Song of the Week - WEEK 53 Voting/WEEK 54 Nominations

Maxis games in general are quite popular; I'd hardly call anything from them obscure.

This said, we did just have a Sim City 4: Rush Hour track in the mix, so fairness commands me to grant the Sims one more chance.

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Might as well throw some critiques out while they're fresh in my mind. One sentiment comes to me over all others for this week: ROCK ON!

It's been awhile since we had some solid rockin' tracks, so naturally they all come at once. Holy electric overload, Batman! Poor orion_mk3 is going to HATE this week.

Evil Power - I feel as though this one is sorta just thrown together. Some distorted guitars, some spacey-effects, some grungy drums and a whole lotta shallow freestyle riffing. This is the sort of incoherent stuff I expect to find on MTV after midnight. I totally dig rock, but I enjoy it with more substance than this provides.

Oriental Spirits - I was really hooked by the opening. Nice bass guitars resonating between piano and light drums. Rockin', yet snazzy. As it progressed, I felt it moving somewhat away from the "oriental" tones but the pizzicato mandolin suitably binds the background together enough to keep the theme intact. The rest is a pleasant blend of metropolitan jazz and exotic strings. A contender, for sure.

Vinay Del Zexay - Obligatory non-rock piece, so as to clear the pallete. It's not too bad. I remember this track from the game now that I hear it again and it had a warm, sunny feel. Still does. I'm not sure it's as strong as other nominations this week, so it feels a tad mediocre at the moment. But I still like it.

The Sorrow Revives - For me, this was very average and predictable. That's not to say it's poorly composed or performed, but there was little to grab my attention unlike other tracks.

Beyond the Earth - The chanting in this tracks goes a long way toward adding a lot of energy to the overall piece. But really, the whole composition is nice. Reminds me just a little of "Another Termina" from Chrono Chross in some places, but that's a good thing. A bright, cheerful, fun track. I like it a lot.

Smooth Talk Rock - It's okay. The rockabilly swing is kind of nice but this doesn't keep the whole track from feeling a little generic. The "asian" sounds are a little odd too, since I'm not sure they mix well with rockabilly. Seems disjointed to me. Actually, the whole track feels like a harder-rock version of "Oriental Spirits" before it, but with a little less flow throughout.

Punky Pumpkin Castle - TOTALLY 80'S, DUDE! Seriously, Huey Lewis would wish he thought of this melody. Nevertheless, that 80s sound means the whole thing at least gels and focuses as much upon overall enjoyaility as it does instrumentation. My only complaint is that it's so short. I was getting into it and BAM, it's over...?

Game Over - A little different. This one carries a strong 80's new wave vibe too. Tracks with prominent voiceovers have a history of doing poorly in SotW. Maybe this one will be different since it's such an unusual track. The problem I found with Game Over is that is begins very strongly but something about it peters out by the end. Perhaps it's too repetitive? I can't put my finger on why, exactly. I'm curious to see how others react to this track, honestly.

POINTS! POINTS! POINTS!

3 Points: pop'n music 12 Iroha AC & CS pop'n music 10 - Beyond the Earth -Original Long Version-
2 Points: Dramatic - Oriental Spirits
1 Point: Silhouette Mirage Original Sound Track - Punky Pumpkin Castle

Runner Up: Space Invaders Daisakusen - Game Over


A pretty good week, one that discredits the theory that strong weeks are always followed by lackluster ones.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Hey, someone else actually voted! I was beginning to wonder.

I sometimes get the impression that people show up to nominate tracks and subsequently vote themselves points on their respective week, but fail to regularly vote during weeks in which they have no nominated track of their own in the running.

It's possible that the recent crash also got some folk out of the habit, which is fair. But I do hope that my impression above is mostly wrong and that participants are giving equal attention to the nominations of others.

There's nowhere I can't reach.