ReMix: Parasite Eve 'Beauty's Abomination'

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 'This Feeling' prev   list all   next Chrono Cross 'Dreaming Still'
download Download MP3
6,206,244 bytes, 4:19, 192kbps
Stream/preview on YouTube Play Preview
Streaming preview on YouTube
eStarland.com
Parasite Eve

Parasite Eve's been getting the love lately, with ktriton and now Mr. Kee paying homage to the title, whilst Symbiont Dawn is sadly neglected. Or not; biology humor ftw. This is some very cinematic solo piano work, with Reuben ditching the taikos and other accompaniment for a return to his ivory roots. It's not necessarily a more complex arrangement style compared to his initial pieces, but in the performance you can hear an approach and depth that reflects the passage of time. I love the very minimalist, almost Eyes Wide Shut intro, which segues into natural, arpeggio-anchored motion at 0'20". Oscillations of dynamic and tempo are synchronized to effect a deliberate, swaying motion that can best be likened to natural phenomena: trees in wind, waves, or the uncertain, fluctuating surfaces of estuaries. The preceding sentence clearly illustrates how a lack of judge quotes affects these write-ups. But I digress; it's over four-minutes long, but feels more like a journey than a destination, even though things develop and waves crest several times, more notably circa 2'21". I'd like to see more solo piano arrangers try alternating time signatures and implementing more unorthodox rhythmic progressions, but I can't argue that the regularity present for those criteria in this mix have a hypnotic, lulling influence. This wouldn't be out of place in a stoic, subdued British film about unrequited love between a single mother and a repressed, bearded, seafaring wharfmaster, who figure out only too late that they're soulmates, because one of them has terminal cancer of the mustache, and dies... in a good way. Seriously, for some reason this piece keeps making me think of ocean imagery and water; your nautical mileage may vary. Great work from Reuben, who manages to switch between Eastern and Western styles on his compositions very fluidly, and with seemingly equal talent.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 14 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
It always tears me up listening to Reuben's reMixes, because they are all fantastic and his piano reMixes are very mellow and full of emotion. The thing that gets to me the most is that we'll never hear any more new works from him. The world lost a great person on that day.
Love the piece. Very emotional and a great reMix from the great Reuben.

- Subz1987 on February 15, 2009
I find it ironic that this would be Reuben's last submission. I didn't check it out properly until today though, and from what has been proven, he showered the original source tune with such grace and beauty that Yoko Shimomura could be proud of. It's times like this that I envy his skills to carry such skill into solo piano and still love him for it. Definitely a highlight as far as Parasite Eve coverage is concerned. :)

- Rexy on November 29, 2007
This is one hell of a piece. An incredible achievement. One of the most overlooked games in history imo gets one of the better remixes i have heard off this site. Parasite eve might of been short but it's storyline just owned and overall the game rocked. To this day i hold out hope a third parasite eve could be made. The original game's music only complimented a storyline that truly gave me nightmares. A well deserved remix for an exceptional game.

- Hyperion5182 on February 17, 2007
To tell the truth I'm not a piano solo fan, I like to have a few support sounds to go along with it, but nevertheless you definately have tremendous skill with the piano. Hell, I can't even immitate the Maridia song for Super Metroid on the piano. So if I were a judge I'd give youn 10/10 easilly :D

- HoboKa on February 16, 2007
I am a huge fan of Kee's work. Really. I love his music. But for some reason I can't agree with the previous posters. Maybe it's because it sounds like all the songs my brother plays over and over again and I stop listening to them. I actually couldn't hear the song while it was playing because it wasn't captivating enough. So, sorry Mr. Kee, the music just seems dead to me right now.

- Thin Crust on February 15, 2007
PassivePretentiousness;233055 wrote: I don't like the balance in this track. The left hand seems like it's flooding out the right without contributing much to the arrangement. I've been listening to this a few times to be sure, but I feel that more subtle compositional choices would have improved the mix substantially. See 1:45, 2:20-3:00. The later part should be the climax. It feels instead like a wall of sound most of the time.

I felt the same way. Even on headphones and turning the bass down it was like "BASSBASSBASSBASS" in my ears.
Other than that, it was pretty (can you say that and stay manly?).

- bladiator on February 14, 2007
I don't remember the original very well so any comparisons I may have made are moot, but as a piece of music, it stands alone very well.
I love the sublties of piano remixes, and this one definitely delivers, Buildup before the end has a lot of drama and everything throughout is well played.
Nice work, i dig it. :D

- OA on February 14, 2007
Great stuff. Sick track. Love it. Added it to my sleep list, and to the CD I take with me when I get massages. My therapist plays the VGM mix CDs I give her for other people too and they're always complimenting.
Keep 'em comin' - this is great.

- Mustin on February 14, 2007
I thought the title sounded familiar. I got this off VGMix about a year ago. It hasn't changed at all since then. Hmmm... "date modified 3/30/06" Well, almost a year.
Anywho, really great mix. Love the overall flow; takes you all over the freaking place.

- DJ Skratch 'n' Sniff on February 13, 2007
I liked djp's writeup as much as the song.
Wharfmaster with terminal cancer of the mustache...lol

- badhabit on February 13, 2007
I liked it, I'm really just waiting for Reuben to get hired to do some soundtrack for a huge anime or film. He has all the talents there to pull of something amazing. Almost everything he does is highly emotional and just sounds great

- ILLiterate on February 12, 2007
I don't like the balance in this track. The left hand seems like it's flooding out the right without contributing much to the arrangement. I've been listening to this a few times to be sure, but I feel that more subtle compositional choices would have improved the mix substantially. See 1:45, 2:20-3:00. The later part should be the climax. It feels instead like a wall of sound most of the time.

- PassivePretentiousness on February 12, 2007
This went directly onto my HD. :)
This reminds me alot of Reu's Schenmue mix. Which is also friggin amazing. Highly emotive piano that sounds like it's from a real serious anime.
Good things:
Attention to dynamics, wonderful build-ups and breakouts. Just when you think it can't get more emotive it does.
Melody and harmony are awesome. I just wanna sit back and listen.
Left hand technique. This is really the bread winner for this mix.

- avaris on February 12, 2007
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on February 12, 2007

Content Policy
(Submission Agreement and Terms of Use)

Page generated Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:17:24 -0500 in 0.065 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