Rate-O-Rama: Mad World

🎉🎉🎉 Celebrating Edition #10 of Rate-O-Rama!!! 🎉🎉🎉

In celebration this will be a tough choice!!!

Rate-O-Rama : Songmania is a reader participation game.

Every Sunday I will publish a Rate-O-Rama article which will feature three versions of a popular song.

The object is to listen to each of the music videos provided within the post.

After listening to each video you can rate each song in the comments section below.

(You must be a member to comment. If you are not a member you can join Vocal Media for FREE. You don’t ever have to pay for membership unless you choose to upgrade your membership)

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The rating method is easy. Simply give each song a rating of 1 to 100.

(The more you like the song the higher the rating).

If possible, please provide a brief comment explaining the reasoning behind your ratings for each song.

After a week (Saturday evening) I will tally the ratings and in the next Rate-O-Rama post I will announce the winner from the previous post.

The winners will be determined on a scale of averages.

If you wish to receive a notice when the next Rate-O-Rama post is published please mention that you would like a notification in the comments section.

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The Raffle!!!

I am taking the Rate-O-Rama series to the next level. At the end of each month I will do a raffle in which the winner will win a $5.00 tip.

To enter all you have to do is participate in playing the Rate-O-Rama game. Since R-O-R is updated every Sunday night in order to qualify you must play the game during it's initial seven day period with Sunday evening being the cutoff period.

For each game you play you will receive a ticket for the raffle. Therefore if you play all four games in the month you will have four chances to win.

The winner will not only win the $5 prize but I will feature your Vocal Profile on Vocal + Assist on both Facebook and Discord and you will be featured in the first R-O-R game of the month after your win.

The September 2023 Rate-O-Rama Raffle Winner:

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Last week we featured the Bossa Nova Pop classic: "The Look of Love" as recorded by Dusty Springfield (1967), Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 (1968), and Diana Krall (2001).

The following are the average ratings for each song as resulted from the votes:

🥇 Dusty Springfield: 94.7

🥈 Diana Krall: 87.3

🥉 Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66: 82.2

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The Tenth Edition of Rate-O-Rama features three renditions of the 1980s Synth Pop New Wave classic: "Mad World."

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Tears For Fears (1982)

"Mad World" was Tears For Fears' (TFF) first Top Ten hit. The song made it to #6 in the Ireland, #3 in the UK, and #2 in South Africa. It just missed the Top Ten in Australia making it to #12. In the US TFF had not yet hit big. Although the album, The Hurting, from which the song came made it to US #73 and "Mad World" received regular rotation on alternative rock radio stations such as KROQ.

The lyric "the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" suggests that dreams of intense experiences such as death will be the best at releasing tension. (Wikipedia)

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Michael Andrews and Gary Jules (2001)

This rendition gained fame when it was used in the film Donnie Darko, a psychological thriller. Originally the song appeared on Gary Jules' 1998 album Greetings from the Side.

Initially the song received little attention though over the next two years it gained momentum and was finally released as a single in December 2003.

The Andrews/Jules rendition became a major hit around the world making it to #1 in the UK, Scotland, and Portugal. It was in the Top Ten in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, and Sweden.

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Pentatonix (2020)

American a cappella vocal group Pentatonix recorded "Mad World" as a one off single. Their rendition did not chart but made an impact during the worldwide pandemic lock downs.

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My Thoughts

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Tears For Fears: A great song is a great song and the covers of this song are top notch. But TFF put so much heart and soul into it. The musicianship is sublime and Curt Smith's lead vocal cuts right through every emotion and really makes you feel it. This is one of those few songs that has actually moved me to tears. It is so beautiful. 100

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Michael Andrews and Gary Jules: This is a very effective cover. Almost as great as the original. I love the dramatic stripped down arrangement of only piano, mellotron, marimba, xylophone, ukulele, and organ. There are no drums or guitars, both of which I'm a big fan of. But that's okay. It still works very well. My score 90

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Pentatonix: Wow! What a stellar performance. It's amazing what five voices can do. I give this 90

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I will be back next week with the results of this Rate-O-Rama Edition.

Last Week's Rate-O-Rama:

With Love, RHC ❤️