Pander18

Locke's theme has always been one of my favorite tracks from FFVI. I used to let my SNES just kinda sit during the Locke + Moogles fight just so I could have the song loop over and over. So I really wanted to like this. But it just seems to go so far away from what I liked from the theme. I liked the swelling uptempo grandeur of the original, the snares and horns providing one hell of a heroic atmosphere, which this remix skews from completely. If I had gone in anticipating an experimental Japanese-style synth mix, I'd probably have understood and accepted it differently. But outside of a brief point around 2:00, this was an exercise to stay with that I didn't find enjoyable, no relief in sight from constantly diving strings and voices that cacaphonied unpleasantly, with my mindset the entire time being "how is this Locke's Theme"? You can bring up the Rachel callbacks, and it's neat a song references the connection, but I can't think of a song off this album that's less suited to the frequent mental exercise of "if they remade the game, which remixes should replace the original versions?" than this one. I think that summarizes my issue with the song (and it's probably a problem with me rather than the song). I don't dislike the musicianship or singing, I just dislike how different it is from the original in terms of spirit and theme.

Eino: I kinda get what you're talking about, although I find it backwards. I feel like the guy is singing baritone when the poppy melody is hoping for a tenor.

As the intro began to this one, I had to recheck the playlist and make sure it wasn't set to random, because I had sworn it jumped to the Star Wars soundtrack. The intro sounds very close to a swelling of french horns in the Obi Wan Kenobi Death/Tie Fighter track. Then, of course, it leads into a complex and absolutely stunning variation on Terra's theme. I enjoyed the Distant Worlds performance I heard in Chicago back in 2010 or so, but this absolutely tops it. I love where the song goes around 1:20 to 2:00, and the softness around 2:30. This mix crafts together Terra's power and emotional vulnerable so well. Terra's theme is the most thematically important song in FFVI, practically representing the entire emotional swing of the game. It could not have been more epically presented than this.

Meant to post before at songs I loved (especially Suikoden), but never have I felt obligated to overcome my laziness until I heard the break at about 1'28" in this song. Absolutely amazing. What strikes me is how similar it is to a portion of a song in Wing Commander: Privateer, a DOS space flight sim from about '94 with some very excellent ambient music. I'm not crazy about nuances in backbeats and whatnot, although your head-bobbing percussion certainly doesn't detract from the song. However, I just keep sending the slider to 1'28" and listening from that section on with a wide nostalgic grin, and have recommended it to all my compatriots who have a place in their hearts for Privateer. Excellent job guys, and thanks!