prophetik music Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 (edited) Background: This one started as a random, half-joking idea in late March or early April: what if the final battle from Pokémon Gen 1 (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow) was done like "Damage, Inc" by Metallica? In my (ParadiddlesJosh) head, this is a slam-dunk arrangement: Seph and I listened to a lot of Metallica growing up and put close to a combined 300 hours in Pokémon Red and Blue, with a considerable amount of that time overlapping. Some of the riffs are kinda similar and the vibe for the source is frenetic enough. Matt (Xaleph) asked me to collab on a Mega Man arrangement he'd put together with Ryan8bit and Zack Parrish for DOD's Mega Man month (May 2024) and I'd heard the Rocket Knights do "Flash Man" from Mega Man 2 but it's "Seek and Destroy" from Metallica's debut record, Kill 'Em All. And I won't sugarcoat it: "Flash and Destroy" sounded like a very fun shitpost. I thought, "If there's a free month, a Pokémon month, or a Game Boy month coming up, I'm pitching this bonkers Gen 1/Metallica mashup." All I needed were willing co-conspirators collaborators and some lyrics. Lo and behold, July was a free month for DOD. Seph (PixelSeph) was on board to do guitars and, with some back and forth on the lyrics, vocals. Zack was on board to do bass. Matt suggested laying in some organ to pad in behind the guitar lines. But Zack had his own main arrangement commanding most of his attention and another duelist pulled him away for a collab, so he suggested a replacement: enter Cyril the Wolf. Cyril nailed the basslines. Continuing a trend of OCR heads diving into DOD, this was submitted to Dwelling of Duels during the free month in July, where it placed 12th out of 32 entries. Credits: ParadiddlesJosh (arrangement, drum programming, add. organ programming, VST guitar programming, mixing, lyrics) PixelSeph (guitars, vocals, lyrics) Cyril the Wolf (bass) Xaleph (organ, mastering) Joo *Johnnyz* Buaes on VG Music (MIDI transcriptions) Source Usage Breakdown: Quote Intro (0:00-0:16) Final Battle! (Rival), Intro (0:00-0:14 of source material) Riff A (0:16-0:40) Final Battle! (Rival), section B (0:33-0:43 of source material) Riff A Tail (0:40-0:45) Battle! (Gym Leader), section A (0:24-0:28 of source material -- this is a tenuous connection and more of an homage to the game's title motif than anything else) Riff B/Pre-Verse (0:45-0:58) Final Battle! (Rival), Section B (0:58-1:00 – this riff is more or less a direct ape of Riff B from “Damage, Inc” (1:56-2:06) but the vocal melody in the verse that follows tenuously uses these two bars of melody line from the source) Verse 1 - Riff B (0:58-1:20) As Riff B/Pre-Verse, but a cadence from Final Battle! (Rival), Section C (1:05-1:06 of the source material) is inserted into the riff every 8th bar Chorus (1:20-1:31) Final Battle! (Rival), Section A (0:14-0:23 of source material) Re-Intro - Intro (1:31-1:37) Verse 2 - Riff B (1:37-1:59) Chorus 2 (1:59-2:10) Bridge 1 (2:10-2:41) Battle! (Gym Leader), Section B (0:29-0:39 of source material) Battle! (Gym Leader - Kanto), section B (0:36-0:49 of source material) Guitar/Organ Duet (2:41-3:17) Final Battle! (Rival), Sections B and C (0:44-1:12 of the source material) Riff A Reprise (3:17-3:40) As Riff A, but with the upper melody line in the lead guitars and harmony in the organ False Chorus (3:40-3:52) Bridge 2 - same material as Bridge 1 (3:52-4:03) Riff A Tail (4:03-4:07) Verse 3 (4:03-4:30) Chorus 3 (4:30-4:41) Outro - same material as Intro (4:41-end) Expand Lyrics: Quote Just picked out my starter Pokemon My rival always picks the opposite one Grandson of professor - what’s-his-name? Since he’s asking me, it’s something lame! Running into tall grass for a rat Catch a bird or three just like that Never go again into the cave If I see another Zubat, I will rage Bulbasaur to Mew Pets that battle for you (It's Janken with extra steps) Catching Pokemon is what I do Saved my master ball for that Mewtwo Getting all the badges, one by one And stomping all my rivals ‘til I’m done Battling is my only excuse Try avoiding trainers, but it’s no use Everyone who sees me wants to play I'm never gonna lose, what do you say? Bulbasaur to Mew Pikachu, I choose you! (Pika Pikachu!) We’re going to the top We’re never gonna stop Straight through the Elite Four And now we'll steal your thunder (Indigo incorporated) Fire, water, 'lectric, grass and bug Fighting, psychic, normal, ghost and poison Ground and flying, dragon, fairy, ice Dark and steel and rock all will suffice Recoil move users I will shun You won't ever see me use Submission Make a hundred fifty-one new friends And send Team Rocket blasting off again! Bulbasaur to Mew It's Red versus Blue (Indigo Incorporated) Expand Games & Sources Pokémon Red Version: "Final Battle! (Rival)" by Junichi Masuda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXgAj5KdAC0 "Battle! (Gym Leader)" by Junichi Masuda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJKIrqO1Zas Pokémon Gold Version: "Battle! (Gym Leader - Kanto)" by Junichi Masuda; arr. Go Ichinose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJZBLs0-mEE Inspiration: "Damage, Inc" by Metallica. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdekZoYoamE Edited October 25 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted August 7 Author Share Posted August 7 (edited) well, ok then. opening is definitely a stylistic mashup. love the way you took metallica's vibe and make it work with these tracks so well. at 0:46, though, this is almost straight Metallica for like 30s straight. the melodic adaptation is indeed tenuous, especially when you consider it's two bars out of hundreds in the original (admittedly they are very recognizable bars). at least the chorus is more from the Rival track. the singing works great, it's realized well, and seph does a good job with it. i'm just not sure it's not too much metallica. the transition riff is back to the final battle riff, and then another verse (same caveats as before). the bridge works well to bring together the style and original into a better combination that's more in balance of the original. there's then 30 seconds of insane solo battle, because that's literally what the originals are about, and a bunch more instrumental sections that go through various elements of the sources. the end of the false chorus section at like 3:50 was pretty hip. the track cycles back to one more verse and chorus dyad, a quick riff, and it's done. the performances here are nuts, as expected. the three main performers are among the best in the local community at doing this kind of stuff, and it shows. there's a ton of synergy in the performance, it's intense and complex without being overly meandering or relying on tropes to make it work, and it's mixed very well by xaleph as well. the arrangement concept is also great. my concern is just that the verse's connection to the original works is essentially academic. it's tough to map the vocal lines to the original, although your timestamps make it clear once you've A/B'd it. i think what's here overall is probably distinct enough from Metallica to be ok. but this is the second really fun track from you guys that's come through recently that's been very, very close to a mainstream original. you need to be careful as you're treading a line here that we (the judges) don't want to more clearly define because of how subjective it can be. YES (borderline) edit 10/25: larry's numbers make it clearer than i originally thought that this is not 'probably too much Metallica', it's just plain too much. i didn't realize it was over a quarter of the track. sorry guys, sick track, but not for here. NO Edited October 25 by prophetik music pixelseph and paradiddlesjosh 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 Oh shit, at 1:19, you definitely hear how the rhythm of "Damage, Inc." MIGHT have inspired that final battle theme. :-) The mixing sounds kind of lossy, then the vocals at :57 sound distant, but it's meant to be mixed like "Damage, Inc."; IMO, Hetfield's vocals there are distant but sharper than what's here. Not a big deal. Great performances throughout! This homage is a ton of fun, but it's too much Metallica, i.e. too much Metallica arrangement to fall within the Submission Standards, IMO. (:46-1:19, 1:36.5-1:59 & 4:07.5-4:29.5 [1:55 of "Damage, Inc."]) = 77.5/285 or 27.19% non-VGM arrangement Y'all seem more than capable to rework the "Damage, Inc." cover sections, but that doesn't need to be done if it compromises the vision. Sometimes, great stuff falls outside the Standards, and that's OK. It's a great mashup! NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 Cool track! Great mashup of these sources as the guys have said. The mixing is what I would expect from a song in this genre, and the mastering is just right. You definitely nailed the brief you were attempting to do, but sadly I have to agree with Larry that it's too much "Damage Inc." I had a similar issue with a collab I did with bLiNd a few years back that was based on NIN's "Closer" and it sounded way too TrentReznorish and therefore it was rejected (but man was it cool! Jordan had replicated the kick and that bass sound to perfection). I'd love to hear this again with the "Damage, Inc." sections un-Damaged (it would be an easy yes), but as Larry said if that compromises the vision we understand. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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