Song of the Week - WEEK 89 Voting/WEEK 90 Nominating

Capcom Music Generation Area 88 Original Soundtrack - Front Line Base: I've never been a fan of the SNES's soundcard. Everything sounds so hollow and metallic. Even the best tracks suffer for it, which is the case here. There's definitely a workable melody trying to get out, but the SNES just isn't having it. If an arrangement of this track existed, I'm sure it would be worth hearing.

Darwinia Soundtrack - Visitors from dreams: One really has to wonder why this wasn't submitted to the BCC. It could've made the bracket quarterfinals easily, if not further. I'm sure orion will detest this track for all its trills and such, but I enjoy that sort of reverb. I don't believe that Rob Hubbard composed this, but it's a good homage to Hubbard's landmark style.

Klonoa of the Wind 2 ~Something Forgotten Wished by the World~ Original Soundtrack - Going to Lunatea - The Sea of Tears (After Polly's Entry): Why are these nomination titles getting so long? Anyway, this is a nice, upbeat piece. I wouldn't call it a breakthrough on any level but that doesn't stop the progression from being very natural and the mood pleasing. It's the "dependable" kind of quality that makes for a good nomination.

Metal Saga ~Chain of Sandstorm~ Original Soundtrack - Route 99: So far, everyone has highly approved of this track. Me, I find it to be only above average, not quite a knockout. The piano, however, is wonderful. My one complaint is that this song is a "builder" and by the time I'd fully taken notice was as the end approached. I felt as though it had finally hit its stride and was moving into a highly enjoyable ballad sequence. Then - oh, it's over. The whole track is pretty good but I gotta give a thumbs down to the premature ending.

Nano Breaker (Game Rip) - Downtown: Dissonant ambience. Sometimes it works, less so here. The piece is fraught with rests that become so disconnecting that I felt there was little progression. Everything in between is high-tension thriller music that is no doubt amazing in-game, but not so spectacular out of its intended context. There's some stronger cohesion toward the end but it's not enough to save this track from being too discordant for my taste.

Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Original Soundtrack - Common Battle ~Stuck in Amarah~: While it's one of the better MegaTen tracks to have been heard in SotW, it still fails to grab me completely. There were a couple moments that I liked but their fires were snuffed by the highly repetitive guitar work. I still don't know what people see in these MegaTen tracks.

Sound Locomotive - Sound Locomotive: The obligatory jazz-guitar track! I was wondering when it would show up. It's not too bad, if but predictable. It narrowly avoids generic side of VGM lite-rock, mostly due to a few interesting bridges, particularly the synth solo 2:10 - 2:27. Still, I've got a soft spot for this genre and I can't find anything truly displeasing about Sound Locomotive. Predictably good is still good.

The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Seoul Road: KOF Arrange Trax songs are like the kids at science fairs who get little, yellow ribbons simply for showing up: they didn't impress anyone, nor were they original in any way, but they went through the motions. At least they did something. They tried. Not everyone can get first place, but everyone here is a winner, yessiree.
That's how I feel about KOF tracks. They show up in SotW, collect their participatory ribbon, then go home, satisfied with their mediocrity. They didn't win but at least they didn't get laughed out of the auditorium like the fat kid who brought in his whole Dungeons & Dragons book collection in an attempt to prove that elves exist.


Points, points, points.

2 Points: Klonoa of the Wind 2 ~Something Forgotten Wished by the World~ Original Soundtrack - Going to Lunatea - The Sea of Tears (After Polly's Entry)
2 Points: Sound Locomotive - Sound Locomotive
1 Point: Metal Saga ~Chain of Sandstorm~ Original Soundtrack - Route 99
1 Point: Darwinia Soundtrack - Visitors from dreams


A slightly above average week. No complete stinkers, which is always a relief.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I really dislike the idea that we can't possibly run two SotWs concurrently. Anyone whose nomination was due to be up this week is innocently made to wait. Meanwhile, those of us who managed to vote before the downtime get to sit about and twiddle our thumbs for seven more days.

Week 90 can easily be extended until Wednesday or Thursday to account for the downtime. Anything beyond that seems a bit unfair, since most other weeks only get seven days for voting. Why should these songs get 10 or more?
Meanwhile, Week 91 can easily begin on its own. It'll give those of us who vote earlier than the weekends something to do. And the weekend laggers would still be able to do their thing this coming Saturday and Sunday.

(Before people get upset, I know some people wait until the weekend because of school/work/etc. But this fact doesn't preclude my belief that no particular week should receive a total or more than seven days of voting time, regardless.)

There's nowhere I can't reach.

kuttlas: You should give full reviews of the tracks more often. Your reactions to things you dislike are quite amusing. I demand more cynicisms!

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

I changed my point allocation slightly. Just noting this here so the proper adjustments can be made.

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

Personally, I think Sound Locomotive got gypped. I'd have liked to see it trade places with the KoF '96 track, honestly. Now I wish I'd saved Sound Locomotive to my hard drive. I wonder if it's still available on the site.

I was speaking idiomatically.