ReMix:After Burner "On Wings of Steel" 4:07

That's right, today we're hitting you with not one but TWO ReMixes from Sixto Sounds (Juan P. Medrano), making this (we've done the math) a TWELVETO SOUNDS experience, as he follows up his FF9 prog rock/metal album cut with our FIRST EVAR arrangement of the original After Burner!!

"A chiprock cover from Sega's After Burner! After Burner was one of the first games I ever played on my very first console, the Sega Master System. And while it wasn't as fun to play as games like Double Dragon or Wonder Boy, the game did have great music that I still enjoy listening to to this day. So I figured I'd rock it up a little bit AND I also sort of brought it over to the NES using chipsounds. Some might consider that sacrilege, but whatever! I do what I want!"

Blasphemeee, blaspheyouuuu... I grew up as an SMS fanboy and After Burner was one of my jams, and I'm totally okay with NES chipsounds being used, so there. While I preferred Space Harrier aesthetically & musically, both arcade ports chewed up a good chunk of my early childhood, and I recall memorizing patterns and flying in circle-eights across brightly colored landscapes while listening to fantastic tunes... I also remember playing both games in the arcade, of course, including the cockpit version of After Burner and the control stick version of Space Harrier, which paved the way for the over-the-top craziness of that beautiful, beautiful Galaxy Force II machine :) But I digress... this one's personal, for me, and Juan's chipped it up, up, & away with shimmering synthpeggios and vibratofabulous leads. It's not just one or two chip textures here or there; this mix defnitely delivers a balanced, hearty blend of chip & rock, with plenty of both on lead AND accompaniment. Larry writes:

"The production's a little cramped/muddy; it's something to watch for in your pieces employing chip sounds, but nowhere near a level that would hold it back. That said, love the energy you bring to the table, as always! "Final Take Off" is an absolutely legenedary VGM theme, so we NEEDED to have it represented here. To have it done by Juan and bringing the power like this is just the icing on the cake. After Burner! FINALLY! :-D"

Only took sixteen years :) Glad to see an iconic Sega arcade game finally get a meaty, heavy-hitting tribute, and Juan's chip chops are catching up to his guitar noodlin' prowess, making for a powerful one-two punch - great stuff!