THE CRUSADE OF EPICS: Results -> A Change Of Seasons wins!

“Strength Of The World” has a bizarre Western + strings intro that doesn’t quite jell, but it breaks into a pretty cool riff. Then the singer comes in, and I hate pretty much everything about him — the sound of his voice, his melodic and harmonic choices, his overall whininess — everything. Those backing vocals are terrible too. The structure of the song feels haphazard, and the guitar work is the only thing that’s consistently pretty strong. Just as I’m starting to contemplate suicide from having to listen to the singer for one second longer, the incongruous strings return for an awkward finish to a deeply dissatisfying song.

“Suite Sister Mary” is the pivotal story moment from Operation: Mindcrime, and it’s such a stark leap in quality from its competitor that it’s not even funny. Great performances, great songwriting, and a gentle weaving of spoken word and atmospheric elements into the song in a way that deeply enriches it rather than detracting from it. Love the use of the choir, too.

Sorry, @KidInTheDark666, but @Collin ’s nominee just plowed through yours with an 18-wheeler, then backed up and drove over the corpse a couple more times just to be sure it was dead. Winner: Queensrÿche
 
To be fair, this isn't one of A7X's best epics. A far better track was excluded for being 14 seconds too short.
 
I'll start off by saying that I'm not a huge fan of either of these bands. I agree with @Jer regarding Avenged Sevenfold, and as for Queensryche I simply find most of their material lame. However, Suite Sister Mary is the more interesting listen for me here. It has dynamics and keeps me engaged for its entire runtime, despite me finding Geoff Tate annoying beyond belief. Great chorus, driving bass, and guitar chords that remind me of '90s Dream Theater (yes, I'm aware that this album came first).

Compare that to Strength of the World, where the vocals are insanely annoying and the music's only standout part is the guitars. But even with those guitars, the progressions are dull and cliché to my ears. I've heard better songs by this band, but their overall sound simply does not appeal to me.
 
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Results of Round 64:
Avenged Sevenfold - Strength Of The World
Queensrÿche - Suite Sister Mary

Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand (Nominated by @Collin, @Brigantium)
vs.
Savatage - Morphine Child (Nominated by @Black Wizard)

Ayreon - Isis & Osiris (Nominated by @Night Prowler)
vs.
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys (Nominated by @Black Wizard)
 
Voting for the fake wizard and his magic stars list
All hail the big worm and his taste
in music, what did you think?!!
 
The first round is arguably the most difficult decision I've faced on here. These are easily my favorite songs by each band, both being truly epic beyond belief. Iron Maiden arguably wouldn't exist in the same vein as we know them without Achilles' Last Stand, and Morphine Child is Savatage at their most massive, with pure emotion and rocking riffage. The latter has a bit more feeling and importance to me, so I went with it. But man, this was difficult.

The second round was insanely easy, as I love Ayreon and really don't like Helloween's cheesy vocals.
 
“Achilles Last Stand” has a great solo and outro, but is otherwise unremarkable. “Morphine Child” is consistently pretty good, if a bit too showtuney for my taste — but that’s still enough to win this match-up. Sorry, Brigollum, but I have to go with @Weetabitch’s nominee here. Winner: Savatage

I wasn’t quite as impressed with “Isis & Osiris” this time around as I was when I first heard it, but it’s still a great song with a lot of unique elements. “Keeper Of The Seven Keys” is still structurally flawed with some unforced syncing errors, and its handful of great parts isn’t enough to put up a meaningful fight against its competitor. Sorry, @Weetabitch, but I have to go with @Night Prowler ’s nominee here. Winner: Ayreon
 
Jer said:
“Achilles Last Stand” has a great solo and outro, but is otherwise unremarkable.
Click to expand...

And here we are in a Maiden Forum to call the most significant galloping song ever (if not the first true one), with a rhythm session from another planet, with a solo (3:43) in par with Stairway to Heaven's and absolute Zeppelin epic, "unremarkable".
And I say this, one of the most hardcore Savatage fans here.

The Legendary Recording Story Of "Achilles Last Stand" By Led Zeppelin

The Thing About Achilles Last Stand The song itself was very stylistic that influenced a truckload of musicians. The signature fast rhythm paved the way for New Wave of British Heavy Metal", who then influenced the guys from Northern California - the speed metal. The song itself has a lot of
rockpasta.com rockpasta.com

Heavy metal gallop - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
____no5 said:
And here we are in a Maiden Forum to call the most significant galloping song ever (if not the first true one), with a rhythm session from another planet, with a solo (3:43) in par with Stairway to Heaven's and absolute Zeppelin epic, "unremarkable".
Click to expand...
I said it had a great solo. And we’re not voting on which song was more influential, we’re voting on which one we think is better.

To my ears, most of “Achilles Last Stand” is boring. So is most early Black Sabbath. Sacrilege? Maybe, but it’s also my honest opinion.
 
Jer said:
And we’re not voting on which song was more influential, we’re voting on which one we think is better.
Click to expand...

Sure, you are entitled to your opinion /vote and I agree, we should vote putting aside the significance /influence, it was just shocking to read that. And as it seems that Achilles' about to go, I wanted to give it a last bit of love.
 
I really can't tolerate Robert Plant's vocals even though the music in this song is pretty good, so Savatage it is. Second pair was super hard, as both songs are almost equally awesome, but I went with Ayreon due to versatility and better production.
 
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Results of Round 65:
Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand
Ayreon - Isis & Osiris
Savatage - Morphine Child
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys

Haken - 1985 (Nominated by @Mosh, @Lampwick 43)
vs.
Sons Of Apollo - God Of The Sun (Nominated by @Jer)

Arch/Matheos - Kindred Spirits (Nominated by @KidInTheDark666)
vs.
Mastodon - The Czar (Nominated by @Night Prowler)
 
I like "1985", though its retro elements are a bit kitschy, and the singer's voice is a bit thin. It's got a lot of musical meat to it, it goes on a nice journey, and it's never boring. But "God Of The Sun" is more epic and exotic, and no one could accuse Jeff Scott Soto's voice of being thin. Plus, own-nominee bias. Sorry, Lashmick 21.5, your nominee was worthy, but I have to go with my own here. Winner: Sons Of Apollo

"Kindred Spirits" has great music and pretty good but meandering vocals. "The Czar" has a lot of cool riffs and proggy bits, but it doesn't feel like it goes to all that many places musically, and the vocals aren't the best. Both songs are pretty strong overall, but sorry @Night Prowler, I have to go with @KidInTheDark666 's nominee here. Winner: Arch/Matheos
 
Arch/Matheos turned out to be quite a force in this game. It's not my favorite out of my own picks but I'm happy with the current development.
 
I really like that Haken song, it's very fun and a nice throwback, but Sons of Apollo takes the win here for being heavier, cooler, and just plain badass.

Matheos continues to impress me in this game. I still truly dislike Arch's vocals, but the music overall is way more my speed than Mastodon, who are fine....but never impress me.
 
This game has been going on for such a long time that 1985 might have been a newer song when I nominated it. Since then it has become one of Haken's signature songs and a live favorite. Definitely still holds up. I agree the weaknesses are primarily with the vocals, although that guy has come a long way as a vocalist since then, kind of the opposite of LaBrie in the fact that they've figured out how to use his voice effectively and he's built a lot of strength over the years.

I couldn't get into Sons of Apollo, just didn't really live up to the caliber I expect from that group of musicians.
 
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