ReMix: The Guardian Legend 'Red Spiders'
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- Game: The Guardian Legend (Irem, 1988, NES)
- ReMixer(s): Shnabubula
- Composer(s): Masatomo Miyamoto, Takeshi Santo
- Song(s):
- Posted: 2004-07-18, evaluated by the judges
From newcomer... Shnabubula... comes a very original, crafty little Guardian Legend ReMix that's sonically different from anything else on the site, not in that it melds orchestral with electronica (which many mixes do), but in the WAY that it fuses the two. The ReMixer uses a lot of grainy synth patches and mucho DSP such that the vibe is always changing, and a solid beat never really gets established. This has the repercussion of making the mix something you can't exactly tap your feet to, sure, but it's got a very hypnotizing, schizophrenic sway to it, and both the electronic and acoustic elements are very organic and seem to coexist in the same universe, feeding off one another; at two minutes, it's quite short, yet seems to take the listener to several discrete locations and express myriad musical flavors. Shariq writes:
"The style is kind of crazy, but the piece manages to stay coherent at the same time. I really like how it switches back and forth from acoustic to electronic."
Right from the intro you get an idea of the particular timbres and effects being used, which aren't too common and actually sound like some of the old transwave patches I had for my Ensoniq ASR-10 and used (and abused) back with certain pieces; they're being used tastefully here, however, and the juxtaposition with much smoother and fairly high quality orchestral tones works well, sort of like moving from sand paper onto a polished porcelain surface and back, but in a good, calculated way :) Won't be everyone's cup of tea, but with a fair number of Guardian Legend mixes in existence, this one certainly takes extra care to be different, is spontanoues without being prohibitively erratic, and shows technique in several arenas simultaneously. Compelling, original first submission from Shnabubula; it'll be interesting to see what the follow-up will sound like.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the The backing orchestral stuff is absolutely brilliant, and totally unexpected. The cliche "This is something you've never heard before" really rubs me up the wrong way, but for this I have to make an exception. It's quite a unique blend of elements.
Far too short though, and the ending is one of the most abrupt in recent memory. But these are minor gripes to have when the mix in question is so damn cool and interesting. Kudos.
- Marmiduke on June 3, 2009
What I love about a lot of Sam's work is that you frequently need to listen a few times to even begin to figure out what is going on. Usually it's pretty rich in random visual imagery as well. Sometimes he has hooks in plain sight, and sometimes they are a bit more difficult to find, like in this track. Part of it may the underdeveloped transitions.
The amount of interpretation here is great, and things never stay static, though I am not really a fan of the weak transitions, as they don't flow at all. It's like there was this huge rush to show off all the sections, and thus not enough time was spent on each. The sections come in fully-formed, and evolve later on in the track, but not in a linear way. The fact that the beat comes and goes is a bit baffling as well. This is more like a remix quilt than anything, which is pretty cool and unique, but really makes it a high barrier to get over to enjoy the music.
The sounds used are pretty cool, super lofi synths and pretty nice orchestra samples give it a very unique duality. Sort of like like a planet with lots of spread out highly technological cities spread out, with organic wilderness separating them.
Overall a cool and interesting track, but don't expect to like it at first. It's one that will take awhile to grow on you.
- OA on April 9, 2008
However, this isn't my favorite... something about it I can't quite put my finger on... I am not terribly fond of the ending, for one thing. I suppose it would be hard to end the wild crazy ride anyway, but I'm not digging that ending.
- quoda on January 6, 2008
Having seen Sam become one of the more popular arrangers within the community in the last few years, I'm just surprised his first mix around here doesn't get more attention.
So back in the day when I'd never heard of Sam, this mix definitely came out of left field. If I recall right, Prot bitched about the piece not being developed enough. Maybe when you first hear it, sure. What I liked about this, however, was that Sam was so effective in varying the style of each verse that the track felt like a much longer, much more fleshed out piece of music. It actually says a lot in a short amount of time.
- Liontamer on May 14, 2007
The string stab chords between 1:37 and 1:40 are messed up....just like alot of this mix. I enjoyed how the synths are rearranged, but the composition itself goes all over the place and is very hard to follow. :?
Sorry. Not my thing, but I'll keep an open mind when I see your next mix.
- A-RoN on November 16, 2004
- SixthFlyingMan on September 25, 2004
- Jean Quad Van Damage on August 26, 2004
7/10
- flipt on August 26, 2004
I like most of the effects and instruments, and there's a decent amount of creativity (it could use a little more, though--it gets a little repetive at times.)
Grade B+
- DukeNukem007 on July 19, 2004
only objection i have is the fact that there is no intro, and just thrusts you into the song.
on repeat it sounds really awkward because of that.
- ShiroSynth on July 19, 2004
- Kaleb.G on July 19, 2004
A very good mix, of a track that's not yet covered (though I intend to do the Forest theme, the flying level where you fight the dragon). Very cool stuff from Shnabubula. Hopefully more to come.
- Snyderman on July 19, 2004
Ok. Um. Yeah. To me this really ... uh... ok, damn it. I'm lost for words. But it gave me a few ideas, none the less.
- Xelebes on July 19, 2004
maniacodepressif wrote: Well I liked the beat, higher quality could be nice cos some sounds really shine. The only thing, I can't saywhen I hear this song in the game. I got 6 songs from the original soundtrack, maybe I missed some.
But for a game no one was talking about in the days, it rules.
Track 15 of 68 on the provided NSF file, FYI.
- djpretzel on July 19, 2004
I've never heard anything like this before. I didn't quite believe Pretzel when he said this was something NEW... but it really is. The closest thing I can really compare it to is the megaman "Break the Beat in Half - Extra Pie Mix" which really isn't the same style at all, although it may have a slightly familiar philosophy in that it keeps jumping around. And besides, this mix is of better quality, I think.
While I'm a really big orchestral fan, and I'd love to hear a full mix done on one or two of the sections in this (specifically :45 to :50, for example.. 1:05-1:10, and there were a couple other similar sections as well) this mix is something very VERY original. As I mentioned, I've never heard anything quite like it. One could wish it were slightly longer, but then, this does communicate it's music quite well, and anything further would have to break even more new territory-- this bit has indeed been adquetely developed. So good job there. I'm only asking for more length because I'm a greedy bastard who, when given something good, wants more goodness.
Good work, well done! Hope to hear more from you in the future!
- Fieari on July 19, 2004
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