I liked all of these entries a lot!! Great job to everyone and congratulations for making it to the final round!!
In my mind Ross’ entry stands out as the clear winner, and after that it was really tough to place the others. I liked them all just about equally. So, after giving them each a few listens and thinking about it quite a bit, I decided that Charlie’s entry, while I love the catchy sound and unconventional structure of it, had to take last place simply because it failed to meet the challenge much more than the other entries. If it weren’t for that, I probably would’ve given it second place because it is much less generic sounding than the two remaining entries. But, the challenge has to count for a lot, so that’s how I scored this.
My picks for #2 and #3 could have been either/or, and I finally, once again, had to let the deciding factor be which one I felt met the challenge the best, and so Matt & Donna get second place in my book.
I think this round, in spite of having the fewest entries, was the hardest to rank. I could barely find anything to criticize or find fault with in any of these songs!! Excellent work. All of you make me feel totally inadequate as a song writer and not worthy to be a judge in this competition, and I say that with complete sincerity.
4. Charlie McCarron – Skipping Stones
Really unconventional meter and creative chord progression… I really like this song! Nice build to the end; really boppin’ tune. I liked it a lot, but felt this was the least relevant entry in terms of the challenge. The connection to the photo was very sweet, but ancillary at best, in terms of how much of the lyrics you spent relating to the car and the scene of the photo. (Relatively little.)
2. Matt & Donna – Back Down The Road
Really pleasant sound. Very easy to listen to. Great job at meeting the challenge! Love the choice of doing this from the point of view of the car as a character with thoughts & feelings. Not sure if there was ever a big climax to this; it stayed relatively the same intenstity the whole way through, although added instrumentation part way through did give it some variation and expanded the texture a little. Great sound on the harmony vocals. I like it a lot!
3. Pat & Gweebol – In The DeVille
Great lyrics! Great sound. Sweet story. Liked it a lot! The synth violin sound at first was annoying but I didn’t mind it as much by the end of the song. Too many instruments during the climactic last chorus though; I wasn’t able to hear the counterpoint lyrics enough to understand what was being said. If you’re going to have counterpoint lyrics answering one another, make sure they’re loud enough in the mix to be heard… or remove an instrument or two so they don’t get lost in the texture. This is a very minor criticism however. I still love the sound. Overall, great job.
1. Ross Durand – Rusty
Like Matt & Donna’s entry, I love that you did this from the point of view of the car. I was hoping someone would do this! I think your song, of all the entries, was the most relevant to the picture. This song was completely about the picture, every single lyric was all about this car and the state it is in. Major points for that. Also, major points for creating the only song in this round that really rocked. The tambourine and happy 60’s rock guitar licks added just the right sounds to make this a classic tune. Excellent job on the mix with your harmony vocals too; the harmonies add subtle texture and don’t overpower the lead vocal. All around, rock solid entry. Love it.
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