ReMix:Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge "Monkey Brain Soup for the Soul" 6:37

omg neil cicierega

Thanks to @Polo for his source breakdown, I was finally able to add some official source tune information to this one. I used the Monkey Island 2 SE tracknames, since those are official. Here's the rough breakdown:

0:00-0:12 - "It All Started on Scabb Island..." (Deep in the Caribbean intro)
0:18-1:11 - "Jojo the Monkey"
1:11-2:09 - "Call Me the Bone Master"
2:10-2:53 - "Stan's Previously Used Coffins"
2:53-3:50 - "Captain Kate"
3:55-4:33 - "It All Started on Scabb Island..." (Scabb Island Beach section)
4:51-6:21 - "Big Whoop and Finale" (LeChuck's theme section)

It's a great credits medley, although I don't really get into it until 1:30 hit. I'm sure if the instruments were updated it'd be awesome. Something about the drum at the start didn't click with me. And for the first few minutes, the transitions work well like at 1:12. But around 2:50, the transitions started to feel less seamless. Again, it'd make a great credits medley.

Highlights to me were the goofy twang at 1:30-1:42 and the pleasant melody at 3:19-3:37.

I came across this when I was writing Guybrush Threepwood's bio, and wow, talk about buried treasure. My ears pick up at least 6 distinct sources as illustrated in the following breakdown:

0:18 = Jojo the Monkey/part of Main Theme - I like how the harp seems to say "Once upon a time in the Caribbean..." A lot of instruments introduce themselves here while they sort out their roles. I'm quite fond of the arresting organ chords at 0:45 and the foreboding A-B-A pattern at 1:02-1:06.

1:11 = Phatt Island Jail - A light and cheery piano adds a subtle tone of "here's a good situation to think your way out of." Then an 8-bit lead and its grimy companion take over before giving way to a more minty-flavored section (1:40).

2:10 = Stan's Previously Used Coffins - At first I felt the quiet organ could've better explored and wrapped up its Halloween vibe instead of bursting into something bright and outlandish, but then I listened to the source and realized that's how the melody normally plays out. No matter - 2:17 does make me smile as I imagine the hyper salesman pitching his price to this boisterous, sugar-coated rendition.

2:53 = Captain Kate's Boat: Booty Island - This starts all blippity-bloopity, and along with staccato and tenuto synth organ notes, it truly gives a feeling of depth as Guybrush swims down below the ocean surface. 3:17-3:36 puts me in mind of some old DOS games like Gobliins 2 due to the old-school synth set at play.

3:54 = Final ending theme/"Deep in the Caribbean: Scabb Island" part of Introduction - DnB rockage gives the source(s) a party-hardy backdrop and an upbeat cause to celebrate. And you can't fault 4:12 for turning it up a notch.

4:50 = LeChuck's theme (heard in several sources) - After a subdued lead-in section, a gentle harp enters as if to say the ghost/zombie pirate has a soft side and isn't as threatening as you might imagine. The real star of this final chunk is the hypnotic arpeggio at 5:07 (heard in the Closing Themes), which grows in popularity and momentum...

...and then the mix just sorta finishes. The ending could stand to be more constructive/elaborate, but when you explore so many locales and moods in a mix like this, it's not a dealbreaker. What's important is that Monkey Brain Soup for the Soul delivers, and hard.

I think i'll be in the minority here and say I wasn't really digging the medley here. Might have to do with an unfamiliarity with the soundtrack, but it seemed to me like midi rip + drum + medley.

Sorry.

Wow, this song brings back memories. As said before, he manages to capture the quirky feel of the OST throughout the medley. Well done.

For anyone Curious, Trapezoid these days goes by the name of "Lemon Demon," and is widely known for his original song The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.

They made an animation about it.

The ultimate showdown

For anyone Curious, Trapezoid these days goes by the name of "Lemon Demon," and is widely known for his original song The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. You can check him out at www.lemondemon.com

As for the mix, I've never played Monkey Island, but I totally dig it.

Smorgasbord?

OK, to get on the subject, this remix is GOLD! It haves you in its grip from the very beginning, but you're still free enough to bop your head and move your feet along the rhytm. If I would go through all of it, this would be a very long post which even I can't stand to write, but the feeling that goes through this whole song, it's just magnificient. The music style changes like the direction of tennis ball, from happy to chill, and then proceeding to even an even more happier style, and then to a funky and so on. Even if you've listened to it sometimes, you still have a little hard to remember what comes next, so everytime is your first time. This arrangement is funky, jazzy, joyful, evil, dark, something for every taste and type.

It makes me sad that this is the only remix made by Trapezoid, this arrangement just makes me hunger for more of this kind. Kick-assness in a 6-meg musicfile is what this is, you just GOTTA download it!

This song is totally awesome, it keeps changing to keep the listener interested. I cant listen to songs for more than 2 minutes cause i bore easily with all music, but this song i can easily sit there and listen all the way through. I've never even played the monkey island series before, but with this song, knowledge of the game is hardly necessary. I play this song all the time and have been for months and i'm still not tired of it! I wish trapezoid made more songs again great song, worth downloading 15 times over.

haha oh man!

I discovered that remix listening to the OCRemix Radio and boy am I glad

That is really awesome stuff you have here, totally out-there and upbeat. Love the various styles and constant action provided by every layer.

As a fan of Monkey Island music and Michael Land music in general, you got yourself a listener here I'm keeping this. And this might just be what I needed to finally get to work on a Monkey Island remix myself.

Good job!

Wow. Just freakin' wow. I never thought I'd see a mix that could change genres so totally and yet seamlessly. I love the piano toward the beginning (what is that, the theme of the first village you're in? I haven't played this in so long, so I can't pick out most of the songs, but that doesn't detract from how much I love it. I can tell Stan's theme, the intro, the Mad Monkey, and LeChuck's theme, what are the rest?). Stan's part is too perfect, with the organ intro followed up with it sounding just as you'd expect. Oh, and the various parts of LeChuck's theme are great too. The beginning of it cracks me up as I keep imagining LeChuck as a DJ ("Zombie P to the Le-C in da house! Woooo! I just wanna give a shout-out to my main man Largo, and a big diss to that cracka Guybrush! Now for my next mix, 'I'm Gonna Voodoo You Up!'" *shot*), and the metal guitar toward the end just rocks. In conclusion, Trapezoid is our new god. Bow before him.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I can also pick out the Phatt Island theme.

The start of the song is a great variation on the (already) excellent opening tune. The other tunes capture the mood of the game perfectly as well. Excellent work.

Wow. Right when I thought this couldn't get any better, BAM! Stan's Theme. That and LeChuck's Theme are two pieces that are often overlooked (even more so than all the other pieces), and having them both in this makes for one helluva Monkey Island medley.

The Monkey Island series is my favorite adventure game series of all, and the music rocks too. This ReMix is really great, i love it!