+6
Round 13
1. Guns N' Roses - Think About You
(One of my least favorite GNR songs, but even their weakest songs I prefer to hear over 99% of music out there. This wouldn't get an automatic first placement in a stronger round, but this felt like an unplugged round, with a lot of soft, acoustic songs, so this is a hard-hitting exclamation point to close things out.)
2. The Night Flight Orchestra - If Tonight is Our Only Chance
(Not a band with which I'm very familiar. I've listened to a few of their songs which did nothing for me, but this hits that sweet spot of melody-driven, earnest rock in the vein of Journey that's just the right level of cheese without feeling lame. It's been stuck in my head the past few days. Also, is it just me or does the intro sound eerily like the opening theme of X-Men: The Animated Series?)
3. Sonny James - Young Love
(Excellent song.)
4. Frank Sinatra - My Way
(A fitting song for the last round of the tournament.)
5. Soundgarden - 4th of July
(Not a Soundgarden song with which I'm familiar, but I've never been a big fan of them or grunge. This is extremely grunge-y, everything tuned very low. I like how dirty and heavy it sounds.)
6. 3 Doors Down - Kryptonite
(Hard to believe this is 20 years old. Fun to hear it again. I may or not have just mouthed all the words to this song while it was playing. Maybe I haven't killed as many brain cells as I'd thought.)
7. Sara Tavares - Muna Xeia
(Perhaps a bit too soothing as it nearly made me snooze. An acoustic lullaby. Pleasant but overlong.)
8. Jill Sobule - A Good Life
(Almost sounds like something Phoebe would sing at Central Perk on the TV show Friends. Not a favorable comparison.)