Alzheimers

Not a bad track, although I wish he had found some way to combine the two sections somehow -- the break in the middle isn't really necessary if a decent transition was performed instead of silence. My only real complaint is the beginning, remixing the intro to Metroid. From what I recall of the original, it didn't play "Twinkle Twinkle" with the high-pitched tweets like it's done here. Maybe that's just part of the Remixing process, but I found it a bit unsettling none the less.

My first impression of this track was, When did Joe Satriani start doing remixes? I haven't heard slashing like that since the G3 tour! The guitar work in this remix is unbelievable, and if that's all there was then this would still be one of the best remixes of all time. To complement the excellent ax grinding is a perfectly arranged synth layer, which ties the wild guitar riffs in with the tight, solid drum beat into one complete package. I wasn't familiar with the original track before this, but going back and comparing the two you can really see how much extra work went into this. Some live instrument tracks tend to follow the original pretty closely. These guys kidnapped this melody, kicked it's ass, gave it a mohawk and tatoos, and now proudly displays it up as a challenge to any who would doubt it's coolness. So how does it rank? Top five? Top two? Wingless's bubbleman remix "Teardrinker" and Vigilante's sweet ode to Super Metroid in "Zebesian Midnight" were alternating 1 and 2 depending on my mood. This is now definately 1A.

At first, I was a bit worried -- I'm a big fan of the Wild Arms soundtrack (my first homemade MP3 was the Title soundtrack recorded from an actual Playstation), and there are a lot of subtleties that might get lost in translation. It's an atmosphere game, and if not done right a remix could be disconcerting. I didn't catch the hook right away -- the baseline is nice and clean, but it wasn't enough to catch my attention. Then the piano began, and lead into the flutes which stayed true to the original, and was a nice change but didn't really excite me. Then, at 1:02, the bottom drops out. The heavy baseline dissapears, and the piano comes back in to pick up the melody, with the baseline popping in and out until 1:36, when the Flute kicks back in and ties the whole thing together. Sometimes a remix is like a good book that only gets interesting midway. Then, after you've decided it rocks, you re-read it only to find in the beginning all these subtle hints and touches you just glossed over when you hadn't decided to really pay attention. Definately a new entry in my rotation. I'm sure there's more details I'll pick up on the 10th, 50th, 100th listen.

I wanted to like this song. I really did. In fact, I'm still *trying* -- I've moved it onto my MP3 player so I can listen to it on the way to work. It's just .... you know when you see a painting done by a high-school art student? You see the theme...you can make out the details...but the polish just isn't there? The sloppy brushtrokes take away rather than add to the effect of the work? Same difference. It was a brilliant idea -- very Apocalyptica (And I prefer their stuff to the real thing for some songs!) It's just the little details that keep getting in the way of the final result. For example, there are moments when the notes are (unintentionally) out of step, and you can hear in the next notes the rush to catch up. The A-B transitions are very jarring, again not intentionally but almost as if they were recoreded separately and then pasted together as an afterthought. The guitar is very hard to hear, which may or may not be a problem with A) their recording equipment The MP3 encoding process C) My headphones, but I can almost hear how it's *supposed* to sound, which just adds to my effort to appreciate the work. I would really hope that, should they get a spare afternoon, they put some practice in and really re-record this one. It's so worth doing *right* that it's a shame to release it as it is. The second time I listened to it, I was walking down Museum Mile on 5th avenue in NYC, and I had visions of a string quartet, in full performance regalia, on a wide open stage, with five thousand well-to-do ladies and gentlemen watching on from the darkness, slowly nodding their heads to the theme from Kraid's Hideout! High Culture, indeed!