ReMix:Xenogears "Pilot the Yggdrasil" 4:23

I remember adoring this back in the day, and whilst today the samples are far from mindblowing, I can still see why I loved it. It has so much enthusiasm packed inside it, always ready to explode into a crescendo or a big, new chorus. That's what this mix is all about: delivering all you'd expect, while being a bit unpredictable at the same time.

The arrangement in particular I would point out as being a highlight. Jared Hudson has a very nice technique of letting a mix build it's muscles before it unleashes its strength, and that's definitely the case here. The sweeping main melody makes few appearances in full, but they are used for maximum pay-off because of some great mixing skills.

I wish the samples held up a little better, but I'm determined to not let it get in the way of an old favourite. Nice, meaty orchestral treatment from one of the nicest, meatiest game tracks of all. Altogether awesome.

Truly epic. If/when I build my own airship and go careening through the skies, I will definitely play this piece nonstop over the intercom and drive my crew/passengers completely insane.

It will be awesome.

Super intense Orchestral work here, the shifting textures are fantastic and very inspirational. Though I think the piano was mixed quite a bit louder than it normally would have been in a traditional orchestral setting, the choice was a good one, as it lent a lot more power to certain passages.

There were a lot of well thought out chord changes from the original which were all tasteful and colorful, and though this has a lot of power and emotion in it, I agree with CasualT that some full orchestra crecendos would really give it the final boost it needed.

Stellar work though, this track deserves the attention it got back in the day.

This is a very nice piece of work capturing a lot of the essence of the original. At least what I remember of the original from many years ago

While it's very good overall, it was definitely missing something, and I think it was Kaijin who pointed out the lack of much of a dynamic range. I like what you do with the cymbals, but I really wanted that trumpet to simply become overcome with emotion and just belt out the melody.

I definitely got the Metal Gear May Cry vibe as well, mentioned by GustaveNiGHTS. Some of the arpeggios were identical to the point where I could tell he was trying to vary them. Listen to the piano in MGMC around 4:05 and this track at 1:50. Didn't help that many of the instruments were the same as those used in Jared's previous hit. Although I'm only half-complaining as I'd love to get some more MGS2/DMC action from Jared!

The intro for the first minute or so was a great appetizer as well. Love the harp

very beautiful mix. i love the intro and the main body, but the thing that i don't like is the ending. and that last note, (shudders). it doesn't sound right, or maybe there's a note missing. a higher note that goes with it. but it is a very beautiful mix

My god this is good....beautiful and uplifting... I love all the orchestration.... the pizzicato violin, the bells, the snare, the chorus.... hehe, even that shaker....amazing. I love this remix. Jared is an amazingly talented person!

Bravo to Mr. Hudson! Listening to this was the most fun I've had in a long time.

First off, I adored the pizzacato violin (which is quickly becoming my favorite sound on earth). I love the way the orchestra builds into the beautiful theatrical-quality theme. I can't say I've ever heard the original piece, but after hearing this, I'm very curious just how much of this is Jared's.

The entire thing makes me vividly think "flying." And I mean vivid to the point of feeling the wind whip past me. I like flying.

I guess it's needless to say that this song will definitely lift one's spirits. It's a real "spread your wings and soar" piece that'll make even the worst day not-so-bad.

Mr. Hudson, consider me a fan.

Musical Brilliance Award

I really liked that horn that came in around 1:11.

Another great remix. You can't put music like this in the game, or I'll be stuck circling in my ship forever, while evil destroys the world. I love the bubbly effect of the harp at the beginning and the end.

This is simply an amazing arrangement of this piece- "Wings". Throughout the song, I instantly noticed the 'Victory' feel as people describe it. This song is arranged and performed as a closure to me. It may be me, but I was somewhat reminiscent of Uematsu in it's arrangement (as an ending theme). But maybe it's just me. Great work man.

All i've got to say is Jared, great work AGAIN, and don't listen to dumbass hippocrites like this who think they are big time industry professionals.

REALITY CHECK KAIJIN

Wake up buddy! Come on! Wake up!

I personally don't care about your discography, as most people don't.

Jared does excellent work for his setup, and I am very impressed that he can run circles around you in musical quality even though you seem to consider yourself elite.

Well, it looks like we both made our points, but notice how I said "ABOUT" all your remixes are ballads, and I HAVEN'T HEARD YOUR ORIGINALS. That was the key point. Anyways, I'VE made my point.

I haven't heard any of your original music, but I do know about all your songs are ballads on OCR. Would you think that's hypocritical? I'm not trying to be an asshole, but I just want to let you know. I'll give you credit on the piano and drums.

All my works on OCR are ballads? Sorry, you're mistaken bro.

Radical dreamers was not a ballad, it falls more under new age pop.

Bloody Hell was obviously Hard Rock.

Reel Big Mario was obviously Ska.

To Far Away Times (featured on the commerical release SquareDance) was obviously electronica.

and the only song there that really feautred someone elses work would probably be bloody hell cause even after I had arranged a purely rock version of the song, Ailsean took it to the next level (without butchering what I had already done).

Though admittingly the rest that are actually posted on OC follow a ballad-esque trend, they're merely remixes. My original work covers far more styles than even those. My live works that I've been performing with my band even branch into acoustic alternative rock, punk, metal and many more. Anyways, I think I've made my point.

Kaijin,

As I DO respect your opinion, I'm kind of surprised to hear that I need to go into other genres. That's all I've been TRYING to do the last year. I have rock pieces, techno, piano pieces, gothic, slow orchestrals (hardly any percussion), epic ones, pop, latin songs, polkas, musak (smooth jazz), and now currently.....jazz, ACTUAL jazz with REAL trumpet solos, and more piano stuff. If you don't call that expanding into other genres, then I don't know what the hell is. I understand some of what you said, some of those genres aren't posted as of right now. They're just sitting on my hardrive.

I haven't heard any of your original music, but I do know about all your songs are ballads on OCR. Would you think that's hypocritical? I'm not trying to be an asshole, but I just want to let you know. I'll give you credit on the piano and drums. I unfortunately went on a song binge at the time of this song and made Pilot in one day. The snare wasn't accented enough (I'm a percussionist), and I do guess the piano could get monotonous after about 6 tunes. Well, that about raps up my reply. Thanks for reviewing and glad you found it somewhat decent.

Jared Hudson

P.S. I know what sound I need to go for (gigasounds, will BUY someday), it's just I have nothing. (free soundfonts, SBlive, program from the time of Windows 3.1, NO keyboard).

Remember what happened when SquareSoft tried to do a fighting game? It was terrible, that's what happened. Jared has found his idiom in this orchestral style. I'm not saying that if he tried to branch out, he'd crash and burn, but if he's good at orchestral, then he's going to produce orchestral. And this is still one of my favorite mixes from OverClocked. If he tried anything else, I don't doubt that it'll have the same quality and overall technical proficiency as his other pieces.

P.S. I liked the percussion... it was tactfully in the background, and was there more to be sensed than heard. It gave the whole piece a sense of motion, which rounded out the image of flight.