Troy

I registered on the forums just so I could review this particular piece. This is amazing! One of my favorites of all the FFVII remixes. 0:00-0:28 Great intro - simple and pretty. Makes you feel sad/nostalgic, which are the emotions that the original track was supposed to induce. 0:28-0:45 Ok, some of these drums I like a lot and others not as much. One of them in particular that always goes DONK DONK I feel needs to be toned down a lot. What I do like about the drums though is the bass drum, which is the quietest one. (I much prefer "thmp thmp" to "DONK DONK") It almost sounds like a 'heartbeat'. The idea of the heartbeat is one thing I would have liked to have seen developed a little more, but you can't have everything I guess. Anyway, as long as I don't let the loud donks bother me too much, the rest of the drums are pretty fitting. 0:45-0:59 The distortiony-percussion is cool - though again it might have sounded cooler if it had a more muffled sound. I loved the whisper sound effects, especially the one at 0:50 is perfect, with a cool echo too. 0:59-1:30 Here we go, now we change key switching to the more familiar chords as in the original track. It's a good chill, slow setup. Nothing needs to be rushed. 1:30-1:45 Awesomeness. Quite eerie with the addition of the marimba 1:45-2:00 Here come the donks again. Are they really necessary? Something deeper or more muffled please, like a low or floor tom drum. 2:00-2:20 A change of pace which is good. Cool distortions again. The brief burning sound and ominous chords are a great touch. I can just see Sephiroth turning his back and disappearing behind the flames of Nibelheim. And heartbeat, yay. 2:20-2:53 Combines the elements from the sections from 0:45-2:00, effectively - including the cool whispers again. 2:53-END I'm digging the new drum rhythm right off the bat. The tempo had been dominated by the slow pace of the strings for the longest time (appropriately so), and now everything is more excited. The underlying chords go back to the way they were at 0:00-0:59. Best part of the piece in my opinion. It wouldn't fit in any other part of the song, but at the end the building excitement is perfect. Overall: 9.5/10 - My only complaint is the drums/percussion, I think it could have been more fine-tuned to be in line with the emotions of the piece.