Song of the Week - WEEK 74 Voting/WEEK 75 Nominating

A much, much better week, compared to last. The Addam's Family track was fun, but it really doesn't hold up to most of the past winners.

Track 5: This is what I'd call a "bread and butter" track. It's not particularly inventive; in fact, you could find music like this in many games. But it's done well enough and there's no part that makes me cringe. High point: the subtle, yet effective drone-pad swells along the bassline. Low point: slightly muddled orchestration. Still, pretty nice though.

Battle With the Devil: It's Mitsuda; we know the man can compose. 'Battle With the Devil' is a serviceable piece. I wouldn't say that it particularly stands out amongst his body of work, but on its own, there's nothing wrong with it. A bit dark for my tastes, but it's not a dirge and there's certainly enough variation to keep my interest.

[minor rant mode]

Although, to be rather blunt, I find it difficult to award Mitsuda tracks more than a single point. With other composers, you could hear this level of quality and be impressed, even surprised. But for Mitsuda, it's almost expected. It's another day at the office. And that's a left-handed compliment to the man, I suppose. Yet, it's pretty much become a knee-jerk reaction to hear a Mitsuda track and say "Yeah, it's good." I feel this diminishes other tracks and places them at an unfair disadvantage in the context of a contest, like SotW.

While "Battle With the Devil" may be worthy of more points, I feel it's my duty to maintain some equality in the matchups. If everyone gives BWtD a point, then it will place and will have done so very fairly. I can live with that.

[ /minor rant mode]

Rainbow Butterfly Wood: I have this album and have listened to this particular piece several times, evaluating its merits for future SotW nominations. It's one I always keep in the back of my mind, just in case, but has never really felt like anything that I had to bring to public attention. RBW is lighthearted and soothing, but it also runs a little on the dull side. It makes very good studying music, yet it also leaves me, and many listeners I'd imagine, with a bit of a "been there, heard that" feeling. =/

Sonic Drive: This is only okay. I like the faster pace, but I do find it to be terribly predictable. Not that repetition is bad - I've a track in mind for future nomination that's extremely repetitive, yet fascinatingly mesmerizing - but here, it's just coming off as being your standard, run-of-the-mill, in-game techno. I've heard worse. I've heard better.

Continuous: 80% of this track is simply not for me. I'm not insulting the piece, as I can tell that it's otherwise fine. My tastes in music just aren't very compatible with "Continuous". Sorry.

Wish: This is one of the better vocal tracks I've heard here in SotW. The first half of the piece seems to drag a little, but at least it comes around in the latter parts. I had to listen to it several times, but by the end of the last hearing, it had grown on me tremendously. I do find there to be some interesting, almost Mediterranean, influences going on. The spanish guitars are lovely. Although this isn't something I'd listen to every day, it's still rather impressive, overall. I wouldn't mind seeing this track place, as it's got a lot of character and is rather different from past winners.

Saxophone Storm: A fairly nice groove, with some added guitar bonus. Sure, it's got a retro cheesiness to it, but as an 80s child, I've got a high tolerance for this kind of pointless, musical posturing. The beginning section's definitely the strongest point, as the latter half tends to meander a little more than I feel is truly needed. Still pretty cool, though.

Battle Force: Ah, the synth entrant in this week's mix. (Seriously, there's been virtually no "genre overlap" this week.) The music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice, but oh yeah...looping. I don't hate looping, really. But when there's strong competition, it becomes a factor in the voting. It's a solid track but Battle Force doesn't thrill me enough to earn points in this, a very strong week.

Pointalicious!

2 Points: AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet (Red Book Audio) - Track 5
2 Points: Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish
1 Point: The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme)
1 Point: an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil

Thank god there was a strong rebound from last week. The variety was excellent.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Vexxon

-Nomination-
Artist: Michiru Oshima, pentagon
Album: ICO ~Melody in the Mist~
Track Title: ICO -You Were There-
Disc Number: 1
Track Number: 16
Catalog Number: SVWC-7117
Year: 2002
Source: chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=SVWC-7117

Although this track's never been heard in SotW, I'm positive that it's been in previous BSCs and that it did moderately well. I don't know what everyone's feelings on this are, but I'm under the impression that we try to avoid repeating BSC noms.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

CHz (AWACS) nominated "Airwaves", a track that was used in a Flash game.

So there's plenty of room to maneuver.

How ya doing, buddy?

I had a feeling it would go this way. Battle With the Devil isn't really Mitsuda's best work, in my opinion. It's decent but I know I've heard better. Fair is fair, however, and the track made it here on its own.

I'm personally disappointed that "Wish" didn't squeak into 3rd place. I thought it was one of the better true vocal tracks SotW has seen.

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