Symphonic Album Mini-Game: Round 1, Heat 5

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Please vote!

  • Lemonchick

    Votes: 11 91.7%
  • COBL_04

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.

phanan

Blue Crack Addict
Joined
Dec 6, 2004
Messages
26,374
Location
in the darkness on the edge of town
Please vote for the tracklisting you LIKE THE MOST.

Welcome to the fifth and final heat of the first round of the Symphonic Album Mini-Game. The object of this game is to see which forum member can create the best concept album no longer than 80 minutes.

This heat has Lemonchick going up against COBL_04. Below are their playlists. An update on the standings will be posted after the completion of each round.

If you don't know the songs, or wish to hear how each tracklisting flows, leave your e-mail address and we'll help you out. :)


Forum name: Lemonchick

pic


God's Away On Business

Coming up with this concept has been far more difficult than I expected it to be. In my opinion it is still very loose and incredibly unclear, and I know that that might be a great disadvantage. However, I've thought about it for about two weeks and I can't seem to come up with anything more coherent so I'm just writing it the way it sounds in my mind. I see my playlist as divided into two parts: tracks 1-7 describe the setting where my character(s) live. A dark, rainy, impoverished town; a place for bankrupt deserted carnivals, circus freaks, orphans, cheap prostitutes, and back-alley abortions. While each one of these stories is clearly dark and miserable, I've always found something extremely fascinating about that dark side of human nature. Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" summarizes these themes in an almost ironic and humorous tone. R.E.M's drive serves as a transition into what I consider to be the second part of my playlist. The mood and atmosphere is much more introvertive and personal...I almost see it as being narrated by a young man who has attempted to escape the world of darkness and corruption described in the first half. However, it is almost as though the world he encounters outside is just as dark and even more cold and desolate than the one he previously escaped. His loneliness is evident and his longing for love and something real makes his situation extremely dark and hopeless. There is a glimmer of hope and maybe the slight memory of a long-lost love (No One Would Riot For Less), but this is overshadowed by the reality of his situation..which eventually ends in death (Lacrimosa). I guess I chose the title "God's Away On Business" because I couldn't come up with anything better myself, and because it seems to summarize the themes of corruption, loneliness, and darkness of my playlist. I'm terribly sorry if none of this makes sense, I hope that people enjoy this playlist and if anyone is able to come up with a better concept for it I'd love to hear it ;)

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "The Carny" - Your Funeral...My Trial (8:02)
2. Laurent Petitgand - "Zirkusmusik (Circus Music)" - Wings Of Desire: Original Soundtrack (5:38)
3. The Decemberists - "The Chimbley Sweep" - Her Majesty (2:53)
4. Tom Waits - "God's Away On Business" - Blood Money (2:59)
5. The Dresden Dolls - "Mandy Goes To Med School" - Yes, Virginia (4:39)
6. Pulp - "This Is Hardcore" - This Is Hardcore (6:25)
7. Leonard Cohen - "Everybody Knows" - I'm Your Man (5:32)
8. R.E.M - "Drive" - Automatic For The People (4:31)
9. Jurgen Knieper - "Urstromtal (The Glacial Valley)" - Wings Of Desire: Original Soundtrack (4:04)
10. Radiohead - "Exit Music (For A Film)" - OK Computer (4:24)
11. Pink Floyd - "The Final Cut" - The Final Cut (4:51)
12. U2 - "The Unforgettable Fire" - The Unforgettable Fire (4:55)
13. Bright Eyes - "No One Would Riot For Less" - Cassadaga (5:12)
14. The Arcade Fire - "My Body Is A Cage" - Neon Bible (4:47)
15. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - "Requiem: Lacrimosa" - Mozart: Requiem (3:27)

Total runtime: 1:12:17


Forum Name: COBL_04

pic


My playlist from the start was not going to be a concept where each song told part of a story, as I said I don't have the brain for that, wish I did though! My concept is basically just centred around how my life kinda is. There's a lot of gloomy moments, but plenty of reasons to keep plugging away. At the heart of this playlist is a man who is quite depressed about his life, unhappy, down in the dumps. This is the first half of the playlist, where experiences anger (Chop Suey!, Stockholm Syndrome), Sadness (Mad World, Heaven Can Wait), constant worry (This Unavoidable Thing Between Us, Don't Forget Me, The One, The Gank). He hits rock bottom when thoughts of suicide creep into his mind (Quicksand). But all of sudden, WHAM! Life takes an unexpected turn for our protagonist. This is represented perfectly by Good Morning Good Morning, because the song goes bang and straight away wipes him out of his slumber, but the early lyrics are still despondent. But then everything changes with the lyric 'heading for home you start to roam then you're in town". Now everyone this man sees is full of life, as opposed to the total darkness he was seeing before. From here on there is not much of a story, just a few songs I pieced together because they express (to me anyway) happiness and are uplifting, although in most of the songs you can still see the doubt in the back of this man's mind. The final piece is Eclipse, which expresses happiness in the music, but if you look closely at the lyrics there is still some doubt there. I wanted to end on a 100% happy note, but wanted to express that even though this man is now happier, there are still times of doubt and despondency.

My final note is that I feel that people will probably have some quandaries with my playlist, and the interpretations of some of the songs. I just want to say this is how I have interpreted the songs, and they feel in the right place to me. I tried to focus on the music and the lyrics together. If you disagree, say so, but I am proud with the turnout, so, well, deal with it I guess. :D

Thank you!

it's twilight breaking through - a different kind of blue

1. System of a Down - "Chop Suey!" - Toxicity (3:30)
2. blink-182 - "Stockholm Syndrome" - blink-182 (2:41)
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Don't Forget Me" - By the Way (4:37)
4. Evermore - "This Unavoidable Thing Between Us" - Dreams (5:02)
5. The Wallflowers - "I Started a Joke" - Zoolander Soundtrack (3:08)
6. Gary Jules - "Mad World" - Donnie Darko Soundtrack (3:07)
7. Meat Loaf - "Heaven Can Wait" - Bat Out of Hell (4:41)
8. Nelly - "The Gank" - Nellyville (4:48)
9. Limp Bizkit - "The One" - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog 10. Flavored Water (5:43)
11. David Bowie - "Quicksand" - Hunky Dory (5:07)
12. The Beatles - "Good Morning Good Morning" - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (2:41)
13. U2 - "A Sort of Homecoming" - The Unforgettable Fire (5:28)
14. Silverchair - "Straight Lines" - Young Modern (4:17)
15. Crowded House - "Recurring Dream" - Afterglow (3:24)
16. The Verve - "Bittersweet Symphony" - Urban Hymns (5:56)
17. Passengers - "Beach Sequence" - Original Soundtracks 1 (3:31)
18. Paul Colman Trio - "I Dream" - New Map of the World (4:44)
19. Paul McCartney - "Maybe I'm Amazed" - McCartney (3:53)
20. Pink Floyd - "Eclipse" - Dark Side of the Moon (2:04)



UP NEXT: Axver vs. liamcool

Competition master list.


Have fun!
 
Last edited:
Lemonchick's list is :drool: COBL has some stuff I'm not all that crazy about, but it's pretty good overall.
 
I think Lemonchick's was my favorite mix of this whole mini competition. Really great theme. :up:
 
Lemonchick for me. From song 5 on it's excellent. I didn't like the Laurent Petitgand or Tom Waits songs at 2 or 4 that much though. Maybe they'll grow on me over time. Overall, very nicely done with a nice even mood throughout.

COBL's list starts off with two songs that I just don't like, by System of a Down and Blink-182 -- just not my style of music. The rest of the way is much better, with some awesome songs from The Beatles, U2, McCartney and Pink Floyd.
 
Lemonchick's is one of my favourites in the competition so gonna have to vote for it. Some of the songs on COBL's one are a little...bad :wink:
 
I too have to go for Lemonchick. A very strong entry.

I thought COBL_04 had a good playlist as well, although there are a couple of songs on there that aren't my style. Still, good job!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom