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This track sounds just as fun as the pink ball of fluff himself! The source is there for the entire duration, the instrumentation choice is simple yet effective, the instruments are balanced well, and that drum writing added a lot of life to the progression all the way through. Talking of which, I have a take on prophetik's statement on the drums being samey. I did notice the sections for melody A (0:21-1:00, 1:30-1:55, 2:42-3:07) and melody B (1:01-1:23, 1:55-2:16) have their distinct groove based on how many ride bells are present, so it's a subtle lift - but more importantly, only two fills out of the entire track are totally identical (1:00, 3:06) and they closed off melody A sections. Through this analysis, you can see why I felt this drum writing technique works in the track's context. As for something that doesn't quite work for me, I would've liked to have heard an extra pad to fill up space - especially at the melody C section (2:16-2:35), where the tempo shift sounds cool, but the minimalism was holding anticipation back. It's a nitpick at best, so do be careful when approaching similar sections in future works. However, the arrangement required a lot more thought. If I put the bum notes that prophetik brought up to the side, the source presence is primarily note-for-note with some selective tweaks. Bringing up the backing arpeggio first, it's mostly unchanged though there were times where: It got muted for a bar or half-bar to make transitions satisfying, especially at 0:20 where the sudden use of delay was a nice touch to head out of the intro. And at 1:42-1:54 and 2:53-3:07, the rhythm remained unchanged, but the pitches were altered to adapt to the bassline - and as Sir NutS rightfully pointed out, there wasn't a bass in the source so good call to add some spice there too. As for the melody, it's not entirely note-for-note either as some notation was taken out or had timings changed during the melody A parts, and the melody B sections had some additional notes leading into the segments to add anticipation leading into them as well as no sign of the last few notes on the way out. Even the second melody section had some additional notation onto the piano lead to compensate for the fact that it's not a pitch-shifting synth. These melody and arpeggio changes are subtle, but there is attention to detail here saving those sections from being a complete copy-paste. I feel like I went more in-depth about those subtle changes than what Sir NutS pointed out, but it's there, and it saves the track from being more overly repetitive than the source material. Should this get rejected, I have some ideas on how to remedy it for resub: Think about either changing the pitches of the arpeggio's upbeats or muting them entirely. At the moment it's got the source's same doubled note feel, so by keeping the downbeats as they are and changing the upbeats up in later segments, it can release that instrument from increased monotony. The second melody B section is free to have its melody drastically altered. Drum fills aside, it's a mirror of the first melody B section - and with the arpeggio there already meeting source criteria, you're free to change the melody writing to something completely original potentially. Consider adding some hand percussion in addition to your main drum part. You've got the kit writing down pat, but to further vary it up, you can add some additional parts like a tambourine or shakers and place them in one or two segments. Sometimes you can have more than one extra hand percussion part at once, but it's best to save them for the most poignant sections of the track. As it stands, there's just about enough playing around with the limited source to get it over the arrangement bar in my book. Coupled with the firm production values, I can see it on the front page, but I also understand the main criticism that has divided the panel. It'll still be so lovely to see this on the site in some shape or form. YES (borderline)

Couldn't help myself. Had the word psycho in it. So surely it's relevant!! >: 3

Yep Thanks!

it does not get more legit than a blitz lunar midi.

i just didn't know this. it's as good as the best streets of rage tracks. a really shining example of mega drive synthesis. great pick!