ReMix: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest 'Simon's Symphony'
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- Game: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Konami, 1988, NES)
- ReMixer(s): Jovette Rivera
- Composer(s): Kenichi Matsubara, S. Terashima
- Song(s): 'The Silence of the Daylight'
- Posted: 2003-03-05, evaluated by djpretzel
I always thought this piece could be done well in a hip-hop style, with rapping. In fact, when I heard DJ Crono's original FF6 submission, I remember thinking something similar could be done with CV2 tunage. Well, without me communicating that notion in any way, Crono's gone ahead and done just that. This is his latest opus, Castlevania 2 given the official DJ Crono makeover, complete with rapping, original lyrics, a great hip-hop beat with a load of quality scratching, gothic piano, guitar, and trumpet, all mixed into a hip-hop/rap stew. I particularly liked how Crono handles the rhythm of the vocals, which come in after a rather extended intro - it flows very naturally with the original, esp. the "One life . . " refrain, which sounds like the music was written FOR the lyric, and not vice versa. Which is a damn tricky effect to pull off. One pictures Simon, riding in horse-drawn carriage with tinted windows, neon underneath, and a booming subwoofer, blasting this whilst cruising the gothic streets of town late in the evening. Great stuff, a natural candidate for the "Crono" treatment that lives up to my original expectations. Recommended.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the I didn't know what I was getting into with the dry piano sample and
the funky trumpet solo early on, but then when the vocals came in I
was hooked. Awesome use of rhythms, and I think djp said it best
when he mentioned that it felt like the song was built FOR the
lyrics.
I especially enjoyed the use of panning on the vocals ... I kept wishing that the song was longer. Nice work.
- bladiator on June 11, 2008
I especially enjoyed the use of panning on the vocals ... I kept wishing that the song was longer. Nice work.
- bladiator on June 11, 2008
This is pretty ridiculous sounding. I think there are much better
choices out there to rap over if you're going to use videogame
music as your basis.
The track sounds incredibly thin with little to no bass and some of the elements are just bizarre sounding. I would say the vocal style sounds like hardcore more than rap. Kind of like 25 Ta Life or E-Town Concrete meets a midi file.
I guess I was irked right off the bat though when this was described as rap and then the vocals didn't kick in for a long time, making things pretty tedious.
The rap presentation should be worked on a bit too. There was no swagger coming across in the vocals. They just sounded kind of flimsy and weak. I hate to be so negative but I think laying down beats may be the composer's calling, but he should keep the rapping to himself.
- Jay-Zig on October 19, 2006
The track sounds incredibly thin with little to no bass and some of the elements are just bizarre sounding. I would say the vocal style sounds like hardcore more than rap. Kind of like 25 Ta Life or E-Town Concrete meets a midi file.
I guess I was irked right off the bat though when this was described as rap and then the vocals didn't kick in for a long time, making things pretty tedious.
The rap presentation should be worked on a bit too. There was no swagger coming across in the vocals. They just sounded kind of flimsy and weak. I hate to be so negative but I think laying down beats may be the composer's calling, but he should keep the rapping to himself.
- Jay-Zig on October 19, 2006
It seems like DJ Crono has once again bursted through the walls of
creativity and made something hip and flat and funky. My
rap-dictionary isn't what it's supposed to, but I'll try give this
a shot anyway.
The beginning was very smooth, it opened up with a piano which then kept the main role in the arrangement. Then after a while some new elements joined in, the trumpet for example together with the dark and heavy beats and.......strings? This rap session has class.
I thought that the lyrics would come in earlier, but it seems you decided to wait with that until the listener has gotten into the rhytm. The lyrics themselves was a little hard to hear, they sort of drowned with the rest of the sounds and it wasn't really clear either. If it wasn't for the lyrics, there would be no chance that I would hear something.
However, although the voices isn't that much of understandable, they do work as a musical component. The human voice adds the final jigsaw piece to this creation, there wouldn't be much rap without it, more like funky techno. This reminds me of your FF6 Eres des Points, but this samples had better quality this time, and the lyrics was now also personal since you was the one singing them.
Rap may not be the most appreciated music style(or maybe not, who knows), but this site wouldn't be much without remixers that dares to twitch and turn certain game tracks into something entirely different. Thanks for a pimpin' nice remix Crono, you're the man. :D
This is going into my mp3 on the double.
- Bummerdude on May 15, 2006
The beginning was very smooth, it opened up with a piano which then kept the main role in the arrangement. Then after a while some new elements joined in, the trumpet for example together with the dark and heavy beats and.......strings? This rap session has class.
I thought that the lyrics would come in earlier, but it seems you decided to wait with that until the listener has gotten into the rhytm. The lyrics themselves was a little hard to hear, they sort of drowned with the rest of the sounds and it wasn't really clear either. If it wasn't for the lyrics, there would be no chance that I would hear something.
However, although the voices isn't that much of understandable, they do work as a musical component. The human voice adds the final jigsaw piece to this creation, there wouldn't be much rap without it, more like funky techno. This reminds me of your FF6 Eres des Points, but this samples had better quality this time, and the lyrics was now also personal since you was the one singing them.
Rap may not be the most appreciated music style(or maybe not, who knows), but this site wouldn't be much without remixers that dares to twitch and turn certain game tracks into something entirely different. Thanks for a pimpin' nice remix Crono, you're the man. :D
This is going into my mp3 on the double.
- Bummerdude on May 15, 2006
First let me say that I am a huge Castlevania fan. I am simply
stunned after listening to this mix! I don't usually go for the
hip/hop style for these types of songs but this was done
beautifully. Mad props on pulling this one off with style and
grace.
- DooFiS on May 4, 2006
- DooFiS on May 4, 2006
LifeVirusZERO wrote: "Umdigodamore, Umbligottawattadorfore" mean? Someone had to ask.
Yeah hahaha
This song is quite grand.
- ChloroPhil on December 3, 2005
Cyryl The Wolf wrote: 8O OH MY GOD 8O
IT SUCKED. It's one of THE worst remixes I have EVER heard. You just HAD to go and remix a Castlevania track and fux0r it up...didn't ya?
Sorry if I seem extremely negative but...hearing some of my favorite music from one of my all-time favorite game series being BUTCHERED without the proverbial reach-around...was MORE THAN I COULD STAND.
In the future...PLEASE remember that Castlevania is a ROCKER'S game. Keep it away from the RAP. Good GODS! :roll:
(Yes. It's one of my first posts. I FINALLY had a reason to bitch.)
It's just as djpretzel said in his review of DJ Crono's Kono Sekai De, it would be a "love it or hate it" mix.
You know, I wonder what this guy was trying to accomplish by posting this? Does he think it's going to make DJ Crono stop making songs? I think not. I can understand why he might not like it. I, personally, am sort of a fan of the whole Rap/Hip-hop thing. I find this mix to be awesome in every way (yes, it has its flaws, but nothing's perfect).
I understand that maybe this guy just doesn't like rap music (heck, I used to HATE it), but that doesn't mean that he has to be a f*cking douche about it (yes, there's no other way to describe him than f*cking douche).
Well, anyway, my favorite part of this song is the part where DJC says "Tick Tick - BOOM!" I just really like the direction the melody goes at this point. It's presented very awesomely. The part that I don't like very much is the repeating snare drum every time DJC says "Don't show fear and do not forget", I just think it sounds a little bland. And what does "Umdigodamore, Umbligottawattadorfore" mean? Someone had to ask.
Anyway, keep up the AWESOME work Dj Crono.
P.S. I am also a remixer of this song (just not a hip-hop version). If you want to hear it, go here: :arrow: http://www.zerounithq.com/Castlevania%202.mp3
While it may not be the *best* version of this song ever, I still kinda like it. I would improve it and make it better, but I don't have the fruity loops project file anymore :(
- LifeVirusZERO on December 2, 2005
As a kid who grew in the black (predominantly rap/hip-hop favored)
and around gaming (my brother played CV2 constantly.), I found this
mix to be really, really cool. I haven't searched the site that
well yet, but it's damn good to hear some hip-hop finally.
This will definitely make me look forward to other hip-hop entries (especially in Castlevania).
Now to post my problems.
Some of the scratches and stuff are placed in places that kind of messes up the flow from what I'm expecting. For example, I like the ones at :45 and 1:38, but most of the others don't bode to well with me.
Lyrics are hard for me to judge. For one, I don't really understand them and their relation to Castlevania 2 (or Simon, or the towns he is in when that music is playing).
As for the "too white" thing, I kind of agree. This doesn't mean I think non-blacks should just stop trying to rap, but it doesn't generally flow well to me. I guess in rapping, the words being said, the flow of the words, and the accent of the words are all somewhat dependent on each other in order for it to sound good. Maybe...I dunno...DJChrono probably knows more about rap/hip-hop then I ever will, so more power to him I guess...or something.
Whatever, this is cool, that is all that matters.
Don't stop DJC.
- Trentdaddy on October 10, 2005
This will definitely make me look forward to other hip-hop entries (especially in Castlevania).
Now to post my problems.
Some of the scratches and stuff are placed in places that kind of messes up the flow from what I'm expecting. For example, I like the ones at :45 and 1:38, but most of the others don't bode to well with me.
Lyrics are hard for me to judge. For one, I don't really understand them and their relation to Castlevania 2 (or Simon, or the towns he is in when that music is playing).
As for the "too white" thing, I kind of agree. This doesn't mean I think non-blacks should just stop trying to rap, but it doesn't generally flow well to me. I guess in rapping, the words being said, the flow of the words, and the accent of the words are all somewhat dependent on each other in order for it to sound good. Maybe...I dunno...DJChrono probably knows more about rap/hip-hop then I ever will, so more power to him I guess...or something.
Whatever, this is cool, that is all that matters.
Don't stop DJC.
- Trentdaddy on October 10, 2005
Shinji XJ wrote: You should've kept your post count at 0.
Agreed.
By the way, this is classic djcrono. I love this track.
- myf on September 15, 2005
Cyryl The Wolf wrote: 8O OH MY GOD 8O
IT SUCKED. It's one of THE worst remixes I have EVER heard. You just HAD to go and remix a Castlevania track and fux0r it up...didn't ya?
Sorry if I seem extremely negative but...hearing some of my favorite music from one of my all-time favorite game series being BUTCHERED without the proverbial reach-around...was MORE THAN I COULD STAND.
In the future...PLEASE remember that Castlevania is a ROCKER'S game. Keep it away from the RAP. Good GODS! :roll:
(Yes. It's one of my first posts. I FINALLY had a reason to bitch.)
I may not be too much of a fan of hip-hop/rap either, but at least I keep to my own tastes, and not flame other people when they make a remix that I might not particularly like as well as some others.
You should've kept your post count at 0.
- Stalwart Jester on September 12, 2005
Cyryl The Wolf wrote: 8O OH MY GOD 8O
IT SUCKED. It's one of THE worst remixes I have EVER heard. You just HAD to go and remix a Castlevania track and fux0r it up...didn't ya?
Sorry if I seem extremely negative but...hearing some of my favorite music from one of my all-time favorite game series being BUTCHERED without the proverbial reach-around...was MORE THAN I COULD STAND.
In the future...PLEASE remember that Castlevania is a ROCKER'S game. Keep it away from the RAP. Good GODS! :roll:
(Yes. It's one of my first posts. I FINALLY had a reason to bitch.)
*sighs* To each his own...aw screw it! You really give n00bs like me a bad name. You could have posted your thoughts without sounding so biotchy and close-minded.
Now to my review of this remix...
This remix was well put together. I loved the piano intro in the song and I personally think that the horns wasn't necessary but, that's my opinion. I don't like rap that much and it's not a favorite of mine either but, so what?! It doesn't take way from the fact that DJ Crono did a good job on this remix. That's my take on it.
- Art_lover on May 13, 2005
Well, good news. My rap-fanatic uncle Silas is now hooked an one
OCRemix, at least. He wouldn't listen to any of the songs I sent
him until this one, and I had to pull "OCRemix" and "Castlevania"
from the title... He was surprised when he heard it came from the
same site and soundtrack as BloodyHell (another one he condemned
for being a video-game remix).
- SixthFlyingMan on May 6, 2005
- SixthFlyingMan on May 6, 2005
My compliments, sir. I must confess, I am very much not a fan of
rap / hip-hop in any form, yet I cannot help but enjoy this, and
all of your other remixes.
However, since it is rather early in the morning, I am afraid that I cannot analyze this piece in any greater detail. Either way, I was saddnened to not see any more of your work in the section of remixes form OC01001 to OC01250. I am hoping that you have another planned for the future, but even if you don't, the four that you have posted here are extremely good and will satisfy.
Once again, great work.
- Mogrothir on October 13, 2004
However, since it is rather early in the morning, I am afraid that I cannot analyze this piece in any greater detail. Either way, I was saddnened to not see any more of your work in the section of remixes form OC01001 to OC01250. I am hoping that you have another planned for the future, but even if you don't, the four that you have posted here are extremely good and will satisfy.
Once again, great work.
- Mogrothir on October 13, 2004
Simon Belmont hooked up with the city's gangsta rappers ? way
freaked out man 8O
i'd prefer him back in town of Jova or elsewhere..
- RimFrost the Tourianist on June 26, 2004
i'd prefer him back in town of Jova or elsewhere..
- RimFrost the Tourianist on June 26, 2004
I LOVE This remix. Its the first OC I downloaded, hence why this is
my first post. Not only is this the first one i DL'd, its also one
of the best ive heared, i give it a rare, yet well deserved and
earned 10/10. Well done Jovette!!
- Brad on June 26, 2004
- Brad on June 26, 2004
Best DJ Crono song besides that one at Anime Remix...you know...the
Egypt one...that I DWIed.
Though I don't like 0:53 and to a lesser extent 3:22.
Good amounts of layering and crap and uh...why do I even try? Er, I guess I could try...by saying few word sentences! Good arrangement, too, then. If you are a harsh rap critiquer and don't like his similar remixes, give this a try.
- Oddity on June 10, 2004
Though I don't like 0:53 and to a lesser extent 3:22.
Good amounts of layering and crap and uh...why do I even try? Er, I guess I could try...by saying few word sentences! Good arrangement, too, then. If you are a harsh rap critiquer and don't like his similar remixes, give this a try.
- Oddity on June 10, 2004
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