226 replies to this topic

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Gold on the Ceiling - The Black Keys, from El Camino

 

I hate the moderns tate of rock. Sure, guys like the Foo Fighters are still out there fighting the good fight, but the vast majority of modern so-called rock bands irritate me. While it took me awhile to admit it, I think The Black Keys are an exception. The hipsterness still makes me want to hurt a lot of their fans, but good music is good music, and if anything, me liking it will annoy said hipsters, so hey, it's win-win.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_mCdgRD7poc

What I'm Made Of - Crush 40, from Sonic Heroes Complete Trinity: Vocal Traxx

All right, guilty pleasure admittance time - despite how cheesy, corny, and kinda bad they are, I legitimately like the songs from modern day Sonic games. Jun Senoue is actually a pretty darn good guitar player and composer on top of that, and his songs and themes tend to be the only good thing from a lot of those games. Heck, even Johnny the singer has a decent and unique enough voice and I can live with it. What can I say, it just does it for me. Anyway, this is probably one of my favorites. Again, corny as all heck but damn if I don't dig it.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Born 2 Run - 7Lions, from....nothing, it's just a single.

 

Eh, I don't really know about the band, but I annoyingly quite like the song. Positive without being corny and it's kinda catchy.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Super Mario 64 Opening Theme & Overworld Theme - The Big Band of Rogues (Tokyo Cuban Boys Jr.) & Shigeo Nukita, from Mario & Zelda Big Band Live CD

 

Nintendo E3 Digital Event excited me, so have a happy, jubilant Nintendo song. A really nice, upbeat version of the main stage theme (Bob-omb Battlefield, Twhomp's Fortress, etc) from SM64. Nice and lively and heck, this whole album's great if you can find it. 

[DarkJuno]

I've been wanting them to do this for so long I wonder how it took me two years to notice it!

Spoiler

Final Fantasy Battle Medley 2012 I - XIV, by FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague, from Final Fantasy Orchestral Album

All the main battle themes (plus some others for a few games) from each main FF game, fully orchestrated and in one long awesome medley. Well, okay, they cheat and stick the FFXIV version of the prelude at the end rather then the battle theme, but whatever. Honestly some pretty nice arrangements, some never heard or used before in an orchestra, and others done in some interesting ways. If you ever liked the series in the past, it's worth a listen just for the themes you'll remember, and overall very well done.

Edited by DarkJuno, 30 June 2014 - 10:34 PM.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Rebellion, by Linkin Park, from The Hunting Party

 

So, huh, LP's sixth album came out and I actually really like it. It's not anything super spectacular or anything but I've had it play in the car for a few weeks now and I like it. It's definitely not going to be confused for any other band, but it also definitely has a different sound and feel to it, and they thankfully went in a heavier direction from their last couple albums. That's....really all. 

[DarkJuno]

A little on the nose, but meh. 8th Page? Then that means....

 

Spoiler

 

The Star Spangled Banner, covered by James Hetfield & Kirk Hammet

 

....hey, it's the right day.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

No Way Back, by Foo Fighters, from In Your Honor

 

I always liked this song, it doesn't seem to be super popular or anything but I always dug it. What else can be said about the band.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Tacky, by "Weird Al" Yankovic, from Mandatory Fun

 

You know what, say what you will about Weird Al, but he's been consistent with his output for decades, and whenever it seems like he might be getting out of touch, he pulls out at least one, if not more parody (or original song!) that's not only funny, but legitimately good. He totally nails Pharell in this one and the lyrics all flow as well as the original, like just about all his parody songs. Gotta give him props for having a fanbase even years and years later and honestly being a pretty clever writer in even his original stuff.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

I Heard It Through the Grapevine, cover by Creedence Clearwater Revival, from Cosmo Factory

 

 

 

....or rather, I Heard It Through the Grapevine plus six minutes of dicking around on guitar, but whatever.

[DarkJuno]

Turtles on the brain, so how about I use something less obvious?

 

Spoiler

 

"Bury My Shell At Wounded Knee" BGM, by Mitsuhiko Izumi, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

 

With the current use of real instruments and crazy sound quality, I am guilty of forgetting how awesome and catchy old tunes from the 16 bit and before era were. Always liked the music from the TMNT sidescrollers, and this is probably one of the ones I genuinely liked and would really like to hear a current version of, even if it honestly isn't much more then a simple song that had to evoke the old west in a limited space. Definite nostalgia goggles for me, but come on, you've gotta at least appreciate the corny stage title, not to mention how Foot Soldiers in the stage ran alongside the train on horseback and, best of all, would pop up wearing ponchos and sombreros.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Just Like Heaven, by The Cure, from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

 

 

Eh, sure, why not. Earworm.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Lockdown, by Steve Jablonsky, from Transformers: Age of Extinction Sample Soundtrack

 

 

So, among the things that surprised me about Age of Extinction actually being enjoyable to me despite still being insanely flawed was the soundtrack. This track in and of itself isn't in the movie by itself but is scattered around here and there as the theme of Lockdown, the technically Decepticon but not really bounty hunter. Upon my second viewing with other people who hadn't seen it yet, I really noticed how good a job Jablonsky did with the theme, because the rest of the soundtrack is typical of the live action movies (though quite a few grades higher quality wise), suddenly out of nowhere in a jarring but fitting way, this theme would start to seep in underneath whatever was going on at the time until it overpowers everything, and sure enough, Lockdown pops up and does his thing. It's really well done, to the point when you started to hear it you knew something was about to happen. I just really like how it keeps building and building and building and sounds like something that is sorta invading somewhere it shouldn't be.

[DarkJuno]

Uh....huh......

 

Spoiler

 

SOS, covered by Fozzy, from Do You Wanna Start a War?

 

 

I....huh. An ABBA song covered by the wrestler Chris Jericho's rock band. I.....don't think I really like it since I'm not a fan of ABBA anyway, but it's....huh.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Come With Me Now - Kongos, from Lunatic

 

Not my usual type of music, and frankly most of the other Kongos (KONGOS, whatever) songs I've heard I've hated, but I like this one for some reason. I don't know why but it makes me think of COld War era propaganda posters. No clue.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Vermillion Fire (The Fires of Suzaku),by Takeharu Ishimoto, from Final Fantasy Type-0 Original Soundtrack

 

Playing through Final Fantasy: Theathrhythm: Curtain Call and being washed over with the nostalgia of past FF's music, it's become pretty apprent that some of the games I haven't played actually have some pretty damn awesome scores too. Type-0, which we'll finally get next year as an HD port on the PS4/XB1. Pretty nice tunes, and I like the recurring theme that's at the end of this one. I look forward to trying to find the soundtrack for this and playing it even. As for the oddly named rhythm game, if you've had any love affair with Final Fantasy and/or its music at all, it's worth a play.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

Gerudo Valley (SSB Remix), Arr. By Rio Hamamoto, from Super Smash Bros 3DS

Pretty much just the obvious update of the Gerudo Valley theme from Ocarina of Time,but it does it well.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

The Legend of Zelda/It's Time Medley - Imagine Dragons w/Koji Kondo, from....Live Performance from The Video Game Awards

 

So. THe Game Awards were on alst night, and while it has....room to improve and trim, it's a step in the right direction and a damn sight better then any of the Spike sponsored awards in years past. The genuinely neat and big surprise at the end, however, was the game play demo of the new Wii U Zelda....along with this acoustic medley of Zelda tunes and their own song from Imagine Dragons, with Koji Kondo himself on piano. It's.....actually pretty well done. For those keeping track, it's The Fairy Fountain Theme, The Song of Healing from Majora's Mask, the main Zelda theme, and "It's Time." I'm actually impressed. They're a pretty big band nowadays, yet they still had the same look of "Holy crap, we're playing with this guy!" admiration they had when they showed them at red carpets and other awards shows meeting people like Dave Grohl. It's worth a listen.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

I Am The One (Tavern Version) - Inon Zur, from Dragon Age: Inquisition: Bard Songs

 

Way, way, way out of my usual fare, but I really dug all the tavern songs in Inquisition. Just a really, really cool atmospheric and eerie set of songs that your Bard sings whenever you visit your home base's -surprise!- tavern. This one I really like because it's the main vocal theme from Dragon Age: Origins, translated and brought down a little to be a little more approachable then its original airy and ethereal version. They're just nice and relaxing, fitting for the tavern.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

 

 

Tragedy + Time - Rise Against, from The Black Market

 

I sure seem to be tossing a lot of newer songs in here lately...well, if you can call sporadic random posting lately. Whatever, it's probably one of the best songs being played on mainstream new rock/alternative radio right now, which, granted, isn't saying a whole lot, but whatever.

[DarkJuno]

Spoiler

 

Dance! - Shihoko Hirata & Lotus Juice, from Persona 4: Dancing All Night Original Soundtrack

 

So, I never actually played Persona 4 till this past summer, since at the time it came out I was still working my way through Persona 3 FES, and as time dragged on I just never got around to it. However, with the Playstation TV being marked down to as low as $20.00 in some places, it seemed like it was worth just to play Golden.

 

My only regret is not playing it earlier. I loved it, and heck, I like it even more then 3, which I liked immensely. I'm also totally digging the spin-off games, currently logging through Persona Q on my 3DS and having a lot of fun with Arena and Ultimax. But this? I thought I'd skip the dancing rhythm game, but after listening to the soundtrack out of curiosity I plunked down the pre-order for the Disco Fever Edition. The music is just so damn catchy, being remixes of an already great soundtrack. The opening theme I like way more then I should, and while a game has never made me want to do violent things, the music is kinda making me want to make a fool of myself dancing.