ReMix: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior 'The Ken Song'

Double Dragon II: The Revenge 'Mean Streak on Main Street' prev   list all   next Final Fantasy IX 'Hunter's Community Chest'
download Download MP3
6,072,391 bytes, 4:13, 192kbps
Stream/preview on YouTube Play Preview
Streaming preview on YouTube
eStarland.com
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Though it will sadly never be as ubiquitous or widely accepted into our collective consciousness as The Thong Song, newcomer Joe Darwish's take on Ken's previously-unmixed-on-OCR theme from Street Fighter 2 is a knock-down, drag-out, kickass first mix, a complete rock overhaul with original lyrics and pretty polished vocals, with lots of doubling, harmony, attention to panning. A clean crisp sound - not quite as metal/edgy as Game Over's sound, more of a Top 40/alterna/Foo Fighters bent, with more straightedge vocals. Joe's done a fantastic job of building a vocal line over the original melody, mixing up guitar textures, acoustic drumming, and achieving an overall balanced sound. Now, let's talk a sec about the lyrics - I think they're great, personally - they certainly work for me - but I also find the line "realise your ken" hilarious. I talked with Joe and he said the lyrics were perhaps cheesy but not intended as humorous, so I just consider this an unintended benefit. Let me clarify that, in case it's vague: though I find portions amusing, I LOVE these lyrics, and the cheese factor only adds to my enjoyment of the mix. This has a Star Salzman quality of being VERY catchy and quintessentially listenable and appealing. Perhaps not as elaborate, definitely not as risky, but that "radio" factor is there. I am so... damn.... glad that our first posted Ken mix covers the theme so thoroughly and in such a rock-out, embarassing head-banging + air-guitaring fashion. Articulation, technique, vocal processing, singing, drumming - all come together perfectly. Layering the background vocals over the lead at the end was the clear choice for building out the conclusion. I was gonna mix this theme, but this is almost everything I'd want in an arrangement; I'm not saying I don't think other talented mixers can cover it differently in the future in a way I'd still dig, but I don't personally feel like I'd listen to anything I myself came up with as much as Joe's coverage. Rock fans and Street Fighter 2 fans absolutely, under penalty of death, must download this mix. The venerated group of Ryu mixes is now joined by a blond-haired, American rival in red, and the world just got a little bit cooler in the process. Realise your Ken!

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Totally awesome song, now I really can't hear Ken's theme any other way. The guitar is amazing.

- Lucentas on December 6, 2008
very nice, i usually tend to stay away from remixes with lyrics, this was VERY well done
GOOD JOB

- Sayishere on June 17, 2008
This is what I've been begging god for, since I was a child.
I'll never be thankful enaugh.
Keep up the good work, Ryu and Guile themes would be appreciated too though... ;)

- MirkoSon on April 2, 2007
This is the bomb. The music is top knotch, the lyrics are good. When is the music video going to come out?!?!?!

- DrNeedlove on September 21, 2006
one of the greatest songs ever next to little macs confession, the rock genre is great and the lyrics are pretty beast good job.

- Asher on June 15, 2006
This song is made of pure win

- Geoffrey Taucer on April 28, 2006
The links to the song or jd's site aren't working.

- Johnmike on April 28, 2006
Pretty good, agreed. Obviously, I love the tune. The lyrics are OK, but overall, it's a 10/101

- yourmom9500 on April 3, 2006
Hi, your song is just too great, I listened to it at max volume and it freaked me out! But could we have the Music only version, it's rocking hard with the lyric but I would like to have a no lyric version...Is that possible? THANK!

- seriousken on April 2, 2006
you can go for weeks listening to the same OC Remixes over and over again then comes that one new mix that you haven't heard yet and it sparks your interest in mixes again. This is one of those mixes that just amazes you with what people can do with video game music. A very impressive remix with an awesome vocal job. A must hear.

- nikstar on February 9, 2006
Liontamer wrote:
A Gang of Field Mice wrote: could somebody post the lyrics to this? I must have them and I can't decipher them all.

http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01266
Bottom of the page, n00b. :lol:

See the attitude? Unbelievable.
Thanks. :oops:

- A Gang of Field Mice on January 10, 2006
A Gang of Field Mice wrote: could somebody post the lyrics to this? I must have them and I can't decipher them all.

http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR01266
Bottom of the page, n00b. :lol:

- Liontamer on January 9, 2006
could somebody post the lyrics to this? I must have them and I can't decipher them all.

- A Gang of Field Mice on January 9, 2006
This remix totally blows me away. It's just so cool it's crazy. This song is a total 10 out of 10. I hope you make a new song soon cause this one rocked.

- Jimstander Drago on January 6, 2006
Hes got you by the heart in a one way, brawl
from the start
Man.
I know Ive posted in this thread before abobut how much ass this song kicks.
I once again gotta say... man... months and months since that post, Oh fuck I cant help but sing along to this gem.
Thgis song gives me shivers.

- Trenthian on December 29, 2005

Content Policy
(Submission Agreement and Terms of Use)

Page generated Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:58:22 -0500 in 0.0407 seconds

All compositions, arrangements, images, and trademarks are copyright their respective owners. Original content is copyright OverClocked ReMix, LLC. For information on RSS and JavaScript news feeds, linking to us, etc. please refer to resources for webmasters. Please refer to the Info section of the site and the FAQ available there for information about the site's history, features, and policies. Contact David W. Lloyd (djpretzel), webmaster, with feedback or questions not answered there.

top of page