OCRA-0040 - Final Fantasy VI: Balance and Ruin

[Mirby]

LOL give me a break

I liked the bonus tracks (and the SnappleMan collab tracks were included in my review).

I only ask because zircon basically said that those aren't truly bonus tracks.

Here, I'll quote him on that:

In this case maybe "Bonus" was not the right word to use, originally I think I had wanted it to just be "Disc 5" and not say "Bonus" at all. Those tracks are every bit as amazing as those on the first 4 discs. We just didn't really have room for all that music on the first 4 and in most cases we felt it was weird to have two arrangements of the same theme in close proximity (with a few exceptions, like Chocobo, Blackjack, and the opera.)

So why did we have duplicates? There were some cases where an artist had claimed a track and backed out, so we would fill their spot with another ReMixer. Then, the original artist came through after all, leaving us with multiple takes to pick from. A number of the ReMixes are also from the contests (with LOTS of takes on the same themes), as has been noted. In short...

Don't skip disc 5! The music is absolutely as good as the first 4 discs! We just separated it for space + flow reasons!

[Pavos]

LOL give me a break

I liked the bonus tracks (and the SnappleMan collab tracks were included in my review).

Awww I want a mini review too. I didn't even know my track was going to be a "bonus" tack. It really would be a shame if people would skip it (though I might be a bit biased )

[Palpable]

That was obviously his robotic clone, Botdon Strader.

And a poorly-programmed robotic clone at that cause, wow. I've seen actual spambots post more coherently than that.

I feel like my computer was hacked just having read it.

I'm in the middle of listening to disc 3 so far - I usually save listening to OCR albums in full until they come out because it's more fun to listen at the same time as everyone else. I'm shocked at the quality of this album. Even though it's largely familiar faces, it seems like everyone really stepped up their game, perhaps wanting to match the quality of everyone else, and the result is something truly special. This is a new apex for OCR albums, and I'm only halfway through! I'll probably do a full review at some point.

[Rozovian]

That was obviously his robotic clone, Botdon Strader.

Don't you mean Brandroid Strader?

[Chernabogue]

Disc 5 added to my big-ass review.

[Argle]

hi. I'm working overtime and I am trying to get this from my phone but I won't have the time to go back and fix any errors of my mouth of using speech to text. It's too hard using the cell phone because the forms, maybe that's something I can change in the future. I don't know. But it in right, I'm going to try my best. Can see what I'm saying at all. MacBreak lunch break lunch break break. Okay that doesn't work....... The real honor to be involved with this album good I like making mugs for Donna's. I think the people will hate dubstep just because it's dubstep, but I didn't really set out to make dubstep. I actually was just making with the chicken ninety type thing but it came out dubstep because I did the wobble bass. Why not everyone likes wobble bass. As for black Genesis, that was also a ton of fun to make and Ricky made a really wonderful arrangements for that song. I think it to the head Moreland and maybe been a bit more one instead of how crisp it sounds right now, and if we had more time I could have fixed it, but we don't have more time. And its a good song anyway, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. As for the album itself, I'm a bit disappointed to build how badly is being taken in other communities. I guess I found to happen, everyone is very picky about Santa rangements especially when it comes to Final Fantasy 6. Not much you can really do about that. I'm really happy with how things turned out and things will just be better in the future as we go along. It will be a good process. Everything is a learning experience. Really enjoy the entire experience here, and I thank you for the opportunity. And I hope you're like my songs.

have you ever considered a career of making irrational spam posts on web sites? I get them a lot, and truly sir, you have what it takes to excel in the field.

[Brandon Strader]

It wasn't spam or irrational. I was using speech to text and there's a few wrong words. I can translate it if needed.

[OceansAndrew]

It wasn't spam or irrational. I was using speech to text and there's a few wrong words. I can translate it if needed.

Yeah, i read that part and I UNDERSTOOD.

I bet Ricky understood too, she is good at that.

[Argle]

I definitely feel strongly about Santa rangements.

[RiverSound]

Don't you mean Brandroid Strader?

That's actually quite funny. Just say it out loud

This is one of those albums that calls for a track-by-track review. Mine should be coming this weekend. I really liked Chernabogue's review, agreed with him on a lot of points.

I hope the artists visit these review threads often. I wouldn't bother complimenting people's songs if I knew they're not even interested. The feedback given by fans, IMO, is an important part of projects like this, and of course for all musicians looking to develop their skills.

[Brandon Strader]

I definitely feel strongly about Santa rangements.

If you sound it out you can figure out what I said, Santa rangements, fan arrangements, so close.

On a related note, I've now seeded 53gb of Balance and Ruin to the OCR downloading community. How much have you guys?

Edited July 5, 2013 by Brandon Strader

[DJ Crono]

I didn't even know my track was going to be a "bonus" tack. It really would be a shame if people would skip it (though I might be a bit biased )

Haha, this.

[Argle]

If you sound it out you can figure out what I said, Santa rangements, fan arrangements, so close.

On a related note, I've now seeded 53gb of Balance and Ruin to the OCR downloading community. How much have you guys?

As of Wednesday, over 100 gb. Don't thank me, thank my employer.

[Xarnax42]

I hope the artists visit these review threads often. I wouldn't bother complimenting people's songs if I knew they're not even interested. The feedback given by fans, IMO, is an important part of projects like this, and of course for all musicians looking to develop their skills.

I'm still checking daily. Obviously, by his responses, you know zircon is too. And I've no doubt pu_freak and DJ Crono and myself are the only ones who get a little adrenaline rush when someone says nice things about our work.

Seeded over 100 gb? That's my monthly limit combined upload and download... (I have given back more than I took, though )

[Mirby]

btw, this is @ DJ Crono.

The Crossroads is one of my favorite tracks from VotL; I joined OCR not long after that album's release. I understand you tried to top that but to me... that's untoppable.

However, The 6th Kingdom is equally fantastic in its own right. To me, they're both different, both distinct, and both unique. And therefore, they're both incredibly awesome. Seriously, great work.

In each of their own categories, they are king. The Crossroads for with lyrics, The 6th Kingdom for without. Fantastic work. Love 'em. :3

[DJ Crono]

btw, this is @ DJ Crono.

The Crossroads is one of my favorite tracks from VotL; I joined OCR not long after that album's release. I understand you tried to top that but to me... that's untoppable.

However, The 6th Kingdom is equally fantastic in its own right. To me, they're both different, both distinct, and both unique. And therefore, they're both incredibly awesome. Seriously, great work.

In each of their own categories, they are king. The Crossroads for with lyrics, The 6th Kingdom for without. Fantastic work. Love 'em. :3

Thank you Mirby

Wow, I guess I set my bar higher than I realized with The Corssroads ;P

Well, seeing as they're 5 years apart, I hope at least I can say I've grown since then and increased my remixing level and skill.

It's sure as hell night and day from my first submission here "Eres Des Points".....looking back at that.....damn.....my ears.

Anyway, got more remixes coming for the FF9 album and Seiken Densetsu 3 album, so I'm looking forward to those!!

[caitsith2]

Yeah, I seeded back twice what I downloaded.

[Mirby]

Thank you Mirby

Wow, I guess I set my bar higher than I realized with The Corssroads ;P

Well, seeing as they're 5 years apart, I hope at least I can say I've grown since then and increased my remixing level and skill.

It's sure as hell night and day from my first submission here "Eres Des Points".....looking back at that.....damn.....my ears.

Anyway, got more remixes coming for the FF9 album and Seiken Densetsu 3 album, so I'm looking forward to those!!

Oh I can tell you've definitely grown and your skills have definitely leveled up.

You just managed to make something truly amazing back then that still holds up remarkably well. And your new track is a masterful showcase of what you've learned since then.

Lookin' forward to those two tracks too!

[Pavos]

Disc 5 added to my big-ass review.

Thanks Alex

[clowsui]

why no battle to the death remix?

[Pavos]

why no battle to the death remix?

It's called "Fierce Battle" in the OST and it was remixed by Flexstyle (his mix is called 'Evisceration'). And even if it wasn't remixed, just listen to the album and enjoy it instead of pre-emptively being sad or disappointed

[Pavos]

D-D-D-D-Double post!

I've decided to do a track-by-track review for this album. I usually don't do that, but because there are so many remixes that are just THAT good I just want to say something about them. Oh, and I suck at reviewing, so expect a lot of "great", "awesome" and "excellent" in the reviews

Disc 1

Prologue (bustatunez): Awesome way to open the album. While this kind of music won't end up in my daily playlist, it definitly has the ominous and epic feeling of the FF6 intro. It really pulls you in and sets an eerie mood. It also really builds up teh tension very well and has a beautiful peaceful part around the middle, before it builds up to Terra's theme where it maintains a sense of impending doom in the beginning. Awesome track, especially as the start of the album.

Now Is the Winter (Mustin): First of all, what's with the weird capitalization? Anyway, to the review: The piano sets a peaceful tone at the beginning, but it's quick to be blasted away by the brass which was a bit too loud/sudden in my opinion. But that's nitpicking. The piano then in combination with the guitar sounds weird and distorted (in a good way), but then the vibe of the tune switches to a chill, laid back vibe (and all that in 30 seconds). Somehow, this is how I always remembered the tune in my head from the SNES era. Seriously, I had to listen to the original to be able to tell what was different in this mix. Props for keeping the exact feel of the original and expand it with (amongst other additions) some real chill sax'ing on top of it.

Remember (Joshua Morse): Beautiful, just beautiful. Like the tracks before, this also has the exact feeling of the original only then even more peaceful and serene. It really sucks you in and gets me in a dreamy vibe. This is a great fit (stylisticly) with the Lucid Dreaming album. When the bass and drums enter, it keeps the great vibe but adds some pacing to the mix which really works well. The transition when those two are remove work a little less in my opinion, but I love how you alter the chords/bassline with the strings. I'll be playing this mix a lot whenever I want to chill. Superb stuff.

Smoke and Clouds (Jeff Ball feat. Laura Intravia): Hmmm, not really my thing. I've always found Locke's theme to be much like Crono's theme: a build up to an adventure, ready to embark on a grand journey with full confidence and that only enters from the 2 minute mark, for about 20 seconds. It's just too weird/distorted for my personal taste. Aside from my attachment to the original, the vocals work really well with the psychadelic synths in the background and the (dropping) violin creates a very unique, but coherent sound. I shouldn't be listening to this when I'm drunk, because I think I'll go crazy. I can always appreciate when artists do something completely different with a theme, especially when it's done well.

Polemos (SnappleMan, norg, Captain Finbeard): Don't know if it's my speakers, but I sometimes had a hard time hearing each guitar line seperatly (sounds a little muddy). Other than that: great fairly straight-forward rock version of the battle theme with excellent original stuff. I'll be describing this in more detail when I review the massive beast that is Omen.

Tastes Like Victory (Leitbur): First of all, kudos for making the victory fanfare interesting for the more than two and a half minutes. It's a chill mix, but that means it also got rid of the victorious feeling associated with the original. Other than the stylistic shift, it doesn't feel like much is happening in this mix other than keeping it from being boring. I like it, but it's not great in my opinion.

Castles in the Sand (Nutritious): First a disclaimer: I made the other Edgar & Sabin mix on this album for a reason (I like the source very much), so I might be more picky about this one. Having said that, I definitely feel that the Figaro theme deserves a grand orchestral treatment. This mix is less bombastic than I would have hoped, I really miss some more brass (for accentuating) on the background for that extra grand feeling. Perhaps it's also the relative lack of really low-frequency stuff). It's a good mix, but I can't shake the feeling you're holding back on the grandness of it.

Ascension of a Madman (Steffan Andrews): This mix perfectly "describes" every aspect of the madness that is Kefka. There are some very epic Elfman-esque parts to this and this could have easily been a song written for a big movie. From ominous, to serene, to bombastic, to distorted/playful, it has everything. I REALLY like the choir parts added in the mix and the aforementioned Elfman-style stuff. Great mix, my only gripe is the relative sudden ending. But according to Fishy I have ending issues, so you can forget that

La Montaña de los Caballos Jóvenes (XPRTNovice): Haha, awesome mix! I remember this from the WIP forums, but it's an awesome take on the theme and excecuted very well. It takes a while before it gets into full gear (and I'm not fond of the low-fi "uno, dos, tres, ... FOUR?", especially since the rest of the mix has such a high production value), but when it does, I just want to lie at the beach with the sun on my head and a cocktail/white beer in my hand. The build-up of that last part is also excellent, with a good "climax" at the end. The chocobo-cameo is a little distracting imo, but for the rest: great mix.

On the Run (Leitbur): I love the track, but I can't really recognize the source. But I really don't care, it's a really chill mix and I think your voice suits this kind of semi-upbeat electro (I know I suck at genres, shut up) more than it does with your more tranquil Fanfare mix. This mix makes me all happy and chill, very well done. But really, where's the source (as in, a real question because I'd like to know)?

A Fistful of Nickels (zircon, XPRTNovice, Jillian Aversa, Jeff Ball): YES. I never cared too much for Shadow's theme, but this brings so much epicness and grandeur to the character's theme while maintaining the original vibe and the personality of the character. It really is a fantastic mix, it's too bad the synth tease at 2:50 never makes it in the mix but the final part is really awesome. I really want to play Red Dead Redemption now with this on the background.

Camp Kefka (Joshua Morse): Again, I have to say that this is a great mix. I really love the build up in this mix: first the percussion and the soft pizzicato strings and the bells, before going to the militaristic rock-vibe and then full-fledged into the raw electronic genre after a short moment to catch your breath (I really love the glitchy stuff added at 1:50). A truly adrenaline-pumping remix that has a real BADASS feeling to it. Can't stop headbanging when I'm hearing this. This would do very well in a dubstep/eletro-set. The mix comes full circle when it goes back to the pizzicato strings and the bells. Yeah, awesome stuff.

Stone Drum (Radiowar): I don't like the low-fi part of this mix, sorry. I like how you added the eastern vibe to the mix, but the beat is not really my thing. The mix does grow on me though, but I won't say much about this track since I don't like the vibe (it seems repetitive to me, but that's just because I don't like the style). I'll let other people say useful stuff about this track, sorry man.

Toxic (Beatdrop): I thought this would be a fairly straightforward electro mix, up untill the dubstep elements came into effect. The mix really takes off after the small pauze at 1:07 and I really dig it, especially when the higher chippy synths are added at 1:29. Don't really like the sound of the lead synth around 1:50 (which remain for a large portion of the mix), they should've been a little more distorted imo. And really? A fade-out? That's too bad... All in all, I really enjoy this mix although I think it could've been a little better.

De Nuit (mv feat. Jeff Ball): One of my favorite sources from the OST. I remember a great emotional and tranquil piano version (albeit a WIP) from PabloComa from the WIP board of that OTHER FF6 project (does that one even still exist?). This is a really different direction, but it's still very chill with the strings and piano that really complement the beat and bassline very well. Everything just fits together so perfectly and has a really great vibe. I REALLY like this one, and that's saying something for a source that I love (and play a lot on the piano myself) in a genre I never saw coming for this song.

Gobble, Snarf, Snap (XPRTNovice): Not one of my favorites. While this mix is very well done and the instruments all complement each other very well, it's just too wacky for me. Especially since the original has a creppy, unsettling feeling to it (I mean, there are DEAD PEOPLE in the train).Having said that, it's really good how you turned such a simple source into such an energetic mix filled with many different instruments. Good track, just not to my liking.

Savage Triumph (Flexstyle, OA, Nutritious): You guys definitely got the "savage" part well done in this mix. Real raw and nasty, exactly befitting the source. I liked the breaks at around 1:10, it really keeped the mix diverse, especially because it's followed by a "calmer" part which focusses a bit more on percussion and in doing so accentuates the "savage" good in my opinion. Just after the two minute mark, the mix really gets into the climax and had a mroe rock feeling to it, which I really liked. The guitar solo at the last part was really awesome and contributed to the full adrenaline pumping aspect of this mix. Awesome mix which gets you pumped up for disc 2!

I'll be doing the others discs later

[Beatdrop]

Toxic (Beatdrop): I thought this would be a fairly straightforward electro mix, up untill the dubstep elements came into effect. The mix really takes off after the small pauze at 1:07 and I really dig it, especially when the higher chippy synths are added at 1:29. Don't really like the sound of the lead synth around 1:50 (which remain for a large portion of the mix), they should've been a little more distorted imo. And really? A fade-out? That's too bad... All in all, I really enjoy this mix although I think it could've been a little better.

I agree with you, actually. I think it could have been better. I wasn't 100% satisfied with it in the end, but I was on a VERY short deadline and, frankly, ran out of ideas for this track. The mastering especially dissatisfied me, but zircon did a great job cleaning it up a bit. The original arrangement is fairly tricky to adapt to my style, so I did what I could. Thanks for the comments

[Fureddi]

I've made it a must of mine to get everyone OCR album released from the site, tho I still have yet to listen to some (mainly the originals and lesser known games to myself), I do generally enjoy them as they tend to blend in the essence of the original music to the game (when I remember it for the games I do know) with different interpretations. Always inspiring.

So when the (eagerly by all) B&R was finally released I scampered to get it, and I spent my working hours with it playing on VLC at my job via a 16gb flash drive. I was not disappointed. B&R is a credit to the community and a credit to VGM in general.

I've picked a few tracks from the list for high praise (and playthrough on my machine at home), which are just amazing:

On The Run,

De Nuit,

Gobble, Snarf, Snap,

rive of sine waves,

There Will Be Blood (this is high note as I general detest Dubstep)

The Nightmare Oath,

The Impresario,

Till We Meet Again,

and Humble Beginnings, Great Expectations.

But what makes this album enjoyable for me (and I'm not sure as this is a general thing in the FF6 OST) is the underpinning recurrence of the main theme from the game throughout. I spent the best part of the last week humming it and I even had to install FF6 on my girlfriends PS3 whilst I was there to listen to it more. It just grabs me in a way only 3 other OCR projects have and leaves me hooked (the others being VotL, SoS and MT for those can decipher abbreviations.)

Well done all! Now complete my FF collection with albums for 8 and 9

[Hyperion5182]

Well done all! Now complete my FF collection with albums for 8 and 9

Not sure what the status on 8 is but 9 was literally just waiting for 6 to launch. Sooo expect 3 months or so