DimeTower
on 2011-08-18 01:09:58
To all artists on what I deem to be in the top-3 albums available
by OCRemix:
First, THANK YOU! Your efforts and dedication are loved by so many
more than you think. I have been listening for months, and
finally had to get an account just so I could post about how great
this album is.
While a shocking amount of tracks were good-to-excellent (very few
do I pass over), some tracks truly stood out. All of these are
5-star efforts, above and beyond 'good' and into 'absolutely
memorable' territory.
Full Of Courage: What an opening.
Read The Sine: One of the most unique entries on the album
and one of my favorites. What a distinct effort on this one!
Golbez N' Goblins: Only one other track on the album gets
things kickin' as much as this awesome track does.
Mystic Variations: To do justice to this tune is an
incredible accomplishment!
Fallen Dragoon: Holy ----. Maybe my favorite song on the
entire album. The use of melody and overlaying harmonies - the
choice of instruments - one of the most evocative, engaging, and
moody pieces I've ever heard. WOW.
The Still Land: Major props must be leveled for taking a
song with such a simple beginning and turning it into such a
haunting, beautiful song. Wow was this incredible.
Bridge To Eternity: This, along with Golbez N' Goblins, is
physically impossible to listen to and not have your blood start
pumping.
All Your Calcobrena Are Belong To Us: So unique, so
memorable!! This is so fun to listen to.
I'd like to make one last acknowledgement of the special vocal
efforts made on pieces like Somewhere To Hide and
Finale Part II. It is a tribute that these vocal efforts
didn't just avoid detracting to the piece; they added to it, and in
both cases, I can't imagine the song being without them.
To everyone on this album, this was, and has been, a special treat.
Thank you.
Kuolema
on 2011-07-25 15:36:30
I know this came out forever ago, but I'd just like to give my
thoughts on it.
I love this album.
I really like almost every track, which is pretty rare for a 50+
track album covering a bunch of genres that I don't normally listen
to.
The first few tracks make a fantastic album opener, and it manages
to stay consistently good throughout. I love that there are so many
different styles on this album, and yet all the tracks feel very
similar!
Seeing as I'm not as familiar with FFIV's music as I am some of the
other games in the series, I was kind of surprised that I liked it
as much as I did, but man it really works!
That's one of the things that I like about OCRemix as a whole; most
of my favorite remixes are from games that I haven't even
played.
Anyway, I think everyone did an amazing job on this album, and I'd
like to thank everyone who worked on it (even if it is a couple of
years late) :P.
Brew
on 2011-05-17 13:32:26
How did I not know about this album for so long? I need to be
visiting this site more often..
FFII/IV is and will always be in my top 5 favorite games of all
time. Let alone a video game, it was the first
plot that ever really gripped me and wouldn't let
go. And as a kid who'd read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi but never
dealt with death, those moments in the game stung pretty bad. Like,
when Palom and Porom sacrificed themselves for the team and Tellah
couldn't undo their spell and that damn piano started to play... I
dunno, I think the window was open and blew some dust in my eye or
something. It went the other way too, like when it seemed that they
were totally boned when the Giant awoke.. then that one explosion
came out of nowhere, followed by the Red Wings theme, and everyone
you'd met in the game had teamed up to help in the fight.. that was
one of the most touching and perfect moments in video game history
as far as I'm concerned.
I dunno if this is just being filtered through the lens of myself
as a kid, but nostalgia is a powerful thing, that's for damn
sure.
So this collaboration is a pretty awesome project and I've been
listening to it a lot lately. I like how it isn't
just one style, and explores the different ways that people
interpret the original music. The game only had so many songs and a
lot of them were repeated throughout the plot, so its also cool to
see how people saw the tone of something in relation to the scene
it was used in.
Its been awhile since I last played this game and in fact only
recently started a new game of FFIII/VI but I might put that on
hold to run through this one again. Or at least finish the third
playthrough on the DS. (I got frustrated trying to beat Proto-Babil
at as low a level as possible). But either way, I would totally
agree with the sentiment that its a completely different experience
listening to these songs having played the game.
The opening track, "Full of Courage" is just wow. Seriously, wow.
I'm not sure I would have necessarily mixed in the overworld theme
just as it was getting to the "battle" portion of the Red Wings
theme, but from a director's standpoint relating to the movie
playing in my head, I can understand wanting to take an aerial view
of the landscape before getting into the action. Try to set the
tone that the world is a wonderful place and in need of protection
from this elite, honorable, and victorious fleet.
And of course the next scene is in Castle Baron and the rock-opera
stylings of "The Might of Baron" simply kicks ass in every
important way. I might have mixed the guitar a little bit louder
here and there, but whatever - I don't care, stellar track.
The album continues with a lot of unexpected turns - as I said
above, I like that the album wasn't just one style, even if I may
enjoy certain stylings more than others. Its been a good workout
for my car's speakers too (got a new car recently). Songs like
"Overture ~ Tellah's Prophecy" and "Read the Sine" actually make my
pants vibrate against my shins in a most peculiar way while
driving, so they have a unique tactile element to them. The intro
to "Ana(pro)logue" for some reason made me think of The Neverending
Story. When the horn started playing, I pictured Ben flying on
Falcor..
"Rhymes With Elixir". Falcon needs a drill but worry not coz Cid'll
fix her? When this one started, I raised an eyebrow. Soon started
to laugh. I'm also a fan of older Bloodhound Gang, so there's that.
And yes, I love the fact that they worked "sublimate" into a rap.
I'd call this one a hidden gem. Had to look up the lyrics, couldn't
figure out what the chorus was saying. "More bling than olive-berry
skies?"
Loved the mens' chorus for Fabul! Really helped highlight the "iron
will" vibe of Fabul, that you do not mess with them. While Baron is
mighty, fighting is these mens' lives. I just wonder if their
training involves lifting a large hot kettle with their
forearms..
At first I didn't like the kid in "Metal Mages", but its growing on
me. I can totally see Porom at a club/bar where the band is playing
and totally getting down, limbs flailing, losing control, flinging
fireballs randomly, the final "That was Awesome!" with him standing
in the middle of a smoldering heap of debris, smoke clearing to
show blue skies, everyone else crouched down, arms over their
heads.
"OMFG" did a great job emphasizing the tension of the
situation.
And my gawd, Rock Opera featuring Slipknot as Zeromus for the final
battle? Total nerdgasm. The Epilogue music stayed pretty true to
how I remember it, and left me smiling remembering the victory of
finally winning mixed with the sadness that it was over.
I think the only actual complaint I have with the whole set - and I
debated on even saying anything negative, but its mixed with
positives - was "Of Fiend and Man". Ironically, the reason this
song bugs me so much is because of how much I actually
like it! If I thought it sucked, I wouldn't
care.
It just seems like it wasn't finished. Not that its lacking in
quality, but that quite literally, when the final mix was being
laid out, someone accidentally left the tracks with the actual
battle theme on "mute". There's this amazing rock opera framework,
solid percussion, good orchestration, the strings and horns doing
the "response" portion of the first part of the main melody to good
effect, a little bit of very subtle guitar you can hear in the
background, I'm getting all amped up ready for whatever crazy
melody arrangement they're going to do, will it be electric guitar?
Strings? Horns? Synth of some kind? Driving too fast and awaiting
the start of the Battle, the beat drops and it goes into a
different song. Is this still Battle 1? They just shifting gears?
"Fiend" is in the title, is this from the Four Fiends? Then the
song ends, and I frown. (edit - Listening to the album through my
crappy desktop speakers at work and wow is the relative volume
higher on the guitars. Not sure if the acoustics in my car happen
to cancel out the frequency these guitars are on or what. They're
still sort of in the background instead of taking lead, but at
least I can hear them pretty clearly here)
But, JMHO. If they decided to re-release the track with nothing
changed other than some additions of lead melody, I would probably
look like Randy when he finally got some internet in the refugee
camp.
Anyway, I can't express how happy I am that I found this
compilation and would like to offer heartfelt thanks to everyone
who contributed to it! (Its actually a major reason I donated to
OCRemix last week.)