OCRA-0015 - Xenogears: Humans + Gears

Welcome to the Xenogears: Humans + Gears feedback and opinions thread!

You can download the project and read more about it here:

http://xenogears.ocremix.org/

An album trailer can be viewed here:

Thank you to all of the mixers, staff, and everyone involved! This has been one heck of a ride! Feel free to leave your thoughts about this remix album here!

Thanks!

kickass video as usual, Jose. I can't wait to hear this thing! Lets GO!

Loving the project so far! Some of the tracks I feel are too short, and Oinkness's has production issues, but otherwise great job guys! Some of these tracks are stellar!

Just watched the video, and I'm seeding now. Can't wait to give this a listen.

...why is it a gig in size? Are the FLACs really that large? KF

Holy. Crap. That is all I have to say. I've been waiting for this for a long time!

Just watched the video, and I'm seeding now. Can't wait to give this a listen.

...why is it a gig in size? Are the FLACs really that large? KF

they're lossless, so yes, they're that big.

looking forward to finally listening to the whole thing. huzzah, shaun!

edit: who did the website? oa? it's bloody fantastic. love the popup song info. really well-designed, from a graphics standpoint.

Alright, I just started listening now! Let's get this party started!

Thanks so much for all your effort guys, I'm glad this finally came to fruition. Especially thanks to you avaris for not letting this fail even when the leadership faltered in the early stages. I'm glad you took this under your wing and gave it the direction it needed!

Ziwtra did the website, Brad. And yes, it is an AWESOME website!

Track By Track analysis as long as I feel like keeping up, lol.

Humans Disc

Awakening Absolutely orgasmic guitar playing. One of the cleanest acoustic recordings I've ever heard, what a pleasant way to open up the album.

Of Sea and Fire Great concept and well executed, complete with awesome soloing and great drums. However, I don't think it needed to be as long as it is, this is one of those rare instances where I think a song is too long. Still a very fun track though.

Shattered Dreams Interesting harmonies with the harp, I really like the solo instruments that come in throughout the track, those sound PERFECT!! This one's a keeper, and is definitely one of my favorite orchestral arrangements I've heard in a long time. Gah, I'm effing giddy just listening to this whenever the solo instruments hit certain points. Sooooo good!

Cybernetic Love Lots of fun, I love the interplay of instruments and the unconventional guitar riffs especially. This almost sounds like it would be a better fit on the Gears disc, but that's nothing against the track itself. Nice vocal sample at the end.

When the Smoke Clears Emotive, longing, and just plain beautiful. Djp did a good job of describing this one as 'organic,' it definitely feels that way. It was great at first but when the ethnic instruments came in it was taken to a whole new level. This reminds me of "Destined for Greatness" but even more accessible. The writeup nearly brought me to tears, this might be the most personal mix I've heard on the project yet.

Ship of Emotion and Song This one takes its sweet time going where it's gonna go at first, but damn does it go places! This is an epic on the level of VHD's Lunar Whale mix from FF4. After a few listens, I think I'm ready to agree that this is VHD's best mix yet!

Take Flight Nice percussion in the intro, that's a high point for me! This far exceeds everything I've heard from you, Clay, and it's nice to finally see you get your work out to the masses! Thanks for doing justice to my favorite song off of the soundtrack!!

The Last Fatima The intro, I'll admit, didn't grab me as much as some of the other orchestral arrangements I've heard so far, but once you got that ethnic flair going it was a good ride! Nice to see you treading new ground like this Shaun!

Echoes Well, it's hard to live up to some of Fishy's best mixes, and honestly I don't think this one quite does it but with the age of the song taken into consideration, it's wonderful and very enjoyable to listen to. I love the soloing around 2:40-ish, especially.

My Child I loved the description for this song on the website. The vocals feel kind of muffled at times and I can't always make out the lyrics, but this one feels special in its own way

The Treasure That Must Be Seduced My other favorite song from the Xenogears soundtrack, this one touched on the parts of the melody that I liked more than "When the Smoke Clears" did, so it's nice to hear. This one sounds a lot better than what I remember hearing it on Dragon Army in terms of mixing, but that might just be hindsight bias taking place I especially love the guitar woven in with the orchestral elements, way to give this one your own touch!

In Joy and Sorrow Well, listening to the source and hearing your usual style, I had NO clue what to expect from this mix. This is really weird, haha! Glad you got this one got finished in time for the project though; obvious production issues aside, the lyrics are pretty great and I like the guitar solo too. One of the most unique songs I've heard so far!

New Day Well, I'm not gonna lie, the sample quality kind of impedes on my enjoyment of this mix at times. It's not too bad, but it's noticeable for the first half of the mix before the energy amps up. I love Ziwtra's drum work, as always, and it's a great followup to the mood set by Oinkness's track.

Welcome to the Human Race I can definitely feel the same style that you used in "31 Seconds" showing through here (which I just discovered last night and have been in love with ever since, by the way!) and it's very good! This song doesn't waste any time going completely crazy and assaulting me with awesomeness! Nice job merging elements from "The Flying Machine" and "31 Seconds" and ultimately creating something completely new and original out of it!

First Meeting - The Shadowed Forest This one's a lot more contemplative and paced than anything else I've heard so far, but it's got its own haunting charm. The moments of silence in between sections felt almost too long and it would have been nice to weave the pieces together a bit more coherently, but at the same time I can see how that might have been an intentional stylistic move. Lots of restraint and talent went into this mix and it shows through in the final product!

Akkadia Rising (Solo Sax Edit) Something about the sax tone in the intro rubbed me the wrong way, it felt like it was too reverbed, perhaps... This was a nice addition to the project for its uniqueness, but I definitely prefer the other mix when I heard it on the radio preview. It just doesn't feel complete without the extra effects, I think. Very good playing, though, Brad! I'm definitely a fan of your work in general

A Trace of Tears Very funky, this kind of style was DEFINITELY a good way to end off the album! Some of DA's best vocal work that I've heard yet, too! I think this could have been even cooler with a sax solo somewhere, but God... this is REALLY good as it is! Even at 4 minutes, though, this one felt like it missed an opportunity for some extra soloing after the guitar... This might be my favorite track off the first disc!

Gears Disc

Zeno Paradox This was a great way to introduce the Gears disc, it sounds very well produced and bursting at the seams with creative energy! I don't have many specific comments, but this one definitely is a highlight for me!

Daijiru (Too Hot for Clothes) Lol, signature AnSo bells make an early appearance here. The sound effects are gonna make this one hard to listen to in polite company, but the rest of the song is funky and enjoyable! The style here is a great fit with the source. Kickass, guys!

Crash/Restore The guitar is noticeably fake in the beginning but still fits well with the mix. The rest of the sounds are pretty nice and the arrangement is stellar! Great follow-up on the mood set by Too Hot for Clothes, I think this is my favorite Ziwtra mix off the album! I'm incredibly jealous of your solo-writing skills!

Dreamscape While this technically isn't the first time I've heard Nutritious go this way with his music (that shooort K.K. Dirge WIP showed me your potential for writing D&B music like this) but it's great to hear that hidden ability really take flight like this! Moving, energetic, and cohesive, I think this is one of the most pleasant surprises on the album given what I normally expect from the remixer. The traditional orchestral sections that are sandwiched by the big beat segments really fit nicely, and I love your use of new instruments like the sax and guitar. Way to bring down the house, Justin! Please do more stuff like this!

Wounded Soldier I'll admit I'm not as impressed with this one as some of the others in terms of complexity or uniqueness, but there's a lot to like about the simple groove and loud, grandiose style. It's nice to hear a debut from you, I look forward to hearing how you tackle Snow Mountain on the Super Mario 64 project, too! If it's anything like this I think I've got something to look forward too

Smooth Criminals This is just weird as hell for the first half, but enjoyable in its own right. I like once you find a groove and build upon that, this definitely feels like your style of music. Nice ending, too, but I wish you'd made it go just a biiit faster.

Sleeper Dreamer This many straightforward dance songs in a row kind of grated on my nerves, but this song isn't bad by any means, just a little textbook for my tastes.

Omen (R3 Mix) The opening sounds crazy on headphones, great bass! Only 30 seconds in, the distortion is already kicking my ass to the ground, and it only improves from there! This definitely feels like one of the highlights of the Gears disc, especially when things pick up around 2:55... that's just crazy!

Akkadia Rising I love how this track infuses a bit of a human touch into the Gears disc right when it needed it most. Very cool beats and bass, and Brad's sax definitely fits better with the backing instruments here. Beautiful, and one of the most original parts of the Gears disc!

Devil Flare Nice guitar work, and I'm a huge fan of your use of strings in these upbeat arrangements, RoeTaKa! Loud, upbeat, and energetic - I like it!!

Binary Chain A bit less intense than the rest of the Gears disc up to this point, but the bouncy synth seems appropriate for the source tune. It's a nice mellower (but still engaging and fun) followup to the ear-busting goodness that preceded it.

October Rain Well, the intro leads me to believe that this should be on the Humans disc. As soon as the Phil Collins-style drums came in, I took a double-take to see if I was really hearing things right - that's the most powerful drumming I've ever heard in a remix, and it carries the rest of the song VERY well. Not what I was expecting at all from seeing the mixers involved, but it was a wonderful surprise nonetheless! This one is definitely greater than the sum of its parts!

Of God and Man (or is it Lacan Divided? The site and MP3 files say two different things Some of the opening synth choices are a bit harsh on the ears, but they sound cool enough This has got a very distinct "final boss" feel to it, especially with the strange transitions and how every section of the song has a very distinct feel to it. Not to knock your previous work, but I personally think this one blows your FF4 mix out of the water in almost every way possible! Huge improvement!

Dogma The dissonant opening felt really weird, and I'm not sure if I liked it, really. However, once the song got going I started to like it a bit more. The guitar (or is it a synth?) was a really cool touch and I like what you did with the track at that point especially. This is one of the stranger tracks on the Gears disc but for the most part, it works.

Defective A lot of the leads sound muffled in the introduction. Cool percussion and synth, I like how you mixed that with a slightly organic mood throughout this song. This is definitely not what I expected to hear from either of you guys, but it still retains your own signature styles while taking them in new directions.

Shit on Citan CHIPP, you are ridiculous. Friggin insane. I could criticize the flatness of the lead guitar, but I don't think it would matter - this mix is so badass it would just deflect the criticisms back and hit me in the face with them! When I was finished with this mix I was pretty much just sitting there with a dumb look on my face, like... what the hell just happened?

The first track is an emotional table-setter, from what I've listened to, the rest of the first half follows suit with guitars, pianos, brass, flutes, and happy melodies. Much love.

I don't get Bahamut's objection about length...a cursory glance suggests the average length is around 4 minutes. I sort of agree about the Oinkness bit. The guitars are too far in the background a lot outside of the solo around 1:30, and the singer's range is slightly less than what I would have liked to hear. Upbeat nature reminds me of Hale-Bopp, and I like the song, but it stands out not just in terms of style but in terms of production.

Track 1-14, Welcome to the Human Race

John Revordero does it again, providing an odd, standout track loaded with sound byte quotes.

I don't think it'll be the runaway favorite that Doom2's 31 Seconds was, but it's definitely a lot of fun.

Well if you want to get technical, a compact disc can't hold 1gig worth of information, so FLAC is much more than lossless -- they actually hold a butt-ton of useless file size. Even the 16bit wav files for a CD usually don't go over 600mb with all tracks included...

and Oinkness's has production issues

Way to single me out.

Thanks dudes!

That first track (Quickening) was done ENTIRELY in less than 24hrs about 3 weeks ago. Level 99 composed and performed those guitars in about 2 hours on one take. The mastering involved a little bit of Guitar Amp Pro used on a bus to add in that early 90's alt rock feel. Don't let Level 99 read your comments otherwise he'll prob cry...no seriously!

Yeah ziwtra is a pretty amazing dude all around. That website is basically entirely him.

The first track is an emotional table-setter, from what I've listened to, the rest of the first half follows suit with guitars, pianos, brass, flutes, and happy melodies. Much love.

I don't get Bahamut's objection about length...a cursory glance suggests the average length is around 4 minutes. I sort of agree about the Oinkness bit. The guitars are too far in the background a lot outside of the solo around 1:30, and the singer's range is slightly less than what I would have liked to hear. Upbeat nature reminds me of Hale-Bopp, and I like the song, but it stands out not just in terms of style but in terms of production.

Well to be fair, the first tracks I listened to were Nutritious - Dreamscape, Oinkness - In Joy and Sorrow, Abadoss, DA, Nutritious - My Child, and Avaris - The Last Fatima (which was a nice one). I hadn't listened to the whole thing, so it wasn't really a complete assessment. I do love quite a bunch of these tracks, but it'll take me more listens to appreciate the whole thing I think. I think this is pretty good though overall, more than my expectations.

Way to single me out.

Sorry man, but those issues stuck out way too much for me to not comment on it.

Avaris - The Last Fatima (which was a nice one).

WOW thanks dude. That is basically my oldest track. I started that over 3 years ago; and finished it well over 2 years ago, back when I had absolutely no business writing anything orchestral. Almost pulled it from the project as well.

I went ahead and advertised this in the Shacknews "forum", so hopefully this will bring the project some extra love. Downloading the torrent now, but I love what I've heard so far!

Just finished my impressions/mini-review of the first disc in my post on the first page. That was quite a ride!!

I also wanted to say that I hate you all eternally for releasing this on the Sunday night that I was saving for a homework cramming night Way to keep me distracted!

Just finished my impressions/mini-review of the first disc in my post on the first page. That was quite a ride!!

I also wanted to say that I hate you all eternally for releasing this on the Sunday night that I was saving for a homework cramming night Way to keep me distracted!

Haha, I'm in the same boat. Tackling nuclear engineering while also trying to groove to new music is pretty hard. Studying works best with familiar brain-turn-off music, so this night has been wasted on the educational front. Musical front though? Gold mine.

Haha, I'm in the same boat. Tackling nuclear engineering while also trying to groove to new music is pretty hard. Studying works best with familiar brain-turn-off music, so this night has been wasted on the educational front. Musical front though? Gold mine.

Wait what? You're from Champaign too? Do you also go to UIUC? I'm in the mathematics department myself...and I too lost a night of studying ha.

Congratulations on the release, guys. I haven't had a chance to listen to any of it yet, but I'm seeding the torrent and will give it a listen when I have the chance.

just pointing out that whomever renamed my track to 'lacan divided' didn't do the mp3's... quite a bummer and was initially confusing ;p

still glad this finally came out. i love love love it

Alright, my review is all finished. Thanks to all involved for contributing to this!! I'll have some other words tomorrow but I wanted to get that in before the night was up!

Binary Chain A bit less intense than the rest of the Gears disc up to this point, but the bouncy synth seems appropriate for the source tune. It's a nice mellower (but still engaging and fun) followup to the ear-busting goodness that preceded it.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

Wait what? You're from Champaign too? Do you also go to UIUC? I'm in the mathematics department myself...and I too lost a night of studying ha.

Yep, hanging out in Talbot til the wee hours as usual. Nuke Eng (obviously). Grainger's just too noisy sometimes.

Shit on Citan...I wish it would work, and perhaps be a little more prog and less garage, but it's garage. Kickdrum needs way more oomph, it sounds soo timid. Vocals need a blue snowball or something, it sounds like they're singing into a webcam (they sound too low-quality, even if they were SUPPOSED to be low).

A Between the Buried and Me style prog-screamcore would have been absolutely fitting and awesome to close out Gears (Citan White Walls ftw?), instead this one more represents the kind of humorous track you'd find in the average project album's bonus section. Regardless, I'm glad to see something in this vein represented amongst the mixes.

Take Flight Nice percussion in the intro, that's a high point for me! This far exceeds everything I've heard from you, Clay, and it's nice to finally see you get your work out to the masses! Thanks for doing justice to my favorite song off of the soundtrack!!

Thanks man. Good to hear. This track is pretty old for me now.

Congratulations! killer album!

Just heard the human album and liking so much! good job, very nice quality in all the mixes. The album sounds cohesive as well, nothing deviates too much from the mood or the soundscape. Perfect chill-out music. Cool webpage as well. big win the whole thing :)

EDIT: Oops, wrong thread, sorry...

I should be studying for an exam too.. oh well. Nice to see the release happening. I'm also enjoying the disc one so far - just four tracks in, and it feels pretty good.

Quickening was pretty, perhaps even beautiful. A calm opener - the subtle electronic textures used with the guitar were a nice touch.

Of Sea and Fire was a fun jam on one of the themes that stuck to my mind the best from the game. I do agree with a previous comment that it could've been shorter.

Shattered Dreams gave me goosebumps with it's twists and turns. The beginning sounded a bit quiet, but it turned out well and interestingly arranged. I'll return to this track for sure.

Cybernetic Love had great groove, and I enjoyed the funky, distorted guitar.

The website looks *very* good! Great job all around it seems!

--Eino