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Sonic Soundtrack

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by TheKazeblade, Sep 23, 2010.

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  1. TheKazeblade

    TheKazeblade

    "Our Life is More than a Side-Effect" Member
    Back in the golden age, Sonic games had some of the best music in gaming; when people consider Sonic music, they usually harken back to those days to such iconic tracks as Green Hill, Angel Island, Ice Cap, etc. etc. When it got around to the 3D era, the music was noticeably less impressive; Crush 40 wasn't bad, but they certainly were nothing phenomenal either. The level music since Sonic Adventure has ranged from decent to meh. Things have finally come full circle with Sonic Colors, where we've seen Sega try to capture the hyped genres at the time with the new theme song sung by the lead singer of Cash Cash, but besides that the music for the game itself seems pretty impressive.

    So what kind of music do you think Sonic games should tote as their theme? Should they keep with the 80's style rock like they had with Crush 40, the Owl City-style sound with Cash Cash, or something completely different?

    I personally would love to see a more serious approach to the music. There are some extremely impressive bands that could do some good with the soundtrack for the series. Pop metal bands like <a href='index.php?act=findpost&pid=0'>Anberlin</a>, or major players like <a href='index.php?act=findpost&pid=0'>Saosin </a> or even good old Punk Rock with someone like <a href='index.php?act=findpost&pid=0'>MxPx</a> Just some ideas.

    So what genre of music/ band would be improvements for Sonic's theme in the games?
     
  2. Quarterman

    Quarterman

    Just another day in paradise. Member
    I personally dislike vocalization in the game themes. Beyond that, it very much depends on the level in question. Similar music in a jungle level and a city level wouldn't sound right, for example. I liked the music in Unleashed, as it fit the levels rather well (the Cool Edge theme is an excellent example). I will say that Sonic games never really had bad music in my opinion, as even some of the aforementioned vocal themes were quite good (mainly in Adventure 2).
     
  3. TheKazeblade

    TheKazeblade

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    By theme I was mostly referring to the music usually toted in the trailers and intros... all of the games have had their own flavor, but I am in agreement with you, I'm not a fan of vocalization of music in Sonic songs for the actual levels... the only exception I can think of is Support Me in SA2.
     
  4. I like my Sonic games with as few words as possible. Spoken, sung, or otherwise. Let's get back to the near story-less fun and sweet ass chiptunes.
     
  5. Quarterman

    Quarterman

    Just another day in paradise. Member
    Ah, my mistake. in that case, I would prefer a main theme to be orchestrated. This is merely personal preference (I'm a big fan of classical music), but I feel that this type of music is perfect for setting up an adventure. It usually gets me pumped and excited for the game, and excitement is what Sonic is all about.
     
  6. DigitalDuck

    DigitalDuck

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    This. If there's going to be a big Unleashed-style cinematic intro, it needs a big Unleashed-style cinematic orchestra to go with it, and you can make anything sound good with an orchestra.

    Also, playing bluegrass at that point would probably ruin the mood.
     
  7. ExtendedAffinity

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    I want my level music to not have lyrics. My character themes can though. E.G.G.M.A.N. is a super sweet song and would be lame without the super awesome vocals.



    If all future games could somehow sound more Sonic Adventure and never again sound like Sonic Rush, I think I'll be happy.
     
  8. DigitalDuck

    DigitalDuck

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    Fixed.
     
  9. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    This.
     
  10. Mainman

    Mainman

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    Despite the Marmite-ish opinion that people have of the soundtrack for Sonic Rush, I'm willing to say that that's exactly what a modern Sonic game should sound like.

    When you examine the old soundtracks, all of the songs seem to have a natural 'bopping' quality to them, compelling the viewing audience and/or experienced players to follow the beat with a degree of automatic movement, which could be anywhere between tapping their toe to full-on headbanging. These soundtracks were astounding for their time, and worked within the limits of their hardware.

    Even though the soundtracks of Sonic games following the original quadrillogy have consistently remained the best aspect of all of them (barring some well-known examples), only a few tracks per game ever seem to contain this 'bopping'/funky quality, even though it's possible to apply that sort of goal to any genre of music with the right amount of time and skill. The most recent non-portable Sonic game I remember having an above-average number of 'funky' tracks was Sonic Heroes, which may be partly to do with its overall aesthetics trying to recreate the "good old days" of the Mega Drive games.

    Sonic Rush's soundtrack was filled to bursting point with funkiness, and had me replaying levels/bosses just so that I could hear their music again. What other games in the Sonic franchise could you honestly say you'd do this for on most of the levels, outside of the MD quadrillogy? All of its songs had the 'boppiness' I've been harping on about for the entire post, and it represented the pinnacle of the system's audio output, incorporating lots of voice-sampling and turning it into pseudo-instruments. Even people who don't like the cheese-filled vocal songs of the non-portable games are likely to enjoy the 'lyrics' that Rush's songs played with. Proper lyrical songs ought to remain exclusively as Title, Character and Credits themes, but everything else would be most excellent if they tried to do what Sonic Rush did.
     
  11. Harmony Friends

    Harmony Friends

    it's the whole gang Oldbie
    To be totally honest, there isn't a major Sonic game with a soundtrack I totally dislike (except for Secret Rings... hoo boy). I don't think I could decide between the classic style, the Senoue style, or the Naganuma style, or the style of the newer games headed by Tomoya Ohtani/Kenichi Tokoi/Mariko Nanba/Fumie Kumatani and etc. or hell, even Richard Jacques. The games' musical style may not be wholly consistent, but I don't think that's a bad thing at all -- in fact, I think changing up the feel of the soundtrack between games is a good thing.
     
  12. Slingerland

    Slingerland

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    If it's catchy enough for me to whistle on the way to work, then it's a good Sonic song.

    I haven't had a "modern" Sonic song stuck in my head ever. That about sums up my feelings towards today's soundtracks.
     
  13. ExtendedAffinity

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    Sonic Rush is the only example of a soundtrack in which I totally disliked. I'm surprised to find so many people liked it. Especially over Sonic Adventure. I love the Sonic Adventure soundtrack.
     
  14. I find the soundtrack in modern Sonic games completely generic and forgettable. The classic games however, have some of the best melodies I have ever heard. They are so memorable that my wife, who never played a Sonic game for more than 5 minutes, knows most of the tunes just from hearing me humming or whistling them around the house.
     
  15. Covarr

    Covarr

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    I wish every song in every Sonic game was a remix of My Sweet Passion. That song kicked ass.
     
  16. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    What?

    How can you dislike music like this:



    and this?

     
  17. Eh, there was some Sonic Adventure tracks I love. Speed Highway's "At Dawn" gets stuck in my head every so often and feels in place with what we'd all love to hear in a classic style piece of Sonic music (IMO)
     
  18. MegaDash

    MegaDash

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    This. No fixing required.

    I find Naganuma's work with Sonic Rush mostly grating, repetitive, and annoyingly paced. That "bopping" Mainman was referring to has a pacing in Rush that's too frenetic, repetitive, and often overpowering to whatever melody the song's got. I blame it partly on the fucking lyrics. I swear, if you take the repetitive lyrics out of most every song and either replace them with an appropriate instrument or nothing at all, they'd be better suited to the actual game. The only exceptions I'd have for this rule are Vela Nova and What U Need.

    The only song I can think of from the old games that can match the beat of Sonic Rush is Sky Sanctuary, but at least that has a far more prominent melody and a lack of repetition. Consequently it's a soaringly brilliant contrast to the soundtrack of the rest of the game. This is the same sort of relationship I see between Sonic Rush's overall soundtrack and Wrapped in Black, except while WiB tones the pacing down, it still keeps the repetitive lyrics.

    Interestingly enough, I find the Sonic Groove Rush remixes much better than the original songs, so I guess adding another layer of vocals and some extra musical bridges thins out the grating repetition of the songs. Much better to an extent. Rush Adventure keeps the overall same beat, but they chuck most of the lyrics. For more the first reason than the last, I found the songs largely forgettable, while the Sonic Rush ones I do remember for being extremely distinct, but also annoying.

    Granted, part of the reason I'm being harsh on the songs other than my general dislike of the beat is that I don't think too highly of Rush. It's okay, but it doesn't make me want to replay it. The only parts of it that I might like to are the Special Stages, that Air Traffic Zone or whatever, and the space zone is pretty fun. I'd say also the water park, which is actually a pretty good stage, but the fucking bottomless pits. Fuck them. The only other thing I like about the game is the fight between Sonic and Blaze. That was pretty bad ass, and I believe I said I liked Vela Nova as it is.

    Sonic Adventure's music worked lovingly well with the game, even with the bad parts. You had a variety of different musical styles and genres expressed excellently in the game, differing from each other in beat, instrumentation,and melody. The soundtrack was quite dynamic, and it matched what could've been a great story about a great adventure. Maybe the inconsistency between different parts of the game and their accompanying songs put off people who were used to the more conservatism musical dynamism and specific quality of Genesis games, and I totally get that. In that respect, the Rush games succeed in being consistent with each song. Beautiful. I just don't like the pacing and I don't like the lyrics, and few of the songs I actually like. As for what songs I don't care for in Sonic Adventure? Well, the first face-off with Chaos, most of the Chao tunes, and the FISH CAUGHT theme.
     
  19. Well said. I also thought it was really fitting and I liked how Naganuma made sure it matched the pace of the game, making it distinct from his work on Jet Set Radio.

    I think the current Sega sound team is the best choice long term but there's plenty of room for others to contribute. I've never liked anything by Runblebee, but they've only worked on games I didn't like anyway (Secret Rings, Riders).



    There's been a lot of mentions of the "classic style" but there really wasn't a single style in the Genesis/Megadrive era either. Obviously Masato Nakamura set the tone with Sonic 1 and 2, but CD (both versions) and 3 diverged considerably from that. It's only in retrospect that they've been grouped together as "classic style". I still like them all and I'm not denying their similarities, like the "boppiness" Mainman mentioned but I think talking about them without differentiating between them is a bit short sited.
     
  20. I like the soundtracks of almost all Sonic games. Except Rush Adventure. I only liked a couple songs from that one, being Plant Kingdom, Big Swell, and the Title Theme.
     
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