ReMix:G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero "Real American Hero" 3:05

By Nutritious

Arranging the music of 2 songs...

"Cobra Vehicles", "Mission 6"

Primary Game: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Taxan , 1991, NES), music by Nobuyuki Shioda, Yusuke Takahama

Posted 2011-12-06, evaluated by djpretzel


Who wants a body massage?? Let's get one thing absolutely clear: Cobra Commander was the shit. I'll have NONE of that Serpentor business, because that was just WRONG on all levels. Now that that's out of the way, we can proceed with our BadAss mixflood as Justin takes the stage with our first ReMix from G.I. Joe on the NES:

"This one started out as a response to a post on the Requests forum (see, we do read those). I'd progressed pretty far when TheJoker asked if it could be made part of the Boss Themes Project. So this started out as a straight orchestra take (boring), later adding drums and electric guitar. Yes, I'm trying to teach myself how to play electric guitar and this was one of my first attempts to incorporate it into a mix. Notice how they are suitably buried beneath everything else. Anyway, the drums were a blast to do on this song as I got to experiment with some much more complex rhythms and fills (whatever time signature that technically is, I don't know).

Since I tend to get put into the orchestra-only box, I tried to surprise the listener with a straight-orch fake out, followed by some drums and later, guitars. Boss 1 is really repetitive in the OST, so I really needed another theme for a Bridge once I ran out of ideas. Final Stage fit the bill perfectly and ended up being a kind of uplifting/overcoming section, which I was really happy with."

The fakeout worked beautifully - I had assumed Justin was doing another (always excellent, by the way) straight orchestral arrangement, then 0'29" hit and was certainly a wake-up call; you got me. It's a little odd, because the title of this mix is 'Real American Hero', and - while badass - it at times sounds more adventurous/heroic than evil or villainous per se, but it's a solid cut either way. The Joker writes:

"You may think we're going symphonic on your ass, and we are. We just like to mix some of that electro rock in there for good measure. Next level electro, 'cos we mix genres like most people mix... stuff. For a game that hasn't ever had a remix, to my knowledge, this is one hell of a first. I heard this on the WIP boards, and had to get it on the project. Luckily, Nutritious said yes, and we had another high-octane killer of a track."

High octane is right: this mix packs a punch, Justin's humbly-mixed guitar sounds great, and the level of energy and excitement is fantastic. If only the real world were as simple & non-lethal as G.I Joe, where they had color-coded lasers to let you know who the good guys and bad guys were, and every single mid-air explosion was consistently shown to have all survivors parachuting miraculously to safety, regardless of their karmic persuasion. I feel like I was sold a false bill of goods in my youth that military combat would involve amazing, unnecessarily complex vehicles, that ninjas would play a key role, that villains would have charisma & global ambitions, and that no one would really ever be hurt. Also, those toys were NOT built for rugged play - that shit would sometimes break even if you so much as LOOKED at it cheeky. Except Destro's head, which just kept on gleaming in its bald, unmolested metallic glory.

But I digress, thoroughly. Great stuff from Justin, as always, as he continues to expand his sound and now his instrumental skills along with it, and another great addition to BadAss.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 14 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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ryankeeton
on 2011-12-28 14:05:15

I liked the orchestral fake out. Drums sound great, everything seems very dramatic and movie-esque. The effect at 2:30 seemed kinda out of place. Nice ending, very heroic sounding

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Necris Omega
on 2011-12-10 11:16:24

Like the Joker, I remember hearing this on the WIP boards during construction. If memory serves, Nutritious was somewhat disparaging about this piece, so I'm both surprised and elated to see this see the light of day.

Now I can finally replace the unfinished versions in my music library. Thanks BadAss: Boss Themes!

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Inferno232
on 2011-12-08 03:02:35

Not bad at all. If I *had* to find some complaint, I might say that I felt there was never a single climatic moment in the mix, but that's only because it was pretty equally awesome throughout. It does sound like something Cobra Commander would probably have playing while executing one of his bizarre, nefarious plots.

COBRAAAAAAAAA!

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Bahamut
on 2011-12-07 20:15:16

More orchestral! In fact, an electro orchestral hybrid! Justin is getting quite good at his craft and combining his different styles. This particular song is short and sweet, but it is a great track to loop - I can imagine this played in a game.

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OA
on 2011-12-07 10:37:09

I remember this being put together piece by piece as it was worked on, and it really came together well. I think the secret to the expansive sound is just a sheer number of layers, and the tuned percussion. For some reason I wouldn't expect that sound to meld with guitars and drums, but somehow it does, and actually really improves everything. Pretty interesting, and something I may consider myself.

Dramatic and exciting, I think this is one of my favorites from Justin. :-)

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Crulex
on 2011-12-07 10:27:58

An interesting orchestral rock ReMix for sure. Sounds like the final fight of an action movie, which completely fits right in with G.I. Joe. Epic arrangement that really pumps you up in a heroic way. Funny enough, I got really into this the first time I heard this while doing something else and didn't know it was getting to the end, so when it cut off I was like "Aww, man, done already?", only to find it was over three minutes long. So it's a good ReMix to get immersed in. Nice work.

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urdailywater
on 2011-12-06 19:39:25

I'm actually a huge fan of this. The reverbed drums mixed with the orchestra + guitar remind me a lot of the Super Smash Bros. Melee soundtrack. Like, a lot. That's a good thing though, I love Melee's music.

Good job on this. A+

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Chernabogue
on 2011-12-06 16:15:01

Very cool track from one of my favorite artists! The samples are sounding very realistic and the arrangement is very well executed. Loving the end since its usage in the BadAss trailer. :nicework:

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Rexy
on 2011-12-06 15:48:42

Ever since the PRC days, I've trusted that Nutritious would work really well with more obscure material. So I'm glad to hear he regularly checks out the Requests forums and works on material from there; good to see it making its presence on BadAss as well!

The sudden genre shifting here similarly worked a treat; to see him break out of his comfort zone and try something unusual is something that worked ridiculously well here. I can see how he might've wanted to make the electric guitars more subtle, but for what it is it managed to blend well in the orchestra just fine as it is.

I however don't seem to be too much of a fan of the over-reverbed drums though; it's still got the energy from the programming, even if the writing feels a little auto-pilot, so maybe to try and give them less of a wet presence might've made them form a much clearer presence in the mix.

All in all, a return to form and a big risk to boot that may pay off as a more obscure gem amongst the tracks - nice going :)

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Mikeaudio
on 2011-12-06 12:53:33

This mix is sick! This is movie trailer worthy, honestly. Listening to this, without thinking about it, I feel like I am listening to a trailer for a top notch action film. Keep up the good work!

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Liontamer
on 2011-12-06 12:52:16

This game actually has some pretty good cuts on it! Checking out the original tracks makes you really appreciate the depth of the arrangement here. Awesome work, Justin!

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HitoriJaNai
on 2011-12-06 12:46:22

When I first saw Nutritious AND G.I. Joe AND Cobra, I thought, this should be interesting. And interesting it is. Far more than interesting, really. When I watched the album trailer, this track stood out to me as rather patriotic, almost. Which, to be honest, makes sense. Certainly, these songs are all boss themes, but what's a boss without a hero to best him/her/it/them/etc? All that aside, this song really is badass in its own right, and I would definitely like to see more of this side of Nutritious. Job well done, sir!

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DjMystix
on 2011-12-06 11:06:51

Awezome!!! I always wanted to remix GIJOE (NES). This mix is friggin epic! Excellent work! :)

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djpretzel
on 2011-12-06 10:38:09

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

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Taxan , 1991, NES)
Music by Nobuyuki Shioda,Yusuke Takahama
Songs:
"Cobra Vehicles"
"Mission 6"

Tags (7)


Genre:
Rock
Mood:
Aggressive,Epic
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Orchestral,Strings
Additional:
Time > Tempo: Fast

File Information


Name:
GI_Joe_Real_American_Hero_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,375,654 bytes
MD5:
5094c85db2f9f432cbce02362582faa5
Bitrate:
228Kbps
Duration:
3:05
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BadAss: Boss Themes


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