"Aqualung" has an appealing-enough guitar lead, and the vocal lines are pretty good. The acoustic section with the distant vocal is particularly nice. The peppier part that follows isn't quite as good, but it's fine. The extended solo is pretty good for dad rock. I'm not sure it needed to go back through the whole verse bit again at the end, but whatever. Pretty good overall. "All Right Now" has an easy-going groove, strong vocal lines, and a memorable chorus. Nice melodic interlude, too. Well, Tull was certainly artsier, but Free was more viscerally enjoyable, so I'll have to go with the latter.
Winner: Free - "All Right Now"
"Sonne" teaches you to count in German, then you get some sinister spoken-word industrial verses before a surprisingly melodic chorus. The sampled female vocal in the background is interesting. Not bad. "Links 2 3 4" just sounds like a mash-up of Ministry's "Just One Fix" and "Hero" with a bunch of German blathering on top and a little neoclassical bit near the end. Sorry,
@Spambot, but this is an easy call for
@Poto's nominee.
Winner: Rammstein - "Sonne"
"Sinner" has a simple but neat little harmonized riff and strong vocal lines. The ascending part of the chorus is particularly interesting. I like the first interlude and how the spoken word stuff develops into a neat ascending bridge. The solos are a bit unusual, but the music around them works well, and the second vocal bridge is also pretty interesting. Love the double ascending chorus at the end with the little melodic drop-off. Cool track. "Haunted Palace" has a very in-your-face riff. Not a fan of the singer. The chorus goes surprisingly power metally, though it's got phrasing problems. The solos are pretty good. Not bad overall, but sorry
@Kalata, this one doesn't hold a candle to the list nominee.
Winner: Judas Priest - "Sinner"
"The Sign Of The Southern Cross" has a nice acoustic opening and an expectedly strong vocal from Dio. The chorus isn't the best, and I'm not really enthralled by the music around the vocal in general, though the atmospheric interlude is nice and the solo is good. It's OK overall, I guess. "Birth Of The Wicked" has some nice busy guitar work at the beginning, and Barlow sounds pretty decent through the verse. I don't know how I feel about the faint little guitar harmonies constantly going on in the background. The chorus is merely OK. Very good solo, though. Hmm, this song didn't really feel like it went much of anywhere, but it was otherwise a surprisingly coherent track for Iseditionist Earth with an entirely acceptable performance from Barlow. Not really a fan of either song here, but I guess I'll grade on a curve and throw this one to Bear Spray Boy in honor of Trump winning Iowa or something.
Winner: Iseditionist Earth - "Birth Of The Wicked"
"Play With Me" does a cool take on Mozart's "Turkish March" at the beginning, but the verses of this song are absolute tripe, though the chorus is pretty decent. The childrens' singing is super annoying here. The neoclassical solo is fun, though. Yeah, that's a very mixed bag. "Lack Of Communication" has a simple but appealing main riff and good-to-great vocal lines throughout. The solo sadly feels aborted, but what little is there is good stuff. Sorry
@Stardust, but I have to say I prefer the list nominee here.
Winner: Ratt - "Lack Of Communication"
"Dissident Aggressor" takes a bit to get going, but once it kicks in it has an appealing riff. The verse vocal line is kind of a mess, but the call-and-response chorus is pretty cool. The solo is a little out of control, but kind of interesting. Not my favorite Priest track, but it has its appeal. "Megalomania" has an interesting atmospheric opening and Ozzy has pretty good vocal lines throughout. The piano-and-guitar interlude is an interesting choice, and chalk up an extra point for gratuitous cowbell. The heavier groove that follows is pretty good, as is the spacey dual guitar solo. The song is
waaaay longer than it needs to be, but on the whole I think it still works a bit better than its competitor.
Winner: Black Sabbath - "Megalomania"
