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OCRA-0035 - Final Fantasy: Random Encounter


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Twenty-five years ago, two babies were born. One of them was Final Fantasy, which was released by Square in December 1987. The other baby was me, Brandon Strader, who, in the most metal of fashions, was not merely born, but sliced from my mother's womb. Both of these babies were intended to be the last. In the case of Final Fantasy, however, many more followed as a result of the massive success of the first game... but that's another story.

For the last two years, a group of brothers united in metal worked together to create the most brutal album to ever grace the halls of OverClocked ReMix. We are now honored to present Final Fantasy: Random Encounter on the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy.

This album is the result of three things: 1) an immense love for Nobuo Uematsu and his work, 2) an immense love for metal, and 3) the kind of comraderie that only the most grim and frostbitten of metalheads will ever know. Words can't express the level of gratitude I have for everyone who helped this album become what it is today, and who continue to support the successive albums for Final Fantasy II and III. A huge thanks is owed to every musician who performed for this album in any way, Edward Dennis who created mind-blowingly good artwork for the album, Donald and The Shizz for hosting our project discussion during the development phases, and last but not least OverClocked ReMix and its staff for their hard work and for helping us release the album on OC ReMix.

We're very happy with this album, and I personally consider most of these remixes to be the definitive fan-remix versions of these classic songs. Random Encounter was given to Nobuo Uematsu as a gift at MAGFest X in 2012. To meet the man who composed the music of our childhood, and give him our tribute, was a great honor for all of us. We hope you enjoy Final Fantasy: Random Encounter, and await the sequel -- Final Fantasy II -- with bated breath.

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best remix album I've heard probably since the DKC2 Serious Monkey Business one. What I like about this album is its continuity, and that each song really grabs your attention and makes you want to listen to it again. A lot of albums I've found will have 2 or 3 tracks that really keep the whole product's head above water, but this one is all around good. I don't really have anything bad to say about this album. The Matoya's Cave track doesn't make me want to shoot kittens, which is saying a lot because that original track irritates me to no end, but I actually like the one on this album. And Brandon's "Omerta" track, that intro alone makes me want to sit and listen to the whole thing, which is something a song should do. I don't like sitting and waiting through 6 hours of buildup to finally hear the meat and potatoes and then it's over.

good work everyone involved with this album. I often nitpick about every album that comes out in one way or another, and largely it's based on personal opinion, but there is little for me to nitpick here.

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I'll be honest. When I heard the very first trailer for this project waaaay back in the day I didn't think it was going to be very good at all. The trailer didn't sound awesome to me, and I felt a bit disappointed. So I haven't been terribly hyped about it, despite it being OMG ORIGINAL FINAL FANTASY (which I adore~!).

When I saw the NEW trailer at OCR recently I was really impressed because it sounded so so so so so so much better than the first trailer. So I was definitely interested in hearing this album, which I just did~

I have some mixed feelings, but overall my impressions of this album and project are positive. I don't want to go too in depth of my feelings and critiques only after one listen, however, so I'll be listening to it more before doing that. Well, *if* I do. The internet has taught me to be very careful about offering critique to people when it's not asked for given raaaaage reactions. XD

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The Matoya's Cave [...] that original track irritates me to no end

Really? Matoya is the best song on the soundtrack in my mind, and I'm pleased that Midgarian Sky did a great job with it.

Like Otakatt, I'm mixed on a few songs, but there is some true gold here. Brandon brought his A-game with most of his tracks, and Izkemia, blackguitar, Josh Whelchel, Sir Jordanius, Ben Briggs, and M-H bring some really strong offerings to the table. Great job, guys.

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Also, this is the best comment on anything I've ever seen:

TBH, I used to really like OCremix but i had a discussion with a friend about this but… They do too much ROCK on that site now. Or least last I checked. And rock makes alot of classic tunes sound too generic.

I kept reading this update and kept seeing ROCK this ROCK that, and that doesn’t make me interested.

The better video game remixes out there are the ones that don’t completely hard rock tunes.

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I'll be honest. When I heard the very first trailer for this project waaaay back in the day I didn't think it was going to be very good at all. The trailer didn't sound awesome to me, and I felt a bit disappointed. So I haven't been terribly hyped about it, despite it being OMG ORIGINAL FINAL FANTASY (which I adore~!).

When I saw the NEW trailer at OCR recently I was really impressed because it sounded so so so so so so much better than the first trailer. So I was definitely interested in hearing this album, which I just did~

I have some mixed feelings, but overall my impressions of this album and project are positive. I don't want to go too in depth of my feelings and critiques only after one listen, however, so I'll be listening to it more before doing that. Well, *if* I do. The internet has taught me to be very careful about offering critique to people when it's not asked for given raaaaage reactions. XD

First impressions matter!

:lmassoff:

And honestly I can't offer any objective advice or criticism, because i've been listening to all this music over and over again for the last 2 years.

Got epic fatigue.

I'm burnt lol.

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I've not finished listening to the album but I liked it a lot. I'm more of a metal person.

Prelude was interesting, even though the entrance of the distorted guitar was a bit strange. Most other tracks have been nice, but the vocal track (Epic Win I believe), the 10 minute long Sentient Machines and the fun Gurgling Desert Pond have been my favourites.

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I've not finished listening to the album but I liked it a lot. I'm more of a metal person.

Prelude was interesting, even though the entrance of the distorted guitar was a bit strange. Most other tracks have been nice, but the vocal track (Epic Win I believe), the 10 minute long Sentient Machines and the fun Gurgling Desert Pond have been my favourites.

Originally it had narration at that part, but we had a disagreement because some of the judges said it wasn't very audible but us on the project could hear it fine(Was distorted vocal narration that used the Intro narration from the actual game)

I didn't feel like troubleshooting it at the time because I don't have a good recording mic and couldn't get a good second take to fix whatever issues there were.

So yeah that's why it's weird, because it was originally designed around that narration. Without it, it probably sounds weird.

/Shrug

This was the first project I worked on and it was the last to come out of all them.

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Also, this is the best comment on anything I've ever seen:
TBH, I used to really like OCremix but i had a discussion with a friend about this but… They do too much ROCK on that site now. [...]

I kept reading this update and kept seeing ROCK this ROCK that, and that doesn’t make me interested.

Ahah, wow. Guess they're going to love the delicious Turtle Soup you're cooking for them, Kyle. :grin:

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Gotta confess right here and say I'm not a huge fan of metal, so when I heard this album was going to be devoted to that genre, I have to say I was highly disappointed - I thought I wouldn't be able to enjoy it with everyone else.

Having listened to it repeatedly since it came out, though, gotta say my fears were entirely misplaced. Overall, an excellent album, with some high-quality stand-out tracks, and no one track I could point to as a weak point. Great work and a major :nicework: face to everyone who made some tunes for this thing.

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So...this album doesn't have nearly as much metal as it was made out to :P.

It's totally awesome though! Definitely lives up to my expectations.

A few of the tracks feel like they're completely out of place (lol Josh Welchel) but they're so good that it doesn't matter :).

Good job guys. I'm going to be listening to this for a while.

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The album turned out pretty well. It's not my favorite overall, but was still very enjoyable even without being a big fan of hard metal. I liked Fierce Fairground Fight, Earthrise, The Beginning of a Legacy, and If I Could Sail the World, among others. The repetition in parts of Sentient Machines keeps making me zone out so I don't really remember much of that track. That and The Last Story were probably my least favorites that I can remember after just two listens, but I did find the latter was more enjoyable than the King K. Rool battle theme mix from the DKC2 album, which immediately came to mind each time that track began.

All in all, it's a good album and I'd like to thank everyone who was involved for their contributions. You guys set a pretty high bar for the FFII and FFIII albums.

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I'm quite enjoying this album so far, though on first listen it's a bit heavy on the metal (ha ha) for my tastes. I admit I still need a nice, deep listen with good headphones before I can fully appreciate it. But right now...Hoe-Emm-Gee you guys, I can not get enough of Onward by Josh Whelchel f. Ryan C. Connelly. Srsly...Can't. Get. Enough. Major props to Brandon Strader for the album. Great work!

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I like a lot of these tracks, but mostly Earthrise, Sentient Machines, Requiem For a Dying World, and The Beginning of a Łegacy. I know there's probably 4-6 more singles that got past the panel, so congratulations there. Alas, I'll probably enjoy the FFII album more once that eventually releases.

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This might be my favorite album since Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption. Note that I deliberately didn't say OCRemix album, because this site literally produces my favorite music anywhere.

I posted this in the announcements forum but I have to repeat it here: I haven't gotten the chance to listen more in depth yet, but I seriously can not get enough of Onward by Josh Whelchel f. Ryan C. Connelly. I immediately loved it as much as I immediately loved Fighting for Tomorrow on Echoes. That album got better and better the more I listened to it, and I expect this one will be no different. Thank you Brandon Strader and the other artists that devoted their time and skill to this album, great stuff!

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