Song of the Week - WEEK 87 Voting/WEEK 88 Nominating
 

Week 87 Voting is closed.
Week 88 Nominating is restricted.

Week 87 Voting
The rules for voting can be found here.

Results:
1). [17/12] Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
2). [17/10.5] Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme)
3). [15/12.5] Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road
4). [15/9] Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening
5). [14/10.5] Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave
6). [14/9] Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze
7). [8] Out Run Europa - Main Theme
8). [2] Namco Game Sound Express 2 - Burning Force - Sarinuka Sands (2nd Day)

Tracks:
Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave
Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme)
Namco Game Sound Express 2 - Burning Force - Sarinuka Sands (2nd Day)
Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road
Out Run Europa - Main Theme
Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze
Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening

Week 88 Nominating
The Nominations Queue can be found here.
The rules for nominating can be found here.
A list of previous nominations can be found here.

Here is the link to the corresponding thread at the other forum:
- Soundtrack Central

Pimpage
The "Best Chiptune Contest" has begun! Round two now open for voting!

3pt: Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze (8.5)
I absolutely love this theme, because of the amount of energy placed in the melody and the notes. The song reaches a complete climax and continues to build over and over. It sounds like a sort of energetic departure or passage from some sort of town or facility.

2pt: Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave (8)
The melody is done extremely well, with the simplicity of the string plucks making the instrumentation close to perfection. The only part I'm slightly peeved by is the voice in the background that never changes, which keeps going like HEEEYYYAAA.

1pt: Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road (7.5)
This song seems like an interesting mix of the old Megaman type themes with different instruments by itself. Throughout the theme, I'm left thinking that the melody could just go further. The song keeps bridging to new sections, but doesn't reach a that last amazing end that I absolutely have to listen to. However, the melody by itself is already pretty strong, so it's still a high vote.

Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control (7)
This song has some really sweet ambience compared to a lot of the other ambient songs I've heard in the past. The notes and the phrases continue to slightly change, enticing me towards this song.

Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening (7)
The song initially starts off kind of boring, but slowly builds up to something that's suitable for me. It's also this weeks jazz theme, and it's the type of jazz that I personally like.

Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme) (6.5)
This song seems like it's trying to achieve a type of peaceful song that has some Asian influences in it, but the melody itself isn't amazing enough to really entice me, because after I listen to this song, the theme really isn't that stuck in my head. I will say, however, that the instrumentation is something that I do like.

Namco Game Sound Express 2 - Burning Force - Sarinuka Sands (2nd Day) (6)
I do feel that the instrument used to create the melody is really distinct and original, but when the song is really note bashing for a majority of the song, I don't feel that this is a right pick for me.

Out Run Europa - Main Theme (6)
First of all, this song is recorded in mono, which suggests that there's an issue with the rip, since this type of theme doesn't deserve mono. However, besides that, the shouts and noises at the beginning before the actual theme absolutely bug me.
*EDIT: ok, I was mistaken about the fact that the song could have been in stereo, but in truth, I still don't like the melody that much.

NOMINATION!

I'm surprised that no ones actually nominated any of the songs from either the asian or celtic albums from Genso Suikoden. They're some amazing themes that I've enjoyed for a long time:

Artist: Dif-Ref
Album: Genso Suikoden Music Collection ~Celtic Collection 2~
Title: Touching Theme
Disc number: 1 (of 1)
Track Number: 09
Catalog Number: KOLA-036
Year: 2003
Source: http://www.gamingforce.com/audio/gfa-albums.php?id=897

The Commodore 64 only had mono sound. Ripping it in stereo would only serve to bloat the file size (although I'll admit to forgetting about this while making C64, NES, etc. rips plenty of times :().

I can only nominate one track at a time. But yes, I've held a track from that same album in reserve for nomination. I've never been sure how well it'd go over, though, so other tracks always seem to supercede it in priority.

Surprisingly, the one you picked is one I never considered for nomination. Different strokes, different folks, I guess.

Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave I was really surprised they didn't include this kooky gem on the OST (lord knows there was plenty of room). My nomination combines a terrific melody, sprightly instrumentation, and some off-kilter vocal color into some nice QUIRKIN'. Though I am admittedly biased.

Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme) The melody's okay here, but the instrumentation is more than a little...odd. Asian-style overblown violin plus heavy backbeats plus saxophone (!) equals a truly strange melange.

Namco Game Sound Express 2 - Burning Force - Sarinuka Sands (2nd Day) "Note bashing" pretty much sums this one up.

Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road A racing track, judging by the title. It's not bad, just predictable, hitting racing genre mainstays like a line of orange safety cones.

Out Run Europa - Main Theme The BCC seems to have generated some interest in the C64. The fact that sound like this was wrung out of the C64's chip is really remarkable; I just wish they'd done more than string together a bunch of 80's pop tricks and SFX for the meat of the track.

Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze Not sure what to expect here, but this track was a nice surprise, with decent melody and a nicely heroic sound to offset its techno beats. Very solid, enjoyable track.

Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control Racerly ambiance. Not without its charms, but wore out its welcome after awhile.

Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening fairly good melody and associated development, though there's a bit more drumloopery than I'd like.

A major improvement over last week. First and second place were easy to award, but third was harder.

The Point Spread
Kameo - 3 pts.
Sylpheed - 2 pts.
Madara Mouryousenki - 1 pt.

Nomination
Name: Intro Theme
Album: Ragnarok Online 2 (game rip)
Artist: Yoko Kanno
Track #: 1
Disc #: 1
Catalog #: n/a
Year: 2006

I uploaded the song to the SoTW server already before switching to a new nom. Can re-up if neccessary.

You obviously didn't bother to do research. This is a brawler akin to Final Fight and Double Dragon.

Yes, my comment indicates that I was just going by the title. No need to get offended; you have to admit that it's not an unreasonable conclusion.

The least you could do is google it before making any misinformed comments. It takes seconds to do so. Your comment just drags it down further. By curiosity, what does that track remind you of to say that it's predictable ?

NOMINATION:
 

• Artist: Jarrid Mendelson
• Album/Game Title: Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Soundtrack
• Track Title: Pharotek
• Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
• Track Number: 02
• Catalog Number: N/A
• Year: 1999
• File Location: http://gh.ffshrine.org/song/576/2
• Source(s): http://www.mobygames.com/game/window...ian-sun/trivia, http://www.answers.com/topic/command...atinum-edition, http://www.altpop.com/stc/reviews/cacts.htm

EDIT: Jarrid Mendelson credited as the artist/composer. Thanks to Rimo for the correction.

This week was pretty cool. Lots of synth nominations, it seemed.

Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave: Somewhere between the usual tribal rhythms and standard oriental melodies lies this track. This is the sort of nomination that screams "safe", as it manages to be predictable while still possessing no glaring flaws. I can't say I was awed by "Trainer Cave" but it was still enjoyable.

Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme): The beginning is rather uninspired, having that standard "sleepy town" vibe that's found in pretty much every B-list RPG in history. But the tempo picks up and some better synths come in to improve it a little. These aren't quite enough to avoid that "cookie-cutter" feeling, however. A little less predictability would work here.

Namco Game Sound Express 2 - Burning Force - Sarinuka Sands (2nd Day): This one sounds like just about every other "filler" track I've ever heard in the arcades. Nothing distinctive to it, really. Sorry, but it's rather forgettable.

Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road: There's a slight "MegamanX" flow in this one. Could be the metallic-sounding guitars and reverbed synthy-bits, likely. It's an okay track, standing out slightly more "Sarinuka Sands", though not a whole lot more.

Out Run Europa - Main Theme: I had high hopes for this track, since Jeroen Tel is usually dependable. Unfortunately, the new-wave sound sampling is more annoying than anything else, especially in mono. If the title didn't indicate otherwise, I'd think that was a poorly recorded and unreleased track from an "Earthworm Jim" game. I'm as nostalgic as anyone but the erratic nature of all those sampling hits overwhelms the melody too much for me to really get into this piece.

Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze: Yeah, this is pretty much the 300 lb. gorilla of Week 87. I downloaded this album one day before arch_slayer nominated this track and had only just become acquainted with its awesomeness. Had he not picked it, I surely would've done so myself soon. I came into this week knowing that "Operation Nebula Blaze" would be the track to beat, and so far, it still is. Great nomination.

Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control: Somewhat lacking in the forward melody department, but the meat and bones of the track - it's ambience - is pretty good. Sometimes I can appreciate that mechanical, industrial vibe and it works here. Pretty decent.

Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening: Okay, that synth-vocal at 2:00 is freakin' weird. Kinda threw me off. In the end, this track is merely okay. It doesn't do anything wrong but it didn't particularly excite me either.

Guess I'll throw down some points:

3 Points: Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze
2 Points: Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
1 Point: Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave

Operation Nebula Blaze is, hands down, the best track this week, in my opinion. I was hoping something could compete on its level, but it was a difficult mountain to overcome. But if it wins, and it should, it'd be a well-deserved victory.

Here's my next nomination:

* Album Title: The Sword of Xuan Yuan 4: The Black Dragon Dances and the Cloud Flows (PC Game Rip)
* Artist: Wu Xin Rui & Zeng Zhi Hao
* Track Title: Four24
* Source: http://www.mobygames.com/game/window...i-yang/credits
* Disc Number: NA
* Track Number: NA
* Catalogue Number: NA
* Year: 2002
* Note: Chinese hanyu pinyin names of artists used.

2 Points: Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road
2 Points: Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening
1 Point: Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze
1 Point: Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control

None were too special actually.

Wow, judging from your votes, you guys have a terrible taste in music IMHO. Eh, then again, seeing as the last SotW have been disappointments to me, I guess it's to be expected.

Mediocre week. Nothing spectacular other than my nom and I'm not being biased at all.

(1 pt.) Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road
(1 pt.) Out Run Europa - Main Theme
(1 pt.) Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
(3 pts.) Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening

I'm nominating:

=== Kaleb.G ===
* Album Title: Dragon Valor (Game Rip)
* Artist: Nobuhiro Ouchi, Ayako Yamaguchi
* Track Title: Brize Forest
* Source: Rimo, and checked by myself also
* File Location: http://host.kg13.com/music/Dragon%20...e%20Forest.mp3
* Disc Number: 1
* Track Number: 08
* Year: 1999

Nomination:

Game: Freespace 2
Song: Ending Score
Year: 1999
Source: I'll upload it in a moment. Found on some FS2 website out there. http://www.sendspace.com/file/zgu6h0
Impressions: The song is odd in a way but is very very fun and electrifying in a way. Almost intoxicating. It is split into three distinct parts, too.

Brize Forest was nominated in the BSC' 05 :P

Nom time! Hopefully this one will be a killer...

Artist(s): Barry Leitch
Album/Game Title: Immortal
Track Title: Utopia
Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
Track Number: 15
Catalog Number: RMCD001
Year: 1999
Source(s): http://www.gamingforce.com/audio/gfa-albums.php?id=2641

No one appreciates greatness. :(

Anyway...there's a song from Atelier Iris Eternal Mana 2 that I've wanted to nominate for awhile. What do people think about that? Has the Atelier series reached its limit here, or would an AIEM 2 nom still be OK?

True, but I'm okay with it, because Brize Forest didn't advance past the first round (I think). Besides, we just had a second-rounder from last year in last week's batch.

This song is epic. Nice one.

Nomination:


Uplink <Karsten Koch> - The Blue Valley

The soundtrack for Uplink was a mix of various tracker music by different artists. The original S3M file of The Blue Valley is available here. I've not been able to get my hands on a MP3 version.

I, myself, was considering a nom from an AI game and it had never once crossed my mind that the series, as a whole, had been overexposed. There's plenty of work to be heard within its breadth, so I say to go for it.

Alright then. Unless other people object...

Album: Atelier Iris ETERNAL MANA 2 Original Soundtrack
Track Title: Gentle Breeze and the Earth
Artists: Ken Nakagawa, Daisuke Achiwa
Track #: 7
Catalog #: KDSD-10007~8
Year: 2005
Source: GMR
Location: My comp
Comments: Not sure if this could take first, but I absolutely love the mallet percussion in it.

Nomination!

Artist: Toshio Kajino, Mari Yamaguchi, Yasushi Ikeda
Album/Game: Area 88 (SNES Game Rip)
Title: Front Line Base
Track #: 4
Year: 1991
Source: http://snesmusic.org/v2/profile.php?...selected=14083

The SNES version of Area 88 got an OST last year (one of the best albums of '06, too), Capcom Music Generation Area 88 Original Soundtrack. I've uploaded the track off the CD; lemme know what you think.

Depending on the other entries, for me that has a high chance of doing well ;)

Oh, thank you. Yeah, use that then. I searched the nomination archive and saw the one other track from the game that had been nominated was from a game rip, and could only find arcade version mp3's of the song myself.

Also, I just realized the odd coincidence that could possibly occur in having an Area 88 track used in Week 88.

And now for points!

2 points - Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
2 points - Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening
1 point - Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave
1 point - Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road

Ouch, no one is liking my nom! :tpg: Anyway, here goes the next one:

Artist: Noriyuki Asakura
Album: Way of the Samurai 2
Title: Souls Bonded and Split
Disc number: 1 (of 1)
Track Number: 26
Source: http://chudahs-corner.com/soundtrack...alog=SVWC-7179
I'll upload it soon to the server.

Has the queue been updated? Are there really just six nominators this week? I'll nominate again if I have to, considering my is going this week.

Anyway, a quick vote.

(2 points) Ridge Racer 64
(1 point) Project Sylpheed
(1 point) Nekketsu Oyako
(1 point) Madara Mouryousenki
(1 point) Kameo

Nope, just me being lazy. :(

(updated)

May I nominate?

Artist: Hyakutarou Tsukumo
Composer: Toshiharu Yamanishi
Album/Game Title: Technosoft GAME MUSIC COLLECTION VOL.15 ~ BEST OF THUNDER FORCE
Track Title: Fighting Back (ST1)
Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
Catalog Number: TCS-0015
Year: October 9, 1998
Source: http://www.gamingforce.com/audio/gfa-albums.php?id=520

WEEK 87 points --- WEEK 88 nomination
 

Trainer Cave: Not Bad. The melody is kinda cool, the voices are interesting, the style isn't really my favorite. The instruments are great, or good enough I should say. The strings bring a nice addition. The melody reminds me of a sort of Horse Race song. I'm probably way off, maybe I should go look it up >.>

Ones of Serenity (Town Theme): Certainly a circus/kicked-backed (...bad description) town by the sounds of it. Doesn't strike me as something I'd really like to hear when I go to the town (assuming it's a town theme). Not something I would deem horrible though.

Sarinuka Sands (2nd Day): The melody itself really isn't that great, and the instruments don't redeem it. It's actually kind of annoying, but maybe that's because of the repeated listens throughout the week (which wasn't very many..). Meh.

Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road: I like this song. Kind of refreshing from the previous song(s). I like the melody, and the instruments are good too. Overall, good, although, like most songs, doesn't strike me as brilliant. One of my favorites from this week.

Main Theme: The sound quality isn't the best, but I guess the creator was put under old technology constraints. Oh well, doesn't necessarily earn it any points.

Operation Nebula Blaze: The melody is quite normal, and doesn't get any closer to perfection than any other song. The percussion, isn't so bad I guess, same with the instrumentation. Good song, but it doesn't seem to interest me too much.

Cruise Control: A racer average song. Some parts make the song stand out a bit more, the piano is cool. I'm generally not a huge fan of these kinds of songs. Seemed to drag out a bit, hmph.

Opening: Fits in the bunch with the rest of the week it seems, possibly at the end of the line though. I like the movement it took in the second half, for a bit there this song gets kind of boring. But that last bit brings it up a bit.

Overall this week didn't catch my tastes very much, synth is alright sometimes, and great other (and horrid, but any genre can produce that).

~~~POINTS~~~

3 pt(s) ---> Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road
1 pt(s) ---> Operation Nebula Blaze
1 pt(s) ---> Ones of Serenity (Town Theme)
1 pt(s) ---> Trainer Cave

Outer City Road is the only one that really stood out from the rest of the group.

~~~NOMINATION~~~
Composer: Kota Hoshino
Album Title: Armored Core Original Best Track
Track Title: Ambiguity
Track Number: 9
Catalog Number: ABCA-40
Source: http://www.gamingforce.com/audio/gfa-albums.php?id=3094

This song is one of my personal favorites, I don't think it will be widely liked, due to overdone percussion, etc. This song is more of a weird acquired taste.

Definitely!! :D

Some surprises this week, notably "Opening" from Sega Simulation Best.

(2 points) Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening

(2 points) Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control

(1 point) Kameo Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave

(1 point) Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road

"Operation Nebula Blaze" was quite close to getting a point but in the end thought "Outer City Road" was a touch more interesting, especially the second half.

Keep it open please. I'll vote in 90mins or less or your pizza's free.

3 points: Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening
2 points: Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
1 point: Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme)

That Sega Simulation Best was an unexpected surprise. Very Shinobi-ish, that same kind of side-scrolling action game vibe. The rest were aight, but nothing too strong.

(3 points) Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme)
(1 point) Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
(1 point) Kameo Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave
(1 point) Out Run Europa - Main Theme


What's the hype about "Operation Nebula Blaze"? It's horribly generic.

Why haven't I been added to the queue, though? Sorry if I comes off as impatient, but I'm genuinely curious.

There is no hype, just the first three voters crying out as prophets in a desolate musical wilderness.

lol, more like Fukui afficionados IMO. Believe me, I had listened to Project Nebula Blaze prior to this week and it had never stuck out in my head because it really is generic. It's pretty dull and has no strong vibes that are appealing. I mean, it certainly is better than a lot of music, but not awesome.

Some last minute voting!

(3 points) Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme)
(1 point) Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road
(1 point) Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
(1 point) Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening

Pretty good week. I'd have given other tracks points, such as Trainer Cave & Operation Nebula Blaze, but I really like my nom so.

I have to agree with you here, I think Operation Nebula Blaze is nothing special, at least compared to the rest of the soundtrack. NATF-4 would've gotten instant 3 points, and there's like 8 other tracks that would've gotten some support from me, but not this one. I can't stand it's appaling optimism combined with the thumping techno beat, and I absolutely hate that intro. I can tolerate it much more; it's not a bad song; I just don't see what others see in it.

Very good week, only a little bit more variety would of been nice.

Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme) - 2 points
Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control - 1 point
Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze - 1 point
Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave - 1 point
Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road - 1 point

It'll get there in a little bit, don't worry. :)

Throwing in some last-minute votes, if it's not too late. This week's selection was pretty nice - I especially enjoyed the synthy tracks. Ones of Serenity was a standout, though.

3 Points ~ Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme)
2 Points ~ Out Run Europa - Main Theme
1 Point ~ Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road

I don't even know who Fukui is, actually, and Nebula Blaze is the first I've heard of the OST. In fact, I hadn't even heard of the game before it went in the queue.

Voting is closed and nominations are restricted!

1). [17/12] Ridge Racer 64 (Game Rip) - Cruise Control
2). [17/10.5] Madara Mouryousenki - Ones of Serenity (Town Theme)
3). [15/12.5] Nekketsu Oyako (Sega Saturn Red Book Audio) - Mega Tokyo 2064 - Outer City Road
4). [15/9] Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~ - Opening
5). [14/10.5] Kameo: Elements of Power (Game Rip) - Trainer Cave
6). [14/9] Project Sylpheed Original Soundtrack - Operation Nebula Blaze
7). [8] Out Run Europa - Main Theme
8). [2] Namco Game Sound Express 2 - Burning Force - Sarinuka Sands (2nd Day)

Bizarre results this week. The first and third place finishers show the potency of getting small votes from a lot of people over getting big votes from a small number of people.

owned like hell

I honestly can't see much of a difference between Operation Nebula Blaze and NATF-4 in terms of instrumentation. Both have a synth-beat followed with an upbeat tempo.

By the way, I'm not a complete supporter of Fukui; I'm just open to different types of instrumentation and make my nominations based on what I feel sounds interesting.

Interesting final results though... a string of 6 voters moved my nomination to 6th place =)

Ugh. Most boring SotW winner in a long time. Gave me a "WHAT THE HECK THAT WON?" feeling.

Ones of Serenity and Mega Tokyo 2004 are at least decent, though still nothing really special.

I'm disappointed that more people didn't like Out Run Europa's Theme. I genuinely thought it had a good chance of taking 1st, as I think it's the coolest song to grace SotW in quite some time.

Yes.
Yes.
I thought the same thing about my last two nominations, and they got back-to-back 5th places. So while I didn't like Out Run Europa, I see where you're coming from. SoTW, she is a harsh mistress.

Yes.

Yes. Although I do have to say that Ones of Serenity somewhat vexed me because of the Gold Saucer (FF7) type instruments, if you know what I mean.

Now that I think of it, I kind of like this song a lot more than I did a week ago. I just personally prefer pure instrumentals myself. At least you're not the one who has first place up until the last second when 6 people backlash against your song. I also personally really like the songs I nominate, so its a shame when they don't end up doing well.

That's really a shame, I liked the Kameo song a lot.

I voted for Cruise Control, but noted its lack of surface melody. It was good ambience and not much else. "Operation Nebula Blaze" and "Trainer Cave" had much better variations and I'm disappointed that both were snubbed. I sincerely believed that the Project Sylpheed track had the goods to go all the way.

I dislike picking on the winners, because everyone who nominates deserves a chance to enjoy victory. However, I do agree that the silver and bronze finishers are pretty lackluster this week. I love seeing new faces in SotW, but sometimes I wonder if a few of them have any sense of musical adventure. It does seem as though there's been a predilection toward "average" tracks earning medals lately.

I know there's some really amazing stuff out there (because I'm sitting on a pile of twenty or more future nominations, and this list is always repleneshing itself), so you'll never convince me that we've mined out all that there is to be heard. I want to hear good music. Not "good enough" music.

It wasn't a bad track, and I still like Jeroen Tel's work as a whole. I just found the sampling hits to be a bit too much. If Tel had focused less upon the idiosyncracies and more upon crafting the underlying melody that bound it all together, it would've been a stronger piece, IMO.

Everyone should have 3'd Sega Best Simulation, then this unpleaseantness wouldn't have happened. :-D

You're right. However, the musical (or should I say non-rhythmical :gonk: ) element in Operation Nebula Blaze seemed to clash with the techno beat. Whereas NATF-4 sounds like pure action music, Operation Nebula Blaze sounds like an ending theme/final cutscene with an action packed beat. I guess it left a bitter taste in my mouth is all.

But don't take my word for it, my favorite this week was Sarinuka Sanda, and look what happened.

Also I like these ANGER sessions after SotW, but then again I like more dynamic discussions on the songs in SotW.

What, per se, is wrong with ending themes that have strong melodies and beats? Is it bad to be triumphant?

Those are some surprising results. Haven't had those in a while. I was also convinced Project Sylpheed would get a spot in the top three. It's generally appealing and easy on the ears. I was most astonished that "Cruse Control" won considering how there's a fair amount of atmosphere surrounding the electronic stylings. And it's not very often a racing game earns top spot. In any case I'm happy "Cruise Control" won; I like the song. :P

I was so amazingly close to giving that two points instead of the Madara track. I feel a little bad because, even though I liked Ones of Serenity more, I kind of wanted Opening to place more, if that even makes sense. That would've given it third place in place of Mega Tokyo 2064. :(

I'm just pumped Cruise Control took gold because that kind of song almost never does well. Needs more groove bias up in this.

Interesting results. I didn't even expect Madara to place, given the direction the voting was heading earlier in the week, and was also perplexed by the way Operation Nebula Blaze was heralded as the week's best track. But I'm more satisfied that Cruise Control took gold in the end. It was the type of track I could have awarded more than one point in any other week. So in the end, it's all relative.

Still, things could have turned out differently had a couple of regular voters managed to vote. And SotW could definitely do with more voters!

And after a relatively long slump, this was the closest any of my nominations ever made it to the gold. Thanks to the people who liked it/voted for it. =)

Good to see that there's at least some ppl that appreciate the music I like. And I was pretty much in second place near the end. Darned Madara and its retarded children singing at the end.

Oh well, I know I would have won at least 3rd or even 2nd had it not been for some no good entries this week, like Project Nebula Blaze and Madara. Well, moving from 7th to 4th is not too bad, considering this is my second sotw ever. Maybe the trend will continue and I'll score 1st next time with my killer Utopia.

(I really wanted a track from Hybrid Front to get into the sotw hall of fame, considering how it has awesome music...Thanks CHz...At least I know how to scare a few ppl now...)

HYBRID FRONT!

Eh, I guess I could never see a correlation with thumping techno and triumphance. I wasn't really complaining about the melody at all; especially since the song can be considered an optimistic version of the main theme. I guess, for me, it's adrenaline pumpin in all the wrong ways.

Are you saying you found the samples overbearing? Or, you think Tel concentrated too much on them and not enough on the melody? Because I think it all works together wonderfully. But then, I guess it gets a positive tilt from me, because I'm a percussionist (well, I was when I was in school), and I love great rhythm. This song shows that Tel knows how to make one funky-awesome rhythm.

I don't mind samples / sound effects, as long as they go with / add to the song, and I think Tel does a fine job with them, as evidenced here and in Hot Rod's theme (from BCC). I don't even really think of them as sound effects added to the song, I just think of them as part of the song. Unfortunately, it seems some people (not you) can't stand sound effects, even if they fit with the song.

Just to let everyone know how far I am in my own little world, I had no idea my nomination won until I saw the Battle. And this is two weeks later after the voting concluded.

This breaks my long, long, long dry streak. I don't think I've won since week eight or whenever when Home Sweet Home from Beyond Good and Evil won. Does anybody even have tallies on most Sotw wins?

No need. _DH_ must be like 3 ahead of the next nearest person. :p