Everyone met the challenge this round, and nobody was DQed. I won't be taking the challenge into consideration much when ranking songs this time. This is mostly just, "What would Travis want to listen to more in the future." You can also read reviews from the 5 other judges (and a special guest judge) over on the SpinTunes page of the blog. The round 3 eliminations were also announced.
Zarni DeWet (Eric) - I like this because it's about a subject I'm really interested in, it's performed beautifully, and it's something I didn't expect. It got the biggest emotional reaction from me this round, and it was on my MP3 after just 1 listen.
Challenge: Met
Inverse T. Clown (I Have A Leap) - Before I even get to the song, I should mention this is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Even with the fictionalization being ok, I didn't expect this. One could argue it doesn't meet the challenge because Sam is a popular figure in media history...cultural history is history after all. But in Sam's world, he is unknown...so you can argue both sides. This song makes me want to get out my season 1 DVD set, and start watching all the episodes from the beginning. I just hope that all the judges were fans of the show, because if not there are other good songs that will probably leap this in the rankings. The ending was perfect btw.
Challenge: Met...creatively...
Steve Durand (Cuban Missile Mambo) - This is the best thing since "Mambo No. 5". :p Ok, so that's not a GREAT song, but I can still remember that cheesy 1 hit wonder over a decade later. Being memorable & standing out is a hard to do...but you do it often. Looks like Dean Martin's "Mambo Italiano" isn't the only mambo I'll be listening to in the future. I'll just pretend I sing like Dean & not Steve. :p
Challenge: Met
Charlie McCarron (Queen Of Heart) - Wow, Charlie has impressed the shit out of me the last 2 rounds. This got one of the most emotional responses from me in this round. White guilt for the win?! Charlie's story telling seems to have improved a lot from ST1 to ST2. I see him as a real threat to win if he makes it into round 4.
Challenge: Met
Ross Durand (Ivan Vaughan) - I wonder how many times Ivan Vaughan got laid telling girls how he introduced John & Paul? This seemed like it was coming from a guy just hanging out at a bar telling stories to a bartender. I'm not a Beatles fan, but I enjoyed learning this bit of history. Good idea, well executed.
Challenge: Met
Gweebol (She Said, As She Handed Him The Telephone) - I know little about Gweebol, but after 3 rounds of competition I know the girl can sing. This song...has moved up & down in my rankings like a bouncing ball. I find myself singing "So you can take this train to Philadelphia" often, but I honestly don't think I've made up my mind about this song yet (and I've listed 10+ times easy). So I'm sticking it right in the middle. It's fun to sing, and I enjoyed the organ a lot.
Side Note: I wanna hear you & Edric duet "Anything You Can Do".
Challenge: Met
Chris Cogott (Final Flight) - For the first few seconds I enjoyed that pickin' sound...but then it just gets way too busy. Eventually it calms down, and it's a pretty rockin' song. Can't really complain about anything else. With the opening, and it just being a tough round, it stays middle of the back.
Challenge: Met
Governing Dynamics (Los Alamos) - I enjoyed this a lot, even though I'm guessing we have very different opinions about Little Boy & Fat Man. Whether it's for the greater good or not, I can definitely understand how someone would be conflicted about being part of something like that. Your song does a good job of reflecting just some of the emotions I'm sure people on that project had to deal with. My favorite lines were:
"I guess when you wake a sleeping giantChallenge: Met
It's no surprise that he looks for a club"
Mitchell Adam Johnson (Pictures Of Love) - Another song about the Beatles that I actually learned something from. It also kind of sounded like a Beatles song. I'm finding it hard to move this up real high, but I honestly can't find anything bad to say. It's a good song, just not my thing...I did mention I'm not a Beatles fan.
Challenge: Met
Rebecca Brickley (Oh Mercy) - I wish the remix had been turned in before the deadline, because that would have jumped you up on my list a lot (at least 3 spots maybe more). You can still hear a quality song in the original mix, but production does count with me, and it is a bit distracting at times. You probably have the best chorus of all the songs in this round. Don't know what to complain about since you fixed all my complaints in the new mix.
Challenge: Met
Edric Haleen (I Was There) - It's singable...I just don't want to sing it. Too slow for my tastes. The big issue I have with the song is the performance. Edric is a great performer, but him doing both parts keeps putting a silly picture in my mind. I'm completely fine up until "MAN 2" starts, and then I'm picturing Edric in blackface. I was actually reminded of a Sophie Merry video (Solo Duet). It's a serious song meant to get an emotional reaction, and I wasn't getting it because this stupid image in my head. Song still wouldn't have ranked really high with me (no fun to sing), but that image hurt his standing.
Challenge: Met...twice
Ryan Ruff Smith (The Driver 'Dallas, 1963') - I expected a JFK song, but this kinda surprised me. I liked the static & radio transmissions being played with the music (but you could cut a few seconds off the end). For me this had a lot of good parts, but 2 didn't seem to fit together. The music (& performance) seemed a little too carefree for the subject matter. I'm sure you knew what you were doing & it has a purpose for being that way...but I didn't 'get it'. That's nothing new though, people often have to beat me over the head with something before I 'get it'. One reason I love it when people post Song Bio's. I don't always read them, but there's been a lot of times when I will read one to clarify a question I had about the song.
Challenge: Met
Duality (Columbia) - Great song, probably would have been in my top 4 if it wasn't a shadow. I was hoping someone who do a song about the space race, Challenger or maybe the rover landers. Congrats on a moving song that gave me the space theme song I was hoping for. This lyrical style is a lot of fun for me as well.
Challenge: Met
David Ritter (Portal Of Doom) - You totally would have got the nerd vote if this wasn't a shadow. Loved the guitar, and the performance was pretty great. Lyrically I didn't care for a few lines that seemed just thrown in, but overall this is my new favorite David Ritter song.
Challenge: Met
Duality (Historical Verity) - I normally check the lyrics on each song, but when I got to this I just said "screw it". Aside from me not being able to read some of the lyrics, this song was great. It was catchy & used humor to meet the challenge perfectly.
Challenge: Met
JoAnn Abbott (Candle In The Dark) - I like the idea & Caleb did a great job helping with the instrumentation. Here's my problem, I've listened to soooo much kids music (old & new) that it usually drives me nuts. This isn't bad, but my dislike for the type of music makes this not fun for me. That's not your fault, so don't be discouraged. Sounds like you hit the mic at the 47 sec mark, might wanna clean that up in another mix. Good work, but this just isn't for me.
Challenge: Met
Duality (St. Andrews) - Someone is being held...about to be burned? Don't know who or why. Witches were burned...but I don't know if that's it. I'm used to not understanding Denise, and if this was a regular entry I would probably have asked her or found out what it's about for sure. Since it's a shadow, and there were no notes attached I'll just go without knowing for now. I liked Denise's performance...just wish I understood it. But I am someone you have to spoon feed lyrics to.
Challenge: I don't know...think so...
Common Lisp (Sherman's Lament) - This fails to meet part of the challenge, but I don't really care since it's a shadow. It's an great idea, and I enjoyed the song a lot. Some of the audio clips from the show worked well, while others just annoyed me. (didn't like the one at 0:32) Liked Joe & Denise singing together (didn't expect that), and this brought up some fond memories from childhood. Ended up being a sad song, but I felt happy after listening.
Challenge: Not Met (major historical even fail)
Duality (Triangle) - I didn't know what the heck this was about & how it met the challenge. Dave mentioned a couple times to me that it was about Amelia Earhart? I don't see that, and the notes you provided just baffled me even more. The good thing about submitting 4 songs & working on a 5th with someone else is that I've already said something nice about your work at some point. I'm not going to find anything nice for this one. Sorry. BTW it really is amazing that you both turned in 4 tracks.
Challenge: Not Met
Subjects I expected people to write about...but they didn't:
1. 911
2. Pearl Harbor
3. D-Day
4. Christopher Columbus "discovering" America
5. Great Depression
6. Jackie Robinson (or some other historic MLB moment)
7. Release of the Atari 2600
(Yes these are all U.S. related events...deal with it.)
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