Yep, no album review this week. Turns out the albums I want to hear are coming out next month. Instead of another video game post or a hastily typed up Tenology list, I thought I'd spend a little time writing an opinion piece about something I've been meaning to discuss.
Don't worry, it won't take up much of your time.
I think it's fair to say we've all used or at least heard of how Spotify works. It's essentially a library for music that you can choose to pay for in order to receive higher quality streaming and an ad-free service. Anyone who understands how music licensing works might wonder how a company with such a vast catalogue can stand to make a profit when it's free to use and yet this billion dollar company only seems to be expanding, recently adding The Beatles to their collection of artists and looking into a system that would make them the Netflix of music videos.
However, despite this apparent display of wealth and success, the amount of money that actually goes to the artists whom Spotify rely on is pretty damn slim. Bands and rights holders make between $0.006 to $0.0084 per play of one of their songs, meaning tracks would have to be played approximately 143 times to make a single dollar for each of them. Understandably, this has pissed off a lot of people ranging from customers who want their money going to the artists who deserve it and the artists themselves who have gone as far as to deny Spotify the rights to their latest albums.
Some notable examples of these artists include spoilt daddy's girl Taylor Swift, recently deceased Pop musician Prince and bandwagon jumpers The Black Keys, Patrick Carney from the latter claiming "I imagine if Spotify becomes something that people are willing to pay for, then I'm sure iTunes will just create their own service, and they're actually fair to artists". Now ignoring the fact that Apple DID create their own service that's more fair to fans but massively unfair and downright sketchy to the consumer, these naysayers do have a fair point. One fair point, between the lot of them.
It is unfair to the bands who are just starting out and maybe get a few hundred plays each week, unless they get lucky and one of their songs is featured on a hip new TV show or advert. In a perfect world, more money would be going towards the people who are responsible for the art you're listening to, I'm not denying that. However, this is where my problem with those mentioned artists begins. It's all well and good standing up for the little guy but you're not inconveniencing a company who are making billions off ad revenue and other big name bands by having your latest album remain absent from their catalogue; you're inconveniencing the fans, especially the ones who are paying.
When a service like Spotify adds features such as fluid playlist making and radio play (or the fantastic Discover Weekly playlist, automatically giving everyone 30 song recommendations based on what they've listened to each week), people aren't going to jump ship just because a few albums aren't available. At this point in the company's timeline, it would take a mass culling of material or a haemorrhage of credit card information to get people to switch to something like Tidal or Apple Music. Spotify aren't going to bend to a single artist's demands without receiving a toe in the mail beforehand.
This means that fans of a band or artist who search for this material on Spotify are the ones losing out...at least until they find a copy on YouTube or decide to take a risk and buy the album without listening to it beforehand. It may only be a mild inconvenience but it's probably a bigger pain for us than it is for Spotify, a company that took a year to fix a shitty update they put out in February 2015 that enraged customers due to the removal of useful apps and features from the desktop version, not to mention the RAM it consumed.
It's commendable for the bigger band/artist to take a stand for lesser known talents (assuming they're not doing it to look alternative, like I suspect The Black Keys are doing) but there must be a better way of doing it than a way that affects the people they supposedly care about. Alternatively, there is another option; they could do nothing. I'm all for fighting against something that you feel is wrong (I'm still pissed off about that Spotify update that I shoehorned into the last paragraph) but unless there's something effective you can do about it, it's all for naught. Besides, these bands that are angry at Spotify are targeting the wrong organisation.
See, even Spotify has to pay out and whilst it may be convenient to picture them as a mega-powerful corporation with businessmen gathered around an obsidian table in a control room built into a volcano, the truth is that it's not money they're absolutely rolling in. To pay for licensing fees, Spotify has to fork out roughly 85% of what they make to the record labels, the real cunts in suits who would probably consider installing lava pits underneath their offices if only James Bond villains didn't beat them to it and give it a bad image.
Whilst they may be responsible for promotion and high production values on certain albums, the record labels behind your favourite bands are the ones who are most likely the main cause behind Spotify's inability to give the artists themselves a bigger cut. Rather than hounding Spotify to give artists the amount they deserve, perhaps the chaps in The Black Keys need to grow a pair, start directing their frustration towards the ones who are responsible and not stop until those businesswankers have the amount that they deserve...you know, once Dan and Pat stop slagging off the ones who ARE taking a stand.
To summarise, several things need to happen in order to create a world where artists are paid fairly through services such as Spotify:
1) We need to get a system in place where the money we're willing to pay bands for their music goes directly to them and they can reimburse whoever helped to make the album fairly, sort of like Radiohead did that one time before their AMAZING NEW ALBUM OHMYGOD GUYS HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEW RADIOHEAD ALBUM?!?!?! RADIOHEAD! RADIOHEAD!!
2) We need to stop thinking of Spotify as a moneymaking device for bands and artists. That's why merchandise and touring exists, bands can make millions without digital distribution. Streaming services like Spotify are for discovering new bands or older material from bands we haven't heard before. From there, we decide to buy their albums and support them if their music is good enough. I'm pretty sure the poor struggling Indie bands don't have to pay to be on Spotify (if they do, please correct me) so they could be a lot worse off.
3) We need to stop giving attention to bands or artists who think they're heroes for not putting one of their various albums on Spotify. It doesn't matter if the reason is poor sound quality (Neil Young), less money for Indie bands (Taylor Swift) or all the cool kids are doing it (they won't be getting their gold on the ceiling), digital streaming isn't just the future of music, it's the present. Refusing to adapt with the times because they don't understand it (Bob Seger) or whatever horseshit they can come up with does more harm to fans who want to legally enjoy their work than it does to literally anyone else.
Naturally, the choice to keep their music off these services is down to the artists, as it should be. Just stop giving them a round of applause for making this shitty choice.
If you have any feedback or additional points for this post, let me know in the comment section or via Twitter. Next week, I'll DEFINITELY write an album review. Which album? Come back next week and find out!
Sunday, 29 May 2016
Sunday, 22 May 2016
Shout Out: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Soundtrack
Just a quick shout out post today but there'll be some proper album reviews coming in the next few weeks.
I know it's another video game related post but the soundtrack isn't your typical game music. Anyone who's played at least one of the Uncharted titles will back me up when I say they're an incredibly cinematic series of games and the most recent release is no different. It's essentially a playable Action/Adventure film and the soundtrack reflects this beautifully. Taking the reigns from Greg Edmonson (previous Uncharted composer) is Henry Jackman, who's recent works include Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: First Class.
I usually find it quite difficult to take in the soundtracks from these kind of linear games as I'm usually so focused on the hectic gameplay that I miss the score and don't get a chance to soak it in unless I play the game again. However, this is the first time I've gone out of my way to seek out and listen to this kind of majestic orchestral soundtrack completely after playing a game purely due to the level of great tracks I recall hearing throughout my play-through.
First up, we have "A Thief's End". I'm guessing Henry went with that name instead of "Nate's Theme 4.0" because unlike previous versions of "Nate's Theme", the changes are more significant to the point that it's practically another tune. Sure, there's the classic melody in there but it's a lot darker, less upbeat and more fitting to be named after the last game in the series. Following this is a progression of tunes named after chapters from the game they appear in, such as sneaking around an auction house ("Once A Thief...") and battling mercenaries in the game's exciting opening boat chase ("Cut To The Chase").
Since the game's plot is based around lost pirate treasure, you can expect to hear a swashbuckling touch throughout certain tracks ("The Twelve Towers", "New Devon") but seeing as how the game also involves mystery and action, the majority of tracks rely on a mix of ominous sounding strings designed to accompany dialogue without overshadowing it ("At Sea", "The Thieves Of Libertalia", "Hidden In Plain Sight") and dynamic scores perfect for gunfights and escaping deathtraps ("Meet Me In Paradise", "Race To Libertalia") Naturally there's also a mix of contemporary instruments subtly blended in with the traditional orchestra ("The Grave Of Henry Avery", "For Better Or Worse", "No Escape") but it all comes together perfectly.
I suppose the only downside is that when compared to soundtracks from film franchises such as Pirates Of The Carribean or Indiana Jones, those scores will easily triumph over this one due to being more focused on their respective genres. For example, the nautical score to Pirates is more memorable due to the catchy motifs and character based soundtrack as opposed to Uncharted 4, which is mostly based around specific moments and scenes in each chapter aside from a few familiar sounding tracks ("The Brothers Drake", "Brother's Keeper"). Henry Jackman has created an excellent score but one that belongs to two different genres, meaning the music as a whole isn't strong enough to be regarded highly in either category.
However, this is only an issue if you like one type of soundtrack but not the other, which must only be a select few. If you like boisterous seafaring soundtracks and suspenseful action scores, you'd be foolish to miss this one because as far as game soundtracks go, it's superb. Grand enough to fit the story and definitely not a step down from previous entries in the franchise. In fact if anything, it's made me want to revisit more of Henry Jackman's AND previous Uncharted soundtracks!
Are there any orchestral film or game soundtracks that you'd like me to discuss on this blog? Feel free to recommend them on Twitter or here in the comment section!
I know it's another video game related post but the soundtrack isn't your typical game music. Anyone who's played at least one of the Uncharted titles will back me up when I say they're an incredibly cinematic series of games and the most recent release is no different. It's essentially a playable Action/Adventure film and the soundtrack reflects this beautifully. Taking the reigns from Greg Edmonson (previous Uncharted composer) is Henry Jackman, who's recent works include Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: First Class.
I usually find it quite difficult to take in the soundtracks from these kind of linear games as I'm usually so focused on the hectic gameplay that I miss the score and don't get a chance to soak it in unless I play the game again. However, this is the first time I've gone out of my way to seek out and listen to this kind of majestic orchestral soundtrack completely after playing a game purely due to the level of great tracks I recall hearing throughout my play-through.
First up, we have "A Thief's End". I'm guessing Henry went with that name instead of "Nate's Theme 4.0" because unlike previous versions of "Nate's Theme", the changes are more significant to the point that it's practically another tune. Sure, there's the classic melody in there but it's a lot darker, less upbeat and more fitting to be named after the last game in the series. Following this is a progression of tunes named after chapters from the game they appear in, such as sneaking around an auction house ("Once A Thief...") and battling mercenaries in the game's exciting opening boat chase ("Cut To The Chase").
Since the game's plot is based around lost pirate treasure, you can expect to hear a swashbuckling touch throughout certain tracks ("The Twelve Towers", "New Devon") but seeing as how the game also involves mystery and action, the majority of tracks rely on a mix of ominous sounding strings designed to accompany dialogue without overshadowing it ("At Sea", "The Thieves Of Libertalia", "Hidden In Plain Sight") and dynamic scores perfect for gunfights and escaping deathtraps ("Meet Me In Paradise", "Race To Libertalia") Naturally there's also a mix of contemporary instruments subtly blended in with the traditional orchestra ("The Grave Of Henry Avery", "For Better Or Worse", "No Escape") but it all comes together perfectly.
I suppose the only downside is that when compared to soundtracks from film franchises such as Pirates Of The Carribean or Indiana Jones, those scores will easily triumph over this one due to being more focused on their respective genres. For example, the nautical score to Pirates is more memorable due to the catchy motifs and character based soundtrack as opposed to Uncharted 4, which is mostly based around specific moments and scenes in each chapter aside from a few familiar sounding tracks ("The Brothers Drake", "Brother's Keeper"). Henry Jackman has created an excellent score but one that belongs to two different genres, meaning the music as a whole isn't strong enough to be regarded highly in either category.
However, this is only an issue if you like one type of soundtrack but not the other, which must only be a select few. If you like boisterous seafaring soundtracks and suspenseful action scores, you'd be foolish to miss this one because as far as game soundtracks go, it's superb. Grand enough to fit the story and definitely not a step down from previous entries in the franchise. In fact if anything, it's made me want to revisit more of Henry Jackman's AND previous Uncharted soundtracks!
1. A Thief's End
2. A Normal Life
3. Lure Of Adventure
4. Cut To The Chase
5. Reunited
6. Once A Thief...
7. The Grave Of Henry Avery
8. Those Who Prove Worthy
9. The Twelve Towers
10. Hidden In Plain Sight
11. At Sea
12. Marooned
13. Meet Me In Paradise
14. The Thieves Of Libertalia
15. Sic Parvis Magna
16. The Brothers Drake
17. Race To Libertalia
18. For Better Or Worse
19. New Devon
20. Avery's Descent
21. No Escape
22. Brother's Keeper
23. One Last Time
24. Epilogue
ALBUM RATING - 8/10
Are there any orchestral film or game soundtracks that you'd like me to discuss on this blog? Feel free to recommend them on Twitter or here in the comment section!
Sunday, 15 May 2016
Tenology: Awesome Boss Battle Themes
Apologies for the delay and nature of this post but I've been busy celebrating my birthday throughout the second half of this week. Next week won't be a video game post, though!
Most of the time, video games (apart from straightforward racing or generic party games) tend to have boss battles at the end of certain levels to represent the last obstacle to overcome and most of THOSE times, the boss has its own theme or music to signify an important battle. Sometimes, the music is the highlight of the fight and whilst there's easily an ocean of these Top 10 Boss Battle Theme blog posts or Youtube videos flooding the Internet, what harm can it do to add to the deluge?
These songs might not necessarily be my all-time favourite tunes (as I hope to discover many more great themes in the future) but here's a list of ten boss battle themes I love listening to, along with a few reasons why and a link to said theme provided it hasn't been taken down. As always, these aren't in any particular order of preference and I've tried to limit it to one piece of music per game franchise, although I'm allowing multiple composers across different themes.
Koloktos (Phase 2) - The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Composed by Hajime Wakai, Shiho Fujii, Mahito Yakota, Takeshi Hama
(listen here)
To be honest, I probably could've filled this blog post with boss music from Zelda games alone. However, I decided to stick to just one per series and had to decide whether to choose this, the Helmaroc King battle from Wind Waker, the boss theme from Majora's Mask, Stallord's theme from Twilight Princess or Ganondorf's final boss theme from Ocarina Of Time. In the end, I chose to go with the most recent tune as many of the following themes are from games I grew up with.
I chose the second phase of this battle as it sounds a lot more urgent, as if the stakes were raised even higher (which they kind of are, considering the fucker grows legs...and massive swords). I'm pretty sure I've talked about this theme on the blog before but I probably wouldn't have rated this boss so highly as I was playing it if not for the great theme...then again, it is a pretty awesome boss battle.
Gang-Plank Galleon - Donkey Kong Country
Composed by David Wise
(listen here)
I'll confess that I've never actually played this game (nor do I have any interest in playing it) but come on, you've got to love that theme. It may seem a little primitive compared to orchestral scores or even N64 MIDI mixes but the tune has stood the test of time and spawned many a Metal-remix on Youtube. If you haven't heard the remix of this track used for Super Smash Bros Brawl, I'd recommend giving that a good listen as that put me onto this tune in the first place.
Naturally, it starts all peaceful with nautical instruments before picking up the tempo and introducing some contemporary Rock instruments for more of a battle vibe, whilst still keeping the pirate atmosphere to it all. I was tempted to include the Gloomy Galleon Boss music from Donkey Kong 64 in this post as I love that boss bottle due to the great score by Grant Kirkhope but ultimately, David Wise won this round.
The Ripper - MediEvil 2
Composed by Andrew Barnabus & Paul Arnold
(listen here)
First, a bit of spoiler laden context. In MediEvil 2, you're tasked with rescuing an ancient Egyptian mummy princess resurrected in Victorian times from the clutches of Jack The Ripper in Whitechapel. However, upon failing to save her and after dealing with your grief by assisting a race of sewer-dwelling creatures, you steal an H.G. Wells inspired time machine from the museum, travel back to the past in time to prevent the death of your loved one and throw down with the Ripper himself.
God, I love the MediEvil series.
Anyway, whilst boss themes weren't the musical strong point for MediEvil games, this tune fits perfectly! It adds that extra layer of tension as you fight this grotesque beast and whilst there's no time limit on this fight, the key change and use of dynamics really creates a desperate mood to the situation.
Puzzle Battle - Professor Layton And The Lost Future
Composed by Tomohito Nishiura
(listen here)
I know, I know, Professor Layton games don't really have boss battles...or do they? Since the majority of those games comes down to solving puzzles, it figures that some games involve solving puzzles in order to defeat a villain. In this case, you find yourself solving a few puzzles to outsmart the various culprits you come across and this is the theme that plays when you do.
It's a simple tune but compared to the calm theme that plays when you solve regular puzzles, this increase in tempo makes it sound like more of a challenge for you, especially when lives are at stake. An unexpected entry on this list but a deserving one, nonetheless.
Final Rival Battle - Pokemon Red/Blue
Composed by Junichi Masuda
(listen here)
There are probably much greater "boss" battle themes in the Pokemon series but for me, this "We Will Rock You" knock-off will always hold a special place in my heart. You earned all your gym badges, you beat the Elite 4 and now you've got to kick the shit out of your rival's pets so why not do it to a one-off final battle theme?
I'm glad they did, as using the generic rival battle theme would've cheapened the whole thing. Not much to talk about musically, as it's all 8-bit, but one day I'm hoping to hear a grand version of this recorded with an orchestra or something. The closest I've come to hearing a proper version of this tune is the version used in Pokemon Stadium but even that doesn't sound as epic as a theme like this deserves to be.
Scorch's Pit - Spyro: Year Of The Dragon
Composed by Stewart Copeland
(listen here)
I feel like I probably bore people when I tell them that Stewart Copeland (drummer from The Police) composed the music for the first 3 Spyro games on the PS1 but, at the same time, I feel like it's something everyone needs to know. It just strikes me as bizarre that a man like Stewart can create such awesome, catchy tunes as the entire Spyro back catalogue and yet come from such an OK band as The Police.
Anyway, as I said a sentence ago, most of the music in Spyro is fun and catchy...but not this one. This battle music is downright sinister whilst also remaining energetic enough to fit the fight perfectly. It's also a decent battle but the music definitely stood out for me when I played this game as a child. Not because it scared me or anything, just that is was atypical of the kind of music you expect to hear in a Spyro game and I liked that in this fight.
The Final Fight! - Banjo Kazooie
Composed by Grant Kirkhope
(listen here)
Lots of great boss themes to choose from between Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie but in the end, Mr Patch and Targitzan lost out to Grunty in the first game. There's so much going on in this theme that you often forget you're listening to various versions of "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" and simply hear it as the music to fight your adversary to.
It sounds climactic enough to suit the castle-top duel between yourself and this witch and lasts long enough to give you joy from multiple listens, unlike some of the shorter tunes on this list. It's hardly as epic as some of the orchestrated themes you'll hear on this list but for a MIDI track, it's bloody good!
Final Showdown - Bully/Canis Canem Edit
Composed by Shawn Lee
(listen here)
Well would you look at that? Another final boss named Gary. Huh.
Unlike Rockstar's other popular franchise, Bully was a lot more...let's say video gamey, right down to the final boss fought on top of a rooftop in the rain. This badass theme with the ominous choir and fancy drumming, paired with guitar riffs and string melodies, has earned its place on this list, in my opinion. It may not be a great or even fun final boss but it damn sure gets the music right!
Whilst I'm talking about Bully, I had a cool idea for a sequel to Bully which I might as well share here in case I forget to tweet about it. Similar to how GTA V had three protagonists, maybe Bully 2 should have two protagonists in different school environments. One could be a male university student who's coming to terms with becoming an adult and the other could be a female high school student similar to Jimmy from the first game. They could meet and form a sort of student/master relationship, obviously not a romantic one. Might be kind of cool, especially with the power of current gen consoles. I dunno, thoughts?
Boss Fight 1 - Kid Icarus: Uprising
Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda
(listen here)
Again, I haven't played this game but I'd consider buying it at some point based on what I've seen of the gameplay and heard of the music. There are so many boss fights in this game that it's hard to single out any of them (I'm not even certain this particular creature I've found correlates to this music) but you can bet they all have a common theme; being epic. So what better way to celebrate that than with this sweet tune?
Another benefit of modern recording technology in video games right here, as you know this song wouldn't sound anywhere near as good on 8-bit or MIDI. Too bad it's so short, though. Mind you, I could listen to a half hour loop of this so I guess it works out, considering you're most likely going to hear this when fighting something over a lengthy period of time.
Tiny - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Composed by Mutato Muzika
(listen here)
OK, I lied. There may be SOME order to this list. SOME. I deliberately saved this track until last because it's probably the entire reason I love boss battles and boss battle music in general. I fucking loved Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back as a kid (I still do now!) and this boss opened the door to my youthful self. You know how people go on about how Mr Freeze in Batman: Arkham City is an incredible battle because it requires strategy and such? To me, this is a fantastic battle because it requires intelligence over strength. You can't go up against him by spinning him, like you do with most other bosses, so you trick him into chasing you into holes.
Now, onto the music! Since the battle takes place in a space station (for some reason), there's a sort of sci-fi synthy thing going on BUT obviously you need some kind of imposing, tribal instruments to represent Tiny's physical appearance. The two come together marvellously and what you're left with is a theme to remember. However, much like the Zelda choice, there could've been an entire blog post dedicated solely to Crash Bandicoot boss themes. There isn't a single bad boss theme in Crash Bandicoot 2 or 3 so that's 10, right there!
I hope you enjoyed reading these, if you did, and if not then I hope I at least awakened the nostalgic part of your brain a little bit. Let me know if there are any awesome boss battle themes you recommend, as I've almost certainly missed some right corkers like the Minotaur one from God Of War or some RPG tune.
Most of the time, video games (apart from straightforward racing or generic party games) tend to have boss battles at the end of certain levels to represent the last obstacle to overcome and most of THOSE times, the boss has its own theme or music to signify an important battle. Sometimes, the music is the highlight of the fight and whilst there's easily an ocean of these Top 10 Boss Battle Theme blog posts or Youtube videos flooding the Internet, what harm can it do to add to the deluge?
These songs might not necessarily be my all-time favourite tunes (as I hope to discover many more great themes in the future) but here's a list of ten boss battle themes I love listening to, along with a few reasons why and a link to said theme provided it hasn't been taken down. As always, these aren't in any particular order of preference and I've tried to limit it to one piece of music per game franchise, although I'm allowing multiple composers across different themes.
Koloktos (Phase 2) - The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Composed by Hajime Wakai, Shiho Fujii, Mahito Yakota, Takeshi Hama
(listen here)
To be honest, I probably could've filled this blog post with boss music from Zelda games alone. However, I decided to stick to just one per series and had to decide whether to choose this, the Helmaroc King battle from Wind Waker, the boss theme from Majora's Mask, Stallord's theme from Twilight Princess or Ganondorf's final boss theme from Ocarina Of Time. In the end, I chose to go with the most recent tune as many of the following themes are from games I grew up with.
I chose the second phase of this battle as it sounds a lot more urgent, as if the stakes were raised even higher (which they kind of are, considering the fucker grows legs...and massive swords). I'm pretty sure I've talked about this theme on the blog before but I probably wouldn't have rated this boss so highly as I was playing it if not for the great theme...then again, it is a pretty awesome boss battle.
Gang-Plank Galleon - Donkey Kong Country
Composed by David Wise
(listen here)
I'll confess that I've never actually played this game (nor do I have any interest in playing it) but come on, you've got to love that theme. It may seem a little primitive compared to orchestral scores or even N64 MIDI mixes but the tune has stood the test of time and spawned many a Metal-remix on Youtube. If you haven't heard the remix of this track used for Super Smash Bros Brawl, I'd recommend giving that a good listen as that put me onto this tune in the first place.
Naturally, it starts all peaceful with nautical instruments before picking up the tempo and introducing some contemporary Rock instruments for more of a battle vibe, whilst still keeping the pirate atmosphere to it all. I was tempted to include the Gloomy Galleon Boss music from Donkey Kong 64 in this post as I love that boss bottle due to the great score by Grant Kirkhope but ultimately, David Wise won this round.
The Ripper - MediEvil 2
Composed by Andrew Barnabus & Paul Arnold
(listen here)
First, a bit of spoiler laden context. In MediEvil 2, you're tasked with rescuing an ancient Egyptian mummy princess resurrected in Victorian times from the clutches of Jack The Ripper in Whitechapel. However, upon failing to save her and after dealing with your grief by assisting a race of sewer-dwelling creatures, you steal an H.G. Wells inspired time machine from the museum, travel back to the past in time to prevent the death of your loved one and throw down with the Ripper himself.
God, I love the MediEvil series.
Anyway, whilst boss themes weren't the musical strong point for MediEvil games, this tune fits perfectly! It adds that extra layer of tension as you fight this grotesque beast and whilst there's no time limit on this fight, the key change and use of dynamics really creates a desperate mood to the situation.
Puzzle Battle - Professor Layton And The Lost Future
Composed by Tomohito Nishiura
(listen here)
I know, I know, Professor Layton games don't really have boss battles...or do they? Since the majority of those games comes down to solving puzzles, it figures that some games involve solving puzzles in order to defeat a villain. In this case, you find yourself solving a few puzzles to outsmart the various culprits you come across and this is the theme that plays when you do.
It's a simple tune but compared to the calm theme that plays when you solve regular puzzles, this increase in tempo makes it sound like more of a challenge for you, especially when lives are at stake. An unexpected entry on this list but a deserving one, nonetheless.
Final Rival Battle - Pokemon Red/Blue
Composed by Junichi Masuda
(listen here)
There are probably much greater "boss" battle themes in the Pokemon series but for me, this "We Will Rock You" knock-off will always hold a special place in my heart. You earned all your gym badges, you beat the Elite 4 and now you've got to kick the shit out of your rival's pets so why not do it to a one-off final battle theme?
I'm glad they did, as using the generic rival battle theme would've cheapened the whole thing. Not much to talk about musically, as it's all 8-bit, but one day I'm hoping to hear a grand version of this recorded with an orchestra or something. The closest I've come to hearing a proper version of this tune is the version used in Pokemon Stadium but even that doesn't sound as epic as a theme like this deserves to be.
Scorch's Pit - Spyro: Year Of The Dragon
Composed by Stewart Copeland
(listen here)
I feel like I probably bore people when I tell them that Stewart Copeland (drummer from The Police) composed the music for the first 3 Spyro games on the PS1 but, at the same time, I feel like it's something everyone needs to know. It just strikes me as bizarre that a man like Stewart can create such awesome, catchy tunes as the entire Spyro back catalogue and yet come from such an OK band as The Police.
Anyway, as I said a sentence ago, most of the music in Spyro is fun and catchy...but not this one. This battle music is downright sinister whilst also remaining energetic enough to fit the fight perfectly. It's also a decent battle but the music definitely stood out for me when I played this game as a child. Not because it scared me or anything, just that is was atypical of the kind of music you expect to hear in a Spyro game and I liked that in this fight.
The Final Fight! - Banjo Kazooie
Composed by Grant Kirkhope
(listen here)
_Gruntilda.png/revision/latest?cb=20120307040940)
Lots of great boss themes to choose from between Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie but in the end, Mr Patch and Targitzan lost out to Grunty in the first game. There's so much going on in this theme that you often forget you're listening to various versions of "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" and simply hear it as the music to fight your adversary to.
It sounds climactic enough to suit the castle-top duel between yourself and this witch and lasts long enough to give you joy from multiple listens, unlike some of the shorter tunes on this list. It's hardly as epic as some of the orchestrated themes you'll hear on this list but for a MIDI track, it's bloody good!
Final Showdown - Bully/Canis Canem Edit
Composed by Shawn Lee
(listen here)
Well would you look at that? Another final boss named Gary. Huh.
Unlike Rockstar's other popular franchise, Bully was a lot more...let's say video gamey, right down to the final boss fought on top of a rooftop in the rain. This badass theme with the ominous choir and fancy drumming, paired with guitar riffs and string melodies, has earned its place on this list, in my opinion. It may not be a great or even fun final boss but it damn sure gets the music right!
Whilst I'm talking about Bully, I had a cool idea for a sequel to Bully which I might as well share here in case I forget to tweet about it. Similar to how GTA V had three protagonists, maybe Bully 2 should have two protagonists in different school environments. One could be a male university student who's coming to terms with becoming an adult and the other could be a female high school student similar to Jimmy from the first game. They could meet and form a sort of student/master relationship, obviously not a romantic one. Might be kind of cool, especially with the power of current gen consoles. I dunno, thoughts?
Boss Fight 1 - Kid Icarus: Uprising
Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda
(listen here)
Again, I haven't played this game but I'd consider buying it at some point based on what I've seen of the gameplay and heard of the music. There are so many boss fights in this game that it's hard to single out any of them (I'm not even certain this particular creature I've found correlates to this music) but you can bet they all have a common theme; being epic. So what better way to celebrate that than with this sweet tune?
Another benefit of modern recording technology in video games right here, as you know this song wouldn't sound anywhere near as good on 8-bit or MIDI. Too bad it's so short, though. Mind you, I could listen to a half hour loop of this so I guess it works out, considering you're most likely going to hear this when fighting something over a lengthy period of time.
Tiny - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Composed by Mutato Muzika
(listen here)
OK, I lied. There may be SOME order to this list. SOME. I deliberately saved this track until last because it's probably the entire reason I love boss battles and boss battle music in general. I fucking loved Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back as a kid (I still do now!) and this boss opened the door to my youthful self. You know how people go on about how Mr Freeze in Batman: Arkham City is an incredible battle because it requires strategy and such? To me, this is a fantastic battle because it requires intelligence over strength. You can't go up against him by spinning him, like you do with most other bosses, so you trick him into chasing you into holes.
Now, onto the music! Since the battle takes place in a space station (for some reason), there's a sort of sci-fi synthy thing going on BUT obviously you need some kind of imposing, tribal instruments to represent Tiny's physical appearance. The two come together marvellously and what you're left with is a theme to remember. However, much like the Zelda choice, there could've been an entire blog post dedicated solely to Crash Bandicoot boss themes. There isn't a single bad boss theme in Crash Bandicoot 2 or 3 so that's 10, right there!
I hope you enjoyed reading these, if you did, and if not then I hope I at least awakened the nostalgic part of your brain a little bit. Let me know if there are any awesome boss battle themes you recommend, as I've almost certainly missed some right corkers like the Minotaur one from God Of War or some RPG tune.
Friday, 6 May 2016
Taster Session #4
It's been a while since I've done one of these. Then again, it's been a while since we've had several singles for upcoming Rock albums that I'm potentially interested in coming out. Time to take a look (or rather listen) at some of the new material we've been graced with recently.
"Burn The Witch" - Radiohead (listen here)
From the album A Moon Shaped Pool (08/05/16)
Oh my God, new Radiohead song guys! Holy shit, it's about time we had new Radiohead to listen to! Fuck me, I can't believe Radiohead have done it again by being Radiohead. I mean, it's taken them nearly 16 years to put this together so the hype is deserved, right? Did you hear the singing? CLASSIC Radiohead, right there. And the strings, OH JESUS I NEARLY FORGOT THE STRINGS!! There are strings in this song but wait for it...wait...THEY'RE PIZZI-MOTHERFUCKING-CAT-MOTHERFUCKING-O!!!! Well obviously this is the best song we're ever going to hear this year until Kanye West hits the studio again so we might as well just revel in the glory that is and always will be Radiohead.
In all seriousness though, it's an OK song considering nothing happens throughout it.
"Bored To Death" - blink-182 (listen here)
From the album California (01/07/16)
Jesus, these guys must have finally run out of "All The Small Things" money. Continuing the trend of 90's Pop Punk bands who've decided to grow up and release Alternative music instead, blink-182 have released...this. It's not edgy, it's not passionate, it's just generic Teen Girl Rock. It's a TV Ad Song, which is pretty impressive as it took Punk icons the Ramones a good 40 years before their music was used to promote fridge warehouses on TV. Hey, guess I was wrong about Punk being an absolute joke of a genre. But enough about that, let's get back on track.
If the rest of the album sounds like this Kings Of Leon ripoff, the band might just become relevant again for the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, I'm sat here waiting for The Offspring to come out with another album.
"I Know There's Something Going On" - Jorn (listen here)
From the album Heavy Rock Radio (03/06/16)
Well I don't think any of us expected this to be a thing. Not the concept of a covers album by Metal vocalist/solo artist Jorn Lande but the album opener and lead single being a cover of Pop song "I Know There's Something Going On" by ABBA's Frida. I mean, as far as the Pop to Metal transition goes, it's a pretty damn faithful cover and Jorn fucking nails it from start to finish. In fact, if you didn't know about the original version, you could easily assume this was a standard Metal track from someone like Ozzy Osbourne (you know, assuming someone with better singing abilities took the mic instead of him).
This is one of the albums I'm really looking forward to hearing when it drops but not because of this song. It's a good cover but I would've preferred a more well known Pop Rock track covered instead of this one, sort of like the Disturbed cover of Genesis' "Land Of Confusion". I'm still hoping someone performs a Metal cover of "Jesus He Knows Me" - Genesis with double bass drumming and added guitar solos but until then, I guess this album will have to do.
"The Devil's Bleeding Crown" - Volbeat (listen here)
From the album Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie (03/06/16)
I should probably find more Volbeat songs to listen to as most of the ones I've heard are pretty good. The vocalist sounds a little silly to me but not enough to put me completely off the band, like Axl Rose. However, for all their powerful Hard Rock tracks, there seem to be an equal number of mediocre ones that sound like they were written for radio play, which doesn't work well if you're a band that's on the border between Hard Rock and Metal.
Luckily, this song is what I would call one of the "better" Volbeat tracks in my opinion although there is one glaring fault. I've said before that despite not caring about Nickelback, I really like their song "Burn It To The Ground". This track is REALLY similar to that one...like, REEAAALLLLLY similar. Even the call and response structure between vocals and the main riff in the verse sounds like it's been lifted. Combine that Nickelback song with Volbeat's "A Warrior's Call" and you get "The Devil's Bleeding Crown". Still, there are worse songs they could've ripped off so I'm still looking forward to the new album if this is anything to go by.
"Dark Necessities" - Red Hot Chili Peppers (listen here)
From the album The Getaway (17/06/16)
...yeah, I don't know.
One thing's clear, this isn't Rock. Not like the band have produced before. It's heavily swaying towards the Funk region and some listeners will probably love that. As for me, I really don't know yet. I feel like I could grow to like this song in the future as there are some enjoyable aspects (such as the outro solo and vocal melody in the chorus) but for now, I'm pretty underwhelmed.
I think RHCP are one of the few bands where I actually prefer their softer songs over their heavier ones. I'd much rather listen to "Snow [[Hey Oh]]", "Under The Bridge" or "Soul To Squeeze" than "Dani California", "Suck My Kiss" or "By The Way". Despite that, this song just didn't do it for me. I may give the rest of the album a listen when it comes out but I doubt it, since I didn't bother with their last one.
Once again, if there are any singles or tracks from upcoming albums that you recommend, let me know here or on Twitter. Mind you, most people probably stopped reading after that shit I said about Radiohead at the start and the rest probably stopped paying attention after I reminded you that there's a Nickelback song I like. Nothing but popular opinions here!
"Burn The Witch" - Radiohead (listen here)
From the album A Moon Shaped Pool (08/05/16)
Oh my God, new Radiohead song guys! Holy shit, it's about time we had new Radiohead to listen to! Fuck me, I can't believe Radiohead have done it again by being Radiohead. I mean, it's taken them nearly 16 years to put this together so the hype is deserved, right? Did you hear the singing? CLASSIC Radiohead, right there. And the strings, OH JESUS I NEARLY FORGOT THE STRINGS!! There are strings in this song but wait for it...wait...THEY'RE PIZZI-MOTHERFUCKING-CAT-MOTHERFUCKING-O!!!! Well obviously this is the best song we're ever going to hear this year until Kanye West hits the studio again so we might as well just revel in the glory that is and always will be Radiohead.
In all seriousness though, it's an OK song considering nothing happens throughout it.
"Bored To Death" - blink-182 (listen here)
From the album California (01/07/16)
Jesus, these guys must have finally run out of "All The Small Things" money. Continuing the trend of 90's Pop Punk bands who've decided to grow up and release Alternative music instead, blink-182 have released...this. It's not edgy, it's not passionate, it's just generic Teen Girl Rock. It's a TV Ad Song, which is pretty impressive as it took Punk icons the Ramones a good 40 years before their music was used to promote fridge warehouses on TV. Hey, guess I was wrong about Punk being an absolute joke of a genre. But enough about that, let's get back on track.
If the rest of the album sounds like this Kings Of Leon ripoff, the band might just become relevant again for the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, I'm sat here waiting for The Offspring to come out with another album.
"I Know There's Something Going On" - Jorn (listen here)
From the album Heavy Rock Radio (03/06/16)
Well I don't think any of us expected this to be a thing. Not the concept of a covers album by Metal vocalist/solo artist Jorn Lande but the album opener and lead single being a cover of Pop song "I Know There's Something Going On" by ABBA's Frida. I mean, as far as the Pop to Metal transition goes, it's a pretty damn faithful cover and Jorn fucking nails it from start to finish. In fact, if you didn't know about the original version, you could easily assume this was a standard Metal track from someone like Ozzy Osbourne (you know, assuming someone with better singing abilities took the mic instead of him).
This is one of the albums I'm really looking forward to hearing when it drops but not because of this song. It's a good cover but I would've preferred a more well known Pop Rock track covered instead of this one, sort of like the Disturbed cover of Genesis' "Land Of Confusion". I'm still hoping someone performs a Metal cover of "Jesus He Knows Me" - Genesis with double bass drumming and added guitar solos but until then, I guess this album will have to do.
"The Devil's Bleeding Crown" - Volbeat (listen here)
From the album Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie (03/06/16)
Luckily, this song is what I would call one of the "better" Volbeat tracks in my opinion although there is one glaring fault. I've said before that despite not caring about Nickelback, I really like their song "Burn It To The Ground". This track is REALLY similar to that one...like, REEAAALLLLLY similar. Even the call and response structure between vocals and the main riff in the verse sounds like it's been lifted. Combine that Nickelback song with Volbeat's "A Warrior's Call" and you get "The Devil's Bleeding Crown". Still, there are worse songs they could've ripped off so I'm still looking forward to the new album if this is anything to go by.
"Dark Necessities" - Red Hot Chili Peppers (listen here)
From the album The Getaway (17/06/16)
...yeah, I don't know.
One thing's clear, this isn't Rock. Not like the band have produced before. It's heavily swaying towards the Funk region and some listeners will probably love that. As for me, I really don't know yet. I feel like I could grow to like this song in the future as there are some enjoyable aspects (such as the outro solo and vocal melody in the chorus) but for now, I'm pretty underwhelmed.
I think RHCP are one of the few bands where I actually prefer their softer songs over their heavier ones. I'd much rather listen to "Snow [[Hey Oh]]", "Under The Bridge" or "Soul To Squeeze" than "Dani California", "Suck My Kiss" or "By The Way". Despite that, this song just didn't do it for me. I may give the rest of the album a listen when it comes out but I doubt it, since I didn't bother with their last one.
Once again, if there are any singles or tracks from upcoming albums that you recommend, let me know here or on Twitter. Mind you, most people probably stopped reading after that shit I said about Radiohead at the start and the rest probably stopped paying attention after I reminded you that there's a Nickelback song I like. Nothing but popular opinions here!
Saturday, 30 April 2016
Prayers For The Damned, Volume 1 - Sixx:A.M.
I was torn between reviewing this or Rob Zombie's new album but I couldn't bring myself to listen to Rob Zombie's latest wacky project yet. Maybe next week, though.
I'll admit that I'm unfamiliar with the work of this side project from Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx but I was intrigued to give the latest album a listen, knowing it was the first album released after Motley Crue called it quits. I'm not entirely sure why but who cares, I still listened to it. The big question is am I tempted to listen to their previous albums after sitting through this one and the answer is a resounding no.
I made the mistake of assuming that Sixx:A.M. would be closer to Heavy Metal than Hair Metal based on decent album opener and lead single "Rise". Unfortunately, Prayers For The Damned, Volume 1 is nothing more than a bland, whiny, modern Hard Rock album. It may start off with aggressively loud drumming and heavy guitar riffs but it gets old fast, padded only by your bog standard moody whining that American Rock bands are fucking adept at.
Granted if you like songs to sound heavy and emotional, this album will probably be a good listen for you as there are plenty of "epic" sounding tracks with...well, heavy riffs and loud drumming, but also a variety of soft and powerful vocals ("Better Man" & "When We Were Gods"). There are also a few more energetic tracks that feel less out of place on a Rock album than most of this Pop Metal ("You've Come To The Right Place", "The Last Time (My Heart Will Ever Hit The Ground)") but overall, everything feels tired. Tired or even worse; limp.
There are songs that attempt to carry the same power or grand feel but end up falling flat due to relying too much on the Hard Rock staples milked dry in previous tracks, resulting in a dull mush of sound masquerading as Rock ("Can't Stop"). Most of the album seems to have been built around the idea that "quiet bits followed by loud bits = awesome!!!" but by the fifth track, this roller coaster of dynamics just gets annoying.
Maybe that's the reason I preferred tracks towards the end of the album that broke the mould and tried to stay at least a little consistent with the volume and use of heavy riffing ("Everything Went To Hell", "Rise Of The Melancholy Empire")...that or I was just glad to be near the end. After all, there's nothing here for fans of Motley Crue's material, that's for bloody sure! In fact, "Belly Of The Beast" sounds like it could be the backing track for a random Hip Hop song once you remove the guitar.
The one saving grace for this album is that the band haven't phoned in their performances. Drums, guitar, bass, vocals, backing instrumentalists/vocalists, all tip top. Sadly the quality of songwriting isn't up to the same standards, at least as far as music is concerned. The lyrics could be as deep as a black and white Instagram post with a poignant quote in the middle of it but none of that matters if everything else around it is whiny and pathetic, also known as My Chemical Romance Syndrome. Some of the song titles alone sound like they were ripped straight from some floppy-haired virgin's poetry journal.
I definitely won't be listening to Prayers For The Damned, Volume 2 or any of Sixx:A.M.'s previous albums unless I'm given a bloody good reason, and even then I'll probably reread this review to remind myself why I don't care for the band's music. For the benefit of Future Me and Present You reading this and wondering why I dislike the album so much (even after everything I've just said), here's a short summary:
It's generic.
It's boring.
It's unnecessary.
It's the sort of music fake tattoo-sleeved teenagers who think they're cool because they listen to Rock would like.
It's getting a 2/10.
I'll admit that I'm unfamiliar with the work of this side project from Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx but I was intrigued to give the latest album a listen, knowing it was the first album released after Motley Crue called it quits. I'm not entirely sure why but who cares, I still listened to it. The big question is am I tempted to listen to their previous albums after sitting through this one and the answer is a resounding no.
I made the mistake of assuming that Sixx:A.M. would be closer to Heavy Metal than Hair Metal based on decent album opener and lead single "Rise". Unfortunately, Prayers For The Damned, Volume 1 is nothing more than a bland, whiny, modern Hard Rock album. It may start off with aggressively loud drumming and heavy guitar riffs but it gets old fast, padded only by your bog standard moody whining that American Rock bands are fucking adept at.
Granted if you like songs to sound heavy and emotional, this album will probably be a good listen for you as there are plenty of "epic" sounding tracks with...well, heavy riffs and loud drumming, but also a variety of soft and powerful vocals ("Better Man" & "When We Were Gods"). There are also a few more energetic tracks that feel less out of place on a Rock album than most of this Pop Metal ("You've Come To The Right Place", "The Last Time (My Heart Will Ever Hit The Ground)") but overall, everything feels tired. Tired or even worse; limp.
There are songs that attempt to carry the same power or grand feel but end up falling flat due to relying too much on the Hard Rock staples milked dry in previous tracks, resulting in a dull mush of sound masquerading as Rock ("Can't Stop"). Most of the album seems to have been built around the idea that "quiet bits followed by loud bits = awesome!!!" but by the fifth track, this roller coaster of dynamics just gets annoying.
Maybe that's the reason I preferred tracks towards the end of the album that broke the mould and tried to stay at least a little consistent with the volume and use of heavy riffing ("Everything Went To Hell", "Rise Of The Melancholy Empire")...that or I was just glad to be near the end. After all, there's nothing here for fans of Motley Crue's material, that's for bloody sure! In fact, "Belly Of The Beast" sounds like it could be the backing track for a random Hip Hop song once you remove the guitar.
The one saving grace for this album is that the band haven't phoned in their performances. Drums, guitar, bass, vocals, backing instrumentalists/vocalists, all tip top. Sadly the quality of songwriting isn't up to the same standards, at least as far as music is concerned. The lyrics could be as deep as a black and white Instagram post with a poignant quote in the middle of it but none of that matters if everything else around it is whiny and pathetic, also known as My Chemical Romance Syndrome. Some of the song titles alone sound like they were ripped straight from some floppy-haired virgin's poetry journal.
I definitely won't be listening to Prayers For The Damned, Volume 2 or any of Sixx:A.M.'s previous albums unless I'm given a bloody good reason, and even then I'll probably reread this review to remind myself why I don't care for the band's music. For the benefit of Future Me and Present You reading this and wondering why I dislike the album so much (even after everything I've just said), here's a short summary:
It's generic.
It's boring.
It's unnecessary.
It's the sort of music fake tattoo-sleeved teenagers who think they're cool because they listen to Rock would like.
It's getting a 2/10.
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Metal Album Covers: Dos & Don'ts
Every now and then when I review an album on this blog, I dedicate a sentence or two to a particularly striking album cover. Modern Rock bands tend to go with photographs fresh from Baby's First Pretentious Instagram Post or maybe some soulless CGI guff that tries too hard to be impressive but no genre created a string of album covers fantastic enough to hang in a museum better than Heavy Metal.
I'm not saying the genre had a perfect track record but there's nothing quite like a damn good Metal album cover, hence why I'm focusing entirely on them for this post as opposed to album covers in general. However, despite my love for the genre's artwork, there are examples where the band or whoever pitched the idea to the artist should've thought it through a little more.
Time to look at some of the Dos & Don'ts of creating an awesome Metal album cover with a couple of examples of my personal favourites along the way, in case you care about that sort of trivia.
DO relate your cover to the content on the album
This might seem obvious but it's still worth noting. It doesn't have to be a concept album to have a cover related to the name or lyrical content of some of the tracks. Remember, if you thought the subject of one of your songs was strong enough to make it into a worthy title track, why couldn't it do the same for the album cover? It focuses the art so it actually belongs and doesn't just feel like a drawing that's cool for the sake of cool.
Not only that but it helps differentiate a career of striking artwork, compared to the Warpig collection of Motorhead album covers that are all but interchangeable. Sure, they look great in small spaced out doses but I challenge you to name the differences between Overkill, Another Perfect Day and Rock 'N' Roll without looking at pictures of them first.
DO base the work around one strong colour (usually blue or red)
The idea behind covers is that it needs to make the object stand out, whether it's for a book, DVD cover or incredible Metal album. The problem with album covers that use realistic photographs is that they blend in, whereas the album covers that perfectly combine realism in the drawings with the use of colour to make it stand out are almost always at the top of Greatest Metal Album Covers lists, or at least they should be.
Not convinced? Let's take a look at some other notable covers.
Point made.
DO try to shock
There's nothing wrong with safe album covers but if you want it to stand out and be truly awesome, you've got to make it eye-catching beyond colour. It's got to leave an impression and one surefire way to do that is to make it visually shocking. It'll make people more likely to give it a second and much longer glance, allowing them to take in the intricate details once the initial shock has faded.
Note that there's a difference between "shocking" and "offensive". Scorpions made this mistake when they released album covers featuring exposed breasts, military grave defiling and naked 12-year olds...consecutively.
DON'T hire a poor artist
No, I'm not saying this is poor and I'm not using poor in the financial sense. It's often quite hard to find information on the artists behind great album covers but most Metal fans will be able to tell you about Derek Riggs and Ed Repka, the artists who gave us Eddie The Head and Vic Rattlehead respectively. These guys create incredible works of art to match the art within the album sleeve itself. However, it's often quite hard to pinpoint what is and isn't great in the world of art...until now, anyway.
Take a look at the album cover above. Pretty fucking cool, huh. Now take a look at the cover below.
The difference is clear. One looks like something out of an acclaimed graphic novel, the other looks like it was painted on the side of a van known for being the only thing rape victims remember in their roofie-induced fugue.
Make sure you pick the right artist, especially in a day and age where it's not exactly hard to find amazingly talented individuals posting their work all over the Internet.
DON'T neglect your mascot
Some bands are known for using a character on their album covers such as The Guy, Murray or the aforementioned Vic Rattlehead. However, sometimes the band decides to take a break from their beloved mascot and goes in a completely different direction. Unfortunately, this new direction is often a worse one as proven by the album cover up above that looks like a bored teen drew it on their workbook in class.
I'm not entirely sure why bands would want to abandon their mascot when they've been established as an iconic unofficial band member, as the whole point of a mascot is to represent their music and image. Changing or even retiring them signifies a change to the band, something that fans are rarely ever happy with, and showing that with pride on the front of your album is a poor way to start the experience off.
Also, I'm aware that I had a pop at Motorhead album covers that use the mascot but my issue there isn't the use of Warpig; it's the lack of interesting designs other than "OOOFIERY-ESPLOSION!". I mean, just look at how many variants of Eddie The Head there have been in the 80's alone.
DON'T use real life photographs on the front
I'll admit that there are some exceptions to this, such as Diary Of A Madman and Vulgar Display Of Power, but real photography definitely feels more appropriate on the inner sleeve or back cover (unless it's a Southern Rock album, then real photography works). In the same way realistic gameplay can make a video game less fun, real life photography can limit what you can include on the artwork unless you decide to fuck it off and fill it with CGI anyway. Remember, this isn't a college photography assignment and just because it's black and white doesn't mean it's deep. It's a fucking Heavy Metal album cover, make it pack a punch!
There's something special about a meticulously detailed piece of artwork, something that just makes the album look like more care and attention has gone into making it awesome that a simple photograph can't even hope to match. Unfortunately, drawn artwork on album covers is now considered quite dated when compared to the average album cover from modern acts such as Avenged Sevenfold and Rob Zombie but thankfully, some new bands are still keeping the tradition alive.
Took me ages to find that last one but I'm glad I did!
So what do you think about Heavy Metal album covers? Did I miss a classic that deserves a shout-out or are there any Dos/Don'ts I neglected to mention? Let me know on Twitter or in the comment section.
Next week I'll try to post a review of the new Sixx:AM album, if I get round to listening to it.
I'm not saying the genre had a perfect track record but there's nothing quite like a damn good Metal album cover, hence why I'm focusing entirely on them for this post as opposed to album covers in general. However, despite my love for the genre's artwork, there are examples where the band or whoever pitched the idea to the artist should've thought it through a little more.
Time to look at some of the Dos & Don'ts of creating an awesome Metal album cover with a couple of examples of my personal favourites along the way, in case you care about that sort of trivia.
DO relate your cover to the content on the album
Not only that but it helps differentiate a career of striking artwork, compared to the Warpig collection of Motorhead album covers that are all but interchangeable. Sure, they look great in small spaced out doses but I challenge you to name the differences between Overkill, Another Perfect Day and Rock 'N' Roll without looking at pictures of them first.
DO base the work around one strong colour (usually blue or red)
The idea behind covers is that it needs to make the object stand out, whether it's for a book, DVD cover or incredible Metal album. The problem with album covers that use realistic photographs is that they blend in, whereas the album covers that perfectly combine realism in the drawings with the use of colour to make it stand out are almost always at the top of Greatest Metal Album Covers lists, or at least they should be.
Not convinced? Let's take a look at some other notable covers.
DO try to shock
There's nothing wrong with safe album covers but if you want it to stand out and be truly awesome, you've got to make it eye-catching beyond colour. It's got to leave an impression and one surefire way to do that is to make it visually shocking. It'll make people more likely to give it a second and much longer glance, allowing them to take in the intricate details once the initial shock has faded.
DON'T hire a poor artist
No, I'm not saying this is poor and I'm not using poor in the financial sense. It's often quite hard to find information on the artists behind great album covers but most Metal fans will be able to tell you about Derek Riggs and Ed Repka, the artists who gave us Eddie The Head and Vic Rattlehead respectively. These guys create incredible works of art to match the art within the album sleeve itself. However, it's often quite hard to pinpoint what is and isn't great in the world of art...until now, anyway.
Take a look at the album cover above. Pretty fucking cool, huh. Now take a look at the cover below.
The difference is clear. One looks like something out of an acclaimed graphic novel, the other looks like it was painted on the side of a van known for being the only thing rape victims remember in their roofie-induced fugue.
Make sure you pick the right artist, especially in a day and age where it's not exactly hard to find amazingly talented individuals posting their work all over the Internet.
DON'T neglect your mascot
Some bands are known for using a character on their album covers such as The Guy, Murray or the aforementioned Vic Rattlehead. However, sometimes the band decides to take a break from their beloved mascot and goes in a completely different direction. Unfortunately, this new direction is often a worse one as proven by the album cover up above that looks like a bored teen drew it on their workbook in class.
I'm not entirely sure why bands would want to abandon their mascot when they've been established as an iconic unofficial band member, as the whole point of a mascot is to represent their music and image. Changing or even retiring them signifies a change to the band, something that fans are rarely ever happy with, and showing that with pride on the front of your album is a poor way to start the experience off.
Also, I'm aware that I had a pop at Motorhead album covers that use the mascot but my issue there isn't the use of Warpig; it's the lack of interesting designs other than "OOOFIERY-ESPLOSION!". I mean, just look at how many variants of Eddie The Head there have been in the 80's alone.
DON'T use real life photographs on the front
I'll admit that there are some exceptions to this, such as Diary Of A Madman and Vulgar Display Of Power, but real photography definitely feels more appropriate on the inner sleeve or back cover (unless it's a Southern Rock album, then real photography works). In the same way realistic gameplay can make a video game less fun, real life photography can limit what you can include on the artwork unless you decide to fuck it off and fill it with CGI anyway. Remember, this isn't a college photography assignment and just because it's black and white doesn't mean it's deep. It's a fucking Heavy Metal album cover, make it pack a punch!
There's something special about a meticulously detailed piece of artwork, something that just makes the album look like more care and attention has gone into making it awesome that a simple photograph can't even hope to match. Unfortunately, drawn artwork on album covers is now considered quite dated when compared to the average album cover from modern acts such as Avenged Sevenfold and Rob Zombie but thankfully, some new bands are still keeping the tradition alive.
Took me ages to find that last one but I'm glad I did!
So what do you think about Heavy Metal album covers? Did I miss a classic that deserves a shout-out or are there any Dos/Don'ts I neglected to mention? Let me know on Twitter or in the comment section.
Next week I'll try to post a review of the new Sixx:AM album, if I get round to listening to it.
Saturday, 16 April 2016
Showdown: Cover Versions, part 4
Back again with another video game post!
If you recall the last time I did a Showdown post about Cover Versions, it was all about WaveGroup Sound covers from the Guitar Hero & Rock Band games. I chose ten songs from different games in the franchises that were covered by WaveGroup Sound and decided whether the original track or faithful cover was superior before coming to the conclusion that on average WaveGroup Sound's covers were just as good as the originals...or are they?
Time for another round of Originals Vs. Covers!
ROUND ONE: Godzilla
Blue Oyster Cult - As far as Blue Oyster Cult riffs go, this one is probably a 6/10. Incredibly simplistic but memorable. However, the highlight of this song has to be the guitar solos and guitar licks throughout the track. Plenty for aspiring guitarists to sink their teeth into and there's also a nifty little bass solo in the middle too. I wouldn't call it the band's best track but it definitely belongs in GH.
WaveGroup Sound - Props to the guitarist for fucking nailing it on this recording! The main difference between this and the original has to be the bass solo, reduced and converted to guitar to avoid the long pause in the actual song. However, it doesn't feel out of place or forced if you're familiar with the original and it fits in perfectly if the song is new to you.
VERDICT - Right, let's think about this for a minute. On the one hand, I love Blue Oyster Cult and their original sounds a little less harsh on the ears than the cover. On the other, this is a damn good cover by WaveGroup Sound and whilst it may not improve on the original, it recreates it with care and detail. I think I'm giving the win to Blue Oyster Cult, but WaveGroup Sound deserve a shout-out for this cover in particular.
ROUND TWO: Killer Queen
Queen - I'm not a big fan of this song compared to other Queen hits. It's catchy, sure, but it's also kind of plain. It's a bit safe for a song with such a great title, plus Brian May's guitar isn't exactly exciting by any stretch. At least Freddie Mercury's vocals are as flawless as ever so this song would make a fun addition to karaoke evenings or vocal-based games, maybe not guitar ones.
WaveGroup Sound - Two things should become apparent when hearing this cover. First of all, the fuck's up with their Mock Freddie? They couldn't find anyone better than that guy? Secondly, there's a lot more guitar in this cover. Just as well really, it'd be a little embarrassing for the first game in the Guitar Hero series to have to rely on charting keys for guitar when there are so many proper Rock songs in existence. At least Mock Brian's guitar sort of sounds right during the solos.
VERDICT - Clearly the WaveGroup Sound version was more appropriate for GH due to the added guitar but I'm giving the win to Queen just for sounding better overall. Why they included the master recording of this track in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits over David Bowie or Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'm not sure.
ROUND THREE: Woman
Wolfmother - The most well known Wolfmother song with their...I'm going to say "classic" sound. A heavy gallop and a great riff. It's got some decent guitar in it although there comes a point halfway through where it kind of goes batshit with dissonant organ solos and such. A wacky but decent Hard Rock track that arrives and departs on a loud note, great for GH2.
WaveGroup Sound - Hmmmm...the vocalist is no Andrew Stockdale but the guitar and drums seem alright. I also like the added guitar solo over the organs in the middle section. It's a little wacky and out there like the rest of the song and works with the rest of the track, even if it's not as fun as the added "Ziggy Stardust" or "All The Young Dudes" solos.
VERDICT - My feelings for Wolfmother have been made loud and clear on the blog before but I'm giving this win to WaveGroup Sound. I know the vocalist doesn't stand out as much as Andrew Stockdale but I think I actually prefer him after listening a couple of times, although if you like Andrew's vocals then the original is for you.
ROUND FOUR: Metal Health (Bang Your Head)
Quiet Riot - As far as Hair Metal goes, this has to be one of the top tracks of the genre. It's an anthem for the Rock lifestyle right down to the epic riff and twin solos. It's a shame this band are arguably more well known for a shitty cover of a Slade song but at least they'll always have this track up their sleeves too.
WaveGroup Sound - I never understood why this song was chosen to be one of the first tracks on-disc when the cover version would need to be toned down. The first solo has been removed completely and the second is less intense than the one in the original outro. At least the band are suitable, even if the vocalist is a little too close to KISS for him to be truly spot on.
VERDICT - Definitely Quiet Riot for this one. The cover is like a radio edit that hasn't been bloody shortened. It's a shame Guitar Hero couldn't get the original version of this at some point but at least it's available as RB DLC.
ROUND FIVE: La Grange
ZZ Top - I love this song but I've always had one massive problem with it; it's not powerful enough. The drums are too soft and the guitars need to sound a lot heavier when the bass is introduced. At least the guitar solos are good and the boogie rhythm carries the song all the way to the end without getting boring like most Blues Rock tracks.
WaveGroup Sound - Now THIS cover gets it right! Not only in the heavier mix but the vocalist sounds better suited to the song as well. But wait, there's more! Since this was recorded specifically for Guitar Hero, you can bet your bottom dollar that the guitar solos are both faithful and fun. Final cherry on top? This cover actually ends as opposed to the original fading out. Perfect pick for GH3!
VERDICT - Again, I like ZZ Top (to some extent) but the win has been well earned by WaveGroup Sound. I'd love to hear them cover "Cheap Sunglasses", as that song suffers the same issues.
ROUND SIX: Story Of My Life
Social Distortion - I would love to take this song back in time to the 70's and play it to The Sex Pistols, telling them that this country-blend is what their pisspot of a joke genre becomes in less than 20 years. Anyway, enough Punk bashing. I do actually like this song a lot and the Rock ballad structure makes for a fun little tune that can be carried for over five minutes without making me want to blow my brains out.
WaveGroup Sound - This was my first experience with the song so I'll try not to let that bias cloud my judgement. The guitar melody sounds a lot clearer in this cover although some of you might find a few guitar riffs distracting. You know the ones that I mean, the ones that sound like overdrive guitar on a MIDI track.
VERDICT - Gun to head, I'm going to say WaveGroup Sound gets this one for the clearer mix and better build up throughout the song that you only really notice if you listen to the track outside of playing it on GH3.
ROUND SEVEN: I Know A Little
Lynyrd Skynyrd - You can't help but tap your foot to this one! It sounds like it's been plucked straight out of a 50's Diner but with a Southern Rock twist in the form of a slide guitar AND piano solo. It may not be as popular among the casual fans as "Simple Man" or "Sweet Home Alabama" but this song definitely deserves more recognition...then again, you could say that about a lot of pre-plane crash Skynyrd songs.
WaveGroup Sound - I have to say, the vocalist does a cracking job here. Sure the rest of the band get it right too but it's a lot harder to impersonate a vocalist (especially one like Ronnie Van Zant) than a bassist. It's an incredibly faithful cover, right down to the piano solo.
VERDICT - Last time, I gave Lynyrd Skynyrd the win for "Free Bird". This time, I think the win should go to WaveGroup Sound for a superb cover rounding off GH: On Tour. The only sadness is that this track never got a chance on console GH/RB titles, but there's still a thread of hope. A few years ago, I would've confidently told you that this song isn't available for GH/RB due to complications with Skynyrd master recordings but now that there are tracks from Street Survivors in Rock Band, I don't know what to believe.
ROUND EIGHT: Tom Sawyer
Rush - I fucking love everything about this song, from the multitude of awesome riffs/fills/solos played on each instrument to the badass lyrics that I wish I fully knew (there are times when I try as hard as I can to understand Geddy Lee but ultimately fail). I'm glad Rock Band got the original version of this track as DLC (Guitar Hero too, albeit over a year late) as you can't beat playing along to the one and only on plastic guitar, although I imagine the members of Rush would disagree since they couldn't even beat the song when they played it on RB years ago.
WaveGroup Sound - It's a noble attempt but let's not fool around here, this cover is a silver medal at best. It just sounds too clean without the little things like the echo or Geddy's screeching vocals (again, it's almost like the guy who does the KISS covers got the wrong memo). Granted there are many things the song gets right such as the space-age synth effects but you can't beat the original. Also, fuck off with that Big Rock Ending outro.
VERDICT - WaveGroup Sound win...of course not! Seriously, what did you expect? It's Rush all the way.
ROUND NINE: The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden - Gee, I wonder who'll win this one. No no, let's do this fairly. This is probably Iron Maiden's biggest song next to "Run To The Hills" but this is definitely the superior track of the two. Awesome riff, great bass to match the guitars, dynamite vocals and some superb drumming too. It's an all-round top notch track and I'm so fucking glad GH3 got the master recording of this, otherwise I probably wouldn't love this band as much as I do now.
WaveGroup Sound - Credit where due, this is a pretty sweet cover. The vocalist does a stellar job of matching Bruce Dickinson and dare I say screams better during the intro than Bruce has ever done live. The bassist has also done a good job of emulating Steve Harris although I'm not overly keen on the mix of this track. The drums sound a little too prominent, although that might just be the version I'm listening to.
VERDICT - It's actually quite a tough call (no, really) but I'm going with Iron Maiden. The WaveGroup Sound version sounds like the band members are flagging a little bit towards the end, especially in the vocal and guitar department. Whilst WaveGroup Sound may have had their work cut out for them topping Iron Maiden for this piece of Rock Band DLC, they certainly put up one hell of a fight.
ROUND TEN: Green Grass And High Tides
The Outlaws - Another Showdown, another Southern Rock epic! This ~10 minute boss of a song follows the same formula as "Free Bird", "Highway Song" and "Fall Of The Peacemakers" where the first half is relatively slow and relaxing and the second rips the knob off with furious guitar duelling solos. However, what separates this from those tracks is that unlike Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, The Outlaws have filled the relaxing half with cool soloing as well. It may be well over nine minutes long but it definitely has more packed into it than any other Southern Rock epic I can think of.
WaveGroup Sound - The grand finale of Rock Band and a strong cover too. The bass in this mix is a little stronger than the original (which sounds awesome during the faster parts) and the guitar solos are lovingly recreated almost to the exact detail. Each band member gives it their all and if they were playing Rock Band, they'd be looking at gold stars all round!
VERDICT - For what I believe to be the better mix and for completing the impossible task of recording a note perfect rendition of this 9:45 epic, which I imagine must've been so fucking stressful in the studio, WaveGroup Sound get the win here. Again, it's a shame neither GH or RB got the master recording of this great track but at least we got something as good as this cover.
...well, this is a little awkward.
WaveGroup Sound walk away with five wins yet again. I can assure you, this wasn't deliberately planned. However, it's pretty cool that on two separate occasions, I've come to the conclusion that WaveGroup Sound are as strong as the bands they're covering when it comes to rerecording in a studio.
As I said last time, there might be a possibility of me returning to a Showdown post with GH/RB covers but it won't be for a while. Either way, let me know if you agree/disagree with my opinions and if you have any WaveGroup Sound covers that you reckon deserve a shout out for being better than the originals.
If you recall the last time I did a Showdown post about Cover Versions, it was all about WaveGroup Sound covers from the Guitar Hero & Rock Band games. I chose ten songs from different games in the franchises that were covered by WaveGroup Sound and decided whether the original track or faithful cover was superior before coming to the conclusion that on average WaveGroup Sound's covers were just as good as the originals...or are they?
Time for another round of Originals Vs. Covers!
ROUND ONE: Godzilla
Blue Oyster Cult - As far as Blue Oyster Cult riffs go, this one is probably a 6/10. Incredibly simplistic but memorable. However, the highlight of this song has to be the guitar solos and guitar licks throughout the track. Plenty for aspiring guitarists to sink their teeth into and there's also a nifty little bass solo in the middle too. I wouldn't call it the band's best track but it definitely belongs in GH.
WaveGroup Sound - Props to the guitarist for fucking nailing it on this recording! The main difference between this and the original has to be the bass solo, reduced and converted to guitar to avoid the long pause in the actual song. However, it doesn't feel out of place or forced if you're familiar with the original and it fits in perfectly if the song is new to you.
VERDICT - Right, let's think about this for a minute. On the one hand, I love Blue Oyster Cult and their original sounds a little less harsh on the ears than the cover. On the other, this is a damn good cover by WaveGroup Sound and whilst it may not improve on the original, it recreates it with care and detail. I think I'm giving the win to Blue Oyster Cult, but WaveGroup Sound deserve a shout-out for this cover in particular.
ROUND TWO: Killer Queen
Queen - I'm not a big fan of this song compared to other Queen hits. It's catchy, sure, but it's also kind of plain. It's a bit safe for a song with such a great title, plus Brian May's guitar isn't exactly exciting by any stretch. At least Freddie Mercury's vocals are as flawless as ever so this song would make a fun addition to karaoke evenings or vocal-based games, maybe not guitar ones.
WaveGroup Sound - Two things should become apparent when hearing this cover. First of all, the fuck's up with their Mock Freddie? They couldn't find anyone better than that guy? Secondly, there's a lot more guitar in this cover. Just as well really, it'd be a little embarrassing for the first game in the Guitar Hero series to have to rely on charting keys for guitar when there are so many proper Rock songs in existence. At least Mock Brian's guitar sort of sounds right during the solos.
VERDICT - Clearly the WaveGroup Sound version was more appropriate for GH due to the added guitar but I'm giving the win to Queen just for sounding better overall. Why they included the master recording of this track in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits over David Bowie or Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'm not sure.
ROUND THREE: Woman
Wolfmother - The most well known Wolfmother song with their...I'm going to say "classic" sound. A heavy gallop and a great riff. It's got some decent guitar in it although there comes a point halfway through where it kind of goes batshit with dissonant organ solos and such. A wacky but decent Hard Rock track that arrives and departs on a loud note, great for GH2.
WaveGroup Sound - Hmmmm...the vocalist is no Andrew Stockdale but the guitar and drums seem alright. I also like the added guitar solo over the organs in the middle section. It's a little wacky and out there like the rest of the song and works with the rest of the track, even if it's not as fun as the added "Ziggy Stardust" or "All The Young Dudes" solos.
VERDICT - My feelings for Wolfmother have been made loud and clear on the blog before but I'm giving this win to WaveGroup Sound. I know the vocalist doesn't stand out as much as Andrew Stockdale but I think I actually prefer him after listening a couple of times, although if you like Andrew's vocals then the original is for you.
ROUND FOUR: Metal Health (Bang Your Head)
Quiet Riot - As far as Hair Metal goes, this has to be one of the top tracks of the genre. It's an anthem for the Rock lifestyle right down to the epic riff and twin solos. It's a shame this band are arguably more well known for a shitty cover of a Slade song but at least they'll always have this track up their sleeves too.
WaveGroup Sound - I never understood why this song was chosen to be one of the first tracks on-disc when the cover version would need to be toned down. The first solo has been removed completely and the second is less intense than the one in the original outro. At least the band are suitable, even if the vocalist is a little too close to KISS for him to be truly spot on.
VERDICT - Definitely Quiet Riot for this one. The cover is like a radio edit that hasn't been bloody shortened. It's a shame Guitar Hero couldn't get the original version of this at some point but at least it's available as RB DLC.
ROUND FIVE: La Grange
ZZ Top - I love this song but I've always had one massive problem with it; it's not powerful enough. The drums are too soft and the guitars need to sound a lot heavier when the bass is introduced. At least the guitar solos are good and the boogie rhythm carries the song all the way to the end without getting boring like most Blues Rock tracks.
WaveGroup Sound - Now THIS cover gets it right! Not only in the heavier mix but the vocalist sounds better suited to the song as well. But wait, there's more! Since this was recorded specifically for Guitar Hero, you can bet your bottom dollar that the guitar solos are both faithful and fun. Final cherry on top? This cover actually ends as opposed to the original fading out. Perfect pick for GH3!
VERDICT - Again, I like ZZ Top (to some extent) but the win has been well earned by WaveGroup Sound. I'd love to hear them cover "Cheap Sunglasses", as that song suffers the same issues.
ROUND SIX: Story Of My Life
Social Distortion - I would love to take this song back in time to the 70's and play it to The Sex Pistols, telling them that this country-blend is what their pisspot of a joke genre becomes in less than 20 years. Anyway, enough Punk bashing. I do actually like this song a lot and the Rock ballad structure makes for a fun little tune that can be carried for over five minutes without making me want to blow my brains out.
WaveGroup Sound - This was my first experience with the song so I'll try not to let that bias cloud my judgement. The guitar melody sounds a lot clearer in this cover although some of you might find a few guitar riffs distracting. You know the ones that I mean, the ones that sound like overdrive guitar on a MIDI track.
VERDICT - Gun to head, I'm going to say WaveGroup Sound gets this one for the clearer mix and better build up throughout the song that you only really notice if you listen to the track outside of playing it on GH3.
ROUND SEVEN: I Know A Little
Lynyrd Skynyrd - You can't help but tap your foot to this one! It sounds like it's been plucked straight out of a 50's Diner but with a Southern Rock twist in the form of a slide guitar AND piano solo. It may not be as popular among the casual fans as "Simple Man" or "Sweet Home Alabama" but this song definitely deserves more recognition...then again, you could say that about a lot of pre-plane crash Skynyrd songs.
WaveGroup Sound - I have to say, the vocalist does a cracking job here. Sure the rest of the band get it right too but it's a lot harder to impersonate a vocalist (especially one like Ronnie Van Zant) than a bassist. It's an incredibly faithful cover, right down to the piano solo.
VERDICT - Last time, I gave Lynyrd Skynyrd the win for "Free Bird". This time, I think the win should go to WaveGroup Sound for a superb cover rounding off GH: On Tour. The only sadness is that this track never got a chance on console GH/RB titles, but there's still a thread of hope. A few years ago, I would've confidently told you that this song isn't available for GH/RB due to complications with Skynyrd master recordings but now that there are tracks from Street Survivors in Rock Band, I don't know what to believe.
ROUND EIGHT: Tom Sawyer
Rush - I fucking love everything about this song, from the multitude of awesome riffs/fills/solos played on each instrument to the badass lyrics that I wish I fully knew (there are times when I try as hard as I can to understand Geddy Lee but ultimately fail). I'm glad Rock Band got the original version of this track as DLC (Guitar Hero too, albeit over a year late) as you can't beat playing along to the one and only on plastic guitar, although I imagine the members of Rush would disagree since they couldn't even beat the song when they played it on RB years ago.
WaveGroup Sound - It's a noble attempt but let's not fool around here, this cover is a silver medal at best. It just sounds too clean without the little things like the echo or Geddy's screeching vocals (again, it's almost like the guy who does the KISS covers got the wrong memo). Granted there are many things the song gets right such as the space-age synth effects but you can't beat the original. Also, fuck off with that Big Rock Ending outro.
VERDICT - WaveGroup Sound win...of course not! Seriously, what did you expect? It's Rush all the way.
ROUND NINE: The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden - Gee, I wonder who'll win this one. No no, let's do this fairly. This is probably Iron Maiden's biggest song next to "Run To The Hills" but this is definitely the superior track of the two. Awesome riff, great bass to match the guitars, dynamite vocals and some superb drumming too. It's an all-round top notch track and I'm so fucking glad GH3 got the master recording of this, otherwise I probably wouldn't love this band as much as I do now.
WaveGroup Sound - Credit where due, this is a pretty sweet cover. The vocalist does a stellar job of matching Bruce Dickinson and dare I say screams better during the intro than Bruce has ever done live. The bassist has also done a good job of emulating Steve Harris although I'm not overly keen on the mix of this track. The drums sound a little too prominent, although that might just be the version I'm listening to.
VERDICT - It's actually quite a tough call (no, really) but I'm going with Iron Maiden. The WaveGroup Sound version sounds like the band members are flagging a little bit towards the end, especially in the vocal and guitar department. Whilst WaveGroup Sound may have had their work cut out for them topping Iron Maiden for this piece of Rock Band DLC, they certainly put up one hell of a fight.
ROUND TEN: Green Grass And High Tides
The Outlaws - Another Showdown, another Southern Rock epic! This ~10 minute boss of a song follows the same formula as "Free Bird", "Highway Song" and "Fall Of The Peacemakers" where the first half is relatively slow and relaxing and the second rips the knob off with furious guitar duelling solos. However, what separates this from those tracks is that unlike Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, The Outlaws have filled the relaxing half with cool soloing as well. It may be well over nine minutes long but it definitely has more packed into it than any other Southern Rock epic I can think of.
WaveGroup Sound - The grand finale of Rock Band and a strong cover too. The bass in this mix is a little stronger than the original (which sounds awesome during the faster parts) and the guitar solos are lovingly recreated almost to the exact detail. Each band member gives it their all and if they were playing Rock Band, they'd be looking at gold stars all round!
VERDICT - For what I believe to be the better mix and for completing the impossible task of recording a note perfect rendition of this 9:45 epic, which I imagine must've been so fucking stressful in the studio, WaveGroup Sound get the win here. Again, it's a shame neither GH or RB got the master recording of this great track but at least we got something as good as this cover.
...well, this is a little awkward.
WaveGroup Sound walk away with five wins yet again. I can assure you, this wasn't deliberately planned. However, it's pretty cool that on two separate occasions, I've come to the conclusion that WaveGroup Sound are as strong as the bands they're covering when it comes to rerecording in a studio.
As I said last time, there might be a possibility of me returning to a Showdown post with GH/RB covers but it won't be for a while. Either way, let me know if you agree/disagree with my opinions and if you have any WaveGroup Sound covers that you reckon deserve a shout out for being better than the originals.
Sunday, 10 April 2016
Tenology: Songs That Sound Better When Sped Up
Bonus Post!
This is to make up for the week I missed in March and I figure you might want to read this short little post over a random video game one.
Recently, I learned that you can speed up or slow down videos on Youtube so naturally, I gave several slower songs a listen with the speed increased to 1.25x. Many tracks didn't work at all but surprisingly, quite a few songs actually sounded pretty awesome when sped up slightly.
I've created a playlist of some of these songs on Youtube but the problem with keeping track of things via Youtube (especially when it's a music playlist) is that videos get deleted quite frequently. As a result, I've chosen to list ten of my favourite sped up songs here so that I can find them again even if some prick deletes them off Youtube.
If you have any suggestions for songs that'd sound just as good (or arguably better) when sped up, let me know in the comments or via Twitter. Also, feel free to let me know if any of the embedded Youtube videos get removed and I need to replace them.
WARNING! YOU MAY NEED A COUPLE OF LISTENS TO THE ORIGINAL/SLOWER VERSIONS OF THESE SONGS IF YOU EVER WANT TO HEAR THEM THE SAME AGAIN!
1. "Night Moves" - Bob Seger
(wait until the drums come in, it sounds like The Doobie Brothers)
2. "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N' Roses
(I finally found a way to fix Axl's voice...sort of)
3. "Man In The Box" - Alice In Chains
(less Alice In Chains, more Velvet Revolver. I love it!)
4. "Nothing Else Matters" - Metallica
(it almost sounds like a Christmas song or sea-shanty, SO much better!)
5. "Bad Company" - Bad Company
(it may not sound less powerful and more...broadway, but it sounds alright enough for this list)
6. "Everything About You" - Ugly Kid Joe
(the Poison vibe is strong with this one!)
7. "Time Is Running Out" - Muse
(I can imagine a band like Paramore rocking a sped up cover of this)
8. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - Blue Oyster Cult
(obviously I prefer the original but it's cool to hear this song if covered by The Ventures)
9. "Crazy Train" - Ozzy Osbourne
(the rest of the song is kinda...yeah...but at least the riff sounds cooler!)
10. "Do You Feel Like We Do?" - Peter Frampton
(closest I can get to creating a studio version of the Frampton Comes Alive version, although shame about the Disco sound)
Honourable Mentions
"Green Tinted Sixties Mind" - Mr. Big
"Jump" - Van Halen
"Hot Blooded" - Foreigner
"Rosalie" - Thin Lizzy
"Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" - The White Stripes*
"Don't Stop Believing" - Journey
"The Zoo" - Scorpions
"Same Old Song And Dance" - Aerosmith
Thanks for reading/listening! I'll see if I can find something to review either next week or the week after.
* Fun fact! You can hear Meg White changing the tempo between 1:28-1:34 due to being a shit drummer a lot clearer when everything's sped up.
This is to make up for the week I missed in March and I figure you might want to read this short little post over a random video game one.
Recently, I learned that you can speed up or slow down videos on Youtube so naturally, I gave several slower songs a listen with the speed increased to 1.25x. Many tracks didn't work at all but surprisingly, quite a few songs actually sounded pretty awesome when sped up slightly.
I've created a playlist of some of these songs on Youtube but the problem with keeping track of things via Youtube (especially when it's a music playlist) is that videos get deleted quite frequently. As a result, I've chosen to list ten of my favourite sped up songs here so that I can find them again even if some prick deletes them off Youtube.
If you have any suggestions for songs that'd sound just as good (or arguably better) when sped up, let me know in the comments or via Twitter. Also, feel free to let me know if any of the embedded Youtube videos get removed and I need to replace them.
WARNING! YOU MAY NEED A COUPLE OF LISTENS TO THE ORIGINAL/SLOWER VERSIONS OF THESE SONGS IF YOU EVER WANT TO HEAR THEM THE SAME AGAIN!
1. "Night Moves" - Bob Seger
(wait until the drums come in, it sounds like The Doobie Brothers)
2. "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N' Roses
(I finally found a way to fix Axl's voice...sort of)
3. "Man In The Box" - Alice In Chains
(less Alice In Chains, more Velvet Revolver. I love it!)
4. "Nothing Else Matters" - Metallica
(it almost sounds like a Christmas song or sea-shanty, SO much better!)
5. "Bad Company" - Bad Company
(it may not sound less powerful and more...broadway, but it sounds alright enough for this list)
6. "Everything About You" - Ugly Kid Joe
(the Poison vibe is strong with this one!)
7. "Time Is Running Out" - Muse
(I can imagine a band like Paramore rocking a sped up cover of this)
8. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - Blue Oyster Cult
(obviously I prefer the original but it's cool to hear this song if covered by The Ventures)
9. "Crazy Train" - Ozzy Osbourne
(the rest of the song is kinda...yeah...but at least the riff sounds cooler!)
10. "Do You Feel Like We Do?" - Peter Frampton
(closest I can get to creating a studio version of the Frampton Comes Alive version, although shame about the Disco sound)
Honourable Mentions
"Green Tinted Sixties Mind" - Mr. Big
"Jump" - Van Halen
"Hot Blooded" - Foreigner
"Rosalie" - Thin Lizzy
"Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" - The White Stripes*
"Don't Stop Believing" - Journey
"The Zoo" - Scorpions
"Same Old Song And Dance" - Aerosmith
Thanks for reading/listening! I'll see if I can find something to review either next week or the week after.
* Fun fact! You can hear Meg White changing the tempo between 1:28-1:34 due to being a shit drummer a lot clearer when everything's sped up.
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