Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony, 31st Anniversary Symphony Incoming

This was, completely unironically, one of the best things I've experienced in recent years when it comes to Sonic. Everything about it was just perfectly structured, so much so that by the time Live & Learn was playing, I was legitimately brought to tears. This series may not always deliver, but when it does, it fucking hits so hard.

I honestly just went in expecting it to be good, but was blown away and it's so refreshing to have that feeling when it comes to Sonic. Happy 30th everyone.

 

I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but I skipped through it and randomly ended up on the NiGHTS rendition.
So now I'm pretty excited.

 

I absolutely loved every second of this concert. It screams passion and love. Tried to split the tracks into a .FLAC album for easier listening!

Edit: oops looks like the Nakamura announcement slipped into the Chao Garden song, I'll fix it in a few hours
Edit 2: now it's fixed alongside a metadata issue w Live and Learn

 

Yo thanks for this!

 

Loved every second of it! Looks like Sonic 4 was permanently erased from the timeline and that’s ok. They swept it under the rug and had Jun do what he does best. I was home sick today and watched it when I woke up this afternoon. I saw it pop up on my YouTube and had forgotten it was today! There were annoying ads, but it was worth it. I’m glad I watched the intermission and the special announcement. This new GHZ will be interesting.

 

Just a small thing I've noticed. At 1:32:07 he sung "I'm not", from the next verse, instead of "I know".

"I know it's a one-way track
I'm not gonna think this way"

 

I don't know if you linked the wrong timestamp, but as soon as it starts where you linked he's saying "I know".

 

The song is playing "I know" and we can hear "I know" just right, but his lips are singing "I'm not". At least it looks like it to me.
Here's he saying the "m", with his mouth closed.

It's just a tiny thing, nothing to criticize about it. I just found it funny.

 

Honestly, this was probably one of the biggest love letters to fans in a very long time.

Some points to throw out there since I'm not entirely through it yet:

The Cover of Green Hill was actually teased in a Green Tea commercial in Japan back in mid may.


According to their official blog they were in the process of recording the song, so I imagine they're putting the finishing touches on it before releasing it as a single.

Secondly, Katie wrote a huge Twitter chain thanking people for their contributions and Aaron likewise wrote a post talking about how she spent two years putting this together and often working well into the early morning at 4 AM. This would not be possible without her hard work and I'm so glad people have been so appreciative towards her for pulling this off.

I'll post further thoughts later when I'm done with the whole thing, but I have been smiling like an idiot and very close to tears for most of the viewing.

 

You know what's the most amazing thing? The Belive in Myself arrange is actually from Sonic Before the Sequel and Falk Au Yeong got credited from it!

Here, take a listen:

 

I was actually going to mention this in my full thoughts, but Falk totally snuck his ATS version of the track into the symphony (with some alterations to be fair). Between that and the Chao Mod, I'd say we got a happy little nod to the hacking/modding, and fangame communities which is really sweet!

 

I don’t think it’d be hyperbole to say this has been the best part of Sonic’s anniversary so far, and it’s hard to know where to start in talking about it.

As the Colours medley was ending, I thought that was it, and I was fine with that. We’d gotten a very enjoyable orchestral concert that even contained the deep cuts of the Game Gear medley and Sonic Into Dreams…, but then I saw the intermission pop up on screen and could only grin like an idiot. I was absolutely ready for whatever deep cuts the orchestra were about to start playing.

And then they brought the guitars out.

Honestly, it’s insane how not one of us saw this coming, given how steeped this franchise is in cheesy butt rock. I firmly believe Sonic is the only IP that can flip the switch from a symphony to a full on rock concert without being jarring in the slightest.

I do echo Blue Blood’s sentiments that watching Johnny could be a little uncomfortable at times, but thankfully that discomfort didn’t really leak into the performances.

And the finale was perfect - positioning Escape from the City as our “one more song”, bring rock and orchestra together in concert to deliver a fantastic arrangement of perhaps the second most iconic track in the entire series that any other event would’ve been content to end on.

But then they kept raising the bar as they closed out with Live and Learn! The rock/orchestra fusion was absolutely the treatment this track deserved, and the energy in the chat was just intense. I was among those trying to type the lyrics in the chat as fast as they were being sung, and it was like we were all waving metaphorical glow sticks (something particularly true during the emoji spamming in Knight of the Wind). I usually turn off YouTube life chat for being cringey and too fast to process anyway, but I absolutely felt like I was part of the event here.

And I just want to remind everybody that we got perhaps the best video game orchestra concert ever completely free of charge. Everybody involved has gone above and beyond on so many levels in a way that really speaks to their passion for Sonic, his fans and, of course, his music, and I think this will be a touchstone for the community for years to come.

Never did get that Sonic Advance trilogy medley, though…

 

No "Toot Toot Sonic Warrior", B-

Spoiler

Yeah it was good. My nostalgia gland only really appreciates the first decade, so everything from the last two decades didn't do much for me.

 

I can die happy knowing Crush 40 covered Sonic Boom

 

You're aware that Crush 40 covered Sonic Boom ten years ago and it was on the on one of the 20th anniversary albums, right?

 

I prefer "You Can Do Anything" anyway, and I feel that the super high energy of it could be transformed by Crush 40 into something like the high energy Heroes theme. The silly 90s rapping parts at the beginning, as well as the overall lyrics would probably have to be extremely overhauled to fit with their style though. :P Honestly, even a whole new song based around Green Hills Zone as an homage would be sweet.

 

While I'm not sure what would be done about the rap, most of the lines in that song fit Crush 40 like a glove. I can practically hear Johnny singing the bits like:

"Your hour is near at hand, you've got the power to save the land!"
"The power is in your mind to save the planet and conquer time!"
"Nothing can survive the will to stay alive"

Speaking of this song, is there an explanation for the odd use of "toot toot"? I've always thought "super Sonic warrior" would've made so much more sense as the chorus.

 

Has Crush 40 ever covered the SatAM theme? I was secretly hoping they would slip that one in as well, but I forgave its omission because I knew it was a long shot.

 

What a way to celebrate 30 years of Sonic the Hedgehog! Seeing all these massively skilled and talented musicians coming together as a professional orchestra was pure awesomeness. The chat was also fun. 10/10 made my day. Occasionally, it drifted a bit into fanservice territory, but I loved how personal it was.

Johnny's always fun to watch. His enthusiasm and energy suffered no loss, that's what matters! Live and Learn knocked it out of the park for me...

 

Got bored after it entered more recent years.

They're still struggling with the timing in Sky Sanctuary. Better than Generations and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, but still off.