OCR01640 - Final Fantasy VII "Lunatic Moon"

[djpretzel]

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

[Torzelan]

YES! My favorite track of VotL, hands down.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... ...or not, I'm kind of bad at talking about the small stuff. It's 3:56 of aural happiness, and I hope that of the 75 GB VotL I've uploaded so far, several gigs were Lunatic Moon.

For what felt like forever I just had the "redxiii.mp3" track stolen in #ocrwip, and it looped oh so many times on my MP3 player. I knew I'd love the full version, but even then I was completely taken by surprise by how the rest of the song turned out, far heavier and faster than the sample had led me to believe.

And it's all good.

I might just have had bad timing when looking, but on IRC and forums and whatnot, I almost never see this track mentioned, which is crazy. Happy it got it's own place here.

[Rambo]

Fantastic work guys. The final product sounds amazing. It's hearing songs like this that make me want to start mixing. This easily finds its way into my favorite OCRemixes. I'd love to further express what I love about the song... but there's nothing I can say that won't be better said by someone more knowledgeable in the music field.

Thanks for the great tune

[Dr. Rod]

I loved the take on this theme.....very driving and energetic.....and the drops are exceptionally calm and serene. The sinewave of intensity is what (among other things) makes this such a fantastic arrangement. The different stylistic elements fuse together to create a seamless soundscape, everything is distinct, yet cohesive. Defintely one of my favorites of the project.

[Harmony]

Jaw dropping! Some mixes take me a while to really get into, but I was hooked at the get-go with this. The rhythm guitars are powerful yet perfectly balanced with the rest of the mix. Solo guitar, what can I say? Awesome Sixto. Ethnic sections were clean and organic, serving as great transitions between heavier parts. The synth work is exactly as cool as just about anything else with the "zircon" marquee on it.

And omg this mix is phat. Actually, in an attempt to precisely quantify the phatness of this track for myself, I looked at its peak spectrum and wow; all of the lows, from the subs around 40Hz to the basses near 160Hz are filled to the brim. And yet, no mud! Now that's some quality production. Really nice work guys and definitely one of the best mixes I've heard in a while...I'll just have to remember to turn down the bass in my car when playing this, lest I utterly destroy my factory speakers

[Hyperion5182]

I have some legit problems with this mix. It is overall insane but the unfortunate problem is what several mixes have had to compete with. When i listen to this mix i have to compare it unfortunately to Ascension to Cosmo Canyon. An utterly epic masterpiece by Reuben Kee conveying the entire story concerning the place into one song. In my eyes Kee wins every time on this one. I think too much emphasis was put on the hyper pace of the mix while ignoring the tribal and peaceful tones that one associates with the source tune.

Now am i saying the song sucks? HELL NO I LOVE IT. The key problem is the same one others in voices had to encounter: Just absolutely incredible competition.

[zircon]

Thanks for the comments everyone! Especially you Harmony, as you don't post a lot

Hyperion: I never really think of other remixes as 'competition'. "Ascenion to Cosmo Canyon" is completely different than this. We weren't trying to make a souped-up anime soundtrack-esque cover of the theme at all. I suppose if we were, we very well would pale in comparison to Reuben Kee's take, but we were trying to do something more like the Black Mages. I think multiple remixes of the same theme can co-exist peacefully and be enjoyed in different ways, personally.

[Insaintan]

I have some legit problems with this mix. It is overall insane but the unfortunate problem is what several mixes have had to compete with. When i listen to this mix i have to compare it unfortunately to Ascension to Cosmo Canyon. An utterly epic masterpiece by Reuben Kee conveying the entire story concerning the place into one song. In my eyes Kee wins every time on this one. I think too much emphasis was put on the hyper pace of the mix while ignoring the tribal and peaceful tones that one associates with the source tune.

Now am i saying the song sucks? HELL NO I LOVE IT. The key problem is the same one others in voices had to encounter: Just absolutely incredible competition.

Oh, there was a contest?

[Flare4War]

Definitely one of the more chaotic, aggressive mixes from zircon. I like it. It's hard to pull of these rambunctious dirty guitar remixes off and maintain a pleasing melody. Before this I thought Waste Water Wipe out was Zircon's style living on the wild side but this is much much heavier.

Very well done.

[Thin Crust]

This was the first sample that I heard from the VotL soundtrack. I only heard the part that made the sample sound much better then the actual song. The insanely heavy bit was also well done, but I felt that the transitions were absolutely the worst I have ever heard. At the beginning, the song lays down the heavy stuff, then all of a sudden, without warning.....it stops. Then after a little bit of lighter stuff, WHAM! It hits you again. Are the two styles good? Yes. Can they blend together better? I would say that is very possible. Did this song deliver? I think so. But the transitions are just so bad that it takes the song out of the top ten of the soundtrack. At least in my opinion. Great job to both of you. I mean that without sarcasm.

[Palpable]

Absolutely sick song. I only got to listen to it just now on crappy speakers and it still sounded amazing. Very different sections that all flow together smoothly - I didn't have any problem with the transitions. I can't wait until I get home and I can listen to this on a proper system.

[Hyperion5182]

Thanks for the comments everyone! Especially you Harmony, as you don't post a lot

Hyperion: I never really think of other remixes as 'competition'. "Ascenion to Cosmo Canyon" is completely different than this. We weren't trying to make a souped-up anime soundtrack-esque cover of the theme at all. I suppose if we were, we very well would pale in comparison to Reuben Kee's take, but we were trying to do something more like the Black Mages. I think multiple remixes of the same theme can co-exist peacefully and be enjoyed in different ways, personally.

They can and they do. I love this piece but when i hear it cant help but draw comparisions. I am not trying to take anything away from yours. I am just trying to explain what i hear.

Oh, there was a contest?

Not so much a contest but a question of what i liked more. This is one of several pieces that had others before it of exceptional quality. Granted the genre type would be different where as this one is high speed rock the other was more instrumental/tribal. But when you get multiple mixes of same tracks you really cant help but draw the comparison. Especially when both come out at such fantastic quality levels. I reiterate my original stance this mix ROCKS.

[Peconomusman]

I love the solo at the end...so amazing.

Great work is all I have to say

[Transient]

Mindblowing. Prodigy buys ESP heavy guitar and meets Uematsu-san at the counter.

This Remix, rapid "shock lights", some /plenty of alcohol running in my veins and a crowded, hot dancefloor would make any of these days.

[OceansAndrew]

Killer production, great playing and creativity, but something has always bugged me about this track, so i'm not as enthused about it as i should be.

The reason is that for the first half of the song, the transitions seem really forced, and the second repetition seems like a cut and paste of the first. I love the concept and each section is executed near-flawlessly, but the shift is so jarring even when expected. It's like you were listening to the radio and just changed stations. There is some synth work that comes up in the ethnic section on the repeat that ties the sections together when shifting back to the heavy part, but when going to the ethnic there is no real connection save for the root note.

The second half of the track is the best part, as it is both impeccibly put together, and coherently transitioned.

The good in this far far far outweighs the almost trivial transition issues. The guitar tone is excellent while still fitting in with a super-packed soundfield of synths and percussion. Getting something like this, with all the competing frequencies sounding good is advanced stuff. Kids, don't try this at home!

Overall great stuff with just 1 flaw that happens to be my personal bane. Killer work, guys. \m/

[Kennylpj]

I had to create an account specifically for this song.

I really love the music that this remix is based on, the cosmo canyon theme.

This song does the single best representation of that song that I've ever been able to find, but only during the slow "ethnic" sections.

I really wish an arrangement of this remix could be made available without the hyper-techy/heavy sections, because I really dont think those sections capture the spirit of the original.

However, your slower melodies are really quite beautiful.

I also love how the song slowly picks up near the end, starting around the 3minute mark and climaxing at the 3:45 mark with the heavy section. That particular transition is very nice, but I think it should be the only section of the track with the fast and heavy tempo.

[Eino Keskitalo]

I like those transitions. They make the heavy sections feel even more effective. There's a very powerful forward drive in them as they are, and the breather works really well.

--Eino

[jayc4life]

I certainly echo that Zircon. I often listen to both of them and they both have their different variations on the same idea. It's refreshing to see that, because if we didn't have that same perception, you guys wouldn't be making ReMixes now, would you?

But as for my take on the track? Dr Rod beat me to the punch. I absolutely loved the speedy intro, and when the calm drops in, it's just... wow.

[Zombie]

Amazing track, and probably my personal favorite off of VotL. The solo at the end is epic Good job Sixto and Zircon!

I actually use this song as my cell phones ringtone. It is awesome.

[Nishay]

one, if not THE, favorite track on the album

others i loved were motor crazy cycle and black wing metamorphosis

[Mockingbird]

My second favorite track from "Voices of the Lifestream", just behind "Mark of the Beatsmith". I love everything about it: the guitars, the drops, the in your face that just melted pickups. This is one that I crank up every time.

[bobby1983]

This is by far one of my favorites. When the finale guitar solo comes in it sounds like the stuff Megadeth was doing back in the mid 90's when marty friedman was still on lead guitar. That guitaron this track is screaming and the tone is great, (sometimes the tone of a guitar is bad and almost sounds out of tune and ruins the whole song), but NOT in this track!!! Success !!!

Totally love the subtle synth arpeggios right before the guitar solo.

It also has the nice squarepusher style breakbeats in the beginning!

THANKS YOU FOR MAKING THE GREATEST MUSIC EVER!!!!

[Mirby]

This song... that solo in it... it's wonderful. I love it so much; it's also a 45-second guitar solo so that helps. Every time it's about to end, it picks up again. Great pacing, and wonderful listen. We need more Sixto/zircon remixes; it's been a while.

[swansdown]

The sheer energy in this one. It goes perfect with Nomura Limit!

Nanaki kicks most ass! ^__^ Sixto Zircon help!

Edited September 8, 2023 by swansdown

[Black_Doom]

So, when one of the best electronica musician and one of the best rock musician join their forces to rock the hell out of everyone with the collab, be careful. The final product may be too awesome to listen to!  Blending hard rocking parts and mellow ethinc parts is just a perfect way to vary the strcture of the track and add some dynamics. Surely one of my VotL highlights.