OCR01733 - Jade Empire & Global Gladiators "Global Empire"

A low hum and ear-ringing sound creep over the horizon, when with a sudden burst an amorphous, slimy synth pokes its head above tribal drumwork. Strings march forward with a like-iteration of Techno Tune (similar in feel but playing different notes) alongside clarion call-like brass swells, and the drumwork gets supplanted by sharper percussion that pops, claps, and punches all at once. A bejeweled synth then sings the GG source tune, satisfied with the attention.

At the drop of a cymbal+drum beat, most players bow down before a leading brass playing Fury, Hammer and Tongs in a warhammer-like tone (it's briefly doubled to emphasize its authority). What's crafty here is how the secondary melodies in both sources are given air time: the strings at 1:58 represent 0:22 of Techno Tune, and the brass at 2:23 highlights 0:57 of Fury, Hammer and Tongs.

A gong marks the (almost exact) halfway point, allowing a dreamy piano and chimes to disperse the smoky scene. A thumping bass starts moving things back into full throttle while the synth at 3:35-3:53 does some hilariously screechy, gated, notational falls and rises. Electronica flies over center stage, major gated moments (4:18 and 4:40) break up and refresh the energy flow, and even ghostly cries (4:07, 4:33, and 4:41) rise up to test their haunting prowess.

And then comes a shake-up that seamlessly feeds into the best-of-all-worlds fusion that is 5:03+. The guitar blazes low but fierce, the brass returns for another helping of the JE source, and more warped-out electronica echoes throughout the stadium. 5:37+ feels like a "this is it" climax - something big and mighty's rising up and is gonna floor everyone like a tidal wave. And it does, literally wiping out everything except a dying breed of Techno Tune.

Overall, this flows like a textbook detailing the dawn and growth of civilization, but it's 100 times more colorful and engaging. You guys sure made history.

Undeniably brilliant. I honestly would have never guessed that each remixer was in charge of a different section of the song - while there's definite genre differences, the end result is pretty seamless for a collab of such great scope! I don't think I can pick out a single element of the mix that I don't like, although the points where the audio stutters and cuts out seems like a nice idea that didn't fit in with the rest of the mix.

Other than that, terrific genre-fusion by three insanely-talented remixers, I can hear each one of their influences on the final product!

The word may be over used but this feels at once both epic and laid back and energetic, movie-score quality. Even better than, even.

http://reoganworks.blogspot.com/2010/11/song-of-week-215.html

I didn't do the writeup for this track, but this has definitely been one of the best collaborations I've seen.

A piece that has quite a lot going on at the same time without sounding overcrowded, the track really does a good job with its transitions and not losing the interest of the listener even at a 6-minute length. Enjoyed the good interplay between the various parts, and definitely enjoyed the track as a whole, particularly the part that starts around the 40 second mark - particularly once that crystallized sound hit around 1:05.