"Breaking The Law" has a great ascending main riff, strong vocal lines, and some nice rhythmic interplay between the vocals and guitars. The chorus vocal is monotonous, but still works within the context of the song, and it takes on some new elements later on. The bridge is short but great, and the build-up from that point through the end of the song is just huge. The track never loses its momentum and never wastes your time. Great stuff. "Procreation (Of The Wicked)" has moderately interesting guitars in places, but doesn't really go anywhere. The vocalist is bad (I can't call him a singer because he's just speaking in rhythm), but I've heard much worse. I guess I wouldn't turn this off if it were already playing, but it's just in one ear and out the other. No contest here.
Winner: Judas Priest - "Breaking The Law"
"Octavarium" has a ponderously overlong atmospheric intro, then a pleasant-enough but also overlong series of gentle verses before finally getting a little more interesting around the 9 minute mark. The thing doesn't actually spring to life until a little after the 12 minute mark, though -- over half its runtime! I really don't like the poorly phrased "tough LaBrie" section where he name drops Jack The Ripper and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, and I can't decide if the part near the end where LaBrie pretends to be Dave Mustaine is funny in a good way or a bad way. The instrumental performances are all complex and mostly satisfying, as expected; but the songwriting is really bloated and self-indulgent, with a number of sections just aping 70s Genesis, and some other parts being openly masturbatory. Lots of good music, but not a very good
song. Meanwhile, "Numb" may pretty much be "In The End" Mk. II, but it turned out really well and was almost as good as the original, and most importantly it doesn't waste the listener's time. Every part of the song is memorable and is there for a good reason, and you could listen to this track three times over before its competitor even
started to get interesting. For that reason, and for its better songwriting in general, I have to say sorry SpoolikipotMyBride, but I prefer the list nominee here.
Winner: Linkin Park - "Numb"
"Square Hammer" has a simple organ-driven groove. The verses are OK, but the chorus is significantly better, with a strong vocal and guitar hook. The interlude is strong too. It didn't blow me away or anything, but it's a very good song. "King Of Rock And Roll" has a strong riff and a really punchy verse and pre-chorus. The chorus doesn't land quite as well, but the solo is great. Dio sounds great too, as expected. I enjoyed both songs, and I'd be fine with either one winning, but sorry MrMooserCocker, I think the list nominee was a little bit stronger here.
Winner: Dio - "King Of Rock And Roll"
"Epic" has suitably epic music with some funky undercurrents. While I'm not a fan of the whiny affectation Patton uses in his voice here, the ping-ponging between rapping and singing with strong vocal melodies actually works really well. That rising instrumental in the middle is great too, as is the piano outro. Still a great song overall. "I'll See The Light Tonight" has strong vocal lines, a cool riff, great soloing, and some unexpected key changes. Jeff Scott Soto still sounds a bit raw here, but you can hear his potential. This is another match where I genuinely enjoy both songs and would be fine with either one winning, but in this case I think I actually prefer the Faith No More song by a hair.
Winner: Faith No More - "Epic"
"Solitude" has a haunting intro with some queasy vocal harmonies that leads into a slow and similarly queasy main riff. The verse vocal melody is pretty strong, but I'm not sure how I feel about the chorus. The little acoustic interlude is nice, and the solo section is pretty good. I don't know, this one didn't really do it for me, and it's up against "Tom Sawyer", which is a stone cold rock classic that's pretty much perfect from start to finish -- so sorry, MagDruler, but I have to go with the list nominee here.
Winner: Rush - "Tom Sawyer"
Motherfucking "Crazy Train". I mean, come on, folks. Killer intro, killer opening riff, unexpected warmth in the verse riff and vocals, and then a killer chorus. Sweet fills and color work from Rhoads, a great bridge, and a killer solo too. This song fucking slays -- no wonder I nominated it! "Night Of The Demon" has a solid main riff and strong vocals. There's kind of a weird 70s theatrical feel bubbling underneath the surface that never fully breaks out. It didn't knock my socks off, but it's a simple, straightforward, and effective song. Unfortunately,
@Perun, that's not enough to derail the irresistible force of The DJermient's nominee here.
Winner: Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
. Really, the only parts that aren't quite S tier for me are the intro and some of Medicate.
