One of our regular judges had an unforeseen conflict and is unable to review the final round songs, so to round out the judges' slate for this round, I turned to the guy who started it all...
SpinTunes 18 Round 4 Reviews: Spintown
Quick refresher for those who might be new to the contest. I used to run this thing, and I've had to do a number of reviews in the past. I'm not a musician, and I don't know jack shit about music. Since I stopped running this contest, I've spent some time writing lyrics for parodies & a few original songs. Turns out I kinda suck at lyric writing, but I'll probably still focus on your lyrics a lot. I like clear stories & usually don't like stuff that I have to figure out the meaning to. I tend to like upbeat & funny songs. The challenge was technical this time, and since I'm not qualified to judge whether you met the challenge or not, I'm just going to leave that up to the other judges. I'll be judging your song purely by how much I enjoyed listening to it. I'll also be judging you personally based on whether or not you've covered the song "Today's The Day" by Inverse T. Clown. That won't affect your rankings...but know you're being judged. *gives side eye*
Daniel Sitler - What If?
Didn't really care for the intro. Felt off balance & messy. Probably not the right words to use, but I feels what I feels! Liked the vocals from the start, but felt the music didn't match the vocals. Not in quality, but in style. At first I didn't like the prechorus, but it grew on me. Your vocals really shined for me in the chorus. To me this song has a lot of good things in it, but sometimes those things don't go together all that well. Lyrically it's simple, but held my interest. Let me know if you find my car keys.
Brian Gray - Gestalt
Glad you tried to write it with 2 meanings. When I judged Nur Ein last time there were 2 bands who basically went "Concept Album" on me, and that gets old for me fast. I really thought the lyrics were great. Very creative, and I've come to expect from you. The music sounded great, and I'm impressed with how committed you are to this universe. This whole concept album thing isn't for me, but picking your instruments based on what you think these people might carry with this is next level. The big thing this lacked for me was a hook I could get into. It sounds lovely, but at the same time I didn't remember it by the time I listened to all 5 finalists.
Sober - It Never Comes
The song bio...top notch. I'm conflicted with this song. I'm not a big fan of going meta, and this is the fucking finals, so I'm really not keen on the idea this round. At the same time I found the lyrics creative, funny, and the song was the most memorable one of the round for me. I don't like you...
Jim Of Seattle - Variations On An End
Oh damn you got screwed having me as a judge. The music is truly beautiful. Very impressed with the overall sound & feel you created. It was on the long side, but it sounded so purdy I didn't mind. The vocals weren't bad, but I felt a stripped down vocal performance would have been better. The music was so moving that I think the raw emotion you could have got from the vocals would have been amazing. Lyrically this isn't for me...at all. Not much story there for me to sink my teeth into. Overall not really the type of song I'm coming back to over & over, but I can appreciate how good it is.
Chas Rock - Hotel By The Hospital
Another that's not really my kinda song, but done well. Really liked the story telling. I thought the music did a great job of supporting the story & helped keep me emotionally connected throughout. Another very long song, but like the last one, I didn't mind. It had my attention the entire time. What hurts you for me is repeated listens. This is not the type of song I come back to often.
Rankings: (1 being my favorite)
Sober
Chas Rock
Jim Of Seattle
Daniel Sitler
Brian Gray
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