Mega Man: The Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2011

[Dark_T_Zeratul]

I think the only one I'm missing from my playlist then is Dr. Light's Luminosity Legion.

[Gario]

Cutman is not impressed with your puns.

[Xarnax42]

Cut what?

[Helios42]

Haha, found time to do reviews! I don't know if people find my more in-depth reviews helpful or if they don't even really get read because they're so long. But you know what? I enjoy writting them! Conciseness? What is that?

Liquid Metal Ahh, heavy metal. One of my lease favorite genres, but I tried very hard to keep that separate from my voting and overal analysis. Additionally, though I dislike a lot of how heavy metal sounds, Liquide Metal thankfully avoided most of those. Overall, I thought that this demonstrated a fair amount of technical skills and was well done by the standards of 'heavy metal'. However, I think there were some areas where the voice confidence faltered a little. The lyrics felt somewhat hesitant sometimes, which isn't quite the ideal style. What I got, however, of the lyrical contact was a pleasent mix of goofiness and heavy threats. Red Fish/Blue Fish was an excellent addition, pulled off supurbely, followed up with an excellent breakdown in the last 30 seconds. That, I think was the pinnacle, topped only by the immensly funny "fish" at the close.

Throughout the piece, however, I felt like there were some odd, out of place word choices, especially near the beginning. Overall, on the technicall end I'd work on some of the smoothness of the lyrics, so that they hit harder by being consistently awesome, not just funny. "You'll be the one who smells like sushi", for example, just didn't seem to fit where it was. So overall, it was good but left room for improvement.

Satch Man Hmm, this was a tough one. As I'm writting this, I think this is a contender for my 3rd place slot, along with a couple others.

There was a really catchy start, and I think the chip whistle blade man was a great touch! I loved the alternating at 0:50 - 1:17, worked out really well. There was a great buildup with Mr. X from 1:40 - 2:05. I knew a climax was coming, but it ended up being not at all what I expected. It worked well though, as a sort of cross between the themes. It didn't stand out quite as much as I expected that part to, and I don't know if if covered all the ground of the themes I wanted to see covered though. In terms of what's there, though, it's well done, polished, and covers the themes well.

Cold Dreams Another contender for that 3rd place slot. I liked the good, slow start on this one, really established a soundscape. There was a good combination of different sections of Mr. X, which I thought was quite cool. Once the piece gets really started, theres some really groovy change to typical "Sir Nuts" style, I really liked how it turned out. 1:18-1:48 in particular stood out. The transition after this worked well, and added to the soundscape as well. 2:16 - 2:30 had some awesome string work that went well with Blizzard Man. Overall, I think the themes were combined well and this was another solid entry.

Gemini Man I, like others before me, really liked the start - looking forward to a more fleshed out version. Not a whole lot more to say on this one, it's over just as its really getting started, and naturally doesn't give a whole lot of coverage to those themes. I guess all I can say is; Make that last Gemini Man count! I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

As an aside, it made a surprisingly good transition to Lidawg's, despite ending abruptly.

Passing of the Knight When I looked back at all I had listened to, this one pretty easily settled in on 2nd place. At first, it almost seems a little off, but soon enough I caught on on where it was mixing the themes and it was pretty cool. Gets into a pretty awesome style by about 45 second in. Pretty quickly it moves to some epic Knight Man, I loved the section from 1:00 - 1:34! 1:45 - 2:00 had some amazing mixing of the themes, some of the best in this round. And then, at 2:00 we get a noticable loss of the drums for an EPIC and masterfully executed and placed guitar solo. That really adds to the piece, and then we get everything coming together for another great breakdown at 2:30 up to the end. Loved this one!

Electrostatic Interesting style for the Mr. X stage stuff, it worked well with a good atmosphere. I liked this one, but I felt it could have use the spark man source to greater effect. If that had hit stronger, and perhaps been integrated in a few more places, I think this would have been a really cool remix. As it is, it's fairly solid but doesn't have things that particularly stand out in terms of composition.

The Death of Mr. X Stylish start to this one, with some good Mr. X in the background. Altogether it had a great beat that worked well. The mixing of the themes was very strong. I really liked, in particular, the buildup from 2:06 - 2:20. Then the breakdown. It wasn't really what I was expecting, and I think that parts of that could be improved. Though, that may largely be personal. 2:20 - 2:30 I though, in particular, could be different and really improve the overall impact of the breakdown. Past that though, it was really great and there was a good framework for the piece.

Dayquil, Nyquil Great touch on Mr. X overall! 1:22 - 1:40 was an awesome buildup to 1:55 - 2:20, which was just WOW! 2:20 - 2:50 was a strong touch on Yamato Man by itself, which was good. Then another awesome Mr. X portion with some great mixing. Overall, I felt that it was very good that it finished off with Yamato Man, because that extra coverage was needed. Solid piece. Even if it was fairly conservative with the Yamato Man sections, the Mr. X portions were STELLAR!

I Dreamt of a Man with Two Heads This had an awesome beat to start, and it was kept up throughout, which did wonders for the piece overall 1:10 - 2:20 added to this, but that section could have been developed later on in the piece. Instead, it felt like the direction changed, which took away from the depth of the piece. 3:06 - 3:20 provided some good search man. I think if we had gotten some mixing with the search man we see in 1:10 - 2:20 with Mr. X in the same style, that would have been great.

I think there was great strides in the ability of this piece - it keeps up a good beat and sticks with it for a much fuller piece. What was lacking, however, was a strong climax that builds off this beat and really fleshes out and remixes one or both of the sources. I would say focus on having powerfully awesome moments like that in the next piece, where you just wow the listener. But remember to not lose a full beat/background like you had here. Otherwise, it will start to sound empty. So, have a good solid foundation, like you do here, but still build up on it.

Copperhead Drumstep The start to this one excited me! There was a really interesting style. 0:14 - 0:26 had some pretty awesome Mr. X, which was then built upon with some snake man in 0:26 - 0:53, which mixed really well. 0:53 - 1:18 also stood out as very catchy. 1:20 - 2:00 exhibited a very awesome degree of mixing that really tied the tone together. I also loved what we saw from 2:02 - 2:30, great style that added to the piece in a very unique way. The ending, maybe could have been stronger, but it clearly works.

Smooth Operator I liked the soundscape on this guy, had some sass to it. There was some solid mixing, especially at the beginning. 1:39 - 2:10 excelled in mixing, and was followed up well. I love what you have going on from 2:42 - 2:56, which felt like the culmination of the style you had going on. I'll enjoy listening to this a lot, but I think there was some really awesome stuff done in this round, and this doesn't quite get at the same level. Very good stuff, though.

ZERO to ROBO Nice mechanical vibe. It worked really well for Crash Man, and made for a really interesting style. I would have liked to see the Mr. X source constructed in such a way, rather than only having that mechanical vibe going on in the background. Like, what you did from 0:56 - 1:05, but even more! I think that would have really made this piece stand out and hit home. 1:54 - 2:09 was really catchy and provided a good ending too. Great work on this, but I felt that it fell behind a little on the Mr. X side of things.

Well, that was fun. Time to vote now!

[Zerothemaster]

I agree my track lacked a good climax. There were a lot of hitches along the way, so the current arrangement wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. There was going to be a middle part, but things didn't work out, and it was late on friday, and there was just a lot of problems. So there isn't a climax, and the arrangement isn't as good as I would like, but Amphibious made my production better

That's something

[Brandon Strader]

I strongly disagree about there being any lack of vocal confidence in Liquid Metal. It may not be your cup of tea but the vocal performances were tight, especially from Rexy who is new to this kind of thing. It's balls (and ovaries) to the wall at all times

[SuperiorX]

So I wasn't planning on writing reviews this week, but then I was going to complain about not getting more reviews on my own song, so I figured that would be awfully hypocritical of me if I didn't give reviews. So here we go:

Liquid Metal: Easily my favorite of the round. It was one of the most original mixes I've heard in the compo, so it really stuck out to me. It also doesn't hurt that I do enjoy myself some metal (in moderation). The guitar work was stellar throughout and sounded well mixed. The lyrics were goofy, but I loved them for it. Most of the vocals seemed to be recorded quite well and I thought the performances were great. I loved it guys!

Satch Man: Pretty good mix overall. The pace felt a bit slow and it felt like the track never really got going. I enjoyed it overall though. I like the "traditional halc" chiptuny style and Willrock's solo was well done as well (WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT WILLROCK WOULD HAVE DONE ANOTHER SOLO??? Completely unexpected ).

Cold Dreams: Cool soundscape here. I think this is the first non-80s mix I've ever heard from SirNuts! I really like the instrumention throughout, and the "windy" sound effects were used well throughout.

I didnt have time to write this entire song name: I liked what you had going here Main Finger! It is a shame you had a bad week, I would've liked to hear how Gemini Man would've been incorporated.

Passing of the Knight: That was a fun song. Seemed a bit quiet overall. And sometimes the guitar and synth seem to muddy one another up in the EQ ranges. But overall I did enjoy this song. I particularly like the rendition of Knight man here.

Electrostatic: This had a pretty quirky arrangement. I liked some of the effects used and instrumentation, it really kept me guessing on what was gonna come next. I think with a little more development with backing instruments/melodies that this would be a particularly fun little song.

The Death of Mr. X: I'm sorry AMT, but I just couldn't get into this song. The Nirvana guitar riff just really bugged me. I think I heard "It Smells like Teen Spirit" overplayed on the radio growing up one too many times. So hearing it again here brought back terrible memories. Getting past that, the arrangement itself seemed pretty original and in general I liked the rest of the song (although the lead and melody guitars sounded like they could've been mixed a bit better).

Dayquil, Nyquil: It took me awhile to get into this song, but after a few play-throughs I really like it, and I really appreciate the various instruments and sound design choices throughout. This one stood out from a lot of the other mixes thus far!

I Dreamt of a Man with Two Heads: Big improvement from you ZTM! Nice work. I like the catchy hook with Search Man's theme that plays through a lot of the song. Piano break was good too! Overall the song was a little repetitive, but you're making a lot of progress.

Copperhead Drumstep: Another fun chippytune from Ben. Not a lot of complaints here. Overall a well done song. Nearly my third place vote, but SirNuts won out by just a bit.

Smooth Operator: Now this is what I'm talking about. This is some sexy goodness here, and my oh my who is that guest remixer on the drums? hahah. Honestly I really like my track this round, I think it's easily the best I've made. So I hope you guys post some more reviews cause I'm really interested in your opinions! Thanks!

ZERO to ROBO: I like this one a lot more than your previous mix. Another really quirky soundscape, which I do enjoy. I also think you blended the themes a bit better in this mix too. Interesting percussion choices too!

Good round everyone! And I apologize for my rather lackluster reviews, it's been a long week and I'm dead tired.

[Phonetic Hero]

Smooth Operator: Now this is what I'm talking about. This is some sexy goodness here, and my oh my who is that guest remixer on the drums? hahah. Honestly I really like my track this round, I think it's easily the best I've made. So I hope you guys post some more reviews cause I'm really interested in your opinions! Thanks!

Ur drums are SUX d00d!!

[Zerothemaster]

I Dreamt of a Man with Two Heads: Big improvement from you ZTM! Nice work. I like the catchy hook with Search Man's theme that plays through a lot of the song. Piano break was good too! Overall the song was a little repetitive, but you're making a lot of progress.

That wasn't search man

That was the counter melody from the first section of the wily theme

[AMT]

The Death of Mr. X: I'm sorry AMT, but I just couldn't get into this song. The Nirvana guitar riff just really bugged me. I think I heard "It Smells like Teen Spirit" overplayed on the radio growing up one too many times. So hearing it again here brought back terrible memories. Getting past that, the arrangement itself seemed pretty original and in general I liked the rest of the song (although the lead and melody guitars sounded like they could've been mixed a bit better).

I'm glad I managed to nail the sound I was going for- I just had no idea it would be such an unpopular style Ah well, what's done is done. Thanks for taking the time to do writeups!

[Flexstyle]

I'm glad I managed to nail the sound I was going for- I just had no idea it would be such an unpopular style Ah well, what's done is done. Thanks for taking the time to do writeups!

The Nirvana riff in your track was basically what made me sit up and take notice of it in the first place.

[SuperiorX]

I'm glad I managed to nail the sound I was going for- I just had no idea it would be such an unpopular style Ah well, what's done is done. Thanks for taking the time to do writeups!

Yeah a lot of people seemed to like it, so it's probably just me lol Like I said, it's nothing against you or your abilities, I just don't like that particular Nirvana song or riff after hearing it 329381646876871219843 times.

That wasn't search man

That was the counter melody from the first section of the wily theme

Meh, whateva. I was thinking it sounded like the intro part of Search Man. Either way, I liked it.

[Helios42]

I strongly disagree about there being any lack of vocal confidence in Liquid Metal. It may not be your cup of tea but the vocal performances were tight, especially from Rexy who is new to this kind of thing. It's balls (and ovaries) to the wall at all times

Ah, you're quite right. I apologize, now that I read through it, I didn't say exactly what I wanted to...

I didn't give a whole lot of emphasis (its there, but kinda overshadowed), but I did really admire the high level of technical skill, spcecifically with the instruments.

I had/ am having trouble identifying exactly what this is, but something about just a few of the lyrics feels slightly off to me. I thought a slight level of unconfedence was the best way to describe it, but clearly that's not right... Hmm, can't quite put my finger on it, so don't set too much stock by my opinion there. Sorry I didn't fully express myself there!!!

[Thomas]

Well SuperiorX, since you were on my Honourable Mention list I don't mind at all expanding it. I enjoyed your piece considerably, which is saying something as I'm not normally a fan of slower pieces, although it's known to happen. For me, it had a good solid flow and the sources were clearly identifiable and previously mentioned, I'm a sucker for all things Mega Man 3. Accompanied by other fine tracks found in this competition it brings me down a level while listening through some of the faster tracks. I felt the percussion choices really held together this piece and probably aided the flow as I mentioned before, a piece with a definite groove to it, the title was a good choice for the arrangement as well.

Sorry it's not a technical critique that other people here are more qualified to give, but I will say I enjoyed it and it's going on my driving playlist.

[AkumajoBelmont]

Well, since my Cold Man is a retro guy, you've got retro-synth pop to look forward to (or not look forward to) again. It's what I do and do best, and though I know it's a niche that not everyone may like, retro 80's stuff always makes me happy, and I adore writing tracks like this. Though I'm excited this time, more than before, because the Wily 8 Melody fits rather snugly with Cold Man's chordal structure, So my arrangement is a lot better than last time

I'm loving this comp... I'd never completed a track in a week before - let alone a second that I'm about to do... I'm pretty happy with myself.

And as Flex said earlier, I'm really proud of my team too, and all of you guys. We're all churning out music week after week because, well, you know, WE CAN

And considering we all have lives, I find that pretty amazing actually

[AMT]

Well, since my Cold Man is a retro guy, you've got retro-synth pop to look forward to (or not look forward to) again.

I just wanted to say that your first entry is my favorite track out of the whole contest. Can't wait to hear more!

[Jason Covenant]

Well, since my Cold Man is a retro guy

Wasn't Cold Man born in the freezer of an 80's disco bar? You'll have to elaborate on his back story. =)

[AkumajoBelmont]

I just wanted to say that your first entry is my favorite track out of the whole contest. Can't wait to hear more!

Wow, thanks! Awesome to hear! I can't wait to unleash the new track tomorrow or whenever it is (timezones are balls FACT!)

Wasn't Cold Man born in the freezer of an 80's disco bar? You'll have to elaborate on his back story. =)

Almost. Cold Man was born in Siberia, but moved to Germany as a child. He became a famous 80's pop star and rode the wave of fame till the 90's hit. His album sales started dwindling throughout the 90's, because lets face it - who wanted to hear a Linn LinnDrum anymore?

A Juno 10-what? A Yamaha DX-forget it!

Refusing to adapt, Cold Man faded into obscurity. Till now. Thanks to Lady Gaga, the 80's is cool again, so Cold Man can see his way back into the music biz. He'll win yet. HE'LL WIN YET!!!!

[Magellanic]

Really looking forward to the next round and definitely excited for some more 80's lovin'. Thanks to all those who gave feedback btw. Its nice to know that even when havin' lame week I can make something that some people can enjoy. Thanks a lot to Helios for a very very encouraging review. Was feelin' quite low after the last round as the mix didn't quite end up as I wanted. Once this week is over I'll most likely iron out all the kinks and get the mix sounding good.

[Starphoenix]

I am so seriously looking forward to this next round guys. Literally I am going to be listening to each track as I study for my finals. The second round was my favorite so far. Now that one of my favorite Wily themes are up I am so excited to hear everyone's work. Seriously, I am excited for every single track!

[Phonetic Hero]

I am so seriously looking forward to this next round guys. Literally I am going to be listening to each track as I study for my finals. The second round was my favorite so far. Now that one of my favorite Wily themes are up I am so excited to hear everyone's work. Seriously, I am excited for every single track!

Hey, I mixed for that round... that's what made it so awesome, right? But seriously, this round should be at least as good on my end I'm as excited about the new batch as you are!

[SuperiorX]

Where's all the voters this week? This round is nearly over!

[Zerothemaster]

Where's all the voters this week? This round is nearly over!

Yeah, I need more people to vote for my entry!

[Gario]

Pfft, forget that, I still need to make my remix. I'll vote at the last possible moment.

[AMT]

Could have sworn I voted o_O Now I have!