Because it's a better song

Which is the better track?

  • Soul Collector — Bloodbath

    Votes: 2 22.2%

  • The Heart Collector — Nevermore

    Votes: 5 55.6%

  • *****

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Castles In The Air — Stratovarius

    Votes: 6 66.7%

  • Burn — Iggy & The Stooges

    Votes: 3 33.3%
  • Total voters
    9
mckindog

mckindog

Living for Sanctuary from the law
Staff member
With Now Playing basically being a rolling list of songs and the random song review thread seeming to have died a quiet death I want to do something a little different to spark some music conversation outside the survivor threads.

Things always seem to work better around here with a theme and this is something that should bounce around enough to appeal to all our members.

A handful of you will be old enough to remember when the only way to hear new music was on the radio and radio stations would host a regular Battle of the Bands where people would call in (on their rotary phones) to determine the day's most popular song.

This thread is a bit of a throwback to that.

I am going post two pairs of songs, have you vote for your favourites and hopefully tell us why.
There is no end game other than showcasing music and sparking music conversion. After you get your say, a few days later we'll move on to other pairs and just keep rolling through.

I am going to try to hit a wide range of bands and eras, while setting up some interesting matchups. If it catches on, I'll probably start taking requests. If it doesn't it will probably just quietly go away.
 
Our first contest features two contemporary American metal bands

The title track to Avenged Sevenfold's 2010 album Nightmare


Versus Black Tongue, the opening track to Mastodon's 2011 album The Hunter



Our second matchup is two versions of the same song:

Over the Hills and Far Away as covered in 2001 by Nightwish


And the 1987 original by Gary Moore


Put on the headphones and enjoy.
 
Listened to all four and voted for Black Tongue and Gary Moore's original. I'll add my two cents in a bit, I'm working on a few Motörhead write-ups at the moment.
 
I like both songs in the first matchup, will give the vote to A7X because I think they are underrated around here (both bands are to be fair, but Mastodon less so). Periodically annoying vocals aside, Nightmare is a really chilling track with some great guitar work and a bit of an unpredictable structure. Really love the middle section in that song. Works great as an opener, signaling to the listener that this album is going to have its fair share of twists and turns.
Black Tongue is a good song too though, also an effective opener in terms of giving the listener an idea of how the album will turn out. You know right away it is a stylistic departure from Crack the Skye. But the crushing riffs are still there and it shows a catchier side of that band. Love the pounding rhythms in that tune.

Over the Hills and Far Away is a good song and I think Nightwish does it best. I prefer the female vocals and the faster tempo. Gives the song a greater sense of urgency that fits the lyrics. I also prefer cheesy power metal strings to cheesy 80s drums.
 
Those '80s drums were so noticeable on this listen.
But Moore's solo, my god. It's quick but is there anyone else who can play that raw, without sacrificing a scrap of melody?
 
Am I going deaf or are there musical similarities between the first two as well?

Anyway, definitely A7x for the first. And it's not because I'm currently in an anti-Mastodon mood, I never liked this song anyway. It just does nothing to me. Nightmare is cool, I really like the opening riff and I don't even mind the vocals. Very catchy overall.

I like both versions of Hills, but the Nightwish version sounds better to me. Tarja's vocals are great here and really fit the song. Even better would be the Nightwish version with Gary's guitar mixed in :D
 
Night Prowler said:
What a blasphemy in the first match. Avenged Sevenfold is awful.
Click to expand...

Can I agree with this and with Mosh?
It is very difficult to vote A7X over Mastodon because Mastodon is superior in every way, but they have never written a song as catchy as Nightmare. Thing is, it's not just catchy, it's an interesting composition, it's got chops and the sound is stellar.

In another counter-intuitive opinion, Moore is a bad singer and Tarja is anything but, but I prefer the rough vocals on Over the Hills than the ethereal ones. Both good tracks, and Nightwish sounds less processed, but I prefer Moore.
 
It's interesting you bring up the catchiness because I think that is a big reason why both bands have been so successful (particularly in America) despite playing a pretty harsh style of music. Mastodon has no business being popular in America and yet they are perhaps the biggest contemporary metal band right now.
Their music is extremely dense and intricate, yet so accessible. Just watch a video of them playing, it doesn't take a musician to see that this is complex music. From that perspective they are really the modern equivalent of Rush. So yes, Mastodon is easily the superior band.

But Nightmare does all these things better than Black Tongue. It's a very catchy song and was even getting a lot of airplay in its full form when it first came out. But it's got a lot of really unexpected twists and turns and showcases some really impressive musicianship. It also feels more inspired to me. The band sounds fired up.

But if you picked Oblivion from Mastodon this might be a different story.
 
Mastodon are just one of those bands I can't get into. I think it's because I'm not into the sludge metal sub-genre that much.

Good idea for a thread though mckindog.
 
First match-up... Mosh, did you just say that Nightmare was "chilling". Seriously, what are you talking about? The lyrics are lame as hell. The music is decent, but chilling doesn't seem a particularly good description of any element of this track. It chugs along pretty nicely but sounds totally generic to me, personally. The Mastodon track has some pretty fierce drumming; lyrics sound equally as lame, but singing is marginally preferable. Dunno. There's no compelling reason why I'd listen to either of those tracks again or explore either discography.

Second match-up... uh. Nightwish. Honestly, WTF. Without even knowing it's a cover, it sounds like one. Music is just tracking the vocal line. It sort of sounds like what I'd imagine a mid-album Runrig/Kate Bush collaboration track might sound like. Poor guy on lead is trying to window dress the track, but naw, that was crap. Gary Moore version has better vocals; 10 seconds in & the guitar-work is already clearly at another level; pretty 80's, but then at least it was the 80's; lead is better; soloing to end is awesome. Original was decent, but I have no wish to ever hear that cover again.

Thanks for making me think I should go & explore Moore's discography again in more detail. Please don't make me listen to any of that other generic crap again.
 
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I considered to vote for the original (the guitar solos are good although way less than what he did in e.g. Out in the Fields!) but (Tarja era) Nightwish gets too much flag out here. The singing is very good, much better and more enjoyable than Moore's bland vocals. Overall I enjoy the cover more.

EDIT: All melodies are more prominent in the Nightwish version.


I don't like both tracks in the first match up. I prefer the Mastodon one slightly because musically it takes more interesting paths (some weird time signature in the middle) and the vocals are less annoying. The first song sounds a little forced and cheesy/fake-spooky).
 
First matchup:

Nightmare - Has great music and insane drumming. I love A7X's album Waking The Fallen, but beyond that I think the vocals are godawful. It sounds like a whiny emo kid trying his hardest to sound like James Hetfield and never succeeding. I like the "you should have known the price of evil" of melody, but otherwise I actually despise the vocals in this song. "Now your nightmare comes to life" is one of the lamest vocal recordings I've ever heard. It couldn't possibly be any thinner or more cringey. Also, minus one massive point for "Your fucking nightmare!" Childish. Not even the great guitar solos can save this. Forced as hell.

Black Tongue - Mastodon is a band that I simply cannot get into. I listened to their entire discography and saw them live with Clutch, but they just don't do it for me. There's nothing truly bad about them nor is there anything really bad about this song. It's fine, I'll vote for it simply because it's not Nightmare. Also, as Foro said: the bridge has some really cool time signature stuff and some nice leads.

Second matchup:

I first heard this song via Nightwish and I love the majesty they bring to the song. The melodies are so much more intense, but Gary Moore brings that traditional Irish sound to the tune that sells the story. When I first heard the original I was blown away. Nightwish does an amazing job with their cover, but Moore's original is my favorite. Not to mention, the guitar playing is great.
 
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