Karaoke Forums

Sunfly/Legends gets a few wrong, well, MORE than a few. But they also have some Darned good ones too.

Their version of "The One And Only" is the absolute best.
Their version of Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter" is STILL the best.

I don't own that many Sunfly or legends discs, but I do like the ones I bought!

Knightshow, as I have indicated in the past herein, I like Backstage's Billy Joel.   In fact, when my disc cracked I bought Hamsamichs's since he didn't like it.

I've been thrown too many curves balls by other Billy Joes discs.  But aside from comparing one Billy Joel karaoke track to another, I've compared Backstage to a Billy Joel cd I have that parallels the CDG and Backstage i's close enough for me!

It seems to me that usually ( not always ) what is done wrong on karaoke versions that I don't like are the keyboards and the guitar leads. The backing guitar and bass lines are usually half decent. SC version of " Save a Prayer" and " Runaway by Bon Jovi " are ruined for me by the keyboard lead ins. The Sunfly version of "Save a prayer" is almost dead on and I have Dangerous karaoke version of Runaway that is way better also.

Then again SC's "November Rain" has one of the best leads of any G n R track I have heard, plus it's the full song, another criteria I have. I am one of those idiots that tries to sing the song just like the artists so having the most accurate version is important to me. In a nutshell, I guess I like the most accurate version! Didn't someone say that already?

I FULLY agree with this one & I have 5 different versions of Runaway,  Dangerous, Sound Choice, All Hits, SGB (given to me) & Pocket Songs & Dangerous is by far the best of all.

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It's probably easier to list the reasons for not liking a particular track rather than the reasons for liking it.

My main dislikes would be:

Tinny sounding midi tracks... I'm not saying all midis are bad, just those produced with sub-standard equipment... I have some very good midi tracks in my collection!


Fade-out endings.... One reason I disagree with the "as long as it sounds like the original" argument.  So what if the original had a fade-out ending... the original was a studio recording, not a live performance.. live performances should not have fade-outs, and that includes karaoke.

Lackluster arrangements.... those tracks that skimp on the instrumentation and just make a tune without any "oomph".

hehe ahhh we're a picky bunch us kiwis  :hug:

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Now c'mon MOST compaines will do fade out endings.  Sound Choice was actually one of the first that would create an ending so it wouldn't fade out.  There may be a couple others nowdays that do as well.  
But for me a faded out ending is not a big deal as I just pull my mic away as the song is fading out if the singing continues so you aren't just singing loudly over no music.  Mic control is key factor in this respect.  But I will always choose the more accurate sounding version even if it has a faded ending over a 'passable' midi version or something that is ok that has a created ending.

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One SF version that I DOOOO love is their version of Amy Winehouse, "You Know I'm No Good."  Most like the real thing. I have another version, which I believe is Pocket Songs, but musically it's just not as much like the original.

What I would like to see someone record are "performance" versions of certain songs ....sort of like some of the LIVE versions that are put out.
These would have more of an ENERGY than the studio/Radio versions
That would be Coooooool

See, and I LOVE the pioneer version of "November Rain"!

Knightshow, that must be a pretty darn good version of November Rain by Pioneer because the SC version is done really well. Like I said before, the guitar leads are done with close to the exact same tone and feel as Slash does them, even the drums have the same tone and pop. Haven't heard the Pioneer, so I'm not arguing with you, but I am really curious as to what you find is better about the Pioneer version, Thanks.

I go by the way it sounds.  But the words have to be right also.   The disc companies that are still in the game know they are competing with other quality companies. So they either get better or they go under.  It can be musically good and still suck, if it doesn't sound like the song it's supposed to be.

This is where we are one up:
The best version is the one done by the original artist.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

One of the problems with listing all tracks in your book is when your library gets large. I have over 2000 discs, and if I list all tracks, I have over 30,000 entries. the first problem is the size of the book and the cost to print it. The second problem is that a book this size is overwelming for the customer to deal with. If I take out all the repeats, then the book is only 16,000 entries or so. Why have a page in the book with 100 versions of Hound Dog by Elvis Presley? It makes no sense.

At one point I listed only DK, Sound Choice or Chartbuster versions, if I had dupes. Eventually after tracking use on my computer, I found that only when the customer didn't understand the MF codes, did they pick a version other than DK or SC. That's when I paired down to one version, and have had no problems with this approach. I have kept multiple versions for some very popular songs, but the majority are only one.

Me too Matt, best I've heard

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[shadow=white][scroll]Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.....It's about learning to dance in the rain[/scroll][/shadow]

Pioneer had some the best versions of songs. I think Lonny's lasers are the old Pioneers. When I started out I bought a few of the Pioneer CD+G's which I think were made from the laser recordings. The music was great, but the one problem was that the sound level was very low. You always had to adjust the Pioneer songs compared to other brands. For that reason I never bought any more.

That is also the problem with that Dangerous version of Bon Jovi's " Runaway " it is recorded very low, well at least mine is.

Well and going with that 90+% of the singers are going to have the host choose anyway, I remember when I used to list everything the number 1 question was, what is the difference between all the songs that are the same.  Then after a brief explanation, they said just give me the best one.

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Preference regarding composition of the music, and other aspects integrated into Karaoke playback media IMO; However what's important to the individual(s) making a comparison or such a subjective determination becomes the gage .  Pretty basic IMHO.  "Better" based on authenticity of cover musicianship ? or quality and balance of audio ? or is it video, graphics, or just price-point ?  All Subjective; What constitutes "better" ?  To we musicians, perhaps better is determined solely by authenticity, and clarity or just a preference for the background musicianship, I don't care about graphics, I'll print out the lyrics.. BUT, that's just me.

If a CD-G fools me into believing I'm singing with the actual original musicians, THAT IS what I consider ideal.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Sometimes the one closest to the original isn't the best to sing to.

An example is "Cherry Bomb". The Sound Choice version sounds spot-on like the Mellencamp cut, no doubt. But the instrumentation is so sparse it is very difficult to perform to unless you are very practiced on the song. I find the Legends/Sunfly version to be much better for me to perform. I can do the other, but  it doesn't seem to go over as well.

There are some cases where as time goes on, I change my preferred version. I much preferred the Chartbuster "Easy Come, Easy Go" to begin with. As it got to be one of my most frequently-done songs, I discovered the more true-to-the-original SoundChoice version fit me better. But only after a year of doing the song often.