SwordBreaker

Just to add a reference to my explanation above. Maybe this will inspire you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGaXb2EMBfY F-Zero X music. The first one is the original track and the second one is the official guitar arrangement from Nintendo. See how the source tune pans out more in the arrangement...and how the source parts transition flawlessly to the original work and solos? And there's a part where the synth plays part of the source then follows it with the same melody but on guitars. I'd like the structuring of your remix to be similar to this one...with your personal touch of course. Nase makes a good point about the abrupt transitions between certain sections of the track.

Yup. Sounds a lot better. Guitars are cleaner. The extended intro of the track sounds much better now. Keep cleaning it up, man. As for that breakdown switch up, it sounds better than the last version. There's still something off about that part, though. Can't exactly put my finger on it. The lead guitar with the source and the rhythm guitar don't really mesh well in that part. Still needs more source overall. Perhaps you can add certain hints of the melody and harmony of the source itself onto various parts of the track. Doesn't have to be a 1:1 copy of the source if you know what I mean...just like you did with the improved intro, source plus your original playing. Also, like I said before, I'd like more of the cool synth playing throughout the track...replacing the samples I didn't like after the first minute. Finally, can you change up the ending? Make it more epic like the intro or something. Maybe slowing down the rhythm then ending with a fury of drum playing and an extended guitar note just like what live bands tend to do. Get me?

It is sort of hard to get your hands on the first two albums nowadays. The 3rd one should be widely available though. If all else fails you can always download these off the iTunes store. Try playasia. Maybe they still have the old albums.

Congrats to you both. Hope you guys had a lot of fun.

I just noticed this. I should check the WIP boards more. First off, thanks for taking on my request, dude. This is such a cool track that deserves more remixes. I like the direction you took with the remix overall. Epic stuff. High energy and fast-paced. A very authentic thrash metal sound. The performances on the guitar playing, soloing and synth are also pretty cool. I especially love the intro of the track. There are a couple of problems here, though: 1) A tad liberal for OC ReMix. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the originality in the track and the mix-ups so it's not repetitive. The thing is that you basically crammed the whole source tune in the first minute and a half and some towards the end...and the rest of the track is just original work. I recommend that you spread out the source tune more throughout the track...like cutting the source tune into parts, then weaving each part with your original stuff so that the transitions are seamless. Another idea is to alternate the lead synth part and solos of the source tune between your guitars and synth. 2) Guitar sounds muddy. Drum samples are sort of drowned out. I'm not the best guy on technicalities to improve the quality of guitar sounds. Let's hope our OCR rock experts can give more feedback. Sixto, OA, CHIPP Damage, Nekofrog, Tensei-san are examples of such people. 3) Like I said before, the synth piano playing and guitars complement each other well. I'd like the synth to stand out more though. Also, I don't like the synth sounds used in the part after the first minute. I prefer the higher-pitched one that you used before that timeframe. 4) The orchestrated sounds still sound like an afterthought compared to the guitars and synth. Also, the orchestra-only part that comes up in the middle of the track is unnecessary as it cuts down on the energy of the playing abruptly. I prefer that you used that part with the intro and after the 4th minute...it'll sound better. Keep cleaning this up, man. I like where you're going with this and it'll be great if you perfect your work so it can get accepted on OCR.

Ever since his first remix was posted (FFX), I've been following Hot Pocket. This track is one of the best in the album and possibly his best work thus far. The quality of recording has gotten much better since Pocket's early work and the arrangement of Theme of Love is played beautifully. I can relate to this theme since it's one of the few tracks I recognize from FFIV. Acoustic guitars--I wouldn't have it any other way for this track.

I think these tracks can be classified under J-pop, which is sometimes classy/cheesy.

LOL. Go MomAvenger! I'm guessing that she's part of the audience. Thanks for the info, dudet. Scuba Divers came out of nowhere in any case. Never heard of them before this track. Cool group.

The tempo and style remind me of zircon's work with "Dirt Devil" and "Monstrous Turtles", which is obviously a good thing in my book. Although those robotic/mechanized sounds would work a lot better with an FFVI track like "Devil's Lab", I'm digging it with Kafka's vibe. The bells definitely remind you that this is a Kafka remix with all the awesome sounds surrounding the track. Nice work as usual, man.

Just downloaded the album and I'm listening through. I'm in Act 2 and there's some good stuff thus far. Just wanted to plug in this...Chocobo Chocobo surprised the hell out of me! Honestly never expected an arrangement like this at all. The beat is really cool and dark compared to the lightheartedness of the original...but then the rap and lyrics come in and change the track completely. Kind of reminds me of D12's "Fight Music" in a way. Lots of Crazy Crackaz in there, too. Nice work, Scuba Divers. Despite not being my cup of tea, I'm really digging this mix. BTW, just wanna be sure on whether or not Liontamer actually rapped on this or just did the intro. 'cause that first part kind of sounds like Larry...then again I haven't heard him perform before so... I'll be back with more detailed impressions. Loving what I'm hearing though.

Even though it was a minor role, I'm so glad to be part of an OCR project for once. So thanks to OA for forming the Fabul Men's Choir and using my material...even though I can't recognize it in the track. That proves that you guys did a kick ass job in production, though. Such an epic track. Fabul Men's Choir FTW!

Wish I could be there, too. Sadly, I'm travelling at Friday so I'm not sure if I can make the album's launch day even. If it's a day before, then I'll surely download the torrent to keep me company during my week-long vacation.

Looking forward to checking this game out. I've had this "fighter fever" since Soul Calibur IV came out and this game seems to be the next big thing after Street Fighter IV. I'll most likely be getting the PS3 version 'cause it's a more reliable system for me. I wonder if there are any major differences between the PS3 and 360 versions, though? My only fear is that it's too complicated for me. I've never played a Guilty Gear game Is there anything I need to know before getting into BlazBlue?

That's your opinion, dude. We'll just have to agree to disagree. MOAR Prince of Darkness tracks in OCR, please! I want to start a movement here.

Can't argue with the amount of effort put into the sounds and playing. However, this is just too gimmicky for me. I don't see the appeal in the sounds at all. The arrangement wasn't mind-blowing, either.

Definitely a cleaned up version of the DoD entry. Prince of Darkness is just one of those people you MUST listen to when it comes to DoD, people. I'm glad the judges had a rough time passing this, 'cause it's worth thinking about the future when you stumble upon remixes as cool as this one and reject them. Anyway, groovy stuff, PoD. Your playing is amazing. An unexpected reinterpretation of Cyan's theme. I absolutely cannot wait until OCR gets gems such as "Sonic Gargles With Golden Marbles" and "Vestigial Fusion Factory". If those get rejected, then I'll be speechless. No offence or anything, but passing Zelda Heineken over those tracks? That'll be a sad day for me. Congrats on debuting in OCR, man. Can't wait for more of your tracks.

Gotta agree with Nekofrog and some of the dudes here. His career was tarnished by those false allegations, sadly. I highly doubt that he ever touched a kid in a bad way. Some big people wanted him down and obviously hated him. He knew that and stayed away from the US until now. Whatever, though. Despite the circumstances, I'm sad for him. Use to love watching him back in the day. I even loved his movie. RIP.

Don't forget to download "Thieves of Fate" on that provided link while you're at it. It's one of my favorite vocal remixes and it does the Days of Summer tune a lot of justice.

Beautiful voice. Reminds me of the vocals in the Xenogears Creid album. Nice performances with the instruments. Just checked out her stuff over on youtube after Taucer's comment. Some great material there, people. Keep it up, Kate. I'd like to see more of you in OCR...we need more female vocalists to fill in pixietricks' shoes for the time being.

One of my favorite DoD entries this month, next to "Utopia". Excellent range of voice, man. Can't think of any criticisms about the singing. Spot-on work with the pronounciation of Al-Bhed words. Love on how progressive it got with each loop. That "male pop" voice toward the end surprised me a bit. Did not expect that. Doesn't suit the other voices and the feel of the track but I liked it. My only comment is that I think it needs a bit of background instrumentation even though that'll defeat the purpose of a full cappella remix. You can add drums and piano just like the original or something...and make that just as progressive as the singing voices. Starting out with some very minimal drums at first, then layered, then piano, etc. Having other people singing in is not a bad idea as some of the other posters are suggesting, but your solo work is extremely impressive. A good female voice would be interesting to have here.

I just read that XP Mode is only available to "Professional" and above. If so, then this sucks. I don't really need professional...but XP Mode is extremely important to me.

I completely forgot it. I actually own that album! Well...hasn't been covered MUCH is a better statement.

Left 2 Die would've been a better name for this sequel.

I didn't mean to imply that you can't have opinions whatsoever. I wanted to convey that it's good to have a detailed opinion on something while keeping "the standards" in mind. Even going "overboard" at times can be good within reason of course. You judges have that balance. Even if people don't like that, it's how OCR has been working for the past couple of years. I'm not against this at all. Rules are rules. It's just that at times "my bias" kicks in to tracks I love/hate. I can't control that. Also, about that example, I wanted to add the word "hypothetical" in there but decided against it for some reason. Maybe I should've done it. Either way, I didn't write that example to put OCR in a negative light. I was just trying to show how much of a gray area we're talking about here. There's no black and white when it comes to this stuff at all, but I feel that you're trying so hard to draw a line when there's no need to. OCR remixers who are frequent contributors deserve a slightly positive first-impression and/or priority over newbies or people who aren't that talented...because they mostly deliver on all fonts and listeners would like more of these particular artists. It's just sad that people think it's a "clique" thing 'cause it really isn't.

For people (judges and otherwise) denying favoritism and bias, I gotta say that's an extremely bold statement that I simply don't believe. I find it weird that some of the posters here finding bias to be wrong. Quite the contrary, ALL of us are biased. To rephrase a quote from one of Godzilla 2000: "there's a small bias in every one of us!" It's called opinion. We all have different tastes, things that we like and hate, etc...this is the basis of forming opinions and critiques. Without bias and favoritism, we're soulless. Of course, everything has a limit...and sometimes it gets painfully obvious when you "bash madly" or "love fanboyishly"...but again, that's what makes each of us unique. When you're a critic, on the other hand, you have to keep those in control...and when you don't, you'll either get bashed or respected for voicing off your opinion. Vicious cycle indeed. Either way, you're forming a name for yourself because of your opinion. Not everyone will unanimously agree with you, yet you'll find a lot of supporters. That's how most of us basically pick our favorite pieces here in OCR (old or new), including me. I like certain remixers, certain game soundtracks, certain genres...it's more of these factors and less of how "OCR musicians are raising the bar in terms of production, arrangement, etc". As an example, most of you people have been praising that Zelda Heineken track like no tomorrow...while I find it to be extremely gimmicky and repetitive, with all due respect to the remixer. It's just not my taste at all. You want a cool Zelda track? Listen to this: http://dod.vgmix.com/past/2009-may/02-Harjalwaldar-ZLttP-Utopia-DoD.mp3 Now that's solid gold right there. So soothing. So amazing. Acoustic guitars. An ALttP track that hasn't been remixed at all. I find this to be OCR quality, while some judges may not simply because "it follows the original too closely" or "there's something a bit off with the recording". While that'll piss me off, it's not the end of the world 'cause I don't think I can push my opinion upon others. Judges already built their reputations with critiquing a lot of songs over the years. You want your name heard? Go to the reviews thread and post as much as possible. You may even be picked as a judge someday. Something about your "bias" will attract people. Simple as that. The Evolution of OCR = The Evolution of Listeners' Opinions