Ode to Stove: A Critical Analysis
I first heard "Ode to Stove" a few months ago when it was number one on the Audio Portal charts. When I first heard it, I thought, "How in th e hell did this young man come up with such a bizarre concept for lyrics?" Upon listening to the rest of it, I realized it was quite humorous, and was worthy of its heavy praise.
To begin, what mainly makes the song so entertaining is the vocals and lyrics. When the first words of a song are, "Take a look at that stove," you naturally are intrigued. With the metal screeching of "OOH WHAT A STOVE!" following it, I couldn't back out - I had to listen to the rest of it.
The lyrical content deals with two soldiers stationed in some sort of ruin. The main soldier (who is, presumably, somewhat delusional) believes that an assault rifle is somehow a stove from the appliance store Sears; the other soldier, however, that it's not a stove, but rather a gun. The stove-obsessed soldier repeatedly tells the other one that is indeed a stove, refusing to believe that is, in fact, a stove. After an elapsed amount of time, the other soldier screams at the top of his lungs, telling the main soldier that the ''stove'' is actually an AK-47 assault rifle, leaving the stove-loving gunman extremely embarrassed. I found the lyrical incredibly humorous, but I felt the story needed more closure. What happened to our stove-i-phile friend after his embarrassment? I feel that I need answers to resolve this epic story properly.
The voices themselves were well-done, as expected from DruoxtheShredder. I will say though, that sometimes the voices of the two characters were almost two similar; at times, I couldn't tell who's lines were who's. Considering how varied most of the other voices in the rest of his songs are, I feel like this could have been done a bit better.
The music was very well recorded, specifically the guitar and drums. The guitar playing was very good, and the main riffs were catchy. The guitar solo served its purpose enough, but I felt like it kind of dragged out a bit too long. Also, after the tapping part, the rest of the solo didn't seem to really match the rest; it just didn't really catch my attention as much as the rest of it did. That said, the rest of the solo was enjoyable, and the music was appealing and well-played.
All in all, this was a highly-enjoyable and humorous musical work. The only flaws with the song as a whole are the over-extended guitar solo and the overall short length. However, these faults are mostly forgivable, and it will not affect my overall score of the song. "Ode to Stove" is a Newgrounds classic, and it should be remembered as such. Few songs have such a great blend of humor and good music - this song is such an exception. An exceptional ten out of ten, and five out of five.
Yours truly,
EraldoCoil