zircon

Let me say this upfront; I've never been a big fan of ffmusic_dj. His remixes have always sounded like purely mediocre techno, the sort of stuff you might hear on a pop radio station at 1am on a Saturday night. This remix is NO exception. In fact, I believe this is not OCR-quality at all. The 'vocals' are not interesting, but randomly strewn throughout the remix for no apparent reason, adding absolutely nothing to it. In fact, they actually sound very irritating to me. The arrangement sounds like it was done by an eight year old. The melody synth, while somewhat cool sounding, is ruined by the fact that it sounds like it was played with one finger. The accompaniment is pitiful; no chords, no arpeggios, nothing at all to make it interesting to listen to. Then, instead of variation, we get repetition. And one repeat is the same melody with lower volume. Even as techno tracks go, this one is below average. Even songs like Sandstorm have more interesting accompaniment with strings playing chords in the background. Can someone please explain how this got accepted?

This is relatively short in comparison to other classical piano pieces.

This is an average (perhaps a little above average) interpretation of Frog's theme. For reasons I can't understand, the overall sound quality seems to be very low.. sounds like 96kbps to me. But anyway: while no one aspect of this remix stands out, it is put together well and flows in a way that is pleasurable to my ear. It is perhaps a bit minimal during the first half, but that is amended during the second. The bare bones percussion could have been better, especially considering the length of the piece. Regardless, the use of variation of the melody and a group of different instruments is commendable. Though I think the interpretation and arrangement is good, the execution was not amazing for the reasons I described (boring drums, low sound quality, minimal first half). Out of ten, I would give this remix a score of 6.5.

Wow. That's the first thing that ran through my mind after it was finished being blown away by this prime example of how electronic rock can still kick ass. I think everything I have to say has already been said, but I'll reiterate why I like it. The guitar (which is actually a simply square wave from what Prot tells me) fits perfectly in the superb arrangement of the three themes, pitch bending and modulating like no one's business to create what sounds like an extended Hide or Slash solo. The three themes are blended together nicely, with no transition problems. The drums are not simply looped throughout the entire piece, but sound (more or less) like they are actually being played. The bass could have been a bit more prominent, but that's no big deal. And of course, higher quality encoding is always favorable, but I realize that would have been impossible in this case.

An interesting contrast to Metalman Goes Clubbing. This remix is distinctly electronic in nature, which CAN be a bad thing, but in this case is certainly not. AE clearly can work his synths, especially during the fantastic variation included in this remix. It's sort of an acquired taste; the first few times I listened to this, I found the synths to be irritating and 'unclean' compared to Metalman Goes Clubbing's instruments, but subsequent listens gained my interest and favor. One big complaint that I have is the 'breakdown' where the only instrument playing is that weird basslike instrument playing a note and pitch bending to another. This lasted a bit too long, and the following section of the remix paled in comparison to the excellent arrangement of the previous section (again, the variation ruled). Overall, if I had to give this remix a score from one to ten, I would give it a 7.5, primarily because of the aforementioned later section being somewhat boring.

This is a very solid arrangement of a frequently remixed theme. When I first heard it, not looking at the title (and not having heard the original theme before), I actually thought it was the theme to some sort of ice level or ice world, ironically. Anyway, the intro is done very well, using nice-sounding synths and an arrangement that I have found no problems with. The main piece is a step above normal dance or techno; the percussion is ordinary, but the rest of the instruments used sound very pleasing. The overall tempo is a bit more relaxed than that of BlueLightning or Mega Man 2003, which is a welcome change. I really can't find anything wrong with this remix. Keep up the good work!

This is another example of NoppZ's unique style. He seems to do almost exclusively happy and simple remixes. Being simple isn't a bad thing, in this case; though it won't make anyone go 'wow'. I wouldn't consider it disco, but this remix is quite catchy and, as my sister put it, 'cute'. My only real complaint here would be the lack of any real variation, and the unchanging instruments. Unremarkable and bordering on several midis put together with good samples? Yes. But for reasons I find hard to explain, this piece simply gives off enough good vibes that I really like it.

This is really standard-fare dance. Nothing special about the percussion or the synths, no variation to speak of. It even includes obligatory "old movie quotes" (I think that's what they are). That being said, there's nothing really wrong with it either. This is strictly average, with no good or bad points.

Excellent guitarwork and drumwork. I honestly have nothing to complain about there; the execution and arrangement is great, and the listener is assaulted with a good amount of rockin' audio. But the farts/burps (or whatever the other noises were) were just plain stupid, ruining an otherwise amazing remix. Perhaps replace them with synths, even if the synths are weird sounding.

Very nice. It's a little bit repetitive at some points, but the middle section at about 2:40 (that sounds faintly like Kefka's theme at one point) is really brilliant. The choice of instruments and percussion is wonderful. I honestly have no complaints here, except for it being slightly repetitive at times (such as the introduction and ending). What I like most about it is that it combines many different styles, such as classical and breakbeat, to create something truly unique. Props to waxingeloquent for doing something different.

This is professional game soundtrack quality. I was playing it and one of my friends asked, "What game is that from?". Definitly awesome. Sort of reminds me of the 7th Saga overworld map..

That's your opinion. Yes, it's not very musical. But some people (such as myself) LIKE walls of sound. It really does represent what it's like to play FF6 for 10 hours.

This sounds to me like a bunch of random samples were thrown in first, followed by distortion, followed by some evil-sounding effects, then THAT was distorted, then bits and pieces of the melody were scattered throughout, then the whole thing is distorted again. While I liked Decay of Hope (one of the remixes that led me to this site), I cannot say that I find this piece enjoyable in the least, nor can I say I appreciate it. I acknowledge CotMM's skill (and there's plenty of it), but it seemed like it was just wasted on this garbled remix.

I would say this is NOT generic techno or trance. McVaffe, as always, packs very high quality samples and arrangement, and it's evident that he has mastered usage of effects. Though perhaps you wouldn't think so while casually listening to it, a more careful listen does show a wide variety of interesting and cool-sounding effects, samples, etc. This is exactly what I'm come to expect from McV, and an excellent representation of his ability to go above and beyond the benchmark for a given genre. My one complain would be it is sometimes, a certain part will loop for several uncomfortable seconds more than I'd like, but this isn't a problem when listening to it casually.

The contrast between orchestral and heart-pumping pseudo-breakbeat is done superbly here. I pretty much agree with everyone else; this is an excellent piece with no noticable flaws. If I had to make one complaint about it, it would be that the drums are somewhat boring after awhile (then again, I HAVE listened to it at least a hundred times) without any variation in them. But everything else? Awesome. I'd say 9/10.

I use the step sequencer, I think. Anyway, though I like GY's stuff in general, I was kind of disappointed in this. Samples were a bit low quality, and the song was generally empty and repetitive. I always prefer either compact, masterful audio, or layers upon layers of sound coming at you (Mega Man 2003 is like that).

This is my favorite McVaffe remix, probably his best work, and one of my favorite remixes, period. Once again, he shows complete mastery of drumwork and effects. A kick ass solo, high quality samples, no excess noise. 10/10 for sure, not a single flaw.

Definitly awesome, it really does capture the 'heroic' aura of things. However, Steiner's theme is a bit weak compared to Frog's, it might be better if it could be brought out a little bit more; more accompaniment, different lead instrument, different dynamics, whatever. Still, this rules.

First, I'm a big fan of Disco Dan's work. He's quite possibly my favorite techno artist, PERIOD. It certainly shows here, also. The first few minutes are masterfully done, replete with awesome synths and (what sound like) pads. This continues through the entire piece, including in the main melody. I have only a couple of gripes. First, it's a bit repetitive. Unless I'm missing something, I don't hear much variation in anything, besides the percussion a bit. I was expecting a bit more in this department for a song of this length. Second, the synth that plays the main melody (not the intro melody) is good, but the arrangement of the notes is very bland, almost as if it were being played with one finger. I would have liked to see that mixed up and varied through the course of the remix. However, complaints aside, I still love this remix; even if only for the first 4-5 minutes of it. I would give it an 8 out of 10.

This piece is not simplistic techno per se, but one step above. The arrangement is good, as is the use of synths and percussion without drowning out the main melody. It's a solid remix, but the fact that it is basically less than two minutes (the identical repeat doesn't count) doesn't help it stand out in the crowd.

Definitly some of McV's best work, in my opinion. The rain as percussion thing (along with the panning) is creative, and sounds cool. While I usually don't like original synths being used- something that McVaffe seems to like quite a bit- I think in this case, they were used well. The percussion is great, as is the middle part with what sounds like explosions as percusison. Two thumbs up!

Hyperbole cheapens criticism, Atma.

The guitar is very well played, man. It sounds like he did it all in one sitting, which is commendable.

u are contradicting yourself here. you are saying that you like a soundtrack because of the emotional quality it created for you, and yet you are also saying you don't like AmIEvil's remix because of the emotional quality that he is trying to convey. Because he felt that emotion, he tried to convey it to us; he enhanced the feeling. that was the goal of the remix. if someone had remixed your anime soundtrack because they were moved by it's emotion, as it had done to you, would you not like the result? it is the same for us and this track. Actually, I'm not contradicting myself, because the music I listen to is professional, and sold, while remixes here complete with eachother to be accepted on to the site. If I had to give a review of the artist I listen to, assuming he was competing with other artists to be accepted on to a music site, I'd say the same thing about him. Therefore, my opinion stays; too much dependance on the listener's emotions here. I don't care about FF6, and from that purely unbiased view, I can say that I find absolutely nothing special about this remix.

Argh, I was in the middle of writing a response, and it got deleted. So I'll summarize. I've made it a point to include "I believe" "my opinion" "I think" or similar phrases in my review of this remix SPECIFICALLY to avoid personal attacks such as the one you just made (that I am arrogant). Then again, I did say 'flame me if you will', but you seem like a rather intelligent and reasonable person, and I would prefer if you did not accuse me baselessly. I think you're misunderstanding my point. I don't doubt the artistic merit of this piece, nor do I judge based on the level of technical complexity. The reason I brought up technicality is because I believe that there are essentially two types of songs out there- songs designed to conjure emotions, and songs that are pleasurable to listen to, to the point where you could ONLY listen to that song doing nothing else and still enjoy it multiple times. The latter is found often in classical music and jazz, while the former is often found in soundtracks of movies and video games. In an attempt to determine which category this remix fell under, I eliminated the category of technicality first, as it is NOT technically complex. This brings me to my next point. It seems as though how much one enjoys this piece is directly related to how attached one is emotionall to Final Fantasy 6. I said it was my favorite RPG, but it doesn't mean I have any emotional attachment to it. The fact of the matter is, the characters and the story were interesting, but they certainly didn't change me in any way or invoke any feelings of pity, hatred, sorrow, etc. On the other hand, the manga Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind is my most prized material possession, and perhaps one of a handful of defining factors in my life. Thus, the soundtrack to the Nausicaa anime is my favorite music solely because of the vast wealth of emotions it can create for me. In short, I think AmIEvil depended too much on the listener's feelings about FF6 and the tragedy of the original theme in his interpretation. That is why I believe it is not a good remix.