[SotW] Song of the Week - WEEK 104 Voting/WEEK 105 Nominating

Song of the Week. 100 Weeks and counting!

Week 104 Voting is open.
Week 105 Nominating is open.

Week 104 Voting
The rules for voting can be found here.

Tracks (links):
Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain
Bomberman the Music - Battle
Contra Spirits - Hell Messenger (5th BGM)
Gradius III - In the Wind
HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade
RADIATA STORIES arrange album - Song of Freedom Fighters
Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I
www.richardjacques.co.uk - Children's Suite

Tracks (streaming):

Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: - Curtain
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: - Battle
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: - Hell Messenger (5th BGM)
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: - In the Wind
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: - Soldier Blade
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: - Song of Freedom Fighters
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: - You and I
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: - Children's Suite

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 105 Nominating
The Nominations Queue can be found here.
The rules for nominating can be found here.

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

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Stepping in when I'm indisposed, eh? Just don't make a habit of it

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Hey, for once I can truly beat orion_mk3 at voting!

(3 points) HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade
(2 points) Gradius III - In the Wind
(1 point) Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain
(Close) Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain: not my thing.
Bomberman the Music - Battle: Melancholy, I'm biased, get's a vote.
Contra Spirits - Hell Messenger (5th BGM): Not interesting
Gradius III - In the Wind: Nice, nice upper melody. Great upbeat tempo, get's a vote.
HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade: Bad quality of sound, nah.
RADIATA STORIES arrange album - Song of Freedom Fighters: Nice try, but I got bored really quickly.
Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I: I don't think there is something special about this song, also too rock music like.
www.RichardJacques.com - Children's Suite: I am pleasantly surprised. I heard one Richardjacques song in the VGM contest and I hated it. But this one surprised me as I never thought he could make such good orchestral music. Vote. I didn't like the quality of the strings. Great flute and harp though. Song reminds me of a musical: Bernstein's West Side Story.

Children's Suite: 3 points
In the Wind: 2 points
Battle: 1 point

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Comments will be short this week; I've got other things to take care of.

Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain: Nice development and mood. Needed a stronger ending, though.

Bomberman the Music - Battle: Strong nostalgia factor, but not a ton else.

Contra Spirits - Hell Messenger (5th BGM): A solid composition struggling to escape the limitations of the SNES sound card.

Gradius III - In the Wind: Good mix of rockin' and synth. But we already know Kukeiha Club excels in this area, so the surprise factor is diminished.

HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade: This is pretty cool. Great tempo and variation, with awesome retro charm.

RADIATA STORIES arrange album - Song of Freedom Fighters: The ol' timey goodness in this piece is refreshing. Proof that you don't need a lot of flourish to be pleasing.

Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I: Decent track but way to kill the retro flow! Anyhow, I dig the romantic guitar but this isn't quite as good as "assemble" from two weeks ago.

www.RichardJacques.com - Children's Suite: My distaste for cinematic-style orchestrals is cancelled by the triumphant tone of this track. It's not gonna become a fave but I'd gladly listen to it again.


These tracks were the ones I saved, so they all get points:

2 Points: RADIATA STORIES arrange album - Song of Freedom Fighters
2 Points: HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade
1 Point: Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain
1 Point: Gradius III - In the Wind

I liked the retro feel most nominations had. It's almost a shame the last two had to break up that vibe. Eight retro tracks would've been the awesomest coincidence in SotW history.

I was speaking idiomatically.

3 points: Gradius III - In the Wind
My nom, and it rocks, literally! Probably my favorite Gradius theme ever, and an excellent arrangement.

2 points: HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade
I love Soldier Blade music, and was meaning to nominate something off the HES rip for a while. This is a great medley of a number of themes; Boss 5, Operation 3, Operation 4... would have been an automatic 3-points if this week didn't carry a nomination I wanted to support.

1 point: Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain
Nice mood and great sounding synths. Best of the rest.

And the rest was good. Children's Suite was very close to getting a point. Very charming, and its finale was awesome. Funny how I could listen to and enjoy this kind of orchestrated stuff given that the composer wasn't Japanese. Song of Freedom Fighters was the least interesting of the bunch; uneventful, easy-listening saloon music.

Additional Spam:
My next nomination:

• Artist: Yasuhiro Takagi
• Album/Game Title: Turbo Out Run (Arcade Game Rip)
• Track Title: Shake the Street
• Track Number: 03
• Catalog Number: NA
• Year: 1989
• Source(s): turbo out run at arcade-history: video games, pinballs, slot machines, etc., http://www.outrun.org/

Artist: Naofumi Hataya
Album: Sega Simulation Best ~Advanced Daisenryaku Original Soundtrack~
Track Title: Ending
Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
Track Number: 21
Catalog Number: WM-0526
Year: 2006
Source: #gamemp3s .NFO that was included in release

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Draconis

My next nomination:

• Artist: Yasuhiro Takagi
• Album/Game Title: Turbo Out Run (Arcade Game Rip)
• Track Title: Shake the Street
• Track Number: 03
• Catalog Number: NA
• Year: 1989
• Source(s): turbo out run at arcade-history: video games, pinballs, slot machines, etc., http://www.outrun.org/

Is this okay? It's from the OutRun 20th Anniversary Box.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Yes, that would be mighty fine, thanks.

3 points - HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade
2 points - Contra Spirits - Hell Messenger (5th BGM)
1 point - Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain

Still mulling over my next nomination. Good thing next week's a battle week, it'll give some time for more noms to come in.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

This was a fine week, so much so that I imagine Children's Suite and Song of Freedom Fighters getting points in other weeks.

(2 points) Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain
(2 points) Gradius III - In the Wind
(1 point) Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I
(1 point) HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I'll nominate something in the next week, let's hope that I have some more luck than in the recent times.

points ~ Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain

point ~ Gradius III - In the Wind

points ~ www.richardjacques.co.uk - Children's Suite

Soldier Blade was reeeally close to getting a point, sorry.

And by the way Draconis, that's the worst actor ever!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

<2 points> Gradius III - In the Wind
<1 point> HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade
<1 point> Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain
<1 point> Bomberman the Music - Battle
<1 point> Contra Spirits - Hell Messenger (5th BGM)

I was speaking idiomatically.

Artist: Noriyasu Agematsu
Album: Wild Arms the Vth Vanguard Original Score Vol. 1
Track Title: The Dry Wind Blows Over You
Disc Number: 2 (of 3)
Track Number: 1
Catalog Number: KICA-1426
Year: 2007

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain While it's not his greatest, this tune delivers a solid helping of Alexander Brandon goodness, with his trademark melodic construction and intricate percussion and synth. The GBA audio quality is the only real drawback (indeed, one wonders if a better version of ths music might not be available on the PS2 version of the collection).

Bomberman the Music - Battle There are some interesting ideas here, but the development is too repetitive and fragmented to make much of an impression, other thatn the notion that it could have been far better.

Contra Spirits - Hell Messenger (5th BGM) Nothing really special about this one, aside from a few moments of atonal chaos and melody fragments. It fades into the woodwork of similar songs pretty easily.

Gradius III - In the Wind A nice hyperactive track that manages to be a bit more melodic than the garden variety tracks of that persuasion. It's not distinctive enough to really impress, but it's not bad.

HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade Some decent chiptuney lixx here, even if the rhythm line is identical to hundreds of other, similar tracks.

RADIATA STORIES arrange album - Song of Freedom Fighters I nominated this because I've been playing Radiata Stories recently, and loving it. I also have a natural weakness for ragtime and piano tracks, so when the three met, it seemed like a natural choice. The melody really shines through some agile fingering that's still lighthearted without the overt cheese of the OST version.

Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I Some interesting instrumental choices and a decent dark feel, but the track is ultimately rather plodding for most of its length. I kept waiting for it to really let rip, and it never happened.

www.RichardJacques.com - Children's Suite The sound quality on this piece is rather low, and it's not a proper piece of game music. Virtually nothing else can be held against it--it's a tuneful and exuberant song, brimming with melody and heart, and I'm shocked that it hasn't gotten more points.

A good week, but point assignment was surprisingly easy.

The Point Spread
3 pts. - Song of Freedom Fighters
2 pts. - Children's Suite
1 pt. - Curtain

EDIT:

Originally Posted by KyleDunamis

Artist: Noriyasu Agematsu
Album: Wild Arms the Vth Vanguard Original Score Vol. 1
Track Title: The Dry Wind Blows Over You
Disc Number: 2 (of 3)
Track Number: 1
Catalog Number: KICA-1426
Year: 2007

I think that, especially in light of the BSC results, that this (and indeed all Wild Arms tracks) are now too popular for SoTW.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

EDIT:

I think that, especially in light of the BSC results, that this (and indeed all Wild Arms tracks) are now too popular for SoTW.

I'm going to echo this sentiment. They're good soundtracks but they've gotten a heavy dose of the limelight in the past 2 years. Their quality is no longer a marginal secret at GFF.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

^Thirded.

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

The GBA audio quality is the only real drawback (indeed, one wonders if a better version of ths music might not be available on the PS2 version of the collection).

I wondered that too, but unfortunately, that's not the case. According to a review I read, the game has 80's songs instead.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Nom withdrawn. Here's something far more obscure. I ripped this myself, I don't have any more information than this.

Artist: Unknown
Game: Cosmic Fantasy: Bouken Shounen Yuu (Sega CD Remake) Gamerip
Track Title: World Map

Most amazing jew boots

Some really great tracks this week. MAkes me wish I had more time to hunt down the albums they come from.

(2 points) Gradius III - Konami Kukeiha Club - In The Wind

(2 points) Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I

(1 point) Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain

(1 point) www.RichardJacques.com - Children's Suite

Wanted to give "Curtain" 2 points but "Children's Suite" was too wonderful to pass up.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Kind of hard for me to distribute points appropriately this week as everything was good (except Radiata), but I'm not going to overthink it.

2 points - Activision Anthology (GBA rip) - Curtain
2 points - Gradius III - In the Wind
1 point - Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I
1 point - HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade

Refreshing to hear a new Brandon track. Now I know what he meant about GBA composing when I talked to him at VGL last year.

Additional Spam:
My nomination comes from an album that I first found through #gamemp3s a while back. I liked it enough to eventually purchase it. The only problem I have with nominating something from it is that the melodies all seem short compared to the usual SotW offering. Nevertheless, I want to represent this album. I was thinking about nominating something a little more upbeat to match the majority style of the album, but I decided I'd just go with a solid-sounding track that I enjoy.

=== Nominator's Name ===
* Album Title: Gacha Mecha Stadium Saru Battle Sound Tracks!!
* Artist: Soichi Terada
* Track Title: Mech Break
* Source: #gamemp3s, GMR
* File Location: nominations folder
* Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
* Track Number: 17
* Catalogue Number: SCDC-00372
* Year: 2004

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

EDIT: Good week.

Curtain - 3 pts.
You and I - 2 pts. - It's solid until the section at 1:30, then it actually becomes cool.
Soldier Blade - 1 pt.

Very close - In the Wind
Also good, probably needed further listening to better appreciate it - Children's Suite

I kind of wanted to give a point to both Soldier Blade and In the Wind. My placings for Curtain and You and I were set, though, so there really wasn't anything I could do.

I was speaking idiomatically.

3 - In the Wind
2 - Hell Messenger
1 - Soldier Blade

Not a particularly impressive week at all...Close battle for that last point, but I favored You and I's instrumentation, even if it didn't do much with it. Screw it, Solder Blade's much more interesting. In the Wind was a no-brainer (my favorite Konami arrangement, actually...Even moreso than anything on the Battle Albums) and Hell Messenger is classic, even if I wasn't good enough to get that far.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Voting is closed! Nominations will remain open because there's a battle next week.

1). [23] Gradius III - In The Wind
2). [17] HUDSON Premium Audio Collection - Soldier Blade
3). [16] Activision Anthology (Game Boy Advance Game Rip) - Curtain
4). [12] www.RichardJacques.com - Children's Suite
5). [8] Senko no Ronde -Carpe Diem- sound tracks vol.2 - You and I
6). [6] Contra Spirits - Hell Messenger (5th BGM)
7). [5] RADIATA STORIES Arrange Album - Song of Freedom Fighters
8). [3] Bomberman The Music - Battle

SotW logical year 2 COMPLETE

How ya doing, buddy?

I was too lazy to vote. But props to Radiata Stories, I would have given it 3 points. It had me surprised that it was from Noriyuki Iwadare, of whom I usually hear cheesy 80's battle music nominated, but this was a good jazzy one with some new age in the mix.
2nd would be "In the Wind", followed by third "Curtain".

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Just goes to show that I officially can never get 1st place, even with an awesome entry! Yay!

Jam it back in, in the dark.