ReMix:Gunbird 2 "Signs of Lust" 3:16

From Mr. Ivan Hakštok comes our first ReMix of Psikyo arcade SHMUP Gunbird 2, ported & then published by Capcom for the beloved Dreamcast. You want some uplifting power rock that you could envision an entire anime opening sequence to while tapping your toes? There's a Hak for that:

"This song was made for the April 2014 Dwelling of Duels. I put the source on my "stuff I need to remix" list a few days before the theme was announced, and since this was a free month, it was a perfect opportunity to remix it. I went for a pop (or pop fusion? I'm bad at this whole genre thing) song in the style of T-Square's song "Omens of Love," which I've been listening to like every day since I first heard it. As you can probably guess, the title itself is a play on "Omens of Love." xD

As far as source usage is concerned, I played a bit with the melody and chord structure, and added a guitar solo, but I kept it fairly close to the original. Oh, and also a warning: this song ends in a fadeout. I know judges don't really appreciate fadeouts, but a fadeout fit the song perfectly, and people at DoD loved it! :D So yeah, that's all I have to say, hope you enjoy listening! :)"

Not sure if it's that the judges don't appreciate fadeout endings, it's just that we see them used often in contexts where they don't really work, or at least where they are less optimal than any number of alternatives. There's also a bit of an art to fading out, in terms of the curve and duration, as I think most audio engineers would attest, and sometimes we also see issues there. Food for thought; at any rate, it didn't bother me in this instance... track has a ton of pep, reminds me of any number of J-rock/J-pop anime opening themes (sans vocals), and has this shimmering, bright-summer-day feel to it. Emunator felt the lust:

"Have my babies, Hakstok. This track captures pretty much everything I love about your style, I feel like a broken record on most of my votes but you have an impeccable taste for source tunes that complement your style. Once again, you've added enough personality to the original while keeping intact everything that already clicked about the original source. Guitar work is exciting and tasteful and comes in at just the perfect time to keep things fresh."

What he said. Except for the babies. Palpable adds:

"Source song has some strange harmonies. Huh. Ivan's track is more straightforward, ditching everything but the melody for an upbeat synth-rock instrumentation. Sounds great - not a lot to say about it given how straightforward and well-adapted it is."

Judges DID have some constructive criticism on EQ & certain aspects of arrangement, but it was nevertheless unanimous. Very most excellent to be seeing some SHMUP action - tons of great tunes, but the entire genre sees a little less mainstream VGM love than RPGs & platformers. Props to Ivan for doing his part to help change that, and for another great power rock/pop anthem!