OCR02500 - Mega Man 3 "Hot Pursuit in the Lost City of Wily"

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[DjjD]

Geez, already at 2500, intense. I'm sure much like a lot of other remixers, Disco Dan left a lasting impression. Cool grooves, a driven melody which, even if repetitive, showed a lot of motion...activeness, and it never felt repetitive. I've only been here for 3 years, but without this site, I would've never learned half the things I've picked up, if I'd just not sat down for hours and listened to video game originals/remixes.

Keep remixing Disco Dan, best of luck in the future.

OCRemix for lyfe.

Edited October 1, 2012 by DjjD

[Melbu Frahma]

Disco Dan is perfect for a milestone mix.

Gotta admit, I was kinda expecting this mix to be a bit more on the chill side, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise - DD delivers as usual - and looking at the remix title, I guess I should've expected something with more energy than I was thinking, lol. Looking forward to the mix floods, and all the other little fun stuff mentioned in the Remix post. Long live OCR!

[AJ-enova]

Can't believe Dan is back!

Hope to hear more soon

[Bahamut]

This mix is more like it!

Love the scale of the arrangement, it is simple, yet contains a lot of fresh variation to expand the depth of the song. A lot of artists out there could take some cues from this IMO.

My only real critique here is that I'm not a fan of the ending - something seems to not work as nicely here. Not that a fadeout is a bad thing for the song, I just think the execution could be better. Given how much of a behemoth the song is at over 7 minutes, it's a minor complaint for sure.

[Majin GeoDooD]

djp, I would like to add that prior to that meetup mentioned in the write up there was a meetup involving me, you, Dan, and DigitalComa in Centreville . I still have the pics to prove it, buwhahah.

As for the mix, good stuff. Needs more techno though .

[SuperiorX]

Oh hell yeah, Disco Dan!!!! I remember listening to all of DD's old Mega Man 2 & 3 mixes back in high school in the early 2000's. They were some of my favorite mixes back in the day (and still are ). Classic stuff right there. This is so fitting for mixpost #2500, one of my favorite Wily stage themes too. Disco Dan + Mega Man 3 = some old-school OCR awesomeness!

[Gario]

Disco Dan!

Aw yeah, I'm glad you found time in your busy schedule to toss OCR another remix, after all this time. Still love your minimalistic style to this day - glad to see that you still have it.

Still couldn't resist another MM3 remix, though - gotta love it

[metaphist]

If there was an OCR Hall of Fame, Disco Dan would be in it. It's always amazing when OG's return <3

[Mirby]

honestly?

i feel honored to be namedropped in a disco dan mixpost. that guy... he's one of the reasons i was able to open up my musical tastes and begin to truly explore all the site had to offer. seriously, such good mixes; still have Blue Lightning on my phone to listen to, and Rapid Fire will forever hold a place in my heart, along with Triforce Majeure. this'll get there soon enough too i'm sure.

great mix, and yeah

dan's close enough to dave.

[herograw]

Just dropping by to say yesssssssssss

[Deathbourne]

Great remix, I almost always love classic Mega Man remixes, this one to me has a kind of, oh idk, a dance club techno style to me. Since I don't know different music styles I might be wrong, but at any rate, this really is a great piece! keep up the good work!

[Chernabogue]

Yes to all the good news and to the awesome remix!

[Antonio Pizza]

===================================================

Hot Pursuit in the Lost City of Wily (Mega Man III)

===================================================

by Disco Dan. You may remember him from such remixes as Blaster Master's "Prolouge in A Minor" and the Genesis/Mega Drive port of Mortal Kombat's "PITiful (part 1)".

I have not written a review since OCR00563 10 years ago, when the site was still an orange subdomain of Overclocked.org. And 5 years I ago I promised Dan a review on DKC - "Riptide" (a bent promise, but one I still intend to keep).

James Todd Smith said, "Don't call it a comeback! I been here for years. I'm rockin' my peers, puttin' suckas in fear."

I don't know how else to better describe the the atmosphere surrounding the newest ReMix from OCR foundationary old-school staple, Disco Dan. He has not lost any of his voice; and though I'm out of practice I will try not to lose mine. Old school ap review coming up:

The nutshell:

8½ slices.

The details:

Up-tempo maracas/shakers. Disco Dan trademark. The song gets you geeked with these for 8 seconds, with a synth assigned to the OST's "Square B" channel fading in gradually. At 0:20 you get what I've been calling the "Club Technochocolate main melody teaser". It's a hard hitting, 4 note techno synth teaser, which upon first hearing, made my heart (prematurely) sink. "Oh no," I thought. "Not this crud." Silly me. I'd forgotten this was a Disco Dan track. It gets better...much better.

Twenty-five seconds in greets you with a quick drum intro followed by a scratchy funk bass synth and a hard hitting drumline. The SqB channel fades back in at a higher octave and is beautifully harmonized starting at 0:39 (again, another DD trademark). The OST's 2 second intro is played and from 0:53 - 1:19 the main melody is played with the OST's "Square A" channel as the same techno synth we heard earlier in the teaser.

At 1:19, any remaining skeptism is slayed. Disco Dan is here.

With a quick jam of the drums the chorus is introduced and is comprised of Dan's signature disco beat and claps. SqB's high BPM married with the bassline keeps the foot tapping. A bit of ambient synth strings in the background keeps the song enveloped and prevents the ear from getting hungry. But the star of the chorus is SqA's "Moroder Synth". In djp's posting write-up, he compared it to The Neverending Story. I agree...80%. It's definitely Giorgio Moroder-ish, but to me it sounds closer to

. Whatever. It's hot. And it brilliantly seizes your attention.

But Dan's not satisfied. So about 15 seconds later he harmonizes it in the MIDDLE OF THE LOOP(!)...for 10 seconds. Then they diverge, like two happy children running side by side who then playfully split up and chase each other. I loved it.

The song then returns to the main melody and loses the claps temporarily. After one loop, SqB is harmonized with a higher pitched club synth. Another brief drumfest at 2:12 heralds the return of the chorus. After one loop of the chorus, we are introduced to an arpeggio'ing "wet-wah synth". I've been calling it the "MCoG synth", as it sounds similar to a whistle used in Haim Saban's track "Esteban's Adventure" from "The Mysterious Cities of Gold". My guess is this is where Dan derived the name of the ReMix from ("...Lost City of Wily"). If you're not familiar with the show, you may not pick up on the similarity. If you are familiar with MCoG, slow this part of the ReMix down to 70-75% using Chronotron or Pacemaker for Winamp and it becomes all the more apparent.

2:37 - 2:40 = SICKNESS. Can't explain it otherwise.

2:40 begins the bridge. Everything is cut off except the maracas, a hihat, the bassline and 3-hit echo-y drum kicks. A couple of echoed sound effects and the overall ambience reminds of one of Donkey Kong Country's "Mine". You almost expect a pan flute to come in, but a quiet SqB rejoins the fray at 2:53, this time as a light organ synth. When I review a song, I often slow the tempo (not the pitch) so as to Rain Man my way through it; and at 50% speed SqB sounds eerily similar to

. And I'm no Ferengi, but I believe I hear Dan's beloved cadenza strings lightly supplementing the mine as SqA.

3:06 begins an almost 40 second long freestyle with the Moroder synth. Beautiful contrast with the hurried tempo of the SqB synth + maracas vs. the slow keyboard dancing of the Moroder. 3:48 begins the fade out of the 3-hit drum kicks, SqA, and the strings. By the time you get to 4:00, there is only the bassline, the maracas, and SqB; the mix has essentially hit the reset button which means...

4:13 - 4:17 - Club Technochocolate main mel teaser.

There is no drum solo to kick things back into gear like after the first teaser. Dan gets right back to work with SqB and a brief fade in of the percussion. The OST intro is played again and 4:27 brings us back to the main melody, but the analytical ear will notice that the drums are a little more playful this time around. It keeps a repeated section of the song from sounding EXACTLY like its predecessor. Smart move. Deliberate musicianship.

SqB's harmonization comes back around the 4:40 mark for about 13 seconds, followed by the drums again heralding the arrival of the beloved Moroder synth chorus...and there's a lot that goes on in a short time here:

5:06 - enter MCoG wet-wah; 5:09 - harmonize Moroder SqA; 5:17 - diverge SqA harmony; 5:19 - lose EVERYTHING but percussion and MCoG wet-wah, 5:33 - re-enter bassline; 5:46 - re-enter SqA Moroder synth.

6:00 (yes, six minutes into the song and you're not tired of it yet) - the SqA Moroder synth has been for the most part harmonized with occasions of divergence. Now both instances freely dance their own performance, yet still in harmony. At 6:14 the ambient synth strings make their final return and prepare to close us out. The song continues to play with the bassline at the end of a measure and 6:25 bids us adieu to the fading Moroder synth. About 5 seconds later, the bassline also begins its fade out followed quickly by the percussion.

By the time you get to the last 17 seconds of the song, there is only the MCoG wet-wah and the ambient strings, which dreamily fade you to silence at 7:06.

Freakin' brilliant.

Disco Dan is an admitted perfectionist and it shows. The man has a raw talent and ear for music, tone, feel/mood, thickness, layering, tempo, and definitely harmony. Dan is a purposeful musician. If he uses a trick of sound or an audio technique, it's never gimmicky or used as filler. It's deliberate and well-fitting. I love his use of juxtaposition. The "SICKNESS" break at 2:37 - 2:40 and the de-layering/re-layering from 5:19-5:46 are wonderful examples and are my favorite parts of the song.

I'll close by noting that Disco Dan has the incredible ability to take source material I can't stand and make it desirable. This is not a track I'd have chosen. Neither was Mega Man 2's "Heat Man", but "Rapid Fire" turned out to be one of my favorite ReMixes and "Hot Pursuit in the Lost City of Wily" will join those ranks. It didn't even FEEL like 7 minutes, yet he knew that any longer would have been too much. *smh* Natural ear.

Adult gummy vitamins shows us that candy can be good and good for you. Disco Dan peeks into OCR after a long nap to show the whipper-snappers that he is still busting out notes and melodies that aren't just yummy to the ear, but nutrious for it too.

Folks, these opinions are just that. I'm hardly a remixer. I'm a listener. But if you've been a regular visitor to the message boards since July 10th of 2001, you already know that. Please, listen to this track more than once before you make your own opinions. Listen to it through decent speakers. And keep comin' back.

Kudos Cubaníto.

Well done.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Antonio Pizza
fixifications!

[gandalf0987]

A strong, catchy beat that you can dance to. Also, the always enjoyable Mega Man melodies. Disco Dan is always at the top of his mixing game, and this one is no exception. As a Mega Man fan myself, I highly recommend this remix!

[orlouge82]

It's funny, I was just listening to "Bubble Man Funked Up", and my copy of the file apparently doesn't have the artist tag as "Disco Dan". It's "Dwcdisco@hotmail.com".

I've been listening to your stuff for well over ten years now, and this latest one doesn't disappoint! Keep them coming!!

[brimtastic]

Simple, enjoyable, head-pumping stuff. A classic Mega Man remix, and one that I'll be listening to a lot.

I thought the mix on the YouTube upload sounded a little muddy, but after downloading the MP3 I'd say the production is fantastic!

[rfgiusti]

I like it. It's catchy. Sounds really good. But after some four or five minutes, feels kind of repetitive. I think shorter would have been nicer.

[mad_monkey]

Not much to say but wow.. Great to see Disco Dan back at it again.. I'm a big fan of mega man mixes and this

one definitely doesn't disappoint.. Nice walk down memory lane with this one

[Crulex]

Disco Dan is one of those classic ReMixers that you just love to listen to, be it new or older stuff, and to hear his take on Dr. Wily's 2nd stage from MM3 (which is one of my favorite Wily castle themes) is terrific. Love the electronica/dance work here, mostly because of the arrangement and the placement and build of the energy. What I mean is it doesn't come off as menacing but it's certainly built as a more dire trek than the more heroic takes on themes like this and Wily 1 from MM2 that I've heard. Fits the fight against Wily a bit better to me. Nice work, Disco Dan!