ReMix: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 'Lost Dark World'

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The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

VERY impressive debut ReMix from Long Dao; he's been around awhile, but this is the first submission that's rock solid. Actually, it's beyond rock solid, venturing into territory that I personally wouldn't hesitate to label "pretty damn awesome." The ReMixer writes:

"This remix was inspired by not only the Dark World theme of Zelda but also the Lost World theme from Jurassic Park. I always found some sort of similarity between the two themes, and eventually decided to embark on the wild journey to remix the two themes into one. I had some help from my friend Jeremy Robson during the process. I eventually finished around April 2006, but got too lazy to upload it until now."

Before I talk about the mix, I wanted to point out a couple changes we've made to the site recently. You'll notice we've added composer icons to our master list, filtered lists, and individual detail pages. My hope is that this will help familiarize everyone - myself included - more with specific composers by putting a face with a name. I definitely learn visually, so I know it'll help me out. This is just one of a number of changes we've been making lately - exciting times! Now, onto the music... Long Dao's put together an original, compelling arrangement of a well-known theme - a challenge in and of itself - and done so with some pretty slick production values. From the outset, the dramatic percussion definitely gives you the Jurassic vibe he mentions, and the overall style is very cinematic. I overuse this adjective, I know, but it's the most appropriate word, so while I could peruse my thesaurus or try to concoct elaborate metaphors, it's better to call a spade a spade. And what a spade it is - LD's arrangement is substantive, at six and a half minutes long, and uses its time well, developing nicely and covering vast territory with broad strokes. There's subtlety here, at times, but the dominant motif is more aggressive, action-packed composition; Link's clearly having trouble with some hungry velociraptors, and Mr. Dao is happy to score it. Basically, this could have bypassed the panel, but we needed to check for similarity to the cited JP OST. Shariq writes:

"There's Zelda all over this, but we had to make sure. Good thing my sister is such a John Williams fan. Jimmy, I'm also in a state of WTF @ JP4. Anyway excellent work capturing the style of the score and developing the themes. I really enjoyed this a lot; this is how Zelda orchestral should be done. ;)"

Awesome stuff; a fresh take on a classic theme from a new face is always a good thing, and I'm psyched to see what Long comes up with next.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
I'm actually surprised that the heavy John Williams influence didn't last too long. Obviously the beginning is very stylised in conjunction with Williams' Jurassic Park score, but I really liked how it wasn't pigeonholed into being a gimmick piece. It really comes into its own, with the great interpretation and the really successful samples used. All in all, I wouldn't describe this as 'Williams Does Dark World', I think there is little overall connection except quotes and basic influence.
It's always great to hear these tunes made uber and realistic; the melodies are two I won't ever forget after dozens of hours spent in the Dark World/Death Mountain areas. Hope there's a lot more to come.

- Marmiduke on January 31, 2009
I can see a lot of work here but needs to be internalized a bit further. The drive to the climax fights with the game's original melody in the beginning. The softest part of the song is a little confusing but your drive back up towards the end gets much better. I really like the harps playing too. Nice touch.

- Ryu2Wolf on January 6, 2009
Very interesting take on the source material; not as coherent in arrangement as I had hoped, but a nice attempt nonetheless.

- Lucentas on December 6, 2008
Arrangement and orchestration is very cool for about the first minute - I can definitely see where this was going with the allusions to the Jurassic Park score (it being one of my favorites, I know it well.) Unfortunately the substance of the track for the remainder seems to wane and wander a bit. But excellent effort all round!

- Steffan Andrews on October 12, 2008
Just listened to this again. This song is damn good. You guys should hear the UNCUT version haha.

- Monobrow on August 23, 2008
pokezel;397438 wrote: Am I the only one feeling "The Final Countdown" at 0:38?


Nope.

And.. Awesome job on the song, Mr. Long Dao :D

- Rom Tom on August 2, 2008
wow good quality stuff ,what program is he using i wonder...8-O

- MaCe on July 29, 2008
Am I the only one feeling "The Final Countdown" at 0:38?

- pokezel on April 15, 2008
Well-made piece, though it's a little too interpreted for my taste at some points. I'm probably going to get shot for this, but i actually hate it when someone change the main melody with the classic "take-the-last-tone-and-bump-it-up-one-note" formula. The later interpretations of the melody was great though.
Overall, very high quality stuff!

- polar- on February 28, 2008
Great stuff. I like how the themes were arranged, and the way the mix picks up speed and energy in the second half is wonderful. Especially digging the section from 4:17 on. Very powerful ending starting at 5:42.
My only gripe is that the section starting at 4:47 is much, much too short. I'd have liked to hear more of that.

- Martin Penwald on February 26, 2008
Is that the Castlevania 2 ending them I hear at 4:00? :)

- senseiireland on February 15, 2008
If this song had a gender, I'd merry it, rape it, tap that twice around down town, and then loop her in my infinity of halfway 8 loop.
Long Dao. Great? Or Greatest?
Personally, I'd choose the latter.
Sam Ascher-Weiss;375771 wrote: Long Dao is the greatest

InbeforeIBFT.

- eppy on February 15, 2008
Long Dao is the greatest

- Sam Ascher-Weiss on February 12, 2008
I really like the use of the Death Mountain Dark World theme and not just the "regular" Dark World theme; it's not one oft-used.
Definitely a five star mix on my playlist.

- LuckyXIII on February 12, 2008
yehaa, ive always loved this sourcetune! and finally there's another worthy remix of it!
first time i hear anything from Long ..
hopefully not the last! :-o

- Platonist on February 12, 2008

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