ReMix: Pokémon Gold Version 'Champion's Horizon'
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- Game: Pokémon Gold Version (Nintendo, 1999, GBC)
- ReMixer(s): WillRock
- Composer(s): Go Ichinose, Junichi Masuda
- Song(s): 'Route #26'
- Posted: 2011-03-02, evaluated by the judges
- Album: Featured on Pokémon: The Missingno Tracks
WillRock writes:
"It's been a while since I subbed a track. 2 months, my first sub this year even. I bet you judges all think you got it easy. BUT YOU'RE WRONG, WILLROCK IS BACK IN BUSINESS AND READY TO INVADE YOUR INBOX WITH CRAPPY REMIXES.
Anyway, this is another project track - yes a project track, make sure this goes in the project post queue - for the pokemon project. Vig rejoice. So, this remix has been in the works forever, from the time I did mountain of dreams and snowboardin sonic, mainly because when I started this I was a noob that couldn't play guitar, or record one anyway. So... I asked fishy, he said yeah, and I waited forever and it didn't happen, simply because fishy was too busy it seemed, which was a shame, because fishy rocks.
So, I decided to record guitars myself. Hope you guys dig this one, it's one of my more experimental tracks in terms of arrangement, has some of my most crazy soloing in any of my remixes, and has a cool pikachu segment at the end ;)"
Cain, you miserable bastard, look what you did... you were so busy that Will went and recorded his own guitar bits, which... actually sound pretty good, to me. Looks like it worked out for the best, and sometimes situations like these result in one expanding one's own horizons; as a tangent, I waited for outside help for a long time back when I was first learning PHP & MySQL and wanting to improve OCR, and the only reason it ever happened was because I went ahead and did everything myself. Which is not to poop on collabs - they can definitely result in tracks greater than the sum of their parts, to be sure - just sayin' there's also merit to takin' care of business personally. AnSo writes:
"I still think the Pokémon soundtracks are bloody brilliant. Bias aside though, this certainly walks the not-so-well-formulated source line. Since it's roughly 50% AND I think how you handled the source was very nice I'm cooled with that. Nice solos too! Production was above the bar but like OA said the drums were a bit of a weak spot."
If Mattias is cooled with it, then so am I! The panel's reigning (and sole) Swede is currently enjoying his first visit to the US of A out in San Fran for GDC, w/ Danny B and BGC and Josh Whelchel, and you probably wish you were there. Not as much a fan of the POKEMANZ is Jesse Taub, resident "Young Curmudgeon" and traitor to the East Coast, who adds:
"I barely hear the pokemon theme in this track. That must be why I like it so much. The high point for me is definitely the lead sequencing. Your sound and writing is very reminiscent of Protricity. This song is so 80's. Epic, to be sure."
Great stuff from WillRock; a little on the liberal side, but source is still there, and dem's sum crazee solos, widdout question.
Discussion: Latest 12 comments/reviews; view the Great job by Will here!
- Bahamut on August 3, 2012
What he did was taken the overly-happy Route 26 melody and gave it something that sounds somewhat more ominous and more lethal, literally taking the phrase "the road to being a Pokemon master is not easy" to a [i]completely new height[/i]. :razz: It may have been manipulated much, but I managed to sense a good amount of the melody for it to work throughout. The synth and guitar solos to me sound crazy, along with some very precise fingering that really show how much of the 'rock' he brings in his name. I even like how it even started shifting to a more happy and victorious setting closer to the original at 3:20 as well, reflecting on my above quote even more and telling us that we may go through a lot of crap, but the goal at the end feels so GOOD!
Strange philosophy, but that's how I feel about it.
Production wise it hit the spot; it may show age now in comparison to Will's other works, but the synths were well manipulated, the guitars had a clear vision, the plated Pikachu samples were awesome (albeit cheesy hehe), and the drums, while showing a synthetic nature to the writing, were well programmed and fit the purpose of the mix. Course, the guitars may have taken a considerable boost in recording quality since those days (something that I noted with "Friendly Fire" for the Super Dodge Ball project), but for its time it's really something to me.
So, quite a lot of things to say about it. Rocking, crazy synths, awesome arrangement, and even considered [i]beautiful[/i]. You have done Pokemon a world of service, fellow Englishman :D
- Rexy on December 14, 2011
- Crulex on December 7, 2011
PROTO·DOME;825640 wrote: I honestly don't get the hate on Will's drums. I don't think they sound realistic as such, but they're punchy, sharp and perfect for the genre.
I like 'em Will, and I think this was one of the best songs on the Missingno Tracks! :D
Yeah, trust me, I don't get it either. It's just one of those personal preference thingies. I wouldn't say they are BAD or even ADEQUATE to any extent, they definitely work. They just detract from my personal enjoyment of the mix in-total. It's the old To-MAY-to vs. To-MAH-to argument.
That being said, this was definitely a highlight of the album.
- Level 99 on December 5, 2011
Level 99;825631 wrote: (then again, I've always been iffy when it comes to your drums, and I'm getting the feeling its just a personal bias)I honestly don't get the hate on Will's drums. I don't think they sound realistic as such, but they're punchy, sharp and perfect for the genre.
I like 'em Will, and I think this was one of the best songs on the Missingno Tracks! :D
- PROTO·DOME on December 5, 2011
Everything else is kickass though, as usual. Great solos and top-notch production. Keep up the good work!
- Level 99 on December 5, 2011
"POW POW POW POWWWWW that drummer must have arms of granite to do those BRUTAL sidesticks at the beginning. The volume of those is off the charts ridiculous."
I loved the soloing in this track, and while it definitely felt more like "Willrock with a pokemon flavor", rather than the other way around, I enjoyed the track quite a bit, and there was enough pokeymanz involved for it to be obvious what game it's from. I especially loved the ending, with the guitar and synth intertwining several melodies, and Drummer McBrutalSauce pounding away at that snare, before the quiet fade. :-)
- OA on December 5, 2011
(and I know it for quite some time now... perhaps I should go see a doctor)
- pu_freak on March 3, 2011
besides my personal moping, lovin the rock
- delbuster on March 2, 2011
- psychowolf on March 2, 2011
