ReMix: Mega Man 2 'Leaf Storm'
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- Game: Mega Man 2 (Capcom, 1988, NES)
- ReMixer(s): AeroZ
- Composer(s): Manami Matsumae, Takashi Tateishi
- Song(s): 'Dr. Wily Stage 1', 'Opening Demo', 'Wood Man Stage'
- Posted: 2011-04-15, evaluated by djpretzel
AeroZ just contributed $34.62 to the site as part of Support OCR Month...
And now we're posting his mix the very next day...
Coincidence?!? Well, YES, actually - this one really *has* been in line for quite awhile, and was queued up to be posted BEFORE Sebastian responded in that thread. So our integrity remains more or less intact, or at least at whatever level it was prior ;) Seriously, we've already raised $1000 towards our goal of $5000, and that's awesome, but we definitely need help keeping up the pace. The (generous!) artist writes:
"Wohoo! Sidechain is fun! This was supposed to be an original track, but as always it ends up as a remix.
I wanted to take woodman to another lvl but still don't touch the intensity. Dr. Wily and the Zelda melody was an accident. Terribly sorry about that, but it had to come as well. ^^ Hope all is well with you all!"
In addition to being one of the nicest people I know, AeroZ is also amazingly talented, and mix after mix he does something a little different, but always brings his craftsmanship and love of music to the table. This mix intros with a hard electronica groove that makes you want to do the robot, which I suppose is contextually quite appropriate. The mashing of themes is seamless, the sidechaining is flagrant, the synths be modulated all up in that, and the rhythms have a nice shuffle & width to them. Zelda is used more like a solo, but I think it works.
I suppose, given the artist's own comments, you could dismiss this as being "an original that someone just turned into a VGM arrangement," but I find that to be a pretty empty critique; it's less about the process and more about the end result, for one, plus I think if it was truly just plopped on top it wouldn't sound nearly as integrated & cohesive. Plenty of arrangements - and originals, for that matter - start off one way but end up going somewhere entirely different, and I think good musicians go where the music takes them, no matter what. I've started originals that ended up as arrangements, and vice versa, and I've been happy with the finished piece in both cases.
Sebastian should be happy in this case; great, pumpin' MM2 electronica that focuses on 'Wood Man' but takes some Wily & Zelda detours for a more scenic trip!
Discussion: Latest 14 comments/reviews; view the - Crulex on October 26, 2012
Having already sensed from "Green Hill Avenue" that AeroZ is capable of so many crazy controller changes, it's definitely neat to see it continue to happen here with some nice side-chained synth pads, expressive synth modulation, volume work and chipped arpeggios. And even though it wasn't meant to be an original work, the Wood Man and Wily Sources managed to fit in really well to the written work at hand and showed a very obvious presence. And I'm usually not one for inappropriate cameos, but the Zelda 3 opening demo at 2:35 managed to make a good soft transition to the final presence of Wood Man in the track. All in all, it's a good structure.
As much as I really appreciate the work gone into this, I may have to say that there's not a right lot to diffrentiate the Wood Man appearances from each other, maybe given the chipped synths in the first riff. But that may be seen as more of a nitpick for what can already be seen as a well-established, well-programmed arrangement.
Let's see what you've got for 2012; be sure to keep up your progress, and I'll be looking out for you :D
- Rexy on December 8, 2011
Lovin' the little Zelda "solo".
- Martin Penwald on June 21, 2011
- Schneau on April 16, 2011
- DjMystix on April 15, 2011
- MechaFone on April 15, 2011
- Draconiator on April 15, 2011
