ELO is on tour again! (A New World Record reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

In this life, I've seen everything I can see, woman
I've seen lovers flying through the air hand in hand
I've seen babies dancing in the midnight sun
And I've seen dreams that came from the heavenly skies above
I've seen old men crying at their own grave sides
And I've seen pigs all sitting watching picture slides
But I never seen nothin' like you

[Aciniform Artifice]

Song Fight!ers, don't forget to put Ye Newe World Record Lyrics in Ye Olde Lyric Archive

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[Heather. Redmon.]

I've done a quick listen-through and I'll be posting reviews soon. I look forward to hearing what others have to say. It's great to be back in the ring!

[genecawley]

Balls To Monte: This is us again. This started out very McCartney and became very Lennon. Not sure why.

Frankie Big Face: Wow! I love this! The production is as close to perfect as any of us can afford. The slightly-obscured love story. The vocoder[I'm guessing an homage to ELO]. I love everything about it. Great job!

The Hell Yeahs: Really catchy lo-fi fun, and great lyrics. You totally had me by "Destruction junction, that’s my function." Great vocal harmonies and guitar duo as well.

Pigfarmer Jr: Another solid pop song from you. The only thing I'd change is maybe bring up the vibes-sounding thing in the mix. I literally can't think of anything else.

Soft Rick: Is this Steely Dan incognito? VERY nice instrumental track. The keyboards and guitar are superbly done. A little short is my only complaint.

UJN X REVE: More than just another data stream. The moodiness here is contagious. Really like the lyrics, and kick into high gear after the second verse. Well done.

[Aciniform Artifice]

Balls to Monte - here’s another clue for you all: the walrus was Paul.


Frankie Big Face - first time I heard this was while listening to the Nur Ein XIX round 0 entries, so my initial reaction to the opening line was that you were calling the Guinness beer company, until the follow-up line about a new world record whereupon I realized that you meant a different Guinness company… and that you were repurposing the same song for both titles. It’s a cute song, definitely deserved to rank near the top of NEXIXr0.


Hell Yeahs - this is the song that plays as the end credits start to roll, over a montage of silly colorful cartoon caricatures of the cast members, from some long-forgotten mid-90s high school movie.


Pigfarmer Jr. - maybe Frankie had the right idea, focusing all his energy and attention into one song instead of trying to rush and put out two? I’ll leave that determination to the judges.


Soft Rick - we can make it if we try, building castles in the sky, you and I. This sounds like the DJ is playing your song about 20% faster than the original recording, because it’s 1977 and everyone at the discotheque is stuffed full of cocaine.


UJN x REVE - if I were a Nur Ein judge, I probably would have ranked this one at the top. Genre bias, or whatever. But I’m not – I don’t know if I could handle the pressure. Also, is there anything acoustic in there? I couldn’t tell. However, I am the judge of my very own Song Fight! voting (and there was no such acoustic/electric challenge to be met here). Comparing this with The Ujn Corporation version, this seems mastered much louder, or is it my imagination?

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face - first time I heard this was while listening to the Nur Ein XIX round 0 entries, so my initial reaction to the opening line was that you were calling the Guinness beer company, until the follow-up line about a new world record whereupon I realized that you meant a different Guinness company… and that you were repurposing the same song for both titles. It’s a cute song, definitely deserved to rank near the top of NEXIXr0.

Yeah, initially that line was "Dear Guinness Book of World Records" but then I say a "I'm setting a new world record" a couple of lines later and it had to change. It is cute, isn't it? I'm trying to lean a little more into pop without losing "my sound." I hope you found it to be refreshing.

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face: Wow! I love this! The production is as close to perfect as any of us can afford. The slightly-obscured love story. The vocoder[I'm guessing an homage to ELO]. I love everything about it. Great job!

Wow! What a compliment. If I can write the song fast enough (as I did in this case) and have enough time (as I also did in this case), I can do a better job with production. I'm trying hard in that area so I appreciate this encouragement.

[frankie big face]

Balls To Monte:
I get the Beatles comparisons, but you sound more like Supergrass to me. (They're awesome, by the way, but I'm guessing/hoping you know that already.) I like this arrangement and it's a pretty good song, but I would have either taken another pass at the lead vocal or dropped it by a step to making it easier to sing. But man, that's an ambitious chord progression.

The Hell Yeahs:
I like this! Good lyrics, good performance, nice vocal harmonies. My only issue is with the mix. It sounds kind of muffled on my studio monitors, but better in headphones. *shrug* Not sure why, but I think there's a lot of reverb on the vocals, but everything else is dry? Anyway, it doesn't matter - it's a good song!

Pigfarmer Jr:
This isn't a terrible song, but I think the arrangement could use more color. Get your backing vocal on, my friend! Some vocal harmonies and descants would go a long way.

Soft Rick:
This is really well-played and your bass sounds great. (Rickenbacker?) The song itself seems underdeveloped to me, but your performance makes up for it mostly. Again, really well-played and well-sung.

UJN X REVE:
This is brilliant. Love it. Sometimes I wish I had that voice type - you're making the perfect kind of music for that voice. Great job.

[Jefff]

*googles 'descants'*

[frankie big face]

*googles 'descants'*

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Yeah, Google that shit, Jeff! I probably just mean countermelody. When I read the Wikipedia entry on "descant," it seems a little too specific to early music and hymnal.

[Jefff]

nounMUSIC
/ˈdeˌskant/
an independent treble melody usually sung or played above a basic melody.
verbLITERARY
/ˈdeˌskant,deˈskant,dəˈskant/
talk tediously or at length.

Next optional challenge

[SoftRick]

Soft Rick:
This is really well-played and your bass sounds great. (Rickenbacker?) The song itself seems underdeveloped to me, but your performance makes up for it mostly. Again, really well-played and well-sung.

Thanks! The bass is a VST called Modo bass. I'm using the free version which comes with a 60's P bass. I use EZbass to compose the bass parts and then feed the midi into modo bass. And I hear ya on it being undeveloped. When it comes to songfight I try to keep the songs short as to not wear out the reviewers too much because sometimes there are alot of songs to get through.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Reviews after one or two listens through.

Balls To Monte: I love that beatles-esque guitar solo (with the modern edge.) Come to think of it, there's a bounce to this that feels like a modern take on a Beatles tune a little bit. To be fair, it's only a small part of the appeal, but I hear it more the more I think about it. At any rate, I like this a lot.

Frankie Big Face: The very up front vocal highlights the breath intakes and the sibilance that might take a tiny bit away from the good vocal performance. The vocoder is tasty. This is pretty tasty.

The Hell Yeahs: For some reason I want to dig out that cd by The Donnas that I haven't listened to in years. I like that the bass is so clear but is it up a bit more than usual? Not a bad thing by itself but maybe not exactly fitting with the drums. Naw, that's a nitpick, I'm digging the feel of this quite a bit so I shouldn't be calling it out. Oh, I meant to say I like the bass line a lot.

Pigfarmer Jr: This sounded better in my head.

Soft Rick: Cool lead guitar. I like your vocal mix better this week than last but both songs are pretty good. I like this one better, though.

UJN X REVE: I really love that guitar that comes in just after the 1:00 mark. It might be masking the vocal a hair, though. This is the most creative of the batch, I think. (Listening a second time and it's even more cool than the first listen.)

Another dang fight in which I feel all the songs are pretty good. I think Monte and Ujn and Reve are my top two, probably. So I'll either vote for just those two or all of them.

[furrypedro]

I dig the artwork for this one

[Heather. Redmon.]

After numerous listens, I feel this way:

Balls To Monte: I like that your song told a good story. I usually love the lyrics the most about a song. Hoist the Glory Potion is such an interesting line. I see what you mean about the Beatles vibe you’ve got going on. It’s evident in the vocals and the arrangement. Good production too.

Frankie Big Face: The production is also nice and clear here and I like the story you set up. But then I get disappointed that it’s all just to “get that girl”. Concerning the title, the song is a little obvious (Guinness and later Ripley’s Believe It or Not), but that’s just personal preference. I’m surprised it’s acceptable to enter the same song for both Nur Ein and the main fight. It’s been a while since we’ve been around here. Has it always been this way?

The Hell Yeahs: We worked awfully hard on this song and I’m extremely pleased with it. It was a blast to sing! It’s nice to be back at it after so many years away.

Pigfarmer Jr: I like that this song has such an insistent beat but the title feels a little tacked on. The story and the delivery seem a bit ho-hum. However, the guitar is bright and clean, nice work there. The vocals are sung well and I enjoy your voice.

Soft Rick: I like the vocal melody and the guitar solo was creative and well played. The keyboards added some nice depth.

UJN X REVE: This one is icey cold and very crisp. I like it when the second verse kicks in. Same comment though, the Nur Ein title doesn’t belong in this fight in my opinion. This one feels it could have easily been called For Your Consideration. Hey, it is called that over at Nur Ein!

[SoftRick]

Pigfarmer Jr - Right off I like the guitars. The vibe is very poppy. I dig the chord progression. I like the panned vocals in the chorus. The Drums seem a little low in the mix. Overall a nice quirky pop song.

Frankie Big Face - Nice drum fill intro. Kinda reminds me of flaming lips. Like the ambient stuff in the background. The lyrics kinda remind me of Grandaddy. Nice Harmonies. Chord progression sounds classic. Nice clean guitar solo tastefully done. I like that doubled effect on it. (following the bass?) Nice vocoder. Very well produced.

UJN X REVE - Kind of has a darkwave dystopian vibe to it. Sort of 80's. Nice electronic percussion. Meta lyrics. Synthy. Dirty aggressive guitar tone fits the song well. The choppy ending is kinda strange but I dig it none the less.

Soft Rick - So I've been listening to an artist from the late 70's called Dane Donahue and this song was inspired by that album pretty much. I really like how it turned out. If this was for public consumption I would have made it a little bit longer but this was more of a concept.

The Hell Yeahs - Nice panned guitars. Song has a throwback vibe to the 50's or when the 50's became en vogue in the 90's. I dig it kind of reminds me of a Tarantino film. I like the dual solos. Overall a nice little song.

Balls To Monte - This has a Monkees vibe to me. (Beatles joke aside) I like this alot. It has kind of a nefarious vibe about it. Might be the chord choices. I feel like some harmonies could really pop this song up to another level. oooh I really like that liquid guitar solo. Very nice!!

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face - Nice drum fill intro. Kinda reminds me of flaming lips. Like the ambient stuff in the background. The lyrics kinda remind me of Grandaddy. Nice Harmonies. Chord progression sounds classic. Nice clean guitar solo tastefully done. I like that doubled effect on it. (following the bass?) Nice vocoder. Very well produced.

Thanks for the kind words. No "doubled effect" on the guitar solo - I'm just playing the exact same thing on bass.

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face: The production is also nice and clear here and I like the story you set up. But then I get disappointed that it’s all just to “get that girl”. Concerning the title, the song is a little obvious (Guinness and later Ripley’s Believe It or Not), but that’s just personal preference. I’m surprised it’s acceptable to enter the same song for both Nur Ein and the main fight. It’s been a while since we’ve been around here. Has it always been this way?

I have no idea whether it's "acceptable" to enter the same song in Nur Ein and SongFight. I just saw an opportunity to combine the two and did it. *shrug*

[Pigfarmer Jr]

RE: Same song… I can think of several instances in the past.

[reve]

Man, everyone excelled in their own way here!

Balls To Monte:
This is too swanky. Clearly most professional sounding of all the entries. I don't even understand how people can be so competent. And then make competently played instruments sound so good. Jealous.

Frankie Big Face:
Oh -- hello, fellow Nur Ein double-dipper! The harmonies here are what makes the song stand out. It could be, like, one of those swoon-able Jack Johnson type songs. Nicely done!

The Hell Yeahs:
Clearly the most fun song of the fight -- and my favorite. Also the wreck / record is the best wordplay of the fight.

Pigfarmer Jr:
I know there's an electric guitar in there, but I feel like this could be the "unplugged" version of some sort famous power-pop ballad.

Soft Rick:
Man, just when I thought I'd already heard the funkiest song of the fight you came by and stole that trophy. It makes me remember Jamiroquai, who I haven't thought about in 20 years.

Great work, everyone!

[jack]

I just want to say I think it's cool that 2/3 of the artists in this week's fight go back at least 20 years. It's nice to see people come back after a hiatus.
(I'm looking at you Redmons and BTM....)