Ice Dragon

Any of you play Super Mario World lately? I have. I have 100+ lives easily. This game isn't hard or long, but it is good. Only three power-ups, mushroom, fireflower, cape. Sure, you have Yoshi, but most of the time he is more of a bother than an asset. The novelty goes away pretty quickly when you can't use your fireballs while you're on him. I think anybody that complains about NSMBs may need to stop to consider that SMW was fun without all the power-ups of SMB3, or the playable characters of SMB2. I'm playing SMW on my DS lite, just got to Chocolate Island. Don't have the money for NSMB just yet, but when I do I'll get it.

After giving this a listen all the way through again, I still find that the genre of music doesn't fit the genre of the game. I still find many songs boring, unfortunatly. I listened all the way through all the songs and was hit by the singing in the two Guile ending mixes. Ouch, that was painful. I didn't notice just how bad it was until I actually listened to them all the way through. Whoever sang in the first song needs voice training before attempting that again. Sorry, but that singing was =< karaoke. The second one was more stylistic, but in the end was uninteresting and ultimately boring. Jose's two vocals were ok. Personally, I am not a big regge or hip-hop guy myself, but I know that the music in both mixes could have been much better. I couldn't understand most of the lyrics in your first song in the album, but that's a regge thing it seems. The second could have done without the cussing, but I guess that is the nature of hip-hop. I tried to give this album a second chance, but even upon further evaluation I still find it to only be average. Sorry to make another post about this, but I felt it necessary to give the album another chance before setting my opinion in stone.

So I come on OCRemix to see what's new. Lo and behold, a SF project is complete! Joy! So I download--I wait patiently. I think of SF, I think of fighting and dragon-punches. I think of green beasts and and kung-fu fighters. I think about them fighting. Then the download is done. Joy! Then frown. 'What is this?' I ask myself. I am introduced to something I wasn't expecting. This is not the kick-you-in-the-balls sort of music I was expecting for a game as famous as this or for a game of such a genre. Then yawn. 'Boring.' I think. But wait! Vurez does something intriguing and entertaining. Hope is restored! Then crash, my spirit is broken by more snooze-tunes. The pain! Aha! Dhalsim's tune starts out nicely. Aw, it fails. Woo! Ken's song is more like it. That's the kind of stuff I was hoping for. The angels sing. Then follows something even better and more entertaining! The AB, BC collab brings the energy SF needs. The angels dance. Then the angels and I go home, the fun has ended. The remaining songs bore us. You get the picture. This could have been more, but it was simply too boring to be anything but average. There were some songs that had their moments, but they ended up unsatisfactory as a whole. Less than half-way through the album I started to just listen to the first 10 seconds or so of each song. If it didn't sound like it was going anywhere, I skipped to the middle. If it sounded like it hadn't progressed much by then, I went to the next song. Unfortunatly, I did that quite a lot in this album. There were few songs that merited a complete listen. Doesn't come close to other projects in this site, I'm afraid. I'd rank this album with the sonic and doom albums. I certainly wouldn't rank it with CS, RotC or KiC. I'm sorry it turned out this way. It could have been a whole lot better. EDIT: BTW, forgot to say that zircon's remix of Fei long's theme rocks.

Kick-butt. I thought it was really high quality.

So... What about the Special Edition? The topic is closed so I was wondering what's going on with that? BTW, it's nice to know I wasn't the only one that felt the movie score idea lacked when it came to listening music. At least I'm not the weird one anymore

I played through Chrono Trigger a few times and can remember much of the storyline, and I would agree that the music in this album does flow well. Thanks to the stand-alone remixes. I liked The Rising and think it had a distinctly different feel compared to Crono's Dream. If this were a 'true' movie soundtrack than I imagine that the album would be rather boring, with only a handful of 'stand-alone' songs to grab my attention. The rest would be background music like Crono's Dream. Same with the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. So long as you know the game, you can follow the soundtrack. This is important. If there were less 'stand-alone' songs in this album and people didn't have a game to visualize the story, then I imagine this album would have gotten fewer positive reviews. People don't mind background music (I certainly don't), but it certainly doesn't get the kind of attention 'foreground' music gets. And background music certainly can't tell a story. I beg to differ on your point about Chrono Symphonic not being 'just a collection of many tracks'. I find that many of the songs could easily stand alone and get good reviews by themselves. How many of the songs weren't made specifically for this album? I can pick out at least 3 that I know of. Two weren't all the different from the originals. I'd dare to describe Chrono Symphonic as a collection of very well done, stand-alone songs that also flow well together to form a story, with some background music as lead-ins to other stand-alone songs. I'd say that Relics of the Chozo more closely follows your description of CS (but not completely) in being a single united composition, even if artificially in some parts, by the fade-in to each successive track in the album. Sure, RotC also had its share of background music as well, but I enjoyed (some of) it as well. I'd say that a truely single united composition would have had one source of sound fonts/samples and more coordination between the composers to plan volume levels, bass levels, etc. to truely unite the album (and subsequently make Compy Fox's life a bit easier). For instance, you would have agreed to a set amount of violinists, pianists, trumpet players, etc. and utilised them accordingly in a more united fashion. I suppose this is a bit anal retentive, but it would be quite united.

The idea is nice, to make a movie score, but it falls down when listened to for the sake of music. For instance, Lord of the Rings had great music and it did a masterful job of conveying emotions to the audience, but the soundtrack falls down when it comes to sitting at my computer and listening to it. Since the intended purpose was to make a movie score, then I can see why you and others made their songs the way they did, but it seems to me that this project would have had the worst of both worlds if it would have had more music like yours (this sounds bad, but let me finish). A movie score with no movie is missing the part that makes the music make any sense. With no movie I don't get to watch any characters' mono/dialogues, and I don't get to see facial expressions or other body language. A movie score with no movie doesn't give me 'stand-alone' songs that convey emotion and tell a story without words. It's like a soul with no body, almost lifeless. EDIT: Actually, there is one exception. Musicals do give stand-alone music Maybe the Chrono Symphonic movie is a musical? Look for the Bear necessities... In fact, a movie score doesn't even try to tell a story, only convey the emotion of the setting or the characters in the story. Most of the time the music in movies is in the background, giving subtle hints to the audience about what is going on. So in fact the criticism of your song(s) isn't so much a criticism of them but of the basic premise of this project. You might have done a spectacular job of making a movie score, but I'll never know with no movie

Well, I don't normally watch the ending credits of a movie so I don't normally hear the music at the end either. If you wanted to do it the 'Japanese way', you'd have done most of it in Japanese and then had one word or phrase in English (Japanese pop seems to do that often). That's something I might have been able to understand As it is this is orchestral, not pop, music so I'm not sure how it fits logically. To be clear, I meant no offense by my comments. I'm just a lowly listener is all I think every person should be given honest and constructive criticism for the work they do, so I try to do my best in both regards.

Wow, this is excellent stuff. I'm big on orchestral music and in fact I have a big 100+ song playlist of orchestral and piano remixes that I really enjoy. I was looking forward to something less aggressive than past site projects such as the Doom and Metroid ones. I really like Chrono Trigger music as well, so overall I was ready for a project like this. This is definitely a well done album. Sephfire – Inciting Incident 3:36 Excellent, nice introduction. I really liked this. Sephfire, SirRus – Morning Sunlight 4:23 Nice. I'm always a stickler for some good piano. The violins really rocked, I got chills when I listened to this for about the 4th time (I listen to this album in order, and only in order). Still, I wish there were 'more' violins. That is to say, normally I think of an orchestra as having more violins playing. So layering violins might be interesting for this. DarkeSword – Blue Skies Over Guardia 4:40 Not much different from the original that I listen to regularly, but I do notice a difference with the 'clapping'. Even so, I really like this still. Personally though, I wish there were 'more' violins. Sleepy Emp – To Lands Unknown 2:06 Woohoo, I'm digging this. Just way way way too short for me. The complaints about violins in previous mixes doesn't hold for this one, it really sounds like you have a good orchestra-sized team of violinists LunarHeart – Darkness Dueling 2:10 I really like this. I like the pace. Just way way too short, like the last one. I felt like the piano was just getting good and then it stopped I heard someone else say that this didn't sound appropriate for a scene in which Chrono & Co. are attacked by a horde of robots. I agree, but I would have expected something more electronic anyway so this works for me. Besides, I didn't read the script so I don't have any preconceived notion about how this should sound Although I did play Chrono Trigger. Zas – Lucca's Arrival 3:05 Excellent. I felt that about half-way through I was entering Bowser's castle, but anyway... I really enjoyed this one. A little on the short side, but not bad. Claado Shou – Revelation of Fire 2:21 I really liked this, certainly a more epic take on the trial theme. I always liked the trial theme. Feels a bit short though. Red Omen – Hymn of Valor 3:36 Me likey. I think you really captured the feeling of valor in this mix. I really enjoyed this and it always seems to capture my attention when I'm listening to this album. It just feels like it ends too abruptly. I was just getting into the horns and bam, they're gone. Could have used being a bit louder, except for that last 35 seconds, that's plenty loud Ellywu2 – Frog's Intervention 3:43 I love the original mix you did a while back, and I love this one just as much. This is even more epic sounding as well, it really captures the feeling I got when I played Chrono Trigger, really awesome. Just one problem. It ends WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too abruptly. WAY WAY WAY to fast. Scary fast. PLBenjaminZ – Denadoro Climb 2:31 This rocks, I really enjoyed this. Just waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too short. Ellywu2 – The Masamune 4:09 This rocks, I listened to the beginning part about a dozen times when Compy Fox gave use a preview of it. Epic almost sounds like an underestimation. Frog's theme kicks butt, and so does this mix. I could use more violins though. mv – Darkest Omen 3:41 This was probably my least favorite mix in this album, sorry to say. Maybe it is the source theme, but I just can't get into this song. I have it among some others of mv's mixes, and I certainly like those others more. The ending seems a bit abrupt as well, same as some other mixes in this album. Sephfire – Confronting the Mystic 3:41 Woo, goose pimples. I love this, but it is just waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too short! Blake Perdue – Door to the End of Time 5:34 I like this, it really does have the End of Time vibe to it at the beginning. The mixture of themes with the End of Time vibe was awesome, it was sort of like everybody was reminiscing about their homes at this point. I really enjoyed this one, kudos. SirRus – Manifest Destiny 2:34 Ah, the zeal theme. A lot of people really like this theme, but I am not as enthusiastic about it as them. Still, this was really good. I think the bass was just a bit too harsh in this one. I had to turn down the bass on my Klipsch 2.1 speakers before the windows blew out . Was a bit short too. Ellywu2, Pixietricks – Schala and the Queen 6:34 The schala theme has definitely gotten some attention among vgmixers. I liked this. I see it as sort of a tribute to the guys that made all this great music in the first place, so I don't mind the Japanese. Plus the singing is really good, very emotional, so only love there. Some have complained of a 'karaoke' feel to the vocal parts, but I see it as an internal prayer or song by schala, a monologue of sorts, so therefore the music being softer during the vocal parts seems appropriate to me. Excellent overall. Claado Shou – The Third Guru 2:17 This was alright, no real climax or emotion. Seemed more like an intermission piece to me. Good thing it was short or it would have seemed more like an orchestra/trance mix Rellik – Beneath the Surface 3:07 I like Rellik's past stuff, and this is no different. I really enjoyed this. This did end a bit abruptly, though. DarkeSword – The Rising 2:07 This was alright, it does feel like it leads into the next song a bit though. I can imagine Lavos' rising being ominous, and this gives that feeling perfectly. A bit short, but for this mix it seems appropriate. DarkeSword – Crono's Dream 2:23 This is decent. It seemed a bit repetitive to me, and I didn't enjoy the dissonance as much as others have. Maybe it's because I haven't read the script, but as music without a script is was lacking. Russell Cox – The Chrono Trigger 3:27 This was a bit slow going for me, but it was pretty good getting near the end. It actually had a bit of a music box or lullaby feel to it. I liked it. Unknown – A Parting of Ways 4:18 Unknown is good, always good. This was excellent, I really enjoyed it. The ending was awesome. RoeTaKa – The Last Stand 5:33 This is really good. I do get that feeling that a last stand is going down with the intro, like it's all or nothing. The last quarter was probably my favorite part of this mix. It ended a bit abruptly though. Sleepy Emp – The New Beginning 2:54 Yaaaa, they won! Excellent intro. Like you last mix you make great use of those deep trumpets or horns (I'm not a musician so I can't tell, but it's one of them ). This is kick butt stuff. Reuben Kee, Pixietricks – To Far Away Times 3:52 It's the end? Dang. Well, this was a good ending. Personally, the choice to mix Japanese and English rubs me the wrong way. Someone else said that it seemed pretentious (he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, not sure why), and I'd have to agree. I think someone was just trying to show off . The Japanese seemed to just barge in uninvited. It was a shock at first to me. I guess one could see it as another tribute, but I don't know... Overall, I say this was an excellent album and was fairly well done. Many of the songs should have definitely been longer, and too many of the songs had abrupt endings. From what I hear, there were time restrictions for at least some of the songs. Bad decision in my opinion. I think the remixers should have been given more flexibility to add that 'personal' touch to their songs to develop and expand the song they remixed a bit more. Also, I think some of the songs could have used a more orchestral feel to them, like with the violins for instance (I commented about this in some of the songs already). I also agree with others that some of these songs where a bit on the dry side, but I imagine trying to make all the songs fit with one concert hall was challenging considering the difference of bass levels in many of the songs (especially with Manifest Destiny). One of the best albums on this site. Great job everybody, and thanks!

Guess what, I've gotta feva and the only prescription is Chrono Symphonic Music THE ANTS...THEY BURN!

Except me.

This project is definitely generating a bit of excitement *looks at topic views*

I must have listened to that comparison 30 times trying to get a clear idea of the difference. Tell me if I'm not too far off, but it sounds like the music has a bit more depth to it, with the treble being clearer and the bass more defined. From the small snipit it's hard to tell how much of an overall difference to the quality of the sound this process has done, but I imagine it will be significant. Hopefully all the songs will mirror the quality of that small snipit

I have a question. Will there be a bittorrent of this project? Will there be a bittorrent with lossless files?

Hey, patiently waiting vg music/remix lover here. While I was sitting here I thought I'd ask what 'mastering' is in the music business? I don't know all that much about what goes into making music, or remixes, so I thought I'd learn a little bit about it.