OCR00689 - Final Fantasy IV 'SNES Battle Medley'

[orkybash]

Final Fantasy 4 'SNES Battle Medley'

This is really cool. It has problems - the arangment is a bit simplistic at times and the guitar playing could use work - but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Too bad it didn't make PMM, but paying royalties for 5 songs in 4 minutes really *isn't* economical.

[Yusaku999]

I did not like it. My favorite game is FF4. And when I heard it, it did not sound very good at all.

The sound is not even close to full sounding.

However, when it got into the FF6 musics, it was better. It matched much closer to the music.

I think a lot of work needs to be done on this.
-J

[Fieari]

This was released as a quicky bite on the PMM website several months ago. My opinion hasn't changed much. While it's INTERESTING to hear the Final Fantasy battle music played in grunge style, I don't happen to like it. To garage-y. It's not the sound quality that bothers me... it's the flat notes, the twang, and the... irreverence to the original that gets me. This has an ENTIRELY different feel to it that the original. I'll agree that once it gets to the FF6 music, they play it closer, and thus better... but I'm still uncomfortable.

[SsaiskK]

i did not enjoy this mix either. i rather would like it if it stayed a little more true to the original songs.

[Brodzky]

I loved it. I mean LOVED it. I love all the FF Battle/Boss themes, and with the guitarismness they are even cooler!!
... guitarismness isnt even a word... Thats just how cool this song is!

[DarkCecil13]

I've always loved this arrangement since it was on PMM Studio's site. It's cool shit.. But, if you don't like the grungy style or you're looking for something peaceful, you probably wouldn't.

[AnotherOneBitesTheDust]

Yep, this definitely seems one of those songs where you either hate it or love it. I happen to have loved it awhile ago, but I listened to it more than oft because I was also at a friend's house for like 3 weeks and he liked it. I also know people who hate it. Never met someone who thought it was just ok the first time.

If you like garage bands, battle music, and final fantasy, you'll love it.

If you hate garage bands, abhor any type of battle music because you hear it most of your playing time on an rpg, and don't like the final fantasy games, you'll hate it.

[SuperTKO]

In my opinion, this is a great battle Remix. It flow's smoothly like a forward advancement to the enemy. It's sound is as good as the screams of the enemy in unison. It's beat is able to keep up with the tempo of a thousand troops. and the composition has the key parts of a raging war.

In other words, It has great fluidity, and the sound... well, some people like it.. some people don't. Personally, I loved it. It has a good tempo beat to it... and I enjoy doing my exersizes to music with this beat. and I love the composition, The beginning, the middle... and the victorious ending.. Great DL!

[Yusaku999]

But what's the point? The music doesn't seem to make sense, if you look at it from a deeper level. The bland garage sound seriously lacks depth that the original had. And it sounds almost pointless, until nearly the end.

The music posted, didn't have a purpose. It wasn't there to make a better version, I find. It was grunge. So why did the remixer do it?
-J

[Ghetto Lee Lewis]

Well, I heard part of this song quite a long time ago I don't know from where. Overall, I think the song's pretty cool. I really liked the style, the instrumentation, and the awesome work on the drums. However, there were some qualities I thought were serious weak points. Many of the notes and chords seemed to be completely wrong. I don't know whether or not it was intended, but I think it would have sounded much better if it were kept closer to the original. That's only the second rendition of the Atma song I've heard. I think Mustin did the other one. Many of these "medley" songs could have easily been expanded into a full length rendition, but they're still cool as a medley. The atma song especially falls into that catagory. I have yet to hear a remix of "The Dreadful Battle" from FF4, which could become a huge sort of production along with the Atma song. I've actually thought of doing it myself. I'm a bit suprised you did Atma and not the other cool battle song. Not that it matters much. The guitar and bass work were both really exceptional, like all the little effects and transitions. I really liked the battle ending with the groove and everything. The only problem I have with medleys is that they may contain many parts that carry potential to evolve into a full blown kick ass song, but instead soon switch to a different melody. Anyways, great work to everyone who participated in this song. You guys really seemed to flow together. I know it can be a serious problem when musicians clash and they can't seem to play anything together, but you guys did an excellent job. As to the arrangement, I think it should have been closer to the original, especially when it comes to playing the right chords and melody. The bass, and especially the drums should be allowed the most freedom when it comes to arranging, unless you decide to do solos and stuff. Hope you guys keep doing more stuff like this in the future.

[NightTorch]

8O
Final Fantasy...?
:?
This is Final Fantasy music...?
:?
It started out...um...decent... but... I don't know... I don't see the connection. By about 75% I had to turn it off, I couldn't force myself to listen to it anymore. Needs to be cleaned up a bit. I guess it's one of those 'niche' type musics (the kind that is listened to a particular type of people, kinda like country or folk music), but I myself just didn't like it. :(

[MegaManFan]

I've heard some good "slashy" remixes on OCR before, and while this wouldn't rank at the top of my list it has some appealing reinterpretations of Final Fantasy on the whole. It seems a little muted though, possibly an effect of playing and recording it live, but there's no OOMPH to the sound.

-- MMF

[Zakastra]

LIke the mix, Good base and drums, Guitarist needs to improve his techincal style (or else lay the right chords) the transition from 5 battle to atma was awfull but the atma music was great, I imagine it might have been something like that if the SNES could have handled it.

The groove Victory music at the could pratcially stand alone.

[skulkrusha]

Not too bad, the bass sounds a bit thin in places, though. Despite this, it does sound pretty good. Guitar's not bad, but could have been better in places. Guitar goes a bit wierd at around 0:57 to 0:30. Still, it's really well done. Around 3:00, the guitar goes wierd again, maybe a bit too complex around 3:29 to 3:50 for this tune. Love the outro at 4:00 to the end, sounds great. Nicely done, though, a good effort.

[ancsik]

the ff2 battle theme is alright, he picked fitting instruments but its like he skips 1/3 of the notes in the song

it could use some improvement in areas, the intro to the FF2 boss theme is good, but right after it that part loses the style he idid the intro in, and it sucks, then near the end of the FF2 boss part it gets good again

I definately agree of the atma part, its very well done

the victory music could use a lot if work, the intro is off beat, each instrument is on a diferent note and together it sounds disconnected and just bad, then the victory song itself sounds like he tried to mix techno and rock, it loses its similarity to the original in the rock and the techno... it kills whats left of that song, but i experimented with about 50 FF songs myself and making a good remix of the victory theme or most battle songs is hard for some reason

[Dem]

I listen to this song a lot, and it's growing on me ... but there's just something in it that I don't really care for. I think it's the fact that some melodies that I like in these tunes are faded, or they just don't seem to be in them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing it or anything ... I mean, I couldn't do that stuff. Well, I could ... but I probably wouldn't even post it up on MY site.

[Legion303]

The out-of-tune guitar stopped me from listening to more than about a minute, so I can't really form an opinion of the remix as a whole, sorry.

This is a mix that probably should have been submitted for peer review before it was officially submitted to DJP. It could have been a great remix if some of the more glaring problems (tuning, recording quality) were ironed out first. As it stands, though...I'm sorry, but there's no polite way to say it: this is the first remix on OCR that's actually disappointed me in a very long time. The drums sound really good, but the guitar killed it for me.

Aneurysm, I'd like to see more from you, but please get feedback on your next remix before sending it to DJP. I think you'll find the effort worth it. I know several of my songs would have sucked badly if it weren't for the input of others here.

-steve

[Ailsean]

Not economical my arse. If this thing wasn't a complete heaping pile of out-of-tune and porrly played garbage, it still could have been on PMM. But let's face it, the thing sucks. The guitar is badly out of tune, it's full of wrong notes (not changed notes mind you, but obviously "I THINK this is how the song goes" type rot). And to say that the production values are lackluster would be a compliment. Definitely worth a download to hear how NOT to produce a song.

[Brodzky]

you guys forget, its a remix, doesnt mean its exactly the same...

[ZergSpice]

I have serious issues with this mix. I am a great fan of the original music compiled here, and I enjoy many of the other remixers' interpretations found on this site.

This particular piece comes across as too dischordant. It seems like the composer actively tries to distort the sound in places to create dischord, and I'm not sure what effect he's trying to reach in doing so. Several very important chords in the harmony structure are purposely twisted, or have one or more tones augmented. I don't understand this... it really does come across sounding like a novice playing the wrong notes.

For example, the main melody iteration at 1:14: This guitar is simply out of tune, badly. The effect the tuning creates is very negative, very grating on the ears. The first sustained note in the phrase, coming at 1:17, is dischordant and out of tune. The second phrase ending at 1:20 sits flat, heavily buzzed, and dynamically neutral. This, apparently, is the style held throughout the piece.

I suppose the composer is aiming for a certain motif with this song. Perhaps this style has a certain niche. To me, it sounds like the guitarist is playing all the wrong notes just to be funny. I'm glad this song found a following on the boards. I just intend to delete it once I submit the review.

[JoeCrip the Gang-Star]

:twisted: this remix reminded me in every way of a retarded 6 year old girl on speed with her head in a toilet. but, being that i like retarded 6 year old girls on speed with their heads in toilets, I thought it was an all right mix. it wasn't glamorous by any means, but hey, it was pretty good, the guitar worked all right. don't hate. :twisted:

[Avatar82]

I love this remix. I'm totally surprised at the negative responce its getting.
yeah the guitar sounds off key at times, but it just makes the atmosphear in my opinion. when i listen to this song i picture 3 guys in a garage "jamming" nothing more nothing less. just jamming. i think thats great. I don't know the history of the song or what all went in to making this medly but i think ppl are looking too deep into it and looking for "technical" errors or whathave you. its just some guys jamming to me :) keep on rockin!

[skawttieboy]

alright, now I have heard this mix LONGGGGG before it was put on here, and was never a fan of it....just in my opinion, the guitar could use some serious working on. Just something about this mix...just doesn't seem to flow right. Not a personal fan of this one...but oh well, everyone's hit and miss. :(

[bulletproofpossom]

One of the best remixes of the infamous battle theme I have ever heard. One thing that was slightly annoying was that the guitar was too staccato. If it had slurred more it would have been incredible, despite it's being out of tune.

[A-RoN]

Doesn't stand out that much for a metal /punk mix of FF battle themes, but it's acceptable. I loved the arrangement of the FF2 battle theme section. The boss part was slightly out of tune, but recognizable. The FF6 battle theme really gave me an adrenaline rush (especially the ending of that section where the low overdrive and cymbals reached a loud creshendo. awesome). After that, the song before the great victory jingle arrangement was unrecognizable what-so-ever (TOO chaotic). A few things to work on, and the song will be excellent.

[Alfador]

Granted it isn't the most well played remix, but I much prefer this over even the best techno/trance/house/dance etc remix.

[Evilhead]

Man, why all the complainers? Personally I think this mix is fantastic, the guitarist included!! I prefer the guitar to be a little sloppy, as I pretty much hate over-chorused, over-produced butt-rock guitar. I'm so glad they went the punkish metal route with this one! Seriously, how many of you people who complained about the guitar-work actually PLAY guitar? I do, and I'd have to say that he did a pretty good job, especially since it's all live. Rock on!!!

[Straziante]

While the arrangement is awesome, I play guitar and I'll complain about the quality of the distortion. A thicker, juicier distortion would really work in the song's favor. Especially the FF4 boss theme. That melody screams for sustain and massive amounts of distortion. The style with which it was played fits perfect, although the "solo" really struck me as, well, not all that great. The bass guitar sounded really good, although I can tell it was played with a pick. Not enough thump to it. I can understand why, cos if you know how to play these basslines, they are pretty heinous. Overall, truly awesome. Recommended.

[AnimeSteve]

I thought this was a very excellent piece. Of course, it gets really good around the FFIV boss theme. Then it just gets better. It really sparked a craving for more FF music. Nobuo Uematsu has about 20 more copies of his songs on WinMX now.

In any case, I really also think this could be worked on a bit more. FOR EXAMPLE, they should emphasize the crescendo's a bit more. That's what really makes me have an orgams with this kind of music; the crescendos. They flat out RULE. Sadly, they aren't emphasized enough. A viola might fit in nicely here. Pretty damn good, otherwise.

[Domukaz]

Loved everything--EXCEPT the Atma Weapon sequence. Taking liberties with the original I can deal with, but a guitar doesn't suit the Weapon's tune. I couldn't recognize it.
Even so, it was a great piece. Bravo!

[pie-gwut-jai]

Wow, loved every bit of this song, truly a master piece...
all these tunes bring back memories of ff6, good stuff keep up the good work

[Kadosho]

This is an excellent rendition of various FF Battle themes.
But then hey I'm a grunge nut! =D
Great work on this one!

[Gnam]

This is a great concept and great arrangement. I've been waiting to hear some guitar mixes of SNES FF battle music for a long time. Unfortunately I feel like the execution was rushed. Often it seems like 1 guitarist is trying to handle 2 or 3 different layers of melody at once, so he skips or cuts off some notes early to get to others. Other times it just sounds off key, or some nots get drowned out by others, or by sheer distortion. Plus, the overall recording quality just is kinda low. It's allready good, but I think it could be 10x better if they went back and redid it in a studio, with the time to really work things out and do multiple takes for each part, and work it till it's perfect.

[YtseJam04]

I think the mix was alright. The guitars definatly need some work, but my hat's off to you for figuring it out as wel as you did. the bass was on the money for the most part. the drums I thought were a little off at times. Perhaps the guitars would have sounded better if there had been a second guitar player involved. I am a musician, so I understand the value of a second guitarist when playing harmonized leads. The solo for the Atma theme needs a little work too. I realize that in the original, it was kind of wishy-washy, but there are some definat miss-slides there. I'm not a fan of the trebley bass, but those bass lines are hard enough, so do what you gotta do. overall, pretty good

[zircon]

The guitar is very well played, man. It sounds like he did it all in one sitting, which is commendable.

[YtseJam04]

Oh I agree that it was well played. I just think that it could have used a little bit more time, or at least a couple different takes of it so iron out the wrinkles. I think it's awesome that he figured out all that stuff, and I realize that some of it is pretty hard to do, but don't you think that maybe a few more takes to perfect it would have made it sound better than it already did?

[Drunken Japanese man #2]

This is exactly what someone needs to do with the Pokémon battle themes. I thoroughy enjoyed this mix.

[Gary]

Hi there ! I am a fan of Final Fantasy, I played every single adventures of this masterpiece, and I still listen often to Final Fantasy music...
I would say that this remix is not that bad, except at 57 seconds and at 1min16 precisely, there is a really bad dissonnance there, you guys are like 1 tone down.. please do something about that, It just dont fit.. I know you guys can understand that and correct it.

Sincerely,

[~Link_Master~]

I'm basing my review on the song itself, because I've never played the game.

I like this song. I think that the guitarists were very good. To be able to switch to three different styles of music - and to play them well - in one sitting is very impressive. It was fun to listen to the song go from a light rock in the beginning, then to a hard rock, then use of a wawa for the last part of the song. There was nothing repetitive in the song at all, and it's a good song for any rocker to listen to, wether you're a hard rocker or an old-school rocker, it fits all the catagories, I think.

The worst part of the song, though, was the drums. At times, it seemed like it was all fills, and there was no definite beat going on the drums.

All over, it was a good song, and I liked it, but it still had it's problems.

[Bummerdude]

Oh dear, I was surprised that these actually made this mix LIVE, but it sounded so bad I thought. I´m not saying that I would do it better, cause my result would be unrecognizable, give everyone headache and my fingers would have scars all over their prints. What I´m saying is that when someone makes a remix, it should have some skills. Onca again, I´m not a remixer either, so the results would probably be the same as the guitars, and these guys really did well for being live, but personally I didn´t like it.

[SakakiAzu]

The transitions are very good.... I liked it, it sounds a bit wierd... uh..... hmm... the word.... messy...

8/10

[Soapy]

Masterpiece' don't let anyone tell you otherwize.

[brunoafh]

Let me start off by saying I'm an expierenced guitar player and I'm slightly offended that this mix made it on the site.

Positives - The drums are a nice mix up and the set sounds really good for the most part. The fills are neat sonding and aptly placed. The arrangement is well done, a few transition mistakes and sloppy shifting but nothing to throw a fit about. The overall mix of the audio is also very good.

Negatives - Guitar parts are played out of key, guitar sounds slightly out of tune, chords are sloppy, very choppy at times. Some parts of the songs are not played by the guitar at all, and there is only 1 guitar lead throughout making them sound very plain and dull. The tones are awful and at times you can't even tell what is being played or what is happening. Don't get me wrong, it has potential but wow, the playing needs some SERIOUS work. Good things could be done with this piece, but put simply, they were not.

Overall - 4/10

[uagrenadier]

Masterpiece' don't let anyone tell you otherwize.

Ditto

If I want flawless execution i'll listen to a midi :)

[42]

Can't say I really care for this mix. I agree that the guitars are off.
Still its obvious that effort went into this and people were tributing a game that the love.
This mix gets an A for effort.

[Marmiduke]

I don't know if there's too much to say about this one other than its quite different in quality to what else is on the site. It's not garbage and has a few merits, but something has to give when performance and production is so messily presented in the one package. There's a disregard to quality here that I can't really get in the spirit of, to tell you the truth. I don't really care all that much for the arrangement as it reeks of a forced medley.
I will say that some standalone tunes appealed to me and there are some moments where things click in place and work. The latter half, for example, is miles better than the first and seemed to have a better grasp on direction by the time it had finished. But as a full package, this is way too sloppy for me to condone. Not much flies over my head, but if this sound was intentional, I don't want to understand it. There is no reason why this couldn't have had the same rough edge without totally ignoring the more basic principles of music-making. Keep it dirty if need be, but for god sake, make it make sense.

[OA]

Wasn't feeling this one too much, the guitars were really sloppy, and the group wasn't tight for several passages. I think the highlight for me was the drum playing, which was the most solid of the 3 parts.

I bet it'd be better seeing this live, but as-is, i'll pass. Sorry. :-(