ReMix:Mega Man 9 "Blown Mind Bolero" 4:29

By AlteredBeats

Arranging the music of one song...

"Thunder Tornado (Tornado Man Stage)"

Primary Game: Mega Man 9 (Capcom , 2008, WII), music by Hiroki Isogai, Ippo Yamada, Ryo Kawakami, Yu Shimoda

Posted 2011-01-25, evaluated by the judges panel


While the pseudonym "AlteredBeats" might suggest electronica and the mix title's "Bolero" conjures a Latin vibe, this Mega Man 9 ReMix from newcomer Anders Holmdahl is actually prog metal, and I'm personally loving that. The artist writes:

"This is my first remix submitted to you guys. I've been wanting to do something for a while now and this song seemed like a good choice for several reasons. First and foremost, I just love the original; it's probably the best song from MM9, which by the way has awesome music overall. Second, it seemed to fit the style I wanted to achieve, and lastly MM9 has, to my knowledge, never been remixed on the site.

My interpretation is basically a progressive metal-type mix, the instrumentation is inspired by Dream Theater and others. I used an old 6-string Jackson in baritone tuning for the rhythm guitars and regular tuned Fender and Jackson for lead parts/embellishments. Drums are Superior Drummer and bass is recorded on a Line 6 bass. Various synths and sampled sounds. I even fooled around with my iPhone and the improvised lead in the middle is recorded using the ThumbJam app straight into Logic with a few effects."

Of course, as we now know, Andy beat him to the punch by just a hair with the first MM9 mix, of the same source in fact, but this is still our first MM9 *METAL* mix, and besides that, it's rockin' - awesome energy, variety, dexterity, and some searing synth solos make for a very strong debut! Larry writes:

"...this was a great example of rocking out a source in a pretty conservative way structurally but completely personalizing the arrangement and making it yours with new part writing and expressive performances, and cool bends and grace notes with the main melody to add some flavor. Strong stuff. The piano at 2:58 will throw some people off, but it was an interesting touch just to make sure you're still paying attention. Awesome first sub, Anders! Keep 'em coming!"

...I'm djpretzel, and I endorse the increased piano usage towards the end... It's progressive metal, so it's got carte blanche to seek out new instrumentation and boldly... progress... where no metal has progressed before. More or less. Trek refs aside, great, energetic debut from AlteredBeats - hopefully the first of many!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Crulex
on 2012-05-08 13:06:39

Would it be wrong of me to say that this almost sounds like an MMX version of the MM9 tune here? Cause the metal and energy really makes me think of that, and it's awesome. The use of the guitar for the melody while the underlying guitar beat gives it that added intensity was really cool. Yes, this could blow minds.

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Martin Penwald
on 2011-03-16 15:38:18

Classic(-ish, actually) source tune and a classic OCR metal mix. Lovely. I particularly like the really fast sections, e.g. ~0:40 and 2:00. Nice solo around 2:50, too. Piano is a nice touch.

Fade-out is a bit too long, though.

Somehow, this reminds me of the F-Zero metal tracks.

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BlackPanther
on 2011-01-27 13:10:25

Don't know enough about metal to try to critique or anything, but overall I really do love this. Great first sub dude =D!

*thumbs up*

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Swanky
on 2011-01-27 07:52:28

This one grows on you. The first playthrough, I wasn't impressed. The second, it was interesting. The third, it rocked. There's still the great hooklines and melodies here, great job. :)

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Transmogrificational Tune
on 2011-01-26 00:37:30

That Was Awesome. Increcredible work and attention to detail, more please ^^ both from artist and type

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Mirby
on 2011-01-25 20:20:51

I wasn't expecting much from this, to be honest.

And then it kicked in.

This track is epic. Great work.

Blown Mind Bolero is a very apt title, as my mind is well...

You can probably guess what it is. ^.^

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Melbu Frahma
on 2011-01-25 19:46:10
Usually I don't like Metal. Like, at all. Too much noise. But damn this was hella good.

Seconded, wholeheartedly. There's so much energy in this that it's hard not to tap your toes or fingers or something along with it. Also, the combined parts didn't overwhelm me in the slightest with a wall of sound, which is usually my complaint with metal of any kind. Great work, look forward to your next mixpost!

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BardicKnowledge
on 2011-01-25 19:34:13

I think I would have liked to get to the solo a bit sooner -- it's easy for such a well-known theme to feel repetitive, and this comes dangerously close.

That being said, the mix is so full of energy and fun that it's hard to dislike having a little more of it. My other critique is that I wish you had brought out some of the supporting melodic material a little more -- it gets buried under the lead during the section starting at 1:31.

Nice mix overall -- let's hear some more soon, please!

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RDX
on 2011-01-25 18:20:38

Usually I don't like Metal. Like, at all. Too much noise. But damn this was hella good. Perhaps there is hope for my taste in music. The piano was a nice touch.

wow that was terribly written MAKE MORE please i would very much appreciate that

edit: i was sitting on youtube, waiting for the state of the union to start, bored out of my mind. i decided to listen to this in the mean time, and once the song started obama walked out and it was amazing

just thought you should know

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Schneau
on 2011-01-25 17:25:19

I often find myself bobbing my head away to new music, but this song had my whole body rocking out. Great work!

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WillRock
on 2011-01-25 16:46:15

Very ambitious arrangment ideas with alreet production skills. Great source, nice synth solo, and some nice playing. I think the production is slightly weak - leads get lost in the mix, and I find the "chorus section" of the source very underwhelming in this mix. Imo, room for improvement, but judging from this mix, you'll rise to the challenge :)

In other words. MOAR PLZ.

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Brandon Strader
on 2011-01-25 16:30:35

1. AlteredBeats, omfg I love this name, haha..

2. Prog metal, WELCOME TO THE SITE SIR, I hope we may be good friends :-)

3. First sub? Congratulations, dude! I see so many first timers get the all-NO treatment! Cause I check the judge's panel way more often than what is healthy. :3

4. Mix is great, man! Good clarity, great performances, and even some synths thrown in that could please the home crowd. You say the instrumentation is inspired by Dream Theater, I only hope that they take some chances and make something this interesting with their new album without Portnoy. :-)

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KyleJCrb
on 2011-01-25 16:13:03

My mind has indeed been blown.

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Benjamin Briggs
on 2011-01-25 15:49:00

olol this song sounds like willrock vs ilp0 vs sixto

very cool and a strong debut mix :nicework:

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djpretzel
on 2011-01-25 15:35:31

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

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Mega Man 9 (Capcom , 2008, WII)
Music by Hiroki Isogai,Ippo Yamada,Ryo Kawakami,Yu Shimoda
Songs:
"Thunder Tornado (Tornado Man Stage)"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Metal
Mood:
Aggressive
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Piano,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Mega_Man_9_Blown_Mind_Bolero_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,466,220 bytes
MD5:
2346aa4fd0e72704c661da06ac29dfd5
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
4:29

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