| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Track Structure | 7 |
| Interest | 8 |
| Melody | 9 |
| Performance | 9 |
| Lyrics | 7 |
| Enjoyment | 8 |
| Recording Quality | 10 |
| Commercial Appeal | 9 |
| Overall | 8.4 |
"Come Home" is Redshirts second entry into the 'elements' competition after the stunning 'Infliction' track which I highly recommend you give a listen. Comparisons aside, "Come Home" is another successful collab with the Tartan Rascals and a fine entry into the competition, focusing as Reshirt describes on 'human emotions as they are important "elements" to our lives', which I thought was a pretty cool take on the theme!
As usual this track is very well produced, and his choice of timbres are spot on and contribute to a unique and enthralling soundscape. The main xylophone (?) is particularly effective and, along with the awful weather, put me in a very winter-y mood! Ambient effects are well placed, and not overused, and he did a brilliant job of mixing in the vocals with really cool reverb and delay effects.
Structurally the track is a little unorthodox if you're thinking in 'pop' terms, but personally I like it. It's based around long build ups with a few key riffs which are repeated and expanded on, but the way its done means you definitely don't get bored of the track. The main xylophone riff isn't overused, eg its reintroduced after a long drum and bass build up section very effectively, with the wonderful vocal parts added soon after, and then gives way to another short break.
Melodically I quite liked this piece, although the vocal phrases were sparse, they were awesome and kinda catchy, and that main riff will probably stick in my head for days! I felt that maybe the bass line could have been more varied to add some extra interest, but it definitely works fine as it is.
I'm not too sure what the lyrics are but I'm sure they're good so I'll throw a 7 in there! hehe
Recording quality is very good, the track is compressed quite hard. which is usual for the style. but maybe some extra dynamic interest would be added if it were a little less full on.
Commerical appeal is a toughy.. it's probably less commercial than a lot of his other songs, but I could easily imagine this fitting in well as an album track. He has a great ability to write very catchy tunes, and this is no exception.
Overall I enjoyed this track a lot and it is a damn travesty if he doesn't win one of the prizes in the competition with one of these tracks. My only criticisms would be towards the bass line, and that maybe a few more vocal parts in the rest of the track would have been the icing on the cake.. but thats all quite trivial, top track, top guy, great work!
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