posted!
I encourage everyone to do just that. As a judge listening to 25+ songs and ranking them in two days, I absolutely will not have time to puzzle out your lyrics if they are unclear. If I don't know what you are saying, it could hurt you.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by noma »

inevitableguy wrote:
BenKrieger wrote:Lyrics posted!
I encourage everyone to do just that. As a judge listening to 25+ songs and ranking them in two days, I absolutely will not have time to puzzle out your lyrics if they are unclear. If I don't know what you are saying, it could hurt you.
Seconded.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Song and lyrics submitted. The judges may not like my song, but with 20 something songs to judge, they'll appreciate the under two minutes length. NUR EIN!
Bringin' the stink since 2006.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by BenKrieger »

You'll need the words for mine. It will be a week or two of practicing before I can sing decently that fast.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Caravan Ray »

Lunkhead going the SF/NE double! Nice!!
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Caravan Ray »

j$ wrote: 'if you have to explain it afterwards, you already failed'.

j$
No song explanation - but I will explain my bandname for this year.

Strangely Brown was of course, one of the trio that copped a packet at Gallipolli, along with Bumfluff and Drippy.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Lunkhead »

Caravan Ray wrote:Lunkhead going the SF/NE double! Nice!!
Credit (blame? :P ) for that really belongs to Ken, for writing the lyrics.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Märk »

Shit I guess I better get started on this?!
* this is not a disclaimer
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Rabid Garfunkel »

Squeaked in with the usual Round Zero mud-fuck. Really need to get some more RAM or something. :lol:

Though I do love me some Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse B" :D
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Caravan Ray »

A big first for Nur Ein this year. TWO Queenslanders on board!! Welcome Pepper Jane! At least one person will hopefully. appreciate my song this week.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by noma »

Please, all of you who haven't yet posted lyrics, do it now. I will do my ratings based on four categories (composition, lyrics, performance, and production), but I will only rate your lyrics if you post them, especially with a lyric heavy challenge like this one. So please get your lyrics posted. Thanks!
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by j$ »

W.A.I.L. I.A.A.C.
I am very glad that this is the ‘no disqualifications’ round as I have no sensible way of ranking 21 songs, all of which are good. I have a first place but beyond that … anyway here are some thoughts while I waste the time to finish my ‘Gourd’ entry on fretting about fair positioning of the Nur Ein contestants instead. You're welcome :)

As always, if I've missed someone or you have a query about something stupid I've said, just let me know.

BSS – nice organ, matron! Weird clacky guitar under the ‘pre-chorus’ is creating some weird distracting anti-rhythm to these ears. Nice cheat on the sf / nur ein 2 for 1 (though the ‘this is not a test’ bit is not my favourite part of the song – or rather, I like it but it’s not the right words for the moment, methinks). I like the chorus melody but maybe the arrangement doesn’t really highlight it enough? That clacking (is it the string-hits being picked up?) is really off-putting. Is it meant to represent being baked out of ones gourd? Either way, it’s not working for me.

BYD – Cute take on the title and the central song is strong. The acoustic is maybe a little loud in the mix for what it’s playing? It makes the overall feel a little heavy-handed. Which the song isn’t by any stretch … will say that I don’t like the cute-but-pointless little rap break in the middle or the discordant keyboard solo that follows it. It’s a jolly, fun little song, not sure the subject matter means I would listen to it many times but it’s fine.

CD - Love the contrapuntal bvs and the beach- boys-esque middle 8 (or whatever one calls it). Punky fun for sure and I love the complicated song structure going on in the depths of the grind. The lyric is not clear enough in the mix (although having read maybe that’s a good thing :) ) It’s an EQ thing not a volume thing. Then again, what the f*ck do I know about such things? It's a cracker.

Cybronica - Sea sailor shanty! Folk meets computer game theme tune is an interesting take. So quiet. The backing track and vocal volumes are too far apart – the strong singing is overpowering the music. It’s hard to make out progressions. Makes it feel longer than it is, which is a shame – if you can figure out the mix a bit more, I think it would make for a really interesting challenger. Also that sword-drawing noise is overused a little.

DJRD- pretty stuff as always and you rock harmonies like few others. The mood is a little meandering. I really like the ‘chorus’ ending. Doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Dutova – Loving the lo-fi Prince backing track. Not so keen on the ‘piss it out and see’ meta-lyric. Feels like a warm-up but the ingredients of something very promising are there, again. I think I would have just entered without the rap, given it’s a no-count round. Not much else to say.

Grumpy Mike - Great dirty riff. Good lyrical chorus hook as well – I would have doubled the chorus twice the first time, as well. Not much else to say about it. More feedback please! It would seem churlish to want a breakdown / musical mood-switch. I just really like this. May get bored if every entry is the same but yeah, nicely played, Mr. Grump.

IV – I like this a lot. This a great melody especially the pre-chorus and the psychedelia chord progression of the chorus. The baby noises are unnecessary – it’s explained by the lyric and it just throws out the casual listener. I appreciate that something there is a welcome addition, I’m just not sure that’s the right something. Anyway that’s minor leagues, ‘Slap on the ass, crying in the brightness’ is basically my life summed up  Oh ditch the ‘nanananana’s for something lyrical as well. I like a sing-a-long but it could be mistaken for a ‘I’ll write those later’ placeholder within this particular situation.

Ken – Is this a test? I can’t quite be sure I’ve been told enough times ;) A solid entry. I’m not sure the repeating of the title works as a chorus as that’s probably the weakest part of the song. Or maybe multi-bank backing vocals so it sounds like a crowd chanting it? Anyway, apart from the over-furious acoustic strum pattern, I think this is good. Yes, that’s it (sorry, writing as I listen a second time) calm down that strum pattern and the song would have more of an impact, I think. I don’t know why you would want the song to sound so angry when I don’t think it’s actually an angry song?

Levitdown – I like the stop/start bits and I like that bass tone (albeit a quiet one). Good melody/singing too (albeit muffled by your recording set-up, not sure that matters, at least not to me) – perhaps the guitars are too high in the mix? (EDIT: No, they’re fine on speakers, just on headphones they’re a bit overpowering). This kind of just stops, like it’s a work-in-progress, but no worries, I like it.

Micah Sommersmith – Hey like the accordion vst ;) That’s a pretty familiar chord progression. I like the piano accompaniment. Nice. I like the pace-pick-up. I always find comedy songs difficult – it’s such a subjective thing, it’s hard to engage everyone – or maybe I just don’t have a sense of humour. All well done and that, just not mah bag. Sorry about that.

Michael J Samuels – this is pretty. The guitar could come up at the expense of the drum track. As a man with no attention span, I find I am loving this and also itching for it to finish. I’ve now listened to it 4 times trying to get a handle on it. I’m mean, it’s lovely, well-played and a great mood piece but something isn’t gripping me and I can’t put my finger on what and it’s driving me nuts. There’s also a weird stutter at the same point each listen – at first I thought it was my computer but maybe it’s not just me. Errr … I feel unqualified to say anything useful this time out. I’m really sorry.

Paco Del Stinko – fun as always. Like the mood, the humour in the lyric and the solo. Don’t think the chorus is the strongest part of the song, though. Like the Clash-esque verses. Suitably short and therefore sweet.

Pepper Jane – I don’t like studio chat, whether real or faked, in songs. That’s what the edit is for. Otherwise this is a very impressive entry from someone I at least haven’t heard before. Great mood, tone and tune. A few clunky word-rhymes and I dislike the continuation of the ‘studio chat’ (although it does cleverly offer a twist on the origin story). Maybe not quite as clever as it appears to think it is but with a bit more focus you’re going to be a hard entry to beat so I look forward to hearing more!

Potato Dentata – Great stupid name, btw. ‘Don’t worry this is not a test, just a conversation’ is a great lyrical hook. I love the ever evolving nature of the song. Can hardly stand still, within its structure. There’s some bits, lyrically, that are stronger than others. That’s hardly your fault, given the nature of the competition. I really, really like this. And yes, it doesn’t drag on to prog levels. I was frightened for a while. This ranks highly with me.

Rabid Garfunkel – w00t! That’s top scary electro-repetitious-pop. You plough your own furrow and it makes me happy. Ends at just the right place.

RankCorps
– Devo-tastic. It could do with a slightly more interesting keyboard riff over the instrumental sections coming after the chorus each time? I like what’s there, just my heart begs for a little more. I’m greedy like that. Good work.

Solo Frijoles – It’s a lo-fi Springsteen! Or maybe Tom Petty. Whichever you prefer, in the 80s. This is good, not my favourite on first listen but I can imagine it growing on me as I decode the story with each new play. I love songs with stories but unfortunately I have no attention span. It’s a solid top 10 entry for me.

Strangely Brown – Pretty but I’m not a fan of spoken word over music, unfortunately (excepting Francoise Hardy’s ‘Message Personel’ and the Stranglers’ ‘La Folie’ – must be a French thing. Anyway I digress), especially when the Neil Young-esque sung chorus comes in, it makes me wish there had been singing all the way through. You should start a band called ’13 Bastards in Blue Jumpers’. Hmmm, yeah, this absolutely fine but I don’t think you can make a sensitive Rugby league song. Or rather you can try but maybe you shouldn’t.

Zack Facco – Great backing track. I kind of wish it was instrumental. Not because I don’t like the voice and not because I am not a fan of spoken word over music (I’m not), but this is so funky, the interesting debunking story (I did not know that!) kind of gets in the way of the arrangement. I know you had a challenge to meet but if you do anything else with this song, I would suggest that vocally it doesn’t need anything until the brilliant ‘This is not a test’ bit towards the end. I’m glad wherever I put this in the ranking it won’t have any effect this round because half of me thinks this is brilliant an the other half is a little bit ‘meh’.

Bgm – not sure what you’re doing down the bottom. I also don’t think you need the sample at the start. It’s been used before and then you go on to clarify in the lyric. Anyway, this is f*cking brilliant! It’s like the Jam with a synthesiser, brought bang up to date and I love the casio-esque drum track. I’m a sucker for a great bass line and harmonies and this has both. Yes, I really like this.
Last edited by j$ on Mon Apr 18, 2016 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by josh »

Damn, j$ you're a machine (no suck-up!)
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by j$ »

Nah, I'm just 5 hours ahead of most of you, have some free time and like the sound of my own (typed) voice. Unfortunately for everyone, I managed to give myself an hour and a half to finish my 'Gourd' song so it looks like none of you will be spared / have any excuse not to take your revenge by slaughtering it over in the main fight! :)

j$
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by PepperJane »

Caravan Ray wrote:A big first for Nur Ein this year. TWO Queenslanders on board!! Welcome Pepper Jane! At least one person will hopefully. appreciate my song this week.
At the very least I look forward to trying ;)
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Caravan Ray »

PepperJane wrote:
Caravan Ray wrote:A big first for Nur Ein this year. TWO Queenslanders on board!! Welcome Pepper Jane! At least one person will hopefully. appreciate my song this week.
At the very least I look forward to trying ;)

Post Lyrics here PJ:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10613
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by noma »

Here are some reviews by me. I'll give you points for four different categories (composition, lyrics, performance, and production). These overlap sometimes; your choice of instrumentation, for example, can affect the composition as well as the performance category. You can get a maximum of 40 points for these four categories. Additionally, you can gain bonus points for general creativity (maximum 5 points) and for the way you fulfilled the challenge (maximum 5 points as well). If you 100% failed to pass the challenge, you will get 10 negative points challenge bonus. (None of the songs in round zero are affected by this.)
So, basically, you can get up to 50 points altogether, and my ranking will be based on these points.


bgm

Composition: 9/10
Lyrics: 10/10
Performance: 10/10
Production: 9/10

Creativity bonus: 2
Challenge bonus: 0

You manage to make the eductional lyric sound rhythmic and catchy, which is a big plus in my book. Solid composition, performance and production as well. No challenge bonus though, as I wouldn't call this an "origin story" (it talks a lot about the Emergency Broadcast System, but little about its actual origin) - this is just a minor flaw. Good song.


BSS

Composition: 8/10
Lyrics: 7/10
Performance: 6/10
Production: 8/10

Creativity bonus: 2
Challenge bonus: 1

I liked this song lyrically, but I'm unsure as to whether it's an "origin story". It's a good song, and I enjoy your singing as well, but the bass guitar (?) during the choruses gets on my nerves after a short while. What exactly are you doing there? Sounds like slapping, but weird, somehow. Also, I am not sure if trying to make a song fit two titles is a good idea. This one feels like a "Baked Out of My Gourd" song rather than a "This Is Not a Test" one. Still, solid composition, good singing and playing, nice lyrics, not bad.


Boffo Yux Dudes


Composition: 3/10
Lyrics: 4/10
Performance: 4/10
Production: 6/10

Creativity bonus: 2
Challenge bonus: 0

Not an origin story, once again (except for the spoken bridge). So no challenge bonus. This song doesn't have anything memorable in it, to me, apart from the "James Brown style breakdown", which is... um... strange. It gives you a creativity bonus though.


Cavedwellers


Composition: 6/10
Lyrics: 8/10
Performance: 7/10
Production: 9/10

Creativity bonus: 3
Challenge bonus: 4

Nice lyrics again, somehow transcending the concept of "origin story". It's an interesting way to meet the challenge, so I'll give you a nice challenge bonus! The recording, production, and performance sounds solid, but I wish it were a bit catchier. It doesn't stay in my head for long. This is why I gave you fewer composition points. The song still sticks out from most of the others - and I know what you are capable of. Looking forward to your round one entry :)


Cybronica

Composition: 6/10
Lyrics: 0/10
Performance: 2/10
Production: 3/10

Creativity bonus: 1
Challenge bonus: ?

If you don't post lyrics, you are lazy. It's not hard and it saves you from getting zero lyric points by me. Since this round's challenge is of a lyrical nature, you get no challenge bonus either. Posting your lyrics probably wouldn't have helped much in this case, though. I'm sorry, but I dislike not only your chosen style of singing, but also those synths... ugh. Didn't enjoy the messy ending either. You get a few additional composition points for your melody, which is cool. Better luck next round! And don't forget to post your lyrics!


DJ Ranger Den

Composition: 8/10
Lyrics: 7/10
Performance: 8/10
Production: 8/10

Creativity bonus: 5
Challenge bonus: 4

I enjoy your singing and piano. Somewhat jazzy, which I like. Production is fine as well, and your lyrics are charming and funny as usual. Cool way to meet the challenge as well, which gives you a nice bonus. Keep up the good work.


DuToVa

Composition: 5/10
Lyrics: 7/10
Performance: 5/10
Production: 7/10

Creativity bonus: 3
Challenge bonus: 4


Cool bass. The lyric and vocal performance is really stupid, but OK for a round zero entry. I am glad to see your production has improved from last year; I faintly remember some of your songs from back then to suffer from digital clipping or something like that. Also, you get a challenge bonus of 4 points because I liked your meta lyrics. An origin song about itself. Nice. Oh, and did I already say that your bass is cool?


Grumpy Mike

Composition: 5/10
Lyrics: 8/10
Performance: 8/10
Production: 7/10

Creativity bonus: 1
Challenge bonus: 4

Standard rock song. I like your vocals and everything here, it doesn't particularly stick out from the other songs though. This clearly qualifies as origin story, and it's a cool one, so you get a fat challenge bonus.


iVeg

Composition: 8/10
Lyrics: 8/10
Performance: 7/10
Production: 4/10

Creativity bonus: 2
Challenge bonus: 3

Listening to this with headphones, your voice does that digital clipping dearly behated by any audiophile. Production would have been OK otherwise, but I had to rate you down a few points there. I like your lyric though. It's slightly pretentious at places ("A voice from the midst of quiet", "Poetry in stolen moments"), but that's cool to me; as a prog fan (yes, right) I am used to that. ;) Everything else is pretty good, nice guitar, too. Feels very organic compared to some of your synth-heavier songs, and that's a good thing. Catchy tune, singalong chorus. There is a certain nasal quality to your vocal performance I don't like very much, but I guess that's just your natural singing voice, so it's OK.


Ken Mahru


Composition: 5/10
Lyrics: 0/10
Performance: 7/10
Production: 8/10

Creativity bonus: 1
Challenge bonus: ?

Sorry, no points for lyrics because none were posted. (Title was included sufficiently.) I warned you - you snooze, you lose. ;) Nice guitar, but not very interesting. This is a typical round zero entry to me. As with the Cavedwellers' song - you can do some really good songs, and I don't doubt you'll do so in the next rounds. Looking forward to Boilermaker.


Levittdown


Composition: 6/10
Lyrics: 5/10
Performance: 2/10
Production: 5/10

Creativity bonus: 0
Challenge bonus: ?

I like the intro. I hate the autotune. This makes you lose a lot of points for performance, and production as well. Weird lyrics which, I'm afraid, I don't quite get. Does it qualify as "origin story"? Not sure.


Micah Sommersmith


Composition: 8/10
Lyrics: 9/10
Performance: 8/10
Production: 7/10

Creativity bonus: 5
Challenge bonus: 4
Harp bonus: 1

Weeeeeeeiiiiiiiird genre change, man. Weird Al on speed. And if you exaggerate it a bit more, you'll sound like System of a Down doing Vicinity of Obscenity, or whatever (you can count that as praise). It's a bit long-winded to me, but I like your accordion. And your harp. If that's a harp. This is super creative, so huge bonus.


Michael J. Samuels

Composition: 7/10
Lyrics: 0/10
Performance: 6/10
Production: 7/10

Creativity bonus: 1
Challenge bonus: ?

Sounds like it starts and stops all the time. Is this Nur Ein VII, round 2? Nah, it isn't. Also, posting lyrics isn't that hard, is it? That being said, this is a nice harmless little tune. I prefer your more shoegaze-y stuff though. Needs more reverb. (No, not cowbell.)


Paco del Stinko

Composition: 8/10
Lyrics: 10/10
Performance: 8/10
Production: 8/10

Creativity bonus: 4
Challenge bonus: 4

I laughed out loud at your lyric. The challenge is fulfilled quite creatively - huge bonus. Also, cool guitar solo and everything. Good Paco stuff.


Pepper Jane


Composition: 8/10
Lyrics: 8/10
Performance: 6/10
Production: 5/10

Creativity bonus: 1
Challenge bonus: 2

The "ad lib" part is funny. Apart from that, it sounds a bit thin, perhaps because it's only G&G (that's guy'n'guitar, or girl'n'guitar in your case, if you don't know the term). But it's OK.


Potato Dentata


Composition: 7/10
Lyrics: 7/10
Performance: 7/10
Production: 6/10

Creativity bonus: 2
Challenge bonus: 1

You don't eat that potato, that potato eats you! G&G again, and not really an origin story, again. I feel like I don't need to mention the latter anymore. I like the chords/guitar melody during the verses. There's a tritone in there, right? I like it when people are creative with their chords.


Rabid Garfunkel

Composition: 3/10
Lyrics: 1/10
Performance: 8/10
Production: 6/10

Creativity bonus: 5
Challenge bonus: 3
Ugliness bonus: 2

The intro really makes you sit up and listen. It's a really ugly song, super ugly, uglier-than-thou, ugly to the max. Therefore, you get an ugliness bonus. I enjoy listening to this. I enjoy listening to early TMBG Dial-A-Song demoes, Throbbing Gristle, and the most experimental Animal Collective stuff as well, which is to your advantage here. Keep doing your weird thing.


RankCorps


Composition: 2/10
Lyrics: 0/10
Performance: 2/10
Production: 4/10

Creativity bonus: 1
Challenge bonus: ?

Ah, we have some fartcore here. I'm talkin' 'bout that big fat farty bass line. This is the bad ugly, as opposed to Rabid's good ugly. Distorted vocals + no lyrics posted makes for a nice listening experience especially when trying to rank the lyric. Thankfully, I don't have to bother with that, I just give you zero lyric points. Cool, huh?


Solo Frijoles

Composition: 7/10
Lyrics: 9/10
Performance: 8/10
Production: 8/10

Creativity bonus: 4
Challenge bonus: 4

I like the guitar here. This is not your best song, but good enough for a round zero entry. Lyric is especially well done and gives you a bonus.


Strangely Brown

Composition: 8/10
Lyrics: 7/10
Performance: 5/10
Production: 8/10

Creativity bonus: 3
Challenge bonus: 4

I understand that rugby is very dear to you, but it's only remotely interesting to me, and this song suffers from being too long. I was unsure which one of my four categories should reflect this, but I eventually decided it to be a "performance" issue, so that's the reason why I gave you fewer points there. I like the spoken word though, it's hard to pull it off without sounding super cheesy. You get a creativity bonus for it. Also, this is definitely an origin story, so I'll give you a challenge bonus, too.


Zack Facco

Composition: 2/10
Lyrics: 2/10
Performance: 1/10
Production: 3/10

Creativity bonus: 1
Challenge bonus: 0

Lyric doesn't rhyme, has no recognizable rhythm and is not an "origin story". Sounds like it was copied from some book or whatever. The backing music doesn't help, either. Alfred Nobel's life surely is interesting; this song is not. Sorry, but I don't like this.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by josh »

Well, I won't defend the music, it's a bit of a mess *but* there most certainly is an origin story in there (Alfred Nobel's origins and TNT), it doesn't rhyme because it's prose (will you be taking off points for not rhyming in every round?) and it wasn't stolen from a book, but was purposely meant to sound like it was an excerpt.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by noma »

josh wrote:Well, I won't defend the music, it's a bit of a mess *but* there most certainly is an origin story in there (Alfred Nobel's origins and TNT), it doesn't rhyme because it's prose (will you be taking off points for not rhyming in every round?) and it wasn't stolen from a book, but was purposely meant to sound like it was an excerpt.
It's spoken word, I understand that. I'm unsure whether I should actually count it as "lyrics". Does Pink Floyd's "Great Gig in the Sky" have lyrics? It does have some spoken word bits, but it's generally considered an instrumental. Your lyric talks about Alfred Nobel, but as for an "origin story", I would have expected it to describe the circumstances under which TNT was developed, or something. Don't worry though, you're not alone with this. Perhaps my understanding of "origin story" differs from that of most others. I considered Grumpy Mike's, DJRD's, Paco's, or Micah's lyrics good origin stories, for reference.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Lunkhead »

Are you really lowering scores because people didn't post lyrics? Posting lyrics has never been a requirement. Aren't these the "rules" in the first post of this thread? I see no mention of posting lyrics.

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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by j$ »

Fair point. I'm sure the judges will discuss it and clarify. In the meantime, Don't you owe someone a coverfight song?
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Zero

Post by Niveous »

Posting lyrics is not a requirement. It's a good thing that people should do, but it's far from a requirement.
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