Song of the Week - WEEK 84 Voting/WEEK 85 Nominating
 

Week 84 Voting is closed.
Week 85 Nominating is restricted.

Week 84 Voting
The rules for voting can be found here.

Results:
1). [18] Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM)
2). [16] StarCraft (PC Game Rip) - Terran 3
3). [15] Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria
4). [13] Culdcept II Original Soundtrack - Open The World
5). [11] Cho Hayama ~ Aniki Bangaichi - Death Wish
6). [9] Ogre ~ Grand Repeat - Chivalry and Savegery
7). [6] Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Official Sound Data - Get Ready ~ In the Blue Sky
8). [2] Xak II The Rising of the Red Moon (FM-Towns Red Book Audio) - Ayashiki Kagayaki

Tracks:
Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria
Cho Hayama ~ Aniki Bangaichi - Death Wish
Culdcept II Original Soundtrack - Open The World
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Official Sound Data - Get Ready ~ In the Blue Sky
Ogre ~ Grand Repeat - Chivalry and Savegery
StarCraft (PC Game Rip) - Terran 3
Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM)
Xak II The Rising of the Red Moon (FM-Towns Red Book Audio)

Notes:
If you are a member at more than one of the forums which this event is being held at, please nominate and vote in only ONE of the forums. You may, however, comment in the threads at any of the other forums.

Week 85 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" is starting! Round one now open for voting!

Blood the Last Vampire: Very pretty and smooth, especially the second half, but a bit repetitive as the melodic themes go. It might get a point if I'm in a good mood.

Cho Hayama: Not quite sure what to think, it is by far one of the strangest things to come out my speaker. As far as song-ness, there is none, it's very odd but has little to go for any music until the crazy second half (a theme this week?)

Culdcept: Pretty boring and fails to really do anything.

Cyber Troopers: The random RPG battle music of the week. Move along.

Ogre:This is an amazing track that sounds more like a movie soundtrack than a game, and it is stunningly epic. If only it went somewhere; it keeps the same energy throughout. It needs ups and downs.

Starcraft: (My nom) Yeah, it took the four minute time to get unexcited after ogre, but it's a perfect lead-in for the explosive climax. I love this song.

Tobe!: The random RPG battle song the second, but it's pretty nice in it's energy.

Xak: Kind of a "huh?" track, as in I couldn't really pay attention to it because it was alright.

Ogre: 2 points
Star Craft: 3 points
Bllod: 1 point

Eh, I might have given the impression that I would provide explanations to my votes every week, but seeing as school has started again, I'll have to resort to just votes, at least until May.

(2 pts.) Culdcept II Original Soundtrack - Open The World
(2 pts.) Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Official Sound Data - Get Ready ~ In the Blue Sky
(1 pt.) Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria
(1 pt.) Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM)

This is the first time in which I have absolutely no idea how to distribute points. I initially had favorites, but relistens completely shuffled them. Amazing week, great job nominators!

I'm thinking that we may need to extend voting this week too. Perhaps 2-week SoTW's (or a hiatus) are in order until the BCC enters its second round.

Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria I hate SFX in my songs. Hate hate hate hate them. Especially when the song is good and I'm being distracted by the sound of flapping and squeaking bats. The piano work in this track is great, and when it opens up the instrument is still in the fore, which is always nice. But still, those SFX suck hard.

Cho Hayama ~ Aniki Bangaichi - Death Wish I wish I was dead. Oy, I wish I was dead. The random screams made me think people were dying; the random sound samples made me want to kill myself, and the gene-rock in between made me want to kill the composer. An all-around homicidal experience.

Culdcept II Original Soundtrack - Open The World Definitely in the RELAXIN' genre, with a slight reggae lit. Not bad for this kind of thing, though it does seem rather lightweight and disposable. Long, too, though the second part kicks up the energy a notch.

Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Official Sound Data - Get Ready ~ In the Blue Sky "Official Sound Data?" What is it with Japanese VGM and trying to make these discs sound super-important? "Official Authorized Licenced Original Sound Data Version PREMIERE RECORDING ~Select Tracks~ PLUS."
This track's fairly vanilla bouncyhyperfun that satisfies without lingering.

Ogre ~ Grand Repeat - Chivalry and Savegery Normally, I am the whoriest of Sakimoto/Iwata whores. If this were the original version of the track, and not arranged, I'd probably vote for it without a second thought. But, like so many live arrangements of Japanese VGM, the arrangement is rather limp; the strings and brass arrangements are godawful. The track is sapped of the tension and drive that it's clearly intended to have as a result. Give the original track to Nick Dodd next time, for chrissakes.

StarCraft (PC Game Rip) - Terran 3 Blizzard soundtracks are normally very poor, especially in comparison to the games they accompany, but there are a few exceptions, and the Terran music for Starcraft is perhaps the most notable. Using steel guitars, light rock instruments, and electronics is a masterful way to represent the grungy, insubordinate Terrans, and the results are consistently listenable and engaging. Though I prefer Terran 1, which features a choral section (Terran 4 is peudo-Russian and doesn't fit in at all), 3 is still strong, and I enjoy it a lot.

Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM) is more bouncyhyperfun. It's more fun, exuberent, and consistent than the previous bouncyhyperfun track this week, too.

Xak II The Rising of the Red Moon (FM-Towns Red Book Audio) is Ryuji Sasai. Not one of his stronger pieces, with pretty long sections that are devoid of anything but atmospheric music, but a few enjoyable Sasai trademarks remain.

The Point Spread
Terran 3 - 3 pts.
Total Polyester - 2 pts.
Blood Death Killer Vampyres Extreme Team Go! - 1 pt.

And the Battle Begins!
 

Xak II The Rising of the Red Moon (FM-Towns Red Book Audio): Good song, like most of the songs this week. I think the more relaxed parts of the song should be removed, or at least changed. But that wasn't a huge problem I guess.

Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM): Another great addition to this weeks pool. Not the kind of song that would reach my most played playlists, but good anyways. I like the 'fun' atmosphere. It reminds me of a game on the Xbox, "Blinx", anyways.

StarCraft (PC Game Rip) - Terran 3: This one has always been my favorite out of the Terran theme songs, (most heard too, hear it every time I start a game lol). The development in this song is great, and the instruments are great too. This song gives a great atmosphere while playing the game, not a song to easily forget thats for sure.

Ogre ~ Grand Repeat - Chivalry and Savegery: (Shouldn't it be Savagery not Savegery, whatever) I wonder what the original song sounded like, maybe I'll go check it out sometime. The song is good, but like orion_mk3 said, the 'live' instrumentation is annoying, I didn't like the brass in this song at all, but the strings were alright. Good song, *searches for original*

Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Official Sound Data - Get Ready ~ In the Blue Sky: Ranked at about the same level as Over the Frozen Sea, or a bit lower. It dragged out a little too long, not much to complain about it really. Decent.

Culdcept II Original Soundtrack - Open The World: My Nomination. This song, and game, are pretty cool. A little background on the development of the song. The game is a card game-monopoly fuse. The 3 parts of the songs are progressive, building up in tension, towards the end of battle (the battles take a while, not your quick 5 minute run through). The first 2 parts are great, while the third lacks. I really like the atmosphere the song gives. I have a feeling my nom. will get swallowed up this time, heh.

Cho Hayama ~ Aniki Bangaichi - Death Wish: I was expecting something like this, considering it's coming from one of the most bizarre games I have ever seen. Just look it up on wikipedia, or google, and you'll see what I mean. Some of the melodies are, uh, decent I guess, but the inserted voices kill it, musical wise. The song itself is silly. And thats about it.

Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria: I'm a Kajiura fan, this song is my favorite out of the bunch. The repetition of the melody could've been changed, but the song is short(er than some), and well, the melody is great by itself, but I think development would have bumped this up a notch on the quality scale. I prefer some of her other piano songs over this though (Silent Life, Hepatica, etc.). I'll have to check out the soundtrack sometime.

~~~POINTS~~~

1st --> Open The World 3 pts

2nd --> Ruria 2 pts

3rd --> Terran 3 1 pt

4th: Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM)
5th: Ayashiki Kagayaki
6th: Chivalry and Savegery
7th: Death Wish
8th: Get Ready ~ In the Blue Sky

1st and 2nd are really close (might actually change, who knows...), and 5th and 6th are basically at a tie. Great Week.

For Week 85 I'll nominate "Castle Dungeon" from the old Westwood game, Legend of Kyrandia 1.

http://www.smc.sq7.org/lok1cd/LOK1Track30.ogg

It's pretty much a game rip, so I'll see if I can get away with that one. :)

Composer(s): Frank Klepacki
Album: Legend of Kyrandia 1 Soundtrack (Game Rip)
Track Title: Castle Dungeon
Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
Track Number: 30
Year: 1992

Regards,
- Spike

Here we go:

1 point ~ Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria

2 points ~ Culdcept II Original Soundtrack - Open The World

3 points ~ Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM)

Alright, so I lost bigtime (well maybe not as bad as Death Wish), but w/e. I guess it's not all about catchy music. Hope Culdcept II wins.

Well then here's my nomination:

Composer(s): Naofumi Hataya
Album: Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~
Track Title: Opening
Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
Track Number: 1
Catalog Number: WM-0526
Year: 2006

Sorry, couldn't find a link for the information.

Nomination

Composer(s): Shoji Meguro
Album: Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Original Soundtrack
Track Title: Tokyo Conception
Disc Number: 1 (of 2)
Track Number: 07
Catalog Number: SVWC-7173
Year: 2003
Source:
YouSendIt Link

This week was decent, but I don't feel as though any true frontrunners emerged. I'm just going to dispense some points, as my time is limited this afternoon.

2 Points: Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria
2 Points: StarCraft (PC Game Rip) - Terran 3
2 Points: Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM)

Five songs I found to be very good, and three songs that were a clear step below.

(2 points) Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria - I'll always go for piano. The song's simple, but not to a fault.

(1 point) Ogre ~ Grand Repeat - Chivalry and Savegery: My nomination, from an album I adore. Picking a song from it, however, was another matter. Two problems: 1. I vowed not to pick the more recognizable tracks of Grand Repeat and Revolt, which I like the best; and 2. The rest are pretty even in my eyes in a good way. Perhaps my worst offense: trying to pick a track I thought would appeal more to voting crowd. Thus Chivalry, which is heroic and upbeat throughout. The brass samples lack, agreed, but the melody is a pleasure, to be sure. I like it, even if other don't.

(1 point) StarCraft (PC Game Rip) - Terran 3: A very underrated soundtrack. Love the backbeats and guitars from the game, even if it isn't high on the substance factor.

(1 point) Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM): Sugary infectious (and confectious, for that matter).

(1 point) Culdcept II Original Soundtrack - Open The World: I wish Ito was a little more proactive stringing the parts together, but nevertheless each third is quite enjoyable in its own right.

A-OK.

Nomination! I have a weird superstition about nominating songs while I'm in the hospital, as they've all failed to place when I've posted form there in the past. However, I'm at home for the moment, so it's good.

Composer: Yoichi Takizawa
Album: Suikoden: The Divine Oath
Track Title: Dreams Come True Someday (Orchestra Version)
Track Number: 8
Catalog Number: H29E-20003
Year: 1989
Source: http://www.gmronline.com/info.asp?CatNumber=H29E-20003
Notes: This is not a GensoSuikoden nomination, as the publisher is KOEI, not Konami. 'Suikoden: The Divine Oath' is actually an arranged album of an old NES game: "Bandit Kings of Ancient China".

I've listened to the songs a few times now. Ruria and Open the World kind of jumped out as my favorites, but the rest of the songs are quality tunes too. Death Wish is the only way that's so far definitely not getting any points.

If voting's being extended a week, then I'll probably get my votes in sometime next week.

EDIT: Oh, anyone else think SMT III: Nocturne is pushing it a little bit as far as SotW eligibility goes? I'd think Meguro's work there is pretty well-known by now.

CHz has expressed support for an extension, so I'll add a one-week extension to the first post at this time, since that seemed to work well last week.
I generally consider myself to be pretty hard-line in terms of SoTW elligibility goes, but I don't see SMT tracks in general as being too popular. If we start seeing a nomination boom (as is happening with Phantasy Star), that would definitely change things.

That made me think (regarding SotW eligibility) - a game's music could be mentioned a lot, but that doesn't mean the people here are personally familiar with it. Do you know what I mean? Like, an album could be not obscure at all, but maybe most of the SotW participants just haven't heard it. What should be more of the decider when determining eligibility - how well-known an album/game's music is or how listened to it is among SotW participants? Or should both factor into the equation?

I've always taken both into account. For instance, I haven't heard all Suikoden music, but I was generally opposed to its entry since everyone is perpetually talking about it. I was against ICO too, which I had personally heard and was quite popular (even had its own fan club).

I guess it basically boils down to the extent to which some music has penetrated the highly insular VGM community here at GFF and other similar sites. A few SoTW's ago, I mentioned that since my views weren't widely shared (Suikoden, for example, made it in) that it would be easier to draw up a list of permanently banned series and games rather than trying to tinker with the elligibility requirements.

I'm aware my nom is boarderline. I think some might be familiar, but I would guess less than half the crowd. We have had a few tracks from the Digital Devil Saga games appear here and you would think Nocturne would have about equal noterity.

I've never heard the song, and I consider myself a casual VGM listener. The contest here is the only real "out there" stuff I hear. I have heard DDS (hated it) but that's just me messing around over at avalanche online.

I actually started a list like that awhile back; I agree that it would be handy. I should do some more work on it and then post it and ask for opinions.

I agree with this fully. Equal notoriety in being probably the least obscure games/soundtracks of the MegaTen series since the games actually made it stateside (maybe the Personas would be slightly ahead), but it would surprise me greatly if either of these is significantly more obscure than the other. And since DDS1 (Muladhara) and DDS2 (Five Years Before) made it, I don't have a problem with SMT3:N.

Besides, we need to get MegaTen on the front page. >:(

This week is pretty good. Wish I had more time to comment though.

(2 points) Culdcept II Original Soundtrack - Open The World

(2 points) Blood the Last Vampire Original Game Soundtrack - Ruria

(1 point) Tobe! Polystars & Total Vice - Over the Frozen Sea (2nd BGM)

(1 point) Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Official Sound Data - Get Ready ~ In the Blue Sky

Nomination change ahoy!

Composers: Yuki Ichiki, Tsukasa Saitou, Ayako Minami, Shouhei Tsuchiya, Daisuke Matsumoto (!)
Album: Enchanted Arms ([eM] -eNCHANT arM)
Track Title: The People of London City
Track Number: 13
Catalog Number: RZCD-45343
Year: 2006
Notes: I have uploaded my personal version, which is looped.

I can't get this out of my head at the moment, and my previous now is a lot like another track that was up a few weeks ago, so I'll reserve it for a later time.

This was an ok week with three clear favourites:
2 points - Terran 3
2 points - Over The Frozen Sea
2 points - Open The World

I'll be back with my next nomination after I return from yet another vacation in about 6 weeks :cool: