Sulphur on 6/7/2013 at 15:19
Okay, so I posted about this yesterday, but I've listened to a lot more since then.
This needs an actual thread.
OCR kickstarted an (
http://ff6.ocremix.org/) FFVI remix project that got more money than they asked. They put in enough money into the arrangements that the production values shine right through on every track - I don't think there's been a remix album this extensive and as full of absolute quality.
They also chose the best game to put all this effort into. I think many people can agree that FF VI had one of the most important game soundtracks in history, not merely because it was good, but because it was an absolute tour de force in compositional skill and sheer musical muscle despite the limitations of the SNES sound chip. This is the game that took the SNES's sound chip and gave us progressive rock battle themes, oldschool boogie woogie, a techno chocobo tune, an opera sequence, a goddamn ode to J. S. Bach in the conflagration that is the final boss battle theme (in 3 parts), and an orchestral ending suite that's 20 minutes long and reprises every character theme in smoothly interlocking parts before it segues into an absolutely glorious rendition of the series' main theme.
So it makes sense that the remix/rearrange project takes the exact same philosophy Uematsu had in composing the soundtrack with his fuzzy, low-resolution samples and applies it with modern-day production values: this gargantuan album is pretty much a showcase of many, many diverse styles and influences applied to reinterpretations of the source tracks, which results in some pretty incredible things.
Take, for instance, Shadow's theme. The original track had a lick of spaghetti western to it, so of course the remix takes that idea and blows it up to a larger-than-life Ennio Morricone arrangement: (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3PbAebwc2zE) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3PbAebwc2zE
Or let's talk about the opera sequence. When you have someone like virt on rearranging duties, the result is usually something fairly epic. Like his (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eylUix1yADQ) Metroid remix which is a lurching, terrifying beast made of electric guitars and a million snares and bass drums sounding off all at once. Well, for the opera sequence, he's gone and done this:
[video=youtube;7xFhULStbkQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7xFhULStbkQ[/video]
It's exactly what you'd expect an oldschool metal/prog rock fan to do -- a fucking rock opera. It's pretty much Bohemian Rhapsody by way of Tommy by way of the opening ten minutes to Dream Theater's
Scenes from a Memory, and it's brilliantly cheesy. It's at once hilarious yet technically awesome, and a complete earworm because the original hooks in the source track were seamlessly adapted to actual lyrics.
(
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOUmYK3BH4Q) Kefka's theme gets a big, brash, vaudevillian arrangement featuring an ethereal Danny Elfman-esque choir. (
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQyUBzlyM6k) Slam Shuffle becomes an ominous horn and synth-led acid jazz noirish thing. The Phantom Forest becomes an achingly beautiful violin-led piece with a tinkling electric piano counterpoint. Mt. Koltz? It's become a flurry of flamenco guitars and Spanish yipping. Gau's theme becomes listenable because of a lovely piano and accordion duet that slowly brings the original violin in.
There's so much more, I haven't been able to listen to it all, and it boggles the mind that it's completely free. The quality on display is unprecedented for a remix project. If you liked FF6's soundtrack, there's pretty much no way you won't find many things to like here. Hell, even if you don't know what an FF6 is, this is still going to be something you should listen to. Have at it, folks.
