i think this one turned out real well, great job!

I love the beginning organ, the chords are unique and they work together really well, but that transition with the synth guitar just sounds a bit.. awkward. Then it brings in some of that nice backing chords and it makes up for the transition. :D The sort of lead that went on at 2:44 is awesome, but the guitar tone I think kind of distracts from it since it's such a slick and smooth lead, and the synth guitar tone kind of has that presence like "hey look at me, I've got treble!" and the keyboard synth is like "hey man, calm down on that treble, give me some room yo". I really like what's going on near the 3/4 area of the track.

Maybe with the more inconsistence and dynamics of a real guitar with less treble and more midtone, this could be way better. I love the composition though, beautiful chords. :3

Great job! It kind of makes me want to do the guitar parts :D

Thanks for the in-depth critique! I especially like the instruments talking to each other. Anyway, I think you may be right about the first transition. But the lead tone just had to have that treble. All my songs end up with every single instrument in the midtone range, so I kind of like how it sounds to get away from that. But, I'll certainly work on my transitions in future projects. They're just really difficult sometimes!

Oh! well, it's great to try different things with tones and such! It's the consistency of the treble of just one instrument throughout the track that keeps me paying attention to that specific instrument since the treble cuts through everything else like butter. More treble on a few other instruments to balance it out would make it work way better, but too much treble starts to sound like a thrash metal mix, which is pretty piss poor, haha.

Muuuusic never has to be anything though so yay :3

I love the slowdown at the end Joe, and the chords at the beginning are beautiful. I think the transition with the synth guitar is interesting, but not quite awkward, but that's probably because that's the nature of my music.

Quite honestly, I think this is better than "The Roller Rink," if only because the chords where beautiful, it was structured well (in my opinion), and it seemed to flow well.

Cool beans! I'm glad you liked the slow-down. I was afraid it would sound like it was dragging on for too long.

No way man! It sound as if the fire was dying, fading away into embers before finally becoming ash. Way cool.

Ooh, I love that interpretation! It's sort of spine-chilling to think about. After all, this was a concept song.

I felt it too! Once again, nice work, Joe!

Not bad. I especially like the tempo changes. For some reason, and I can't put my finger on it, this song reminds me of something from the Mother 3 soundtrack.

The chord theme is very good. And I love the tempo changes throughout the song. Both help the song stand out.

However, to my ears, the chord theme is overused by the end of the song. I counted that theme being used ten times. The end of the song has the chord theme repeated five times (though on two different instruments.) To my ears, repeating something more than three times is bad.

You have a wonderful countertheme in the middle of the song. I would use it (or a part of it) to break up the last five repetitions of the chord theme.

Finally -- remember that my advice might be worth nothing. You're the composer, not me. Put this song on the dancefloor and see how many people shake their tails!

Yeah, there is something to be said about *too* much repetition. I usually resort to repetition as a means to set a "mood" or a "feel" to something. (Not as though I couldn't fill in the gaps with something different.) For me, music becomes uninteresting when it changes too much. I sometimes find myself feeling disappointed when I'm listening to a song, and I hear a cool loop, or theme, or measure- and I want to hear it again- but it changes too soon! That may be the ADD talking though. But by the same token, I do in fact overuse melodies in their respective songs whenever one strikes me as brilliant. In the past, that very tendency has completely ruined songs that could have gone further, but in my more recent work (including this song), I think I'm coming closer to achieving a good balance between static and dynamic.

For me, music becomes uninteresting when it changes too much. I sometimes find myself feeling disappointed when I'm listening to a song, and I hear a cool loop, or theme, or measure- and I want to hear it again- but it changes too soon! That may be the ADD talking though.

Huh. Your ADD and my ADD give completely opposite reactions. I figure: if I want to hear something again, I just back up the song.

Anyway, our ears are different, and I'll probably say similar things ("too much repetition") in the future. Forgive me in advance?

You are forgiven. No need to apologize though, it's a completely legitimate constructive criticism which I have duly noted. I'm glad you liked the counter theme though- for me that seems to be the peak of any song.

I love the counter-theme! Our ears agree on that topic: it was the peak of this song.