Jump to content

"Point of No Return" influence for Sonic music?


zircon
 Share

Recommended Posts

I'm not sure if anyone has pointed out this before, but the song "Point of No Return" by 80s band "Expose" sounds an awful lot like the music from the Sonic series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_VpZVDjitQ

The percussion groove of course is very much similar to the style of Sonic. But listen to the bass, the synth stabs and the arpeggio pattern at the very beginning. If I told you these things were from a Sonic track you would never question it. Compare to Lava Reef Zone Act 1 from Sonic 3:

Right off the bat, the bass sound is basically identical. The arpeggios are extremely similar. The key is the same. The tempo is within 10bpm. The lead bell synth sounds quite similar to a bell synth in the Expose track. Even the chord progression is pretty similar, albeit slower.

I'm not saying the Sonic composers ripped off Expose - at all - but much like house music was a known inspiration for Yuzo Koshiro and Streets of Rage, I think this specific song HAS to have had a big influence on, at the very least, Lava Reef.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm. Well, isn't this just a pretty generic 80's groove, though? Like, I'm fairly sure I've heard a similar accompaniment in songs by a dozen or so 80's bands; the melody is what sets things apart, and in this case I feel like Lava Reef had it going on, and Expose... not so much. Sonic soundtracks *definitely* had an 80's vibe, no doubt about it, but I'm not sure the accompaniment here is distinct enough to indicate a direct influence... I think it's more of a general stylistic osmosis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought this was going to be the Nu Shooz song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCtm82j8W6A

sounds the same anyway :P

I actually have this record it's pretty good synth pop.

Think about this though: You have Expose, a pop group from 1987, and you have Michael Jackson somewhat collaborating on the Sonic 3 soundtrack. Now, who almost singlehandedly shaped the entire sound of pop music for the '80s? :3 So maybe it's Expose who sounds like michael jackson who influenced the Sonic 3 soundtrack, so maybe Expose made a song that sounds like Sonic 3 in a very roundabout way?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think about this though: You have Expose, a pop group from 1987, and you have Michael Jackson somewhat collaborating on the Sonic 3 soundtrack. Now, who almost singlehandedly shaped the entire sound of pop music for the '80s? :3 So maybe it's Expose who sounds like michael jackson who influenced the Sonic 3 soundtrack, so maybe Expose made a song that sounds like Sonic 3 in a very roundabout way?

CLEVER!!! :)

It's a very good melody to put on top of the chords. With the amount of recorded music our society now possesses every song prob has some distant cousin who shares similar traits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought this was going to be the Nu Shooz song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCtm82j8W6A

sounds the same anyway :P

I actually have this record it's pretty good synth pop.

Think about this though: You have Expose, a pop group from 1987, and you have Michael Jackson somewhat collaborating on the Sonic 3 soundtrack. Now, who almost singlehandedly shaped the entire sound of pop music for the '80s? :3 So maybe it's Expose who sounds like michael jackson who influenced the Sonic 3 soundtrack, so maybe Expose made a song that sounds like Sonic 3 in a very roundabout way?

Except Expose doesn't sound anything like MJ... at all. :P

Dave: I agree that it resembles other 80s songs, but the particular choice of synth timbres is extremely similar to Lava Reef, as is the chord progression and especially the arpeggios. I've heard a lot of 80s music but this song in particular sounds a LOT like Sonic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Incidentally, Michael Jackson is apprently now pretty much confirmed as being one of the composers for Sonic 3:

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=6082

But without a doubt there's plenty of similarities between some VGM and other music. A few more examples:

Donkey Kong Country 2 - Haunted / Mussorgsky - Night on the bald mountain

Diddy Kong Racing - Everfrost Peak / The chicken dance (no joke)

Banjo-Kazooie - Gruntilda's Lair / Teddy bear's picnic

FFVI - Dancing Mad part 2 / Bach - Toccata and Fugue

FFVII - those who fight further / Metallica - for whom the bell tolls

There's over a dozen more too. Rare seem to be particularly bad offenders.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with Dave.

First time I heard "Lava Reef" in - was it '94? - it became a fast favorite because it sounded just like many - and there are MANY - of your typical Latin Freestyle joints, only without the typical tone-deaf Latin Freestyle singer. Exposé is in my library for being one of few exceptions in the genre. I'd believe that genre influenced "Reef" more than the one tune.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pendulum actually seems to invert this and use VGM an an influence. The intro to "Granite" is a (blatantly) remixed version of the start of SMW's castle theme, and "Showdown" is practically a remix of Flash Man's theme from Megaman 2.

Yeah, I noticed those things too. In fact, my "Nuclear Flash" remix was basically created when I was trying to mock up Showdown for fun and noticed it had the same chords as Flashman.

Anyway, hey, I know a lot of 80s songs sound like this but find me one that matches so closely with Lava Reef. I listen to an 80s station almost every day on the radio and this one really jumped out at me for being particularly Sonic-esque.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was going to make a thread about this at the time, but didn't for whatever reason:

When my brother and I saw Rodrigo y Gabriela on Conan a few months back, we both noticed the song they played (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ZxozEsdgQ&fmt=18) sounded like Megaman music. I looked them up, and sure enough their other songs sound like Megaman too! Specifically Megaman 2, 3, 4, and 9. Awesome awesome songs and performances:

(intro reminiscent of Flash Man's intro, also reminds me of Needle Man in parts)

(actually they all remind me of Needle Man)

(I know it's Metallica, but don't tell me it doesn't remind you of at least four different megaman songs by the end of the song. Bubbleman and a Wily stage at the very least.)

(Now this one was a pleasant surprise!! I mean, even more pleasant. There's even a bit of Megaman X 1 in there!)

(Does the entire first half sound like Megaman 2 to anyone else?)

(I haven't found one that doesn't sound like megaman to me yet, so I'll just stop posting them)

Are these guys Megaman fans, or do I just think every mindblowing and intense melodic song played on two guitars sounds like it's made by Bun Bun?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...