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The rules are simple. Someone will post a link to a song of their choosing for the next poster to review. Not all of us are musicians, but anyone can be a music critic. Your reviews must be as unbiased as possible. Please do not flame someone because of their musical tastes! The point of this is to expand your musical awareness. Who knows, you might even find a new favorite band!
Last.fm and Youtube are probably the easiest ways to let people review the music without having to download it.
In your review, be sure to include: Instrumentation, Lyrics, the Overall Performance, and a Rating.
The first song is New World Man by Rush.
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Review a Song!
MultiQuote
#2
Traver 
- 88FHGGPLOSLABoSaS
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- Group: Moderator
- Posts: 2,587
- Joined: 20-March 03
- Location:Indiana
Posted 02 February 2008 - 11:20 AM
"New World Man" by Rush.
(disclaimer: I only heard this song as a live version on youtube, as the link on last.fm was only a 30 second clip, so things I heard might vary from the original)
Rush is a band I've heard many great things about, but I've never actually checked them out. This song seems designed to be a catchy, poppy song, as the song mainly follows two patterns, one for the verse and one for the chorus. The band manages to vary these patterns a great deal, though, so especially the verse (which is played quite a lot) doesn't seem as stale as it otherwise might have, because they put lots of twists and fills on it. The fills are mostly handled by the bass guitar and the drums, where the guitar mostly just follows the song.
Speaking of guitar, it's very thin. The mix of the instruments is generally good, with every instrument audible (even if there aren't a whole lot of instruments), but the mix in itself seems pretty bland. As said, the guitar is thin, and so is the bass, and the bass drum isn't very audible. This makes for a song that doesn't manage to fill out the sonic space.
As this is as mentioned a poppy song, a lot of focus is put on the vocals. The problem with this idea is that the singer isn't that special. He can sing, and he can definitely sing without any mistakes, but there's nothing powerful about his voice, nothing that makes you go "wow!", which makes for less interest in focusing on the vocals.
The lyrics are metaphoric enough to not really describe anyone, yet specific enough to describe everyone. They seem to basically be about living in modern times, and how it's different from old times. Nothing really groundbreaking, and not really any angles to anything that haven't been said before.
It's a catchy song, and you'll be able to very easily sing or hum along to it. It has a slight reggae vibe to it, and it's definitely a very upbeat song. Unfortunately, it never really seems to take off, there's no development. It just goes from part A to part B, with slight variations as mentioned, which means that you won't have listen to the song for more than a minute or two before you've heard it all. The only thing that really stands out is a little bass solo at the end, which fits quite perfectly without being pretentious or overblown.
Overall, it's a pretty decent song that has a catchiness with the potential of latching unto your mind and haunting you for a while, although it's also predictable enough to get old pretty fast.
7/10
Am I supposed to post another song for the next person to review or?
(disclaimer: I only heard this song as a live version on youtube, as the link on last.fm was only a 30 second clip, so things I heard might vary from the original)
Rush is a band I've heard many great things about, but I've never actually checked them out. This song seems designed to be a catchy, poppy song, as the song mainly follows two patterns, one for the verse and one for the chorus. The band manages to vary these patterns a great deal, though, so especially the verse (which is played quite a lot) doesn't seem as stale as it otherwise might have, because they put lots of twists and fills on it. The fills are mostly handled by the bass guitar and the drums, where the guitar mostly just follows the song.
Speaking of guitar, it's very thin. The mix of the instruments is generally good, with every instrument audible (even if there aren't a whole lot of instruments), but the mix in itself seems pretty bland. As said, the guitar is thin, and so is the bass, and the bass drum isn't very audible. This makes for a song that doesn't manage to fill out the sonic space.
As this is as mentioned a poppy song, a lot of focus is put on the vocals. The problem with this idea is that the singer isn't that special. He can sing, and he can definitely sing without any mistakes, but there's nothing powerful about his voice, nothing that makes you go "wow!", which makes for less interest in focusing on the vocals.
The lyrics are metaphoric enough to not really describe anyone, yet specific enough to describe everyone. They seem to basically be about living in modern times, and how it's different from old times. Nothing really groundbreaking, and not really any angles to anything that haven't been said before.
It's a catchy song, and you'll be able to very easily sing or hum along to it. It has a slight reggae vibe to it, and it's definitely a very upbeat song. Unfortunately, it never really seems to take off, there's no development. It just goes from part A to part B, with slight variations as mentioned, which means that you won't have listen to the song for more than a minute or two before you've heard it all. The only thing that really stands out is a little bass solo at the end, which fits quite perfectly without being pretentious or overblown.
Overall, it's a pretty decent song that has a catchiness with the potential of latching unto your mind and haunting you for a while, although it's also predictable enough to get old pretty fast.
7/10
Am I supposed to post another song for the next person to review or?
#3
Aaron
- Hai
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- Group: Moderator
- Posts: 6,067
- Joined: 26-December 04
Posted 03 February 2008 - 12:43 AM
Great review, Traver! When you finish your review, post a song of your choice for the next poster to review.
It's kind of weird that the song didn't play in its entirety on Last.fm. Maybe you have to logged in?
It's kind of weird that the song didn't play in its entirety on Last.fm. Maybe you have to logged in?
#5
Aaron
- Hai
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- Group: Moderator
- Posts: 6,067
- Joined: 26-December 04
Posted 03 February 2008 - 06:08 PM
"Wormwood" by Callisto.
Instrumentation: The song begins with a very nice groove, carried by the bass. The transition to minor and 3/4 time is very fluid and sounds perfectly haunting. The tempo slowing is a very nice effect after the first verse and at the end of the song. The saxophone solo was a nice surprise. I liked how the two themes were interchanged throughout the song. Vocals were well done for a scream(?), but I could not understand the words very well. That is most likely due to my unfamiliarity with this genre.
Lyrics: The lyrics were well written, and obviously meant to be dark. They fit with the minor theme of the song, and I'm glad that the artist kept them separate with the major theme.
Overall Performance: "Wormwood" is very well-done piece. All instruments were mixed well and their parts meshed magnificently. Although the vocals aren't my style, I cannot complain about the song as a whole. I would listen to this again, as well as other similar Callisto songs.
8/10
The next song is: "Continuum" by Jaco Pastorius.
Instrumentation: The song begins with a very nice groove, carried by the bass. The transition to minor and 3/4 time is very fluid and sounds perfectly haunting. The tempo slowing is a very nice effect after the first verse and at the end of the song. The saxophone solo was a nice surprise. I liked how the two themes were interchanged throughout the song. Vocals were well done for a scream(?), but I could not understand the words very well. That is most likely due to my unfamiliarity with this genre.
Lyrics: The lyrics were well written, and obviously meant to be dark. They fit with the minor theme of the song, and I'm glad that the artist kept them separate with the major theme.
Overall Performance: "Wormwood" is very well-done piece. All instruments were mixed well and their parts meshed magnificently. Although the vocals aren't my style, I cannot complain about the song as a whole. I would listen to this again, as well as other similar Callisto songs.
8/10
The next song is: "Continuum" by Jaco Pastorius.
#6
Traver
- 88FHGGPLOSLABoSaS
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- Group: Moderator
- Posts: 2,587
- Joined: 20-March 03
- Location:Indiana
Posted 10 February 2008 - 09:13 PM
I think I have figured out why you keep posting thirty second clips, yet claiming they're full songs:
And since I happen to reside in a different country than those three, I don't get full songs.
QUOTE ("last.fm")
Free the music
We've just launched free on-demand listening in the US, UK, and Germany. Learn more…
We've just launched free on-demand listening in the US, UK, and Germany. Learn more…
And since I happen to reside in a different country than those three, I don't get full songs.
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