Beatdrop

Well all right! Haven't seen you since... ...2004? 2005? Ten years!

I'm with DragonAvenger here. I have nothing negative to say about any of the technical aspects of this; I like all the sounds utilized and it's mixed well. However in terms of the arrangement, it's drawn out at times where it doesn't need to be. The sections she mentioned above are noteworthy, but I'm not saying they should be chopped out completely, just trimmed down to feel more bridge-like and less like they're entire other sections of the song that are unrelated to the overall arrangement. At eight minutes long, I find myself zoning out. Shortening it would make it drastically more interesting and focused. NO (resub)

This reminds me less of Infected Mushroom (at least as they sound currently) and more of someone like Wizzy Noise or Flip Flop, but I digress. I agree that this is very much borderline for a few reasons; namely that the source melody doesn't quite sit right with the style (like Dave said) and that it gets a bit repetitive if only because it has to keep coming back to that melody to center it as an arrangement. The best parts are the more experimental psychedelic parts. I feel like this would be a better track if you carved out the arrangement elements and just reworked it into an original composition. But all the same, I still think it's good enough for a YES

Yeah I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Chimpazilla's assessment here. There are light sprinklings of the source, such as at 1:36, but I would venture to say that this is like 95% original composition. It's AMAZING original composition (very, very well done), but I don't think it could be considered a true arrangement of the original track. Not much of a point in dissecting it further than that. Beautiful composition, but regrettably still a NO

I really dig the groove here. It's like Prodigy meets NIN circa mid-90s. The sound choices are excellent; the punchy drums combine very well with the bass synth, which I swear sounds like it's taken right out of "Like No One's Looking" by Mondo Grosso (from the Casshern soundtrack). I love the arp in the background throughout most of the track too. Basically I like all the sounds herein. Some of them are occasionally on the shrill side of things, but they're mostly mixed pretty well. Arrangement-wise, the original track doesn't have a whole lot going on with it, and this is addresses it in a no-nonsense fashion. The differences are subtle, but they're there. I particularly enjoyed the usage of the lead melody at 1:08, which here is used as kind of a high point and build transition, whereas in the original it's basically a "verse" section and is pretty fleeting. Maybe it doesn't run away with the original, but I think it takes it from its Klepacki-esque roots and drives it in a more electronic direction to enough of a degree to easily warrant the 3 minute run-time. Most of the uniqueness of this track comes from the rhythmic adjustments you've made. The contrast between 0:18--where it's rhythmically very similar to the original--and the stuff that happens after the 1:08 build-up section--after you unload the ethnic percussion--is probably what I enjoyed most. It tricks you into thinking it's fairly breakbeat-oriented, jumps into an industrial groove, and then goes right back into the breaks. The drum programming is really a highlight here. One major gripe: the ending is... yuck. Sorry, there's no gentle way to put it. I appreciate that you filtered it back down to mirror the intro, but it cuts too abruptly post-filter. Still, just a minor gripe and not worth rejecting it over when compared to everything else. YES

This was very difficult to judge. Beyond the fact that a bunch of songs are showcased over a ~4 minute span, they're also heavily re-interpreted to the point that they're barely recognizable in some cases. I'll admit I'm not overly familiar with the FF8 OST, but I went back and forth from the source tracks to the arrangement and, despite repeated listens, could not figure out what the 1:12 to 1:48 section was from. Each individual segment of this arrangement is very impressive. The problem is that there are individual segments. In particular, I really didn't like the fact that the section using Retaliation and Love Grows are completely separated from the rest of the arrangement by silence. That section, from about 2:40 to 3:48, is just interjected into the middle of an otherwise excellent interpretation of Slide Show Pt. 2 that utilizes bits and pieces of other tracks. Although it kind of creates a feeling of breaking things up into movements, I don't think it's appropriate in this context. It seems to me like you had too many ideas. Again, each individual part is really well made, and the arrangement of each song is clever and original. But as a whole, it's not cohesive. I honestly think if you just straight-up removed the 2:40 to 3:48 section, I could give this a YES, but until then... NO (resubmit)

So yeah, as has been said, obviously the guitars sound great. Actually, the overall mix is really good, although I agree the vocals sink into the background at various times. Could have done with some level automation to bring them out in spots. Arrangement is (somewhat) conservative, like Jivemaster mentioned, but adapted well. I really like the lyrics you've put together, as well. The vocal performance was occasionally strained; some bits where pitches were only marginally hit and delivery of some lines on the blase side (:28 for example), which doesn't really match the feeling of the song as a whole, but for the most part I thought they were decent. Enjoyable across repeated listens and not a whole lot of gripes to make equates to YES

That's my interpretation, as well. I first came to this site a few years before that snapshot, and unfortunately I don't remember if there even was a "mission statement" that long ago, but I don't think the aim of the site has changed at all. It may seem that way because it's grown so dramatically, but yeah, this has always been about paying tribute to the music in games, which has long been considered a slight part of the game itself. It may be secondary to gameplay, but the music in a game can completely change the feel, and I think OCR's always been about trying to draw attention to the feeling the music in a game has helped to convey.

I'm going to go in direct opposition to Chimpazilla's determination here. I actually really love this arrangement. It seems like you recognized the interplay between the two themes and rather than just make this a medley, utilized elements from both at the same time. This is actually really evident during the 1:30 to 2:30 section that Kris mentioned sounded entirely original. I can hear the melody from "Scrap Brain" in the vocals while the guitar is playing parts from "Aqua Planet." That is very, very cool. The end result is something that sounds very Katamari Damacy to me, and that's probably the best endorsement I can give it. The production work is pretty great for the most part. I like all the sounds used, and everything is fairly well mixed. The final mastering is pretty safe, though; for a dancey track, neither the drums nor bass have much oomph to them. On the other hand, leveling and panning is well executed. It would definitely benefit from some multi-band compression. It's easy to find small things to nitpick about in this, but as a whole, I really, really enjoy what you've done, and I think a lot of other people will, as well. And while this isn't standard fare when it comes to combining multiple sources, the way in which you've combined them has resulted in something wholly unique. EDIT: I found myself going back to listen to this again even after I'd already made this post. I think that says a lot. YES

There's not much I can say that others haven't already said. The arrangement is good, but "safe," like has already been mentioned a couple times. A fairly verbatim approach to both themes, but indeed they're blended together well, so I give it bonus points for that at least. The production is really where this takes a hit. I like all the sounds you've got, but the mixing is very... odd. It sounds gutted, like the whole song is notch filtered at a low frequency. Honestly, if only the mixing was fixed, I'd say this is passable for sure. NO (borderline)

I'm really torn on this track. Everyone so far has made compelling arguments for and against posting this, and I agree with all of it. The drums are very distant and could use some emphasis. But like Nutritious said, I don't think they're far off enough to be a deal-breaker. If they were a bit more pronounced, it would be BETTER, but it's not like you can't hear them. The guitar parts are mixed well and performed well. There's no question of source usage--it's definitely all there, and what interpretation there is of it is done well. I particularly enjoyed the latter half. Overall, this is pretty good. The problem is that, having worked on an arrangement of a very short track quite recently, I know that it's possible to generate some originality and variation from the source without deviating so far that it's unrecognizable, so as to add a bit more to this and give it a proper ending. As I was writing this critique, I found myself leaning more and more towards giving it a YES vote up until I started trying to justify the ending. But honestly, it just dies off at the end, and you could have done something more with it. It seems like the ideas ran out, and that's where the remix stopped. Furthermore, the source isn't particularly short, it's just simplistic. And the more simplistic something is, the more it lends itself to interpretation. All of that aside, like I said, this is pretty good. If the ending came more gradually, like the build-up at the start of the track, I could give this a YES for sure, but for now... NO (resubmit for sure)

Just to kinda piggyback on what everyone else said here, it's pretty hard to get past the mixing on this. The panning is really awkward, and makes me feel like the instruments are directly BEHIND my ears. Like behind the lobes. Makes me uncomfortable. Otherwise the arrangement is really straight-forward and, like Larry said, disconnected. I think part of the problem might be that there doesn't seem to be a big stretch going on here from source to arrangement in terms of style or form. NO

Handling of the sources is pretty excellent. Good reinterpretation of the original tracks, and there's a good amount of variety. All of the production work is solid, although I'm not thoroughly happy with the how the drums sound. The kick has moments where it seems like a great fit, and then times where it sounds like a piece of paper stretched over the opening of Pringles can. But the drums are definitely good enough, and like I said, all of the other elements of the track sound really good. Pretty easy YES vote.

Let me get this out of the way right now: the guitar is nice. Very cool, well played. I have no complaints whatsoever about anything guitar-oriented in this track. The arrangement is straight-forward. Unfortuantely, as Chimpazilla already mentioned, a straight-forward arrangement of a track from Mega Man tends to ultimately yield a short overall duration. The solo section was cool and mixed things up nicely, but one of the important things to understand about arranging music is that there are ways to add variation without simply adding new sections. Most of the stuff that's from the original is taken at face value and just reinterpreted to fit the new style and instruments. I like the addition of new harmonies, but because so little time is spent on each segment of the original, it all flies past without much time to bask. As a whole, the production work is quite good. The drum sequencing is effective, and while it's obvious that the drums are sequenced, it's not detrimental to the track, because I can tell you spent a lot of time programming in each hit. I want to give this a YES, but there just isn't enough there yet. I'd recommend trying to expand upon and reinterpret the original a bit further, and then this one's good to go. NO (resub please)