ReMix: Max Payne 'Tragedy of a Bullet'
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- Game: Max Payne (Gathering of Developers, 2001, WIN)
- ReMixer(s): Neil Benjamin
- Composer(s): Kimmo Kajasto, Kärtsy Hatakka
- Song(s): 'Max Payne Theme'
- Posted: 2007-03-18, evaluated by the judges
And now for something completely different... Neil Benjamin, whose last mix was back in September of '04, returns with something that's unique on multiple levels. Honestly, I'm *really* not just saying that - this one's peculiar, artistic, and haunting. It surely won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're into vocalizing stuff with perhaps a bit of Radiohead influence, or have a love of all things Max Payne, you're in for a treat. I'm really glad Neil resubmitted this based on panel feedback, cleaning up the production a bit, because it's not only our first coverage of Max Payne, which was rather a landmark PC title, but it's also just compositionally intriguing. It's the type of ReMix I would put on a compilation CD illustrating the breadth and depth ReMixes can cover - nothing else on the site sounds like it, that's for sure. Mr. Benjamin wrote in his original submission email:
"i figured i couldn't do a better remix in the same style as my previous submission, 'to far away memories', so i decided to try a totally different style with this one. i tried an acoustic version of this ( with the same cheap-ass guitar :) ), but didn't like the result. though there are some sparse instrumentation, and sound effects here and there, most of the song is just my voice. it's got a bit of influence from 'radiohead', 'the black heart procession' and 'elliott smith'. the focus of the song is on max's grief. in a game where people are killed by the hundreds, i wanted to concentrate the emotion on the consequences of just a single gunshot. hence the name, 'tragedy of a bullet.'"
Pretty cool conceptually as well. Malcos writes:
"This is quite an original sub and will bring some diversity to the site. I'm in agreement with the comments already made, namely that the sparse background lends itself to the style of this piece. The mostly accapella style is quite gutsy and is pulled off well. It doesn't sound too polished, and that actually makes the piece more effective imo."
zircon and bgc represented the dissenting votes; they seemed to take more issue with the intonation and minimalist approach than others. If you've got perfect pitch and hate anything that's not 100% spot-on, yeah, you might take some umbrage on the vocal, but honestly, if you fit that description, there's literally tons of great music you'll never be able to appreciate, so I pity you. As for the minimalist approach - this type of arrangement isn't going to work for most pieces, isn't something I'd particularly want to hear zillions of permutations of, and is more suited to meditation or focus than background applications, but... I personally think it works. At times it achieves a spine-tingling effect not unlike some of the recent soundtrack work by ex-Dead Can Dance front woman Lisa Gerard. Interesting, different, expressive, and exploratory.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the - Palpable on August 7, 2008
- ProjectSpam on August 7, 2008
I like music to be raw and immediate; qualities which can be lost in the pursuit of perfection. It sounds like Neil was caught up in the moment when he made this, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
It's minimal, but there is a lovely narcotic effect to the whole thing that could have been compromised if it was made any busier. Excellent work.
- Mr_44 on July 29, 2008
TheWalkingBox;250702 wrote: Great piece to "break through" for such a memorable game.
Spine tingling.
I'm not a pitch perfect listerner but I have been listening to remixes for a while now and this one gets my vote.
What he said. I'm only finding this now but I think he's got the whole tragic feel to the game nailed to this song.
Although most of you that's posted mightn't have stopped to think about it, but maybe if you're that grief-stricken (assuming this is sung/wailed from Max's perspective, that is) then he wouldn't be too worried about whether he was pitch-for pitch perfect with the original.
- jayc4life on July 19, 2008
- davidicus on October 9, 2007
I've listened to this piece a dozen times so far, and it gets better every time, and I liked it to start with. Just listen to the difference tones made by the different voices. Hear how rhythms are created with only the voice. The high pitched piano tones merely emphasize the etherealness of it all.
The different voices, though all made by the same man, each have a distinct and specific personality to them, and this comes out in the song. Different flavors and varieties of mourning, from wailing agony to simple low-key despair.
It groans with feeling. This is awesome.
- Fieari on April 22, 2007
I think 2:12 could have worked with or without drums, and "with drums" including some different sounding percussion than the ones used here; needed something more unique to fit the style of this mix.
The vocal bits remind me of the end of silent's In the Atrium OCR from Ninja Gaiden. Seriously check that mix out if you want to hear the exact same kind of "out of tune vocals." Some of them sound verbatim from that mix. I didn't like those kinds of vocals in silent's remix, and I don't like them here. It's supposed to be a style? Just sounds out of tune to me. Some of it seems stylish, but other times (which also seem deliberate), I just don't like. Regardless, I'll probably keep this just for the part that I wanted to hear (it's well-done).
Stories within mixes sometimes does not = casual listening, and that is the case here. With this, along with some other "flaws", of course people have very good reason to say it sounds terrible (though, as a fan of detail, elaboration on their part would be nice). But to not sound preachy (not that I want to), I'll stop here.
- Audity on March 29, 2007
The thing that irks me a bit about it is the missing of any melody, or let's rhythm, until 2:12 when the drums come in. This moment, the whole thing improves quite a bit.
- Martin Penwald on March 29, 2007
Spine tingling.
I'm not a pitch perfect listerner but I have been listening to remixes for a while now and this one gets my vote.
- TheWalkingBox on March 27, 2007
SwordBreaker;249253 wrote: I've always wanted to make a cappella piece similar to this. After reading the judges' decisions, I'm now a bit afraid to step up since I'm also thinking of putting no background instrumentation whatsoever, unlike this piece. After all, it is called cappella for a reason, eh?
In the same time, however, this piece inspired me that anything is possible. Very haunting and ambient stuff here. Love it. You have some nice pipes on you, too. Sure, people critisize the flaws here and there, but to me they're being too picky since the great stuff in this track overpower the minor "sloppy vocal execution" parts. Also, the instrumentation is more than enough for a genre like this. If Neil put in more instruments, the haunting voice would've been hidden in the background, thus eliminating the purpose of this remix.
Very nice work, Niel. I'm hoping that my upcoming ReMix has the same quality of this one.
Amen to that! This song is fine the way it is. It's impossible to cater to every one's taste anyways, so don't let the haters effect ya :D
- HoboKa on March 27, 2007
In the same time, however, this piece inspired me that anything is possible. Very haunting and ambient stuff here. Love it. You have some nice pipes on you, too. Sure, people critisize the flaws here and there, but to me they're being too picky since the great stuff in this track overpower the minor "sloppy vocal execution" parts. Also, the instrumentation is more than enough for a genre like this. If Neil put in more instruments, the haunting voice would've been hidden in the background, thus eliminating the purpose of this remix.
Very nice work, Niel. I'm hoping that my upcoming ReMix has the same quality of this one.
- SwordBreaker on March 23, 2007
- Wicked on March 23, 2007
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