ucciolord1 said:
[Regarding the a capella version]
No.
Just...no.
Besides the tenors are off tune in the beginning.
I have to agree (in part) with ucciolord1's analysis. Though they performed admirably, and it was obvious this took hours of practice and coordination, the final product is severely detracted from if the tenors can't hit the right notes. Also (on a purely holistic note), I felt the soloist's voice was not "epic" enough for this piece - he sounded like he was holding back a little to spare the audience, a real concern in that small-looking space - and the section with the Rock Band guitars did not help the piece. I suspect that is why the YouTubers gave it 4/5.
I say I agree with ucciolord1 "in part" because the choristers did several things well in this piece. They were able to punctuate the individual notes very clearly, having a good sense of the rhythm of the piece. They had detailed and well-rehearsed choreography, which was uncommon in that it lent mood and an "epic" feel to the piece, whereas many choreographed a capella pieces are choreographed only in order to keep the audience's attention. The group was also very cohesive: they were able to work all of these complex facets of the piece into a successful performance. Perhaps most importantly, they performed the rest of the piece after the tenors' mishap impeccably, so by the end of the piece I had all but forgotten that I didn't like the introduction.
As for the country version, I thought it wasn't different enough from the original to be remarkable. The only major differences I noticed were the voice style and the piano (or different keyboard voicing). I don't listen to very much country or metal, however, so I suppose I am not a very good judge of this piece.
My possibly unqualified opinion is that the string quartet version is equal to the original version, if not better; the country version is interesting, but the idea was not fully developed, and the a capella version, while sadly lacking in the tenors-hitting-the-right-notes-in-the-intro department, was the most interesting and profound version of the piece.
What would have been more remarkable would be a bluegrass version, with either acoustic guitars or banjos/mandolins, real piano, and vocal harmonizing. If anyone finds or creates a version, I would be very interested in it.
