Category: Music

So far beyond the sun

A couple weeks ago, Activision or Microsoft or whoever does the Xbox Marketplace stuff released a trio of new Dragonforce tunes for Guitar Hero 3, and I promptly downloaded thems. I was completely destroyed by them even more promtly. Promptlyer. Promptlier. C:\ prompt. Anyway, one of the tunes, called “Heroes of Our Time” was from their newest CD. I assumed it was a “Saints of Los Angeles” kind of thing where they were promoting the new album before its release. Nope. Turns out it was already out. Also, I bought it.

So it’s not so much that I don’t like Ultra Beatdown, it’s not that at all. I love Dragonforce. I love the balls-to-the-wall speed metal. It’s great. I just have one complaint: the lyrics. I know for something like this you can’t expect particularly deep or meaningful lyrics, but Dragonforce has taken it past the pop level of shitty lyrics. I was reading along in the cover booklet, and that’s pretty much exactly when I realized that not one song on this album has lyrics that make any sense.

I’m not sure if it’s an epidemic that plagues all of Dragonforce’s work, but if you take a look at the words to any of the songs on Ultra Beatdown, you’ll notice that they seem very chopped up and sporadic. It’s not uncommon for a line to have absolutely nothing to do with the one that comes after it, and sometimes it seems like a single line is made of two that were chopped in half and then had one piece from each put together. I have no idea how any of the songs could even possibly be pretending to be following the same general theme, nevermind the same train of thought. It’s like whoever wrote them just put words on a page and then changed a few so that it rhymed and followed something of a rhythm pattern.

It’s not really a huge put-off, but I do have a soft spot for thoughtful and/or intelligent songwriting. Ultra Beatdown is great if you’re going to be driving fast or for using as background music while playing a video game or something, but it’s definitely not meant to just be listened to and absorbed. But then again, Dragonforce was never that kind of band to begin with, so really, I guess I’m a little surprised that I expeced more from them in that way.

Mass Review Time – Fargo ’08

 

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It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these mass review articles (usually they’re just blogged). More importantly, it’s been a while since I’ve done an article at all. Much to my own dismay, a cheap mass review is not way to worm my way back into the game, but it’s all I’ve really got the gumption to work on at the moment. It’s not that I don’t want to write articles anymore, it’s just that there are so many other things I want to do more. And even more things I need to be doing.

But I digress. Blabbing about why I’m no longer writing full-length pieces is not today’s topic! But rather I’m here to discuss money well spent? I decided to end that sentence with a question mark because at this point I still can’t gauge the actual quality of most of the products below. I just bought most of them through good word-of-mouth and personal tastes. In fact, I’m pretty sure that at least a couple would be considered complete garbage by the general population, but we’ll see!

So the bonus theme here is that I picked up all this stuff when my girlfriend and I went away to Fargo(, North Dakota) for the weekend. I did a little photo gallery with commentary of last year’s trip south of the border (see sidebar), so maybe you’ll prefer that one if you’re looking for an article with a little more meat on its bones. Also, certainty. This here article, as of this writing, is pretty much all assumptions. It’s built on the hopes and dreams of millions! …Or maybe just me.

• Item #1

Tesla – Five Man Acoustical Jam

Okay, I know said it was all assumptions from here on in, but I’m starting with something I know is awesome: Tesla. I’ve been listening to Tesla for many, many years now, and sadly, I’ve only ever been able to find one of their CDs in any local stores. Thus, I often take it upon myself to scour the multimedia-type shops south of the border for anything I can find by them. This time I got real lucky, finding the two Tesla discs I was really gunning for. Five Man Acoustical Jam is obviously enough, a recording of a live acoustic show. It’s one of very few Tesla albums that I haven’t downloaded, so jackpot!

In other news, it’s completely awesome. Tesla is a great band, and they made their name through their acoustic prowess, so the only logical conclusion is that this album must rule. And rule it does. Don’t know what else there is to say other than I love it. Score: A

• Item #2

Tesla – The Great Radio Controversy

I know it seems silly that I only bought two Tesla CDs while I was down there, and now that I really think about it, I probably am really silly for it. I mean, I probably could have completed the full discography, but I stopped looking after I picked up these two.

Unlike its lovably live cousin above, The Great Radio Controversy is a studio album, but that means little. The Tesla-loving community largely believes this to be their finest work, and I’m not one to argue. It’s everything that makes Tesla great (minus the “awesome live performers” bit), and while it may not rock quite as hard as Psychotic Supper, it rocks just as well or better. Two thumbs up. Score: A

• Item #3

Mega Man Star Force 2

Yeah, I know you’re groaning right now and about to skip this paragraph, but that’s quite alright. You put up with more than enough of my Mega Man nonsense that you deserve a break from it if you can find one here or there. So go ahead and move on to the next item if you’ve gotten sick of hearing me rave about Mega Man.

For those that care, Star Force is the dual-screened big brother to the MegaMan Battle Network games. It seems like it’ll be following the same “new chapter every summer” release schedule that Battle Network had. I played the first one almost to completion last summer (I didn’t beat the final optional boss), and I was surprised to see this one in stores because honestly, I had no idea it was out. so I picked it up, and I’ve got to say, it’s most certainly not as big a step up from the first as Battle Network 2 was to its predecessor. I mean, I’m enjoying the game, but it hasn’t offered anything that improves on the first game. Well, not enough to make it feel exciting and new anyway. Score: C+

• Item #4

Etrian Odyssey 2: Heroes of Lagaard

As soon as I’d finally stopped flip-flopping on whether I wanted the first Etrian Odyssey or not, it had long since become impossible to find at retail. I was afraid EO2 would see a similar fate (despite being a new release), but after searching each and every store that sells video games in Fargo, I gave up and checked GameStop. As much as I generally loathe the GameStop/EB chain, it has to be said that they do actually carry Atlus games, and as a fan of Atlus’ niche titles, that scores some decent points in my book.

Anyway, I haven’t actually had a chance to plug it in and start playing yet (probably because I’m awasting all sorts of time writing about shit I buy), but I’ve read more than enough on the subject to be more or less familiar with what I’m getting into. The Youngest One bought it too (before I had a chance to advise him otherwise), probably because he thought “Ooh, an RPG. I should buy it”, and promptly got his ass whupped and put it right down. I doubt he’ll be spending too much time on this one, but someday when I’m in the middle of fewer games, I’ll crack this one open and spend a little quality time with it.

Edit : Decided I’d just forego finishing some other games so I could sink my teeth into this one. I’m not regretting it. Etrian Odyssey II is even better than I’d imagined. This is a real horror game, because you’re always on the edge of your seat, wondering if you’ll be able to survive the next fight. Also, even the slightest progress feels like you’ve made a huge accomplishment, so yeah. props to that. Love it. Score: A

• Item #5

Day of the Dead

No, it’s not Romero’s classic with a new cover. It’s one of those horrid “re-imaginings”, or so I assume. At least on the back cover it said it’s inspired by Romero’s Day of the Dead, so we can hope it at least pays a little homage to the original. In any case, it’s a zombie movie, so it most definitely belongs in my collection.

I should let you know that I fully expect this to be completely awful. That’s how these movies are. The characters are stupid and unlikable, the plot makes little to no sense and there’s buckets and buckets of gore. Yeah it sounds like a disaster, but that’s exactly what I’m looking for. I enjoy a good zombie movie, but I love a zombie movie that makes you want to root for the zombies. It’s brainless (in a manner of speaking) fun, and that’s really what I want in movies. So despite the fact that it’s defacing a classic, I have high-ish hopes for this one.

Edit : Yeah. So I watched it, and it’s not so great. It has almost nothing in common with the original, though if you concentrate real hard you can find a couple loose parallels between the two. But yeah, it’s not even a fun gore-fest. Just low-grade zombie schlock. When Nick Cannon is the best part of a movie, you know that you’ve got a bit of a train wreck on your hands. I’m a little let down by this one, honestly. Score: D+

• Item #6

The Dead Pit

As I was perusing the horror section at Fargo’s Best Buy (why doesn’t our Best Buy sort movies by genre? It’s so much easier…), and I saw that Day of the Dead remake thing, and then right beside it, The Dead Pit caught my eye. The cover didn’t really get the idea of zombies across to me, but reading the synopsis on the back confirmed my suspicions: zombies!

Much to my delight, this is one of those 80’s zombie flicks that pretends to have a cohesive plot. By that of course, I mean it’s more than “OMG zombiez. Let’s try to survive!” Something about a mad scientist attacking a mental ward with a horde of zombies? I dunno and I’m too lazy to go check the case, but it sounded like a riot at the time. I honestly think this could be as unpredictably lovable as Hellraiser. Score: B (pending)

• Item #7

Chucky: The Killer DVD Collection

I’ll level with ya, I’ve only ever seen the first Child’s Play movie, and even then, I was still a little squeamish at the time and covered my eyes a lot. I did like the movie though, and I’ve always wanted to at least see the first two sequels. Bride of Chucky isn’t exactly a priority, and Seed of Chucky seems like they’re just taking it too far. Alas.

I’ve been putting off buying this collection for a while now because I knew that not having the first one would drive me bonkers (OCD, you see), but it actually hasn’t been grating on my nerves too much. It’s not like the movie isn’t on DVD or anything either, I just can’t find the damn thing anywhere. Oh well. I’m sure some day I’ll be in the right place at the right time, and it will be mine. Or I’ll have forgotten my wallet and smack myself in the forehead. Score: B+ (pending)

• Item #8

Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control

I’ll say this now, because it’s the most important note here: I was promised a lot more Patrick Warburton than I got from this purchase, and it makes me ever so slightly disappointed. Other than that, good times!

If you haven’t seen Get Smart yet, you’re really missing out on something. I loved it so much, I ran out an bought this straight-to-DVD supplemental material without even reading a review first. Fortunately, it’s not nearly as awful as most straight-to-DVD stuff, but it’s still nowhere near as great as the main movie. Then again, I never expected it to be. I’m just confused as to why exactly Steve Carell couldn’t make at least a cameo. Anne Hathaway shows up in one scene, so why do we get no Steve Carell? Ah well. If Get Smart was at the “hilarious” level, I’d probably only rate this one as “silly” at best, but it’s still worth a look if you liked the source material. Score: B

Also, I should mention that I bought some other stuff, like shorts and foodstuffs, but I decided to cut them out because clothes are boring (do not tell my girlfriend I said that, she bought clothes almost exclusively) and junk food isn’t something that really needs to be logged into the annals of internet history. At least, not any of the food I bought. It was all pretty much run-of-the-mill junk food that a) isn’t available in Canada or b) is ridiculously expensive in Canada. So yeah. That’s the end then. Good night.

Tell me that I’m not all alone

I know just as well as anyone that I’ve been doing an absolutely atrocious job of keeping a blog as of late. I ‘ve been slacking of on my comicing duties pretty badly too, and does anyone remember when the last time I wrote an article was? Sad to say, but I don’t really see that changing anytime soon. I’d like to be able to just blame all the crazy hours I’ve been working lately, but I think we all know that it’s because I’ve been spending most of my free time on something a wee bit more important than websites that nobody reads.

So, whether my blog is shitty or not, I just popped in to say that I picked up Guitar Hero DS yeterday, and am still on the fence about whether I’m impressed with the job they did. The game itself is just fine, it’s got pretty much all the Guitar Hero frills, just watered down a little so that it could all fit on the tiny DS card. And speaking of fitting, there are 25 songs in the game, and the sound quality is as good as I’ve heard on the DS, as long as you’re pumping it through external speakers or headphones; Mr T. pities the foo who settles for the DS speakers. The setlist itself is way under par for a Guitar Hero game, including a bunch of songs that really have no business there (Maroon 5? WTF?), but I suppose we can chalk the somewhat more varied musical range to that fact that the DS has that huge “casual” following, and most of the old people I know don’t particularly enjoy metal and punk. I’ll be happy though, as it does feature “Spiderwebs” by No Doubt, and as I’ve told pretty much everyone I know, I love Tragic Kingdom and almost every song from it. Also, “Jessie’s Girl”! How can you not love that song?

The issue that I have with it is with the insane little guitar grip peripheral that is used to play the game. Oh, it works fine, and I eventually found my most comfortable way to hold it, but the problem is that it’s too small. Actually that’s a poor choice of words. What I meant to say is that the buttons are way too close together. Normally it’s passable, but once you get onto the expert level and try to mash your way through some of the harder solos, you’re just fucked because your fingers will be mashing each other and everything just goes to Hell. Even small hammer-on/pull-off sequences can be tricky. If they had just added about a quarter of an inch between each button, things would be so much better, and the contraption wouldn’t even be that much bigger. So yeah, other than the fact that I’ll never be good at soloing on it, I’ll give Guitar Hero DS a passing grade. I just hope that they whip up an improved grip for the inevitable sequel.

Here’s my reminder of you

As much as I love Thrice and The Alchemy Index, they – and everything else for that matter – will be completely ignored after tomorrow. You see, in a scant few hours, the new Story of the Year album will drop, and my attention will be focused directly upon it and its impending greatness for an unspecified amount of time. If you hadn’t heard, Story of the Year is my second favourite band ever, and I have been very eagerly anticipating the release of The Black Swan since the day that I heard SotY were working on a new album.

Tomorrow is going to be so so so awesome, and I most seriously cannot get over how many good things are happening to me lately, so yeah. Like, for example, today my copy of the Legend of Mana soundtrack arrived, and you can only imagine my elation of seeing that little brown parcel in the mailbox. AND! Not only does The Black Swan hit tomorrow, but also Cloverfield on DVD! The only one who’s got anything to complain about at this point is my wallet. Because it’s going to be very empty (though less empty than usual, what with the promotion/raise and all). But yeah, other than that, April 22 will be excellent. I mean, I know that there’s more to an awesome day than the purchase of hotly anticipated material goods, but that’s what Wednesday is for! (Maybe. I’m still a coward, after all.)

I may have had my doubts for a little while there, but I think my declaration that 2008 will be a great year is still standing pretty strong.

It’s coming down

Huge news, all. I was out shopping today, and look what I found!

To tell the truth, I didn’t actually find Air and Earth by accident. I knew it was there. But man, I am SO pumped! I’m sure you all remember back in December when I found Fire and Water, exactly how excited I was that there was a new Thrice album. Even more exciting than that was the fact that a follow-up would be released not too long after. And now I’ve got all four volumes, and it’s awesome.

Like Fire and Water, Air and Earth are both very distinct albums, even though they’re both only six songs apiece. Air is kinda floaty sounding, with a lot of chimes and windy effects. It picks up and slows down like a gentle breeze, and does a pretty good job of getting the concept of air through in the form of song. Earth is really a whole essay into itself. It’s totally different from everything, and has a very simplistic feel. Most (if not all) of the guitars are acousitc, it was recorded in an empty living room, and it gives off a very folksy vibe all around. It certainly sounds a lot more experimental than any of the other volumes, and I think that as far as anyone’s concerned, it does have an earthy, or at least natural, sound to it.

At the end of the day, Thrice’s The Alchemy Index is a magnificent concept album. Divided into four, each part stands on its own as a wholly original piece of work, and together they display just how diverse and talented Thrice is. I love it, and urge you to go pick up both parts as soon as you possibly can. This is the height of musical creativity and skill here, so it’s not something to be missed.

My sorry eyes can see

Again, I’ve been really slacking on my Band of the Month duties. Maybe that means it’s time to give up the ghost? I dunno. I know nobody reads these, but I feel I must continue down this road I’m on, if only for the sake of not being a quitter. Only time will tell what I choose to do with the feature, but today, we discuss (or, I discuss) Paramore.

Paramore is another one of those chick-fronted bands that my friends would poke me about and ask why exactly they’re on my iPod, much like Damone before them. Only, Paramore, while perfectly rock-tastic, is not quite as loud as Damone. Otherwise, the bands are pretty similar. The only difference is that Paramore has currently gotten more exposure through video games, being featured in NHL ’09 and having DLC for Rock Band. I’d actually heard “Misery Business” a couple times because my brothers play the former game to no end, but never really though twice about it. But then “Crushcrushcrush” showed up as a downloadable track on the XBL Marketplace, and after playing the song, I immediately went searching for more. (On a side note, apparently they have a song on the soundtrack to the console versions of The Sims 2 as well. I guess someone at EA really likes them.)

So that’s basically how it happened. “Crushcrushcrush” remains my favourite song from the band, but I’m sort of considering “For a Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic” as a replacement for that title. The rest of Riot! is good too, but I’m mostly in it for the harder, faster songs. I’ve always been a sucker for slow songs, but Paramore’s don’t really do anything for me. Well, not enough to make them really notable anyway. Though “Fences” really stands out form the rest of the album, as it’s got a sound all to itself. I want to describe it, but really haven’t the word/s to do so with. Unfortunately, at this point I still haven’t been able to wrangle a copy of their debut album, but I’m thinking I should probably download it first, just in case. I’m always a little wary of downloading previous work from bands I’m only mostly into. Take Rise Against, for example. The Sufferer and the Witness is one of my favourite albums of all time, but their earlier stuff doesn’t agree with me quite as well.

I would sill recommend checking out Paramore though, if even only for the singles. They’re one of those few bands whose singles actually are their best work. I’ve embedded a video up there. It’s a fan-made video for “Fences”, as you may have surmised. It was just easier than trying to find the song itself somewhere. And that’s about all I’ve got to say about that. Their Last.fm page has a bunch more videos and song previews, so check that out if you’re interested. The link is below, as well as the usual others.

Paramore’s official website

Paramore’s Last.fm page

Buy Riot!

One sky, one destiny

Due to life’s many demoralizing little complications, I’ve found it very hard to get excited about anything for some time now (Hell, I wasn’t really even that pumped for Brawl by the time it actually came out), and it only gets worse with time. But that’s why this blog post is so important! I’m actually really thrilled today! Why? Because I got a new CD in the mail yesterday, that’s why! Exclamation marks!

So then, how could a single CD make me go from borderline miserable to jumping with joy? Well, for one I’ve been waiting for it for well over a month now, and it’s not often that I’m anticipating a CD release. It’s even rarer that I pre-order a CD, and I got my copy secured almost as soon as I heard Play-Asia had it available for pre-order. But I guess I’ve still forgotten to mention the important part: what exactly this mystifyingly monumental disc is all about.

This, my friends and colleagues, is a best-of CD of my second-most favouritest game music composer ever, Yoko Shimomura, entitled Drammatica – The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura (the first being Motoi Sakuraba, but that’s another story entirely). And it’s not just a regular “slap sixteen tracks on a disc and call it a day” best-of either. Nope, these are all new arrangements of some of Ms. Shimomura’s finest works, and holy God damn, it does not disappoint in any way. Hell, it could even just be a hackjob with the original pieces and I’d still love it to death.

The album takes a handful of tracks from five games from very distinct generations: Live A Live, Front Mission, Legend of Mana, Heroes of Mana, and Kingdom Hearts. Anybody who’s familiar with her work will immediately jump at the thought of new arrangements of tunes from Legend of Mana and Kingdom Hearts, which had such extraordinary soundtracks to begin with. The SNES titles aren’t represented as strongly as the rest, but the tracks seen from them are there for obvious reasons, and it’s no secret that the music in Heroes of Mana is by and large the best part of the game. And for anyone who’s into that kind of thing, there’s also a bonus track in there from the yet-to-be-released Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Normally I don’t care much for FF soundtracks, but since Ms. Shimomura’s going to be the head on this one, I think that I’ll most definitely have to invest in the soundtrack when it’s released. Hell, knowing me, I’ll likely end up buying a PS3 just for the sake of listening to that single game’s soundtrack.

The one thing about the album is that while it says it’s a “best of”, the fact of the matter is that all the material is picked from her work on Square-Enix games. What you may not have realized is that she has worked on a lot of other game soundtracks. Most notably, she’s a member of Alph Lyla, Capcom’s house band. I really wouldn’t have had anything against hearing one or two Street Fighter-related themes on there somewhere. Hey, even some love for the music from the Mario & Luigi games would have been nice. It’s not nearly as epic as anything from Kingdom Hearts, but I would have appreciated the extra bit of diversity all the same. Not that I’m complaining! I love music and all, but it’s not often that a disc comes around that gets me as excited as this one.

If you’re at all interested, but have no idea what to expect, you can check out a preview right here. I personally would recommend “Destati” and “Legend of Mana ~Title Theme~”, but really anything is a winning choice. You can even play with a slider there to hear the difference between the original and arranged versions. Such good stuff. Should that pique your interest, the album sells for about $30 over at Play-Asia plus shipping charges, which may seem expensive for a single-disc album, but that’s a steal compared to the $50 plus shipping that Amazon’s charging. Dear God, they really gouge you on the prices of those imports.

In any case, as far as I’m concerned, it was totally worth whatever the final price came out to, because I absolutely love it. Would have been nice to get a pre-order bonus like I did with the Silent Hill Zero soundtrack (which was just a shitty coin purse, but free shit is free shit), but again, I’m not complaining. It’s an epic CD, and I think anyone who’s a fan of video game music, or even classical/orchestral music will find something to enjoy here. Sure, maybe she isn’t as big a name as Mr. Fancy-Pants Nobuo Uematsu, but Yoko Shimomura is totally on the top tier of game music composers, and I absolutely cannot wait to hear whatever she’s got cooking up for the next Kingdom Hearts games, among others.

You’d better run for cover underground

Okay okay, I know nobody reads these, so it doesn’t matter that I’m posting it more than halfway through the month, but here’s March’s Band of the Month post anyway. This month I’d like to pay my respects to the Scorpions.

Obviously, everyone’s pretty familiar with at least the band’s signature song. I mean, who hasn’t ever heard “Rock you Like A Hurricane”? Exactly. Everyone on Earth, whether they like it or not, knows at least that song. And yeah, that’s great and all, but really, I just wanted to point out just how much I’m enjoying their new album, Humanity: Hour 1. It’s metal-tastic. It’s not really perfect, but it’s damn well close.

I could go on and on about exactly why I like the album, which lyrics I find the most poignant, what solos I like the best, but since nobody cares anyway, I’ll just call that it. If you want to know more, you know how to use the internet.

Two Rockman Arrange albums, reviewed

We all know that I love video games. I’ve made no attempt to cover that up at any point in my life. I’ve downplayed it a lot, but never outright hidden the fact that my number one hobby is spending hours with a controller in my hands. It’s not a glamorous hobby, and most certainly not one that wins me any points with the fairer sex, but it’s what I do, and there’s no point in trying to deny who I am. Given, I spend a lot less time with video games than even a year ago, but it’s still a fairly prominent part of my life, and where a huge portion of my personal funds are directed.

So how could this inherently geeky hobby get any geekier? Well, it doesn’t help that I listen to lots and lots of video game music, and have shelled out many hard-earned dollars importing huge game soundtrack collections. You’ve heard me go on many times about how I’m absolutely fanatical about Yoko Shimomura and Motoi Sakuraba’s works, and how I nearly messed my pants in excitement when my copy of the Okami soundtrack arrived, but I never really talk about any of the music that relates to my most deep-rooted video game obsession: MegaMan.

It’s sad but true, I never really blog about how deeply I love the music from the many hundreds of MegaMan games out there. I may have mentioned it in passing many years ago when I wrote that article about why I’m such a Mega-fanboy, but other than that, I’ve never really touched on it for more than maybe a short paragraph once every God-knows-how-long. Today, I shall begin to remedy this situation though, as I have not one, but two discs worth of shimmery remixed Mega-goodness. Enter the 20th Anniversary Rockman 1-6 Arrange albums.

Left: Wily. Right: “Mr. X” (Spoiler: It’s Wily in disguise!)

I recently purchased these two arrange albums from Play-Asia, and have been listening to them maybe not quite as often as my fanboyism might lead you to believe, but more than enough. I’m sure that there are still people out there who would be shocked to learn that people produce and pay for soundtracks to video games, and possibly even more shocked to learn that I fall into the latter category. It’s no surprise to long-time readers, but the last time I mentioned that I collected video game soundtracks, there was an obvious air of confusion afterward. My parents even, who I’ve explained it to many times, are still dumbfounded whenever I receive a new one in the mail. I can understand that it’s a very niche genre, yes, but how is it so hard to understand? But I digress.

As the whole “Rockman 1-6” part up there might have clued you in on, these two CDs specialize specifically in music from the original run of MegaMan/Rockman (I’ll be using Rockman from now on. First-timers, they’re the same thing) games on the NES. Depending on your knowledge of all things Rockman, you may not be surprised by this fact, but overall the CDs weight very heavily in the favour of material from Rockman 2, whilst the first, fourth, and fifth games are all represented very sparingly, with only one dedicated track per disc. Yes, I know and agree that Rockman 2 was completely epic in every respect, especially as far as music goes, but you’ve gotta give the underdogs a little more credit. On the upside, my personal favourite tracks are the medleys, and every game gets its respects (due or not) in those tracks.

The ROCK CD, which was the first one I got, is obviously more oriented towards rock-style remixes. In that respect, it does not disappoint. The albums opens with the most killer “Boss Mix Medley”, which alone is reason enough to look into this disc. It is an impeccable track that combines a handful of what are essentially throwaway pieces (boss music is usually a 30-second loop at best) into a hard-rocking six-and-a-half-minute tour-de-force that will melt your face right off. It is simply awesome. Its follow-up track, “Cutman Mix”, does it perfect justice, as it takes the already stellar Cutman theme, changes the pacing a little, and makes the whole thing a wonderful sequence of guitars hammering out the verses and screaming solos like they’re going out of style.

At this point the CD goes up and down. I can’t fully appreciate their new spin on the MetalMan theme, but the infamous Dr. Wily theme from Rockman 2 comes out in full force with a wailing guitar duet that just won’t quit. Shadowman’s theme is nice, but is somewhat lost on me, and I honestly cannot believe that they managed to pull a whole 3:30 of non-repetitive material out of a “get weapon” theme for the “Get A Weapon (Rockman 3)” track. The Dr. Cossack theme was never my favourite track from Rockman 4 (though they mixed it quite nicely), and I can’t say the second Wily theme on the disc is overly impressive. “Yamatoman Mix” features an instrument that I’m not smart enough to identify (I may be a moron and it may very well just be an acoustic guitar) which plays a tune in the background of the entire song, and hits the foreground at the beginning, the end, and whenever the electric guitars take a breather between verses. It’s definitely makes the song stand out, and gives it a nice Asian vibe. “Tomahawkman Mix” has what might be the fastest solo on the album, though it could have been so much more epic if it had lasted even ten seconds longer. Like “Boss Mix Medley” before it, “Title Mix Medley” takes all the title screen themes and blends them together into a track that can only be described as awesome. It won’t blow you away quite as handily as the former, but if you’ve got a thing for fancy guitar work, you’ll love it to death.

After getting and playing the snot out the ROCK disc, I decided to go ahead and reunite it with its peppy twin brother, TECHNO. I’ll admit that I’m not a huge techno fan, but I’ve got at least a dozen various other Rockman remix albums on my PC that are mostly techno-centric (which I do quite enjoy), so it was a risk I was more than willing to take. TECHNO opens with a fairly competent “Stage Select Mix Medley”, which like the boss medley, takes a bunch of throwaway tracks and makes them into something worth far more than the sum of its parts. The ROCK disc was all about the screaming guitars and blistering solos, and the TECHNO disc comes right out the gate with pulsing synthesizers and heavy percussion that let you know that it’s going to be living up to its name. Elecman’s theme is next on the chopping block, and it’s slowed down considerably, though unlike another particular mix, does not invoke the feeling that you might be listening to a rip-off of Journey’s “Faithfully”. The constant thump of the bass drums and the peppy synth contrasts the slower tempo and floaty choruses to make sure that you’re grooving and not mellowing out. After that, we see the return of Rockman 2’s first Wily theme, and to tell the truth, I don’t think anyone has ever done a bad remix of this track. Regardless of genre, speed, or instruments used, this is just an overall wonderful piece, and Capcom’s skilled sound crew certainly put it through its paces here. The rock version does it justice with fiery guitar leads, and the techno version will storm you and make you want get up and move move move with its high-speed thump thump thump.

Sadly, those three tracks set far too great a precedent for the following pieces, as they’re simply mediocre in comparison. On it’s own though, “Quickman Mix” has a wonderful metallic vibe going for it, and as much as I want to praise the great, punctuated chorus-type bit, the song relies far too much on the main tune to really be a kickass techno track. “Airman Mix” has an airy (no pun intended) lead-in that lasts far too long, but once it gets going you’ll be able to feel that beat coursing through you. Oddly enough, I feel that this one makes too little use of the base tune, only bringing it in for short bits at a time. “Heatman Mix” doesn’t really do anything for me personally, but I can’t get over how much I love the “Snakeman Mix”. The high tempo and the bridges (which I can only think of as “carnival-esque”) really work for me, and the original tune is peppy enough to inspire at least a little bopping along. The revised Magnetman theme is another one that I consider entirely missable, and the second Wily track on this disc doesn’t exactly inspire me to create a Facebook group dedicated to it. Honestly, the less said about “Starman Mix”, the better. It has a nice spacey sound, but otherwise alls flat on the grounds of impressing me. “Flameman Mix” fares a little better, but only because I really like the original song. Unfortunately, the techno disc does not end on another wonderful medley, which officially makes me a very sad panda, but I won’t dwell on it because it’s a techno CD and I didn’t exactly expect to be blown away by it to begin with.

Besides the fact that they both feature mixes of the “Dr. Wily 1” track from Rockman 2, the two CDs have but one thing in common. That would be that they both contain short versions of all the original tunes used in the mixes. You may look at the track listing and see a robust 20/21 tracks on each, but then you’ll notice that half of them are just the original 8-bit chiptunes directly from the NES games. And that’s not an entirely bad thing, say if you’re trying to educate someone who liked the mixes on the background of the music, but a much better way to do that would be to have them actually play the original Rockman games. Or to play the games and have them watch, because seriously, someone who has never played one of the old Rockman games by this point likely won’t be playing any video games other than Wii Sports anytime soon.

Overall, I’d say that these are two very solid albums, and make a very good case of representing Rockman’s 20-plus-year legacy, regardless of how niche it’s become over the ages. I’d recommend both albums to diehard Rockman fans, but only the ROCK disc to the general populace, as the mixes are a little more interesting on that one. If you’re interested in owning them legitimately (and God knows you aren’t), I most definitely recommend procuring them through Play-Asia.com, as I snagged them both for a debatably reasonable price of about $30 each, whereas Amazon is charging $42.99 for the ROCK disc and a whopping $72.99 for the TECHNO CD. It’s not cheap either way (retail game soundtracks never are), but at least your wallet won’t get completely raped if you order from Play-Asia. Of course, if you’re up to searching for a better price, I won’t stop you.

Whatcha gonna do?

You may have heard something recently about the next Guitar Hero game. If you haven’t, I have some news that may disturb or excite you: It’s all Aerosmith. Yeah. Harsh. I mean, it’s just an “expansion” like the 80’s edition, but still. There are a lot of other bands I’d much rather have entire Guitar Hero games based on. Off the top of my head, let’s see…

  • Tesla
  • Helix
  • The Ataris
  • Rush
  • Sons of Butcher

And the list goes on, really. I mean, I like Aerosmith, but a whole game worth of them is a lot to take. I really don’t see myself buying into this one. Which is sad, because I’m pretty much ready to drop money on new Guitar Hero games at the drop of the hat. But Aerosmith… Man, I really wish it was Tesla instead. I fuckin’ love Tesla.