ReMix: Xenogears 'Chu Chu's Flight'

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Xenogears

Jared Hudson continues with his effective style of dramatic, cinematic arrangements, this time with a soaring orchestral mix from Xenogears. Beginning with some mellow, deliberate percussion and chromatic percussion along with piano, the tempo establishes itself at 0'49" after a nice ride cymbal roll, when a military snares gets things going and sets the pace for the rest of the track. You then get a gradual build with strings (legato and pizzicato), cymbal crashes, ensemble brass, and choir for the finale / climax around 4'32". I'm real picky about choir integration, and I will say that I had some issues with the patch used and the way it was mixed with the rest of the elements, but you're likely to get swept up in the emotive and forward-flowing melodic nature of the piece where you could care less. For some reason I wanted this to end right at 5'04", on a chord that didn't resolve, just cause it would have been different and would have worked well, I think, but the ending is handled well regardless with a gradual ritard. Jared seems especially adept at the orchestral percussion thang, as you'll hear from the well-placed use of various of cymbals, dynamic, believable, and never-faltering snare line, and chromatic percussion as well, and for me that was the highlight of this mix. Nice, uplifting work that's true to form for Hudson.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
This song just randomly shuffled into my playlist and after hearing it for so long, I -must- chime into this thread and say, seriously Hudson, this is one of the most finest pieces of music ever and it's a shame you don't remix Xenogears anymore.

- Zero_ on November 1, 2008
Sinistral;255013 wrote: This is seriously one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever listened to. Yasunori Mitsuda's greatness combined with your musical skill is... well, nearing perfection... Thanks you so much for creating this!

QFT. This song is awesome in so many levels.

- Golbez on April 26, 2008
This piece is great. I couldn't write an in-depth review, because most of it would be something like "OMG AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Well. *Sniff.* Time for some z's. :sleepdepriv:

- Doomguy on March 1, 2008
Hey, this is a really fricken awesome piece. One of the best Xenogears remixes on the site! Great work.

- Duo on May 3, 2007
Words cannot express how great this song is.
I mean seriously, I don't know what's more worth crying over. The beauty of this song, or the fact that the creator stopped making remixes in less than a year.

- Superrpgman on April 7, 2007
I've listened to this song for quite a while now and somehow it doesn't get boring or uninteresting.
This is seriously one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever listened to. Yasunori Mitsuda's greatness combined with your musical skill is... well, nearing perfection... Thanks you so much for creating this!

- Sinistral on April 5, 2007
This song is awesome, but I can't help but think that the theme of this song was based off of the "Magnificent Seven" theme.

- Hyper Inferno on October 20, 2006
Having never played the game (blasphemy against the genre, I'm sure,) I've never heard the original piece.
With that said, this mix definately has some power to it. My favorite section is the building that occurs beginning at :50. Great stuff.

- SoC on September 22, 2006
This is a truly excellent piece you've done Jared... on the song's intro, very nice, I remember the original very vividly, and the intro ties into the original's intro well, which you added... being a hardcore Xenogears fan (well, maybe not HARDCORE, but very close), this song brought back memories, especially of that particular scene in which I believe it was named after, when Chu Chu gears up for a fight, also the scene with Maria running down the hall, I love this game, my second fave (first is Final Fantasy VII)

- YearXero on August 23, 2005
Nice to know a lot of people think the same thing i do about this one...when i first heard it...i couldnt belive how good it was. Several months later i can still only come up with one word that truly describes it Perfection. Keep it up Jared This is some of your finest work.

- Hyperion5182 on November 4, 2004
So inspiring! So moving! *sniff*
This is a great song. My favorite individual elements are the plucked strings and the bells; they're just so crisp and nicely done.

- Rex on October 8, 2004
This was a great melody from Xenogears. This was the major victory music (let's you know the worst is over and everything's gonna be alright), and I loved when it played in the (too) few places in the game.
Jared's version starts off slow, but it's worth the wait after the melody kicks in at 2:00.
Somehow I don't end up liking the violin synth that serves as the main melody throughout the piece. It seems a little too synthesized sounding, although I imagine it's faithful to the original's sound on the PSX. Maybe Jared needs some better instrument samples? :P
As with my comment on "Pilot the Yggdrasil", I'd like to hear more dynamic range, even though I know the original was very flat as well. But, hey, what is a remix if not an improvement upon the original?
I read DJPretzel's comments about the chorus and while I thought it added a lot, I'm also open to hearing how it could be improved. I know Jared's done a remastered version of his MGMC, and I don't know if he plans to make re-editing his works a regular event, but I'd like to hear this with a better melody instrument, maybe new chorus, and a slightly shorter intro.
I liked the chorus and the cymbal crescendos and the ending was a nice cool down after the strong melody. Well done!

- CasualT on August 25, 2004
Never heard the original or played Xenogears, but this remix is uber-powerful. The intro is just a bit meandering and low, so that's the only weak point. IMHO it should've started from :50.
But once the drums start in for real at 1:20, you know the fun is about to start.
At exactly 2:00, it feels like you are actually flying along with this "Chu Chu" (don't know the story, just going with the title). The soaring majesty of wheeling through the clouds stays with you all the way through. The synth choir voices at 4:34 are a bit cheesy, but their harmony is so perfect, I forgot about it and just enjoyed. The ending is well played, but of course it feels like a huge letdown, and you just want to soar into the clouds once more. So.... play it AGAIN!

- ESHbyESH on August 15, 2004
I managed to miss this song so many times, searching for songs I might like, hear the beginning, then skip it. Then I ran across it again, and listened to it, very shortly, at several different points, and thought it was to sweet sounding in the middle. But then once, I just wasn't paying attention to what my computer was playing, and listened to the whole thing.. and wondered what it was.
The song starts slow, although I would not say it is bad, kind of interesting, really. And not in a bad way. that part that starts at 2:00 made me cry the first few times I heard it. the choir though, is a little much, and it doesn't... really sound that good to me. Didn't sound real, and it seemed... to miss... something... that the rest of the song had. But, I like the song overall.
On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, I'd give it a 8.5. Mostly for the time between 2:00 and 4:34. I mean, really, it is really really great. Amazing.

- the lone walrus on August 13, 2004
I would like to add more praise to this beautiful song, because it is wonderful. But it would also, and more importantly, like to say this:
Chu-chu is the mightiest being ever to come out of a video game, heck maybe even out of all of human history.
Or, IMHO, at least =)

- ourDreamcatcher on August 6, 2004

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