*NO* Final Fantasy 'Requiem for a Dying World' *RESUB*

Original decision: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=33556

RESUB decision: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36066

Requiem for a Dying World (Final Fantasy 1 album)

New write-up:

Chernabogue says: "Brandon started the FFIX project, but it was then directed by Fishy (that's what I read). He decided to make a heavy metal album to cover FF1 and I joined it, though I was not as good as other metalheads involved in the project. I first wanted to do 'Victory Fanfare', but it was already claimed by NintenJoe, so I decided to do 'Dead Music'. The source is simple but very effective. An organ/guitar duet was pretty obvious to do. I did the arrangement and Brandon recorded the guitars and bass for the track."

Brandon says: "I had originally made a mellotron-heavy version of this and the mellotron sounds in general seemed to be pretty unpopular with the panel for their mechanicalness, so now this version has lush LA Scoring Strings in it, some EWQL Choir and Alicia's Keys. All of the guitars and bass were re-recorded, and I loaded up my more modernly customized drum preset. I had to re-record some of the key parts to make them sound more natural as a violin. Tweaked the EQ on everything so it slides together like pb&j on bread. It was both an honor and a privilege to work with Chernabogue, would do it again in a heartbeat."

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I was digging this last time but even I'll admit this resub fixed a lot of issues I didn't even notice last time. Still a YES from me, but a much stronger one now:

YES

This improves a lot of the crits in decent ways, and while overall it feels stiff in places, i think it's a good evolution of a track i've alrady yessed.

yes

Mix info please? I know the source thankfully, but the other info, link to previous decision, etc., would be nice.

Before I begin, this source is very similar to

. Just putting that out there.

Orch stuff at the beginning sounds pretty shrill. No dynamics. Use some modwheel automation, swells, etc. Guitar and drums sound decent, but everything is pretty plodding once the violin comes back in. Very coverish and straightforward melody, no change in the harmony or rhythm. Original guitar work is nice but I was dying to hear a change in the harmony and chord progression which just gets old quickly. The rock elements are produced well, at least. Breakdown at 2:30 is really abrupt and does not sound good. The string writing is very 'blocky' for lack of a better word. More part-writing would be better, and more instruments like winds, brass, etc. I know it's hard, but that's what you have to do. Voice at 3:18 is pretty fake/weak-sounding, I don't really see the point of it. The ending is more of the same.

The mesh of orch and rock with this arrangement is not working. The orchestration needs to be fleshed out more, better transitions, more change-ups to the harmony, more dynamics.

NO

Still dislike the drums, but they weren't as big of a deal given the other improvements. At least the string tone was refined nicely and the worst offending notes were fixed. The guitar performance at 1:26 still sounded very stiff, especially paired with those machine gun drums. The guitar was more expressive at 2:10; not quite where it deserved to be, but stronger. Everything still sounds so robotically timed and lacking in energy and expressiveness as a result, which is a shame, because I loved the creativity, expansiveness and interpretation behind the arrangement concept. If this were on arrangement alone, it would be a clear pass.

It's not a strong NO, but I'm still leaning NO. I wouldn't have an issue if it passed, I just think the potential wasn't realized because the mechanical timing zapped a lot of the energy and dynamics that were inherent in the writing, which was unfortunate. Still a very solid effort, so no hate. I just don't see any other way to get a pass with this without re-performing the guitar and playing the sequenced drum parts live into a keyboard.

NO (resubmit)

I haven't heard this in a long, long time, but from what I can recall, this definitely sounds a hell of a lot better than it did then. I have to agree with Larry's points about the timing/expressiveness of the performances and a whole new re-recorded coat of paint could really take this track to the moooooon, however I do think this reaches the bar and flaws aside is still an enjoyable track. I'll roll with it.

YES

Zircon gets an actual LoL!!~ on the Christopher Cross reference.

The strings are not convincing at all, to the degree where it's kind of tough to listen to them. The rock elements are much better. I think the snare could have lots more verb. Unfortunately the rock section is pretty straightforward until 2:40. Man again this is so close. So many tough calls. There's a lot of really cool rhythmic and harmonic stuff going on in the last 1/3rd of the track.

You've got to get the rest of the track poppin' too. Actually, if I were you, i'd speed the track up a little bit and try to bring up the energy level.

NO

Pretty cool arrangement, I think I mentioned that last time. There's still such a stark difference between the string-led sections and the guitar-led ones. On the basis of the guitar ones, I would pass this. The overall effort is a little dry, but solid enough with that sweet guitar filling out the track. The string lead is not realistic enough, not loud enough, and not full enough, and really hurts the song. Oh look I copied Jesse's vote.

NO (resubmit)

Gotta say, I can see the other J's crits, but I think the bigger picture stands that it's still a pass in my book.

YES

I tend to agree with Sir Palpable. The rock bits are much better then t'others and that's a little annoying as one is clearly above bar and the other is clearly below. The lead violin sample is radically different to the general strings one in a nasty way, and isn't great to begin with. The choir sample itself isn't too bad but the way it's used is a bit awkward, see all of the 2:40 onwards section.

Rhythm guitar is pretty good, lead articulations are a bit vanille but generally fine. Drums are okay to me, although the snare is a bit high pitched maybe.

Sorry dudes, but the softer sections are really letting this down in terms of production quality. The transitions are so noticeable and it's really distracting. Have you considered asking Jeff for some help with the leads Brandon?

NO, plz resub

Zircon gets an actual LoL!!~ on the Christopher Cross reference.

I too laughed. WHEN YOU GET CAUGHT BETWEEN THE WORLD AND NEW YORK CIIIIIIITY~

Really rocks out a lot.

Violin gets kind of fakey/thin but it's serviceable until around 2:40 when it gets lost in the rhythm guitars. :\ Xylophone/mallet percussion around 1:48 is a really weird choice for a rock tune; makes the whole thing sound plinky.

I agree with other crits Js have made about strings and part-writing issues. I did like the vox sample though.

Needs a little work. NO