Oh my GOD. I didn't realize it was possible to screw up Labyrinth Zone's music so badly. I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to describe what happened here. Also, I fucking hate flourishes. I realize that's pretty much par for the course at OC Remix, but I didn't catch what Subsonic Sparkle was supposed to be until a good while in. It's kind of a bummer, since I probably would've liked Shifting Islands quite a bit if the melody wasn't constantly being "curled". The intro remix just sounded completely awkward and the GHZ rendition was typical shoehorned guitar crap that I honestly zoned out on a minute or so in. I literally can't remember any of the song after- it left absolutely no impression beyond "Wtf is it with people thinking that GHZ and guitar should ever mix?" Under Construction was pleasant and I honestly liked it... but once the vocals showed up it just got lame and annoying. The meandering slow-death ending didn't help either. I really loved Hogtied though! Everything just seemed to work out there, it's awesome. Clockwork Criminal was also pretty good as well, though I wasn't a fan of its use of in-game sound effects (in fact, I hate this in all the songs that do it) nor the parts where it switched up the key of the main melody- it just sounded stupid. Its "solo" part wasn't a exactly a fun listen either. What did I miss.... oh, Spring Yard was tinkered around with to an unfavorable degree and everything else was just boring. I won't say I'm disappointed though- I hadn't heard about this until today and had no expectations. And hey, at least I got one keeper out of it.
I like most of it as much as I can like remixes (though, I generally hate the idea of remixes, especially OCR). I'd rather listen to this than the remixes in Brawl, but as I said, I generally prefer original songs (minor tweaks do not count such as the first pressing of The Meadowlands by The Wrens and its following releases). I cannot say I don't prefer the original songs.
The Spring Yard one is a confusing one for me, and I'd be interested to hear how it was conceived. See, the problem for me is that it doesn't sound like Spring Yard for most of it until the actual melody is played, but then the main bit of the melody is done in what sounds like NES quality. Reminds me of the lyrics of The Mighty Boosh's song 'Eels'. "Elements of the past and the future, combining to make something not quite as good as either". Leaves me wondering why Spring Yard was even included and it wasn't just kept as an original piece. The 'sort of doing original song then realising it should be a remix' is a problem with a few other tracks too. The Final Zone one actually sounds really good when it gets into the track itself, but it sort of meanders for a minute until it gets there. There's also a few instruments that don't seem to fit, like the electric guitar in Green Hill that overpowers everything else, and the strange high pitched electronic thingymabob in Labyrinth that doesn't sound as nice as the xylophone that immediately preceded it. On a more positive note, I think the first half of Under Construction sounds extremely nice and gives the same sort of tranquil feeling as the original did, so big thumbs up for that. Has an original and modern sound, but the tune remains true to the original and gives the same sort of atmosphere. And while the vocals did sort of stick out at first, as I listened further, I realised that it actually really reminded me of DCT's own stuff, so it's actually quite fitting! Definitely the standout of the album for me.
I thought the entire album was spectacular, I enjoyed every single track. Subsonic Sparkle probably being my favorite.
Although I really really disliked some of the tracks - Sound of Speed and Hogtied for thinking that just riffing a guitar loudly makes the song better instead of worse (on Hogtied, when the MS version boss theme kicked in I was like "YES" but then it came back to GUITARLAND again and I just closed it), and Final Progression and the Junkie songs for thinking that extremely high-pitched techno noises and boom beats are not annoying and outdated, and the last song for being a fucking unorganized MESS. The other tracks were really really pleasing to me though. Caos and Subsonic Sparkle are my favorites!
I enjoyed the album. There are things that I feel don't add much to it (Bubble Junkie voice, for example), but nothing that screams "this is atrocious." Shifting Islands and Under Construction are especially slick. These tracks aren't meant to be remastered versions of the originals, they're supposed to be different takes of them. It's one thing to dislike a song for having different taste, but I think faulting the artists for experimenting and wanting to add their own personal flavor is unwarranted. Not everyone will agree with their approach, of course, but there are many that do and enjoy the results. By the way, I remember reading a thread on OCR long ago that touched on the remix/arrangement topic. In that thread, at least, the consensus was that the majority of tracks posted on OCR are definitely arrangements, with few being actual remixes. They likely just don't want to change the site name at this point.
Agreed x100. Compositionally, I thought this album was sound: the tracks were diverse, the melodies mixed pleasingly, and a few bars threw me for a ride. I enjoyed this album more because I wasn't expecting a significantly faithful take on Sonic 1 in the first place. The trailer made that pretty clear, plus I suppose I haven't played Sonic 1 in a while anyways. For comparison's sake, Mega Man 9's Arrange album wasn't popular either because it took this same route. And I used to hate it. I'd probably hate this album as well, two years ago. I understand wanting some epic remastered remixes on 16-bit tunes, and then being presented with something totally different. But to appreciate the music on its own merit might produce a different, enjoyable result (depending on if the music itself is good).
I consider creative reinterpretation and diversity from the original materials more appriciatable than plain instrument swapping most of the time. It's boring when said "swapping" usually becomes too unoriginal and lacks attentive choices of instruments. (For instance, the average "get MIDI, find generic guitar and synth soundfonts of poor quality, boot up FL Studio" kind of "remixes" that can be found all around YouTube, Newgrounds and such.) Here's an interesting example: Green Lane Avenue. It sounds PRETTY MUCH NOTHING like the original GHZ, and had led to quite some impressive debates in OCR's judge panel. However it remained (relatively obscure) one among the most innovative Sonic-related musical works around imo (some others being iMushroom and Robotnik Radio, of both Project Chaos and GaMeBoX fame). My point of view is, as long as it sounds good, it doesn't really matter how much it sounds like the original. True masterpieces are merely to be enjoyed.
You're right! That's why I love Lady Gaga's remix of The Who's "Pinball Wizard" with her song "Poker Face". It's not the same in melody I mean, it's more the mood behind it, she just gave it a more aggressive pop feel. Seriously, I understand wanting different instrumentation and playing around with the parts of the song within it, but to make it sound unlike the original in any way. Shit, why not just call it your own song? No one would know in the first place, looks like those who appreciate the album's tracks wouldn't even know if they weren't labeled. Go ahead and enjoy the music if you like it, but some of these songs, good luck trying to tell anyone these were somehow based on the original songs. Sometimes I wonder if there are artists who do nothing but make music for OC Remix, making songs that they could easily pass off as their own as they sound nothing like the original, but somehow insist it is. They really oughta give themselves more credit.
All I know is that, after Hedgehog Heaven and Project Chaos I was aching for them to do Sonic 1. The actual Speed of Sound track itself is pure gold. As with the previous albums it's quite inconsistent because there are a lot of artists with a lot of different styles, but it's been working wonders as background music while I've been writing or drawing.
The only thing I can say is: Wow, I am glad I am not the only one with the It Sucks sentiments. Everything is too unoriginal, overpolished, and bland. If I wanted another effing guitar remix of Green Hill Zone, it'd better be delivered to me by either Iron Maiden or Ayreon in the most kick assing performace the galaxy will ever see. Otherwise, meh.
