jellisjenius

@ nlbsmglsk Thanks for setting up the week. As an Adv class bass player I'd like to ask that we please use Inwards for the main path song and the Steel Panther song as the bonus. 

Solid improvement on Adv Bass, I felt pretty good about this score and then I saw @ Hyphema 's score...dang, well done.

Regardless, one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands so I won't get tired of playing it.

5 hours ago, Mikson said:

I went through the previous week's scores OCR recognition and manually added about 10 missing scores! So there were a lot of them.
@ jellisjenius  - masterclass rhythm winner needs improvement, the rest of the added scores had no impact on winning the classes.

I updated the OP to reflect @ nlbsmglsk  as the winner of MC Rhythm. This kind of issue is why I don't think I'll be able to keep doing week selection/organization over the next few months. I personally spent time manually entering scores that were missed by the OCR and then it seems I missed others. IMO there is no point to using OCR if it doesn't catch everything. Anyway, thanks for letting me know about the missing scores.

From testing...good bass week IMO. The Blind Guardian song is not my favorite but it's a bonus and I enjoyed all the others. 

New week is up:

Lead:
- Beginner: @Argh1992 (97.84)
- Intermediate: @Daz40 (97)
- Advanced: @hellothere1 (95)
- Masterclass: @Bottledpat12 (99.12)
- God of Guitar: Leader after week 2 is @Bottledpat12 (97), 2 weeks left... KEEP ROCKING!!!

Rhythm:
- Beginner: @lowender (99.66)
- Intermediate: @Daz40 (97)
- Advanced: @kayteck (95.67)
- Masterclass: @ nlbsmglsk  (99.83)
- God of Rhythm: Leader after week 2 is @Razrshred (97.11), 2 weeks left... KEEP ROCKING!!!

Bass:
- Beginner: LOST TROPHY
- Intermediate: @someotherbruce (98.54)
- Advanced: @direct3r (99.56)
- Masterclass: @Razrshred (100)
- God of Bass: Leader after week 2 is @direct3r (98.94), 2 weeks left... KEEP ROCKING!!!

More great news. There are players to be promoted to higher rank this week.

- @direct3r is promoted to Masterclass class in Bass path.

Congratulations and good luck with new challenges!
In case the above players do not accept promotion, please advise accordingly in the post so we can revert back to previous Class.
 

Lead Path:
Beginner: Klaxons - Golden Skans (2) (E standard) selected by Mikson
Intermediate: Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better (3.5) (E standard) selected by cacahuate51
Advanced: Blind Guardian - The Soulforged (7*) (E standard) selected by avastreg
Masterclass: Opeth - Next of Kin (7.5) (drop D) selected by jellisjenius
God of Guitar: Ghost - Impera (FULL ALBUM) (8) (D standard) selected by Zoutje [Week 3 of 4]

Rhythm Path:
Beginner: Klaxons - Golden Skans (2) (E standard) selected by Mikson
Intermediate: Blind Guardian - The Soulforged (5*) (E standard) selected by avastreg
Advanced: John Lennon - Woman (6) (E standard) selected by Daz40
Masterclass: Opeth - Next of Kin (7) (drop D) selected by jellisjenius
God of Rhythm: Ghost - Impera (FULL ALBUM) (7) (D standard) selected by Zoutje [Week 3 of 4]

Bass Path:
Beginner: Klaxons - Golden Skans (3.5^) (E standard) selected by Mikson
Intermediate: John Lennon - Woman (5.5^) (E standard) selected by Daz40
Intermediate Bonus: Blind Guardian - The Soulforged (6^) (E standard) selected by avastreg
Advanced: Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better (7*) (E standard) selected by cacahuate51
Masterclass: Opeth - Next of Kin (8) (drop D) selected by jellisjenius
God of Bass: Ghost - Impera (FULL ALBUM) (7) (D standard) selected by Zoutje [Week 3 of 4]

Hi All,

Just a heads up - the new week is basically ready to go but I'll post it later to give you all time to get in your final scores for week 515. We'll set the cutoff time for scores at 5pm Eastern US time, so 3 hours 20 minutes from now.

This is more like it:

First runs from earlier in the week:

Classic indie song and album

I'm growing to appreciate AHJr more and more and his excellent solo work illustrates that The Strokes are not all about Julian Casablancas. Fun chart

Grateful Dead songs are such a consistently fun challenge when charted well, so seeing one charted by current favorite charter @ Djpavs  made this an instant recommend. 

A Lifetime of War...a beautiful but haunting song from one of my favorite Sabaton albums. This version (Dell's Alt. Bass track, in B Std) is by far the best bass version IMO:

So I literally can't even play parts of this song as my 4-string bass only has 21 frets and my 5-string needs a new G...also I'm just not a fan of playing this kind of 16-bit videogame music, unless it's Anamanaguchi:

This is an all-timer, one of the most enjoyable tracks I have ever played. I really got into a rhythm. Also I think my kids were disturbed when I started screaming "Drones!" :

@ Rodman  I strongly suggest using Dell's version (either his or Hettmar's in the Alt Bass path) for A Lifetime of War bass path.

I'm back! Lovely photos of Salzburg @ Rodman , I've not been to that part of Austria. We were at Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, and then some time sightseeing in London where they had unusually beautiful weather in the past week.

Now back to the grind...and the Championship

Ridiculously simple funk bass part but it is catchy:

Not a big fan of Hagar, this song is cringy IMO but it was reasonably okay to play:

Glad to see Fugazi get some CS exposure. For those that don't know, they are from my neck of the woods (Washington DC) and are maybe the defining 80s-90s band in terms of hardcore music and ethos (ie, true indie). They were hugely influential both musically and in the fight against the soulless corporate/mainstream music industry. This one is a fun challenge:

And one of my favorites from the Chili Peppers' most recent album, I'm glad this was in the Championship as it gave me motivation to finish it...it's such a challenge that I'd given up on it a few times previously. Now I've managed to power through it and top 90% which I feel is a significant accomplishment

Probably my final for the week...heading out on a family holiday, will be back week after next. Good luck everyone!

So...9 more hours to get your scores in

I've posted the new week but scores for Week 510 will be accepted up to Midnight EST tonight:

Sunday update: I've added the winners - congrats! Good score battle on Lady Madonna. @ lowender  I'm curious on what your setup is as this is not the first time you've won by a good margin on score. I'm playing on a Steam Deck (lol) with the RT cable and a bit of input lag. Don't know if that explains why for some songs I seem to hit an invisible ceiling on score, but frankly it's a miracle I got RS to work with CDLC at all, so I won't complain too much.

Stormy Monday was hard to rate difficulty...to me having that slow tempo significantly lowers the difficulty but even with that, the guitar parts are challenging. 

Scores from testing...

A good beginner song that's pleasant to play:

I love TI basslines...that said, I always seem to miss a note here or there on this one:

Lovely blues bassline:

I'm not sure what happened here, the first time I tested it I got 97%. It's more Int-level after a very difficult opening riff:

Not bad but not nearly good enough to win on score. I stand by my assertion that this is a 5.5-6 difficulty tops:

First attempts for the week.

This is not quite Adv level IMO - maybe a 6 but I'd bump it down to 5.5 as it's so short and repetitive:

And this to me is clearly a lower-end MC. The length of the song and the fast fret and chord changes bump it up from 7.5 to 8:

@ cacahuate51  To my knowledge we have never tried to compare Lead and Bass for difficulty ratings, they are each their own thing. The average bass part for a song is going to be easier to play than the average lead part, that doesn't mean we center our difficulties around the lead difficulty. Nor should we IMO. Many of us bass players have little to no interest in playing lead guitar.

Getting close to a perfect run, just keep missing one note here and there:

@ cacahuate51  To me what bumps up the difficulty for "Witchcraft" and a lot of KGLW bass parts is the unusual strumming rhythm and time signatures. I think it's a clear MC by the Championship standards but I guess we'll see how the scores line up. Also charts with high note density tend to get higher scores...I still would be surprised to see a 100%. I hope someone proves me wrong

From testing:

First, a note on difficulty ratings: I've tested all of these songs on lead and rhythm. That said, I'm not really a guitarist and my guitar is...not great. In general, I found the beginner through advanced tracks to all be pretty manageable, aside from the solo in "Shadows Follow". I'm giving "Rescued" the bump up to Int because it's more varied than "City Haunts", but frankly I find the latter more difficult to score well on for some reason. "Witchcraft" is a clear MC with some extended tapping sections in the Lead track but I'm not convinced that the rhythm tracks for "Shadows Follow" and "Witchcraft" should be as high as 6 and 7. Please let me know your feedback, particularly if you feel any of the order Beg--Int---Adv---MC should be switched. 

On to my commentary: I feel like over the last year or two some longtime artists have put out stunningly good new stuff, so this week I decided to do a theme from a few albums that stand out so far in 2023:

Nothing But Thieves ("City Haunts" from Dead Club City) - Admittedly this one doesn't stand up to the other four as I haven't listened to the whole album yet and it's not received too much press...but I like the song and needed one for beginner level.

Foo Fighters ("Rescued" from But Here We Are) - This album is as raw and vulnerable as just about anything I've heard, including the likes of Sufjan Stevens' Carrie and Lowell, but the hard rock excellence of Dave and the Foo make it easy to overlook. Effectively the entire album is a tribute to Taylor Hawkins (RIP) and attempt to process his death. Very powerful and impressive.

Metallica ("Shadows Follow" from 72 Seasons) - This one really took me by surprise as I've generally been just okay with everything since ...And Justice for All. This album blew me away. It's got a pretty wide range of the styles they've employed over the years and it's tight with great production. I really like this particular track even though it's not very technical, the rhythm element of the song just slaps and the solo is pretty cool too.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard ("Witchcraft" from PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation) - yes that's really the album name, and this doesn't surprise me at all from KGLW. They can literally take any genre of music and play the hell out of it. They've already made a thrash album (Infest the Rat's Nest) that many thrash metalheads consider one of the best in the genre. Now they've made a...I don't know, prog death metal? masterpiece. Honestly I don't care much for growling in general and don't find Stu Mackenzie to be any different. It's still a kickass album for me. This is my favorite track. There's just no other band that can crank out diverse awesome music like  KGLW. 

Avenged Sevenfold (Life Is But a Dream... full album) - If you think you know A7X, for good or ill, think again and give this album a listen. This is a wild ride both sonically and philosophically. It's an existential epic that goes to some dark places trying to understand death and our place in the universe. It doesn't always resonate with me but it's still an impressive work,  heavier and more complex than I think most people would ever expect from this band. From the AllMusic review, the album covers sonic ground ranging "from punishing thrash and hardcore to operatic, Pink Floyd-esque space rock peppered with Daft Punk-inspired vocoders and lush orchestral flourishes." Enjoy!

New week is up:

Lead:
- Beginner: @Tucky Fried Chkn (98.18)
- Intermediate: @kayteck (95.49)
- Advanced: @Mikson (94.08)
- Masterclass: @Razrshred (96.54)

Rhythm:
- Beginner: @lowender (94)
- Intermediate: @Daz40 (99.18)
- Advanced: @Mikson (95.78)
- Masterclass: @Razrshred (99)

Bass:
- Beginner: LOST TROPHY
- Intermediate: @Daz40 (98)
- Advanced: @genobadass (99.54)
- Masterclass: @coldrampage (99)

Lead Path:
Beginner: Nothing But Thieves - City Haunts (4^) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Intermediate: Foo Fighters - Rescued (4.5) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Advanced: Metallica - Shadows Follow (6.5) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Masterclass: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Witchcraft (8) (C♯ standard) selected by jellisjenius
God of Guitar: Avenged Sevenfold - Life is But a Dream...(Full Album) (drop D) selected by jellisjenius [Week 1 of 4]

Rhythm Path:
Beginner: Nothing But Thieves - City Haunts (2.5) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Intermediate: Foo Fighters - Rescued (4.5) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Advanced: Metallica - Shadows Follow (6) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Masterclass: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Witchcraft (7) (C♯ standard) selected by jellisjenius

Bass Path:
Beginner: Nothing But Thieves - City Haunts (4^) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Intermediate: Foo Fighters - Rescued (5.5^) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Advanced: Metallica - Shadows Follow (6.5) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
Masterclass: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Witchcraft (8) (E standard) selected by jellisjenius
God of Bass: Avenged Sevenfold - Life is But a Dream...(Full Album) (drop D) selected by jellisjenius [Week 1 of 4]