TromboneSamurai

Hands down the BEST FF6 remix I've heard yet. The diversity in the peice's contour was really spectacular, and the pace is always driving. Really gets the adrenaline going. The bid hit at the beginning was sweet to hear, like plunging into a swimming pool. Very Phantom of the Opera-esque. Hands down, my favorite part is when the accompaniment fades into the string picky-plucky thing...bah, what'dya call it? Picazzano? (<<Brass Player) Whatever it's called, it totally rocked. I, for one, welcome our electric guitar orchestral overlords. Only thing I somewhat didn't like was the tone of the guitar in some parts; seemed a little thin. But other than that, swell!

Meh...it's all right. Analogically speaking, in some portions it feels like a horn player who seems to be drawing in breath the right way, but when it comes time to deliver, he hasn't a clue about how to fill the bell with rich, full sound. All in all, the first eight bars of Terra's theme seem to be plunked in there with a smattering of dissonant strings thrown in between. The string progressions feel like they could've been plucked out of a DeBeers or Mercedes Benz commercial. Hum drum, at best. Even the instrumentation seems to be a bit off, but I'm just an amateur brass player. What do I know? Perhaps "Terra's Theme for the CG Orchestra" wasn't the best route to go with it. I like the original composition as much as the next guy, but if I'm going to be treated to three and a half minutes of the first eight bars, I'd like a little spice instead of a morose symphony that tosses the melody back and forth between instruments. Classically, peices entitled "Variations on Song X" usually include several key and tempo changes, and may even reverse the melody. But then I could be overlooking the fact that there is no 's' at the end of Variation in the title. Still, Variations on a song are supposed to be pieces where composers flex their creative muscle, and there were only scant traces of creativity here. I also don't quite agree with the little brass there is in the peice used for schwarzandos in a handful of places. But then that's more of a matter of personal preference as I'm a symphonic band instrumentalist, and less inclined to a medium of music that has me count to four eighty times, play a smattering of notes, and then go back to counting. After deeper thought, perhaps the biggest force behind the peice is the novel quality that A) It's by Jeremy Soule and It utilizes high quality synth that comes with being in the business for a number of years. I've only whitnessed Soule's work first hand in KotOR, and the variations on established Star Wars themes were much more interesting, musical, and memorable. This mix, however, feels uninspired, fails to go anywhere we haven't been before, and hasn't evoked anything within me. But I can't ignore the good intentions behind it, so kudos to Mr. Soule for his effort. I just think it could have been much better.