ReMix: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 'It's My Turn to Dream'

main

download

Download MP3
5,836,800 bytes, 4:00, 192kbps

Play Preview
Streaming preview on YouTube

Game: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo, 1993, GB)
ReMixer(s): Benjamin Briggs
Composer(s): Kazumi Totaka, Koji Kondo, Kozue Ishikawa, Minako Hamano
Song(s): 'Ballad of the Wind Fish', 'Dark World', 'Metal Man Stage', 'Overworld', 'Windmill Hut'
Posted: 2005-09-07, evaluated by the judges

Just got done watching the Agassi-Blake quarterfinal at the US Open, which was truly, in a word, epic. Started off very one-sided, with Blake's speed making Agassi look his age, but then a rally in the third and fourth sets illustrated Andre's conditioning, and when the fifth set went to a tiebreaker, which ended as close as it could get, at 7-6, with Agassi taking it, well... just plain classic. Speaking of classics, chthonic got inspiration for his latest ReMix from one of AE's old, great gems:

"I like this one a lot. It was basically an attempt to stay faithful to a genre (Trance) while at the same time deviating furiously from it. I think I succeeded, and the end product is really quite... well, odd. Anyway, I'll let the music speak for itself because I am too lazy to think of all the notable things. Hopefully it will get some of you people out there in the Internet dancing. Oh yeah, the Metal Man reference is actually just a reference to AE's "Stainless Steel", the mix that got me interested in making music of my own. "

Things get started quickly - no extended ambient intro waiting for the drums or bass to drop, or long, cumulative/additive phase. Rather, Mr. Briggs gives the people the "phat bassline" they so clamor for, moves every zig, and intros with a nice thick analogue synth bass, squishy hats, and then quickly snare rolls into a kick-drum anchor after a harp does a nice, subtle little run. There's quite a number of Zelda themes that cameo in the mix's four minute time-span, but Link's Awakening remains the dominant source - it's less a medley and more a series of nods/homages, with a consistent thread throughout. Weed says:

"i am most impressed by how you played to the strengths of the themes; its hard to explain but you can't force a source to do something it isn't cut out to do sometimes... and here you fit a bunch of different shit together by using them in situations and places where they fit perfectly and together form a tapestry of coherence. i know that makes no sense but listening to this, even the cameos by various other videogame themes is fluid within the whole mix. very nice."

I'll go with that, for the most part - I did feel that the key changes at 3'33" and 3'35" began to feel like too much was being done, too late in the game, to incorporate that specific melody. In general, rapid key changes in trance are gonna be tricky, so that might be it too. However, that's a few seconds or so out of four minutes, and zyko's point is still pertinent - there's a lot of themes being woven into a trance tapestry, and while that could come off as being awfully tacky and insulting to those melodies, it instead just plain works, due in large part to the ReMixer's ability to competently transition and to keep things compositionally fresh in a genre that places emphasis elsewhere. It is still faithful to the genre, as Ben suggests he was shooting for, don't get me wrong, but it also goes quite a few places, melodically, in four minutes, which your average trance track usually doesn't aim to accomplish. The last sentence of Larry's play-by-play summed things up nicely, so I'll just end with that, and echo the sentiment:

"Well put-together and a great third ReMix."

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.

Sick remix, and the thought put into the different parts really worked well. The AE metal man homage was classy and very obvious, even if the part itself was subtle. Very cool idea. :D
Overall a really solid and well done mix. Strongly recommended, check this one out!

- OA on August 27, 2010

I completely forgot this existed! Don't you love it when you accidentally discover something awesome that you weren't even looking for?
Link's Awakening sucked up my childhood like a sponge, so I in turn am a huge fan of anything that allows a window back to those sweet, chiptune-fueled times. What I really like is this mix is almost like the fabric of my memories folded back on itself several times to create the ultimate nostalgia hit, with a dance beat to boot.
Besides my own personal affiliation with the source, this is still a stellar work. The arrangement is tight and transitions are superb. It feels less like a medley and more just a trancey festival of Zelda. The themes are given adequate attention, and they are very strong themes so it's not like they really needed too much labouring anyway. The fluidity comes across as the most important aspect of the mix, and also the mix's biggest success. I'm a fan of this mix, can you tell?
By the way, don't you just love threads with fights in them? That's some great entertainment right there.

- Marmiduke on August 31, 2009

So.. I like it. High energy. Fluid (I can't figure how many themes you put in here, but I know there are many, and I'm too lazy to look at the mix's page again to count.. but they sound compatible). It necessitates multiple listens. And when I think you're taking something away, you bring it back, but more interestingly (perhaps that was just that one instance near the end). Hurray for a review that confuses even me.

- SoulinEther on January 6, 2009

Neato! So much more futuristic than this Zelda was in its time but in a really cool way. I really like the echoing between L and R stereo since it caught me off guard (plus you didn't over do it). Overall, truly complex and kept me well interested throughout.

- Ryu2Wolf on January 6, 2009

It may simply be due to not having received any subs for a while from Ben, but this is a guy who hasn't gotten his due yet as being one on OCR's most talented members.
I voted on this back in the day (naturally), but the strength and energy of the arrangement, and the top-notch production are simply unmistakeable. I was surprised reading those old 2005 posts by some of the more outspoken/blowhard critics, as I had totally forgetten about their comments. Not worth the time they took to type 'em. :lol: I certainly hope we hear more from Ben.

- Liontamer on May 22, 2008

Edit: I totally reviewd the wrong Zelda song! Go me :P
Well, I might as well give my two cents on this then. This mix has a great bass-line, interesting synth lead line, and excellent panning and arrangment among other things.
I definetly reccomend it.

- Broken on May 14, 2006

This is one of my favorite remixes I have in my collection. Because whenever I listen to it, I feel like I'm in a club or something, it's got such a great beat, a beat that you can like dance to haha. I really love this mix, and can stick it on loop for hours on end without it ever getting old.

- Slimee on May 14, 2006

This is definitely one of the better Link's Awakening mixes.. I've always loved the Wind Fish Ballad and it's a nice take on it with the heavy synth and bass that I love much more than [i]Influence of Koholint[/i]. What really spiced it up were those little cookies contained within.. you listen and go 'omg that's Metalman!'.. the others were more subtle and only picked them up after listening a few times. This is a rockin mix, excellent work.

- Dr. Wily on March 17, 2006

this is by far one of the best loz remixes i've heard. does anyone else think of megaman 2 metal man stage at the one minute mark?

- ncjason77 on March 5, 2006

This is the best Zelda remix I have. Hits the themes well, nice trance feel, and is joyful! Great job!

- diamondfalcon on February 20, 2006

My initial appreciation for this song extended only as far as I was pleased to find a piece that, I felt, remained the truest to the Ballad of the Windfish, the tune I thought most exemplary of LoZ: Link's Awakening. As I listened to it more, however, and added it to a playlist of my favorite Legend of Zelda songs by OCR mixers et al., I found that its complexity was what was most appealing: multiple layers, each that complimented each other, held together with a melody that is just superb.
As a rule, I have never been a fan of diverting from a single piece, single game, in the hopes of not taking on too much without doing justice to each individual piece. In this case, I was willing to overlook that, as chthonic gives minimal regard to sticking to even a single series. (The Metal Man Theme reference, for example)
As for the ending, while it does not, say, satisfactorily round off the piece as a whole, it leaves room for a nice transition into, in this case, Theophany's Aquescent Symphony. And when making a playlist, I would argue that the transition between the pieces is equally important as the pieces themselves.
Overall, it is one of my favorite OCR LoZ ReMixes.

- Rainman DX on January 12, 2006

It's definitely one to listen to. The trance goes oddly well with the songs involved in the style and keeps making a good beat enough for you to like it.

- FinalGamer on January 12, 2006

I love it. First of all, I thought it was just another remix and then I actually sat down, concentrated on listening to it and I was bobbing my head uncontrollably. I feel like I'm standing atop a cliff with the wind blowing in my face, picks me up when I'm down, now that's what I call a good remix, and talent!

- lady zelda on December 31, 2005

This remix is just full of uber sweet trancey goodness. Yum! I can't wait to see what chthonic churns out next.

- DJ Skratch 'n' Sniff on December 29, 2005

I love this remix so much! ;3;
Makes me wanna dance, and I love recognizing the different themes.
I always end up saying: "Oh wait, this parts my favorite!", and then another 'favorite' part comes up..
Another song that makes me happy!
Thanks for making it!

- Shinkako on December 29, 2005