ReMix: Gradius III 'Declaration of War'
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- Game: Gradius III (Konami, 1990, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): OA, Scaredsim
- Composer(s): Harumi Ueko, Kazuhiko Uehara, Kazuki Muraoka, Yukie Morimoto
- Song(s): 'Cosmo Plant (8st. BGM... Space Vegetation)'
- Posted: 2009-04-16, evaluated by the judges
OA and Scaredsim, together at last! But what's this... is Simon stealing all the credit for their collaboration? Let's see - Andrew writes:
"This was a DoD collab; I did the arrangement, drum programming, synth, and the second guitar solo, Simon did the rhythm guitars, the guitar leads and break near the beginning, and the piano intro. This is a "Simon mix" version, where he did the production; I had done the production from the actual competition."
Simon writes (third-person, Karl Malone-style):
"Simon did everything, OA only does the submitting work since I am too busy for such trivial things. :o)"
djpretzel don't know about that, but he does know this some good Gradius III tunage. Also, it's been a loooong time since we rocked some Gradius in these parts; this is our first mix of III, which is downright silly, and in general there needs to be more SHMUP love. Andrew & Simon are certainly doing their part; while the arrangement here is fairly conservative, judges agreed there was enough deviation, and there's DEFINITELY plenty of energy. Gradius tunage tends to be anthematic, uplifting, and rather ornate; I think that last characteristic is what turns some potential ReMixers off, as many of these tracks are absolute beasts to arrange. Trading between and blending synth and guitar leads really helps, especially in the call and answer sections, as OA's cutting synth patch swirls around and soars over Simon's rhythm guit, then roles are reversed. Love it; while there wasn't alot of deviation from the original material, these guys definitely captured the essence of what makes the original, and most of the series' OSTs, rock, and they amplified it. Vinnie nailed the initial analysis and summarized most judges' sentiments that followed:
"Very cool set of instruments. I liked the organ and piano giving subtle touches, the synth lead, and of course, Simon's guitars. It all worked together. I did think it was a pretty cover-ish arrangement like Larry but felt it had enough to differentiate it from the original. Piano flourishes in the intro, lots of fun messing with the synth after the first iteration. 0:26-1:30 is dangerously close to being verbatim, with the bass also mimicking the original, but the new backing instruments and drums give these sections some flair. However, if it had all been like this, it would have been a NO, easily."
Basically, Andrew & Simon could have made our lives a bit easier by changing a few more elements up more, but it still squeaks in, and then rocks out. I personally wish they would have done a bit more, simply because they both possess the talent and creativity, I don't think it would have been difficult, and I think anything the two of them came up with and agreed on would probably be awesome, but if they wanna play it close to the source, that's their call. Either way, they've created an awesome piece of music that's ballsy and beefy and takes on some technical, challenging source material. Mixes created for DoD and compos in general often have their own agenda & approach, but I think many of them - this track included - are totally appropriate for OCR as well.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the A wonderful listen! :)
- Fun on February 11, 2013
- Crulex on December 19, 2011
I love it!
- Emunator on December 22, 2009
But aside from that, this is an awesome track, and really brings back age-old memories of blasting apart gigantic space plants. Great job!
- LoneSword on December 20, 2009
Great work Scare and OA! :nicework:
- Sir_Downunder on December 4, 2009
My problem with this mix tho is the leveling personally... that lead synth is too loud and the lead guitars are too quiet, it undermines the harmonization. also, the hithats get a little too loud at points. Still this is a great mix, worth the download if you like melodic rock with synths, which I do ^-^. Rock on guys :D
- WillRock on December 2, 2009
While this actually sounds more like a peace treaty than a declaration of war, this is a solid re-interpretation.
The song is a dangerous yet addictive cocktail of distinctive adrenaline pumping guitar/rythmic parts, coupled to a nostalgic and driving synth sound, and some enticing melodic piano breaks.
The alchemy works very well in this case, reaching some key moments from 1:08 to 1:30 and from 2:44 to 3:05, where you can really picture the 'shmup' craziness:
flying your little ship through dozens of enemies, with projectiles coming from all directions, wating desperately for a power-up while trying to avoid crashing on obstacles...
I thought the part from 3:07 to 3:30 seemed a bit rushed and/or lacking compared to the rest of the song, which again is pretty solid.
But that's only a minor subjective bias, which doesn't reflect on my apreciation of the whole remix.
Definitely great fun, and a great listen.
- Dj Mokram on November 15, 2009
The "chorus" (e.g. 1:08 onwards) is amazing. So much energy and fun.
Good work, guys.
- Martin Penwald on May 5, 2009
- OA on May 4, 2009
- Mtlbro on April 29, 2009
Great work!
- jintoreedwine on April 26, 2009
--Eino
- evktalo on April 22, 2009
Been waiting for a Gradius 3 remix. Definitely full of win here.
- UchihaVilu on April 21, 2009
- relyanCe on April 18, 2009
