[E] First Round #8 (Sacrifice - Part Three vs. selvaggio)

Listen to both songs and select the one you prefer.

Download Links:

Seiken Densetsu 3 - Sacrifice - Part Three
Concerto Gate - selvaggio

Streaming:

Sacrifice - Part Three: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
selvaggio: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

I'm not pleased. At all. To see my nomination paired off against another awesome song by the same composer, but without the instrumental limitations of the SNES SPC format.

Sacrifice, Part 3 is my favorite song in the Seiken Densetsu series. It's the only exception to my stated intention of nominating flying themes, and was a song I was crazy enough to transcribe to MIDI back when it was translated. (My transcription sucked, and although it was on RPGamer for a while, what's currently there is loads better )

The first time I heard this music, was when I was playing a save state with the party struggling against this massive dragon. The music was a remix of the Dark Lich theme in SoM, but not as good. The song suddenly kicked in, just as that boss did a particularly nasty attack. It had the compositional equivalent of giving a second wind, and touched on the elements I like to have in a battle theme: a touch of desperation against an overpowering enemy, yet with a strong determination to fight on despite the odds.

I imagine Solveggio has the same compositional aim, being the regular battle theme on Concerto Gate. It has similar progression, a grandiose sound, and better sounding synths.

As I'm a biased bastard however, I'm voting for my own nomination

Now this is an actual worthy Seiken Densetsu track unlike THE DARK STAR!!!!.

Seiken Densetsu 3 - Sacrifice - Part Three
One of Kikuta's most mature compositions, mixing a terrific melody and some real pathos into the SD3 sound palette. It's highly-developed at length, making for a long--but rewarding--listen. A definite album highlight.

Concerto Gate - selvaggio
A selection from Kikuta's most recent album, and his highest-profile in many years. Selvaggio combines a sophisticated modern synth with vintage Kikutaisms, with intersecting lines of rhythm and melody that creat a fun and distinctive sound. Fun on just about every level.

Fate is cruel; two top-drawer Kikuta pieces up against one another. I boosted Selvaggio, so that dilemma, painful as it is, is easily solved.

Both Sacrifice - Part Three and selvaggio felt fundamentally "the same" to me and weren't bad, although I'll have to vote for selvaggio since Sacrifice is so long, so I lose interest in it after awhile!

I take Kikuta. Oh, wait...

*cough* Okay, seriously, after that bad joke, this match is worst case scenario, isn't it? Both tracks are superior and pure Hiroki Kikuta.

Selvaggio remembered me instantly to his older works and I guess that's why I love and nominated it. So it gets my vote but it doesn't matter what wins 'cause both Sacrifice and selvaggio have the goodness to reach next round.

Both are cool, but I think Sacrifice is slightly better. Awesome.

Now that's definitely not fair: both have their merits and if they were paired up against other songs there's no doubt they'd both make it through.

Concerto is easily the best thing Kikuta's done in the last decade, although Alphabet Planet and Lost Tracks do have their shining moments.

Selvaggio.

Sacrifice-
Pretty excellent track with some great progression. I am loving that amazingly drawn out snare sample as well. Excellent attention to detail.

Selvaggio-
A very strong piece as well, with way higher production qualities, and totally a keeper.

Strangely enough, I prefer the old school one. Must be that snare >_>

"Sacrifice - Part Three" has that trademark Kikuta snare that I've grown to adore. <3 While 8 minutes is a big ask of any listener, this one manages to stay solid throughout with some entertaining progressions and what-not. I prefer my (Kikuta) pieces shorter, but this one's pretty good anyway.

concerto is a really nice piece of work. It captures Kikuta's style in a variety of forms impeccably (such as "vivace", capturing the essence of his town theme skillZ). "selvaggio" was one of my top five when I gave the soundtrack a listening to; some brilliant textures and an entertaining albeit somewhat dark melody. The piano usage is top-notch, too.

"Sacrifice - Part Three" - 7.5/10
"selvaggio" - 8.5/10

I'm not sure if we're listening to the same pair of Kikuta tunes, because I thought the vote could not get any easier. Sacrifice, despite being a 4 minute monster without the loop, actually gets better as it progresses enough to keep my interest throughout the entire duration. On the other hand, selvaggio sounds like everyone's favorite pop tune transcribed for orchestra. Really, it's nothing special.

Wow. Seriously? This is one of the SD3 boss themes that actually goes past a fantastic intro to not be standard crap (I don't like most of the SD3 boss music, the rest of the OST is fine . . . but MAN those mana beast songs have awesome intros and then pan out to be dull). So yeah. Fucking awesome throughout, with some wonderful string pads in the before the loop percussionless section. Oh, and doublekickdrum. Oh, and the bassline that's from the SoM OST. You know the one I'm talking about. The one whored out on SoM+. <3. Oh, and some killer piano work in the B-section. I can't stop Ohing.

Oh wow. selvaggio starts out with the same awesome piano work; hell it highlights the same strengths of Kikuta's highlighted in Sacrifice, but with better synths. Except for nostalgia, this is JUST AS GOOD as Sacrifice. Fuck you pairing for making me choose.


Holy god. The breakdown in selvaggio. Holy god. That is fantastic enough to win out over my nostalgia. Absolutely gorgeous.

"Sacrifice" is only okay, kind of on the average side for me.

But my god, selvaggio is good. I can see this track advancing quite far.

Like many of you are saying, the double Kikuta here is a mean trick. I'm having particular difficulty voting here; the one I'm leaning towards voting for is not the track I find more enjoyable. I've always been a supporter of Sacrifice Part Three every time it's popped up, but it now seems like one of those wounded vet type of tracks like Electric Power Building that gets pushed into these contests only to fail over and over. Now, selvaggio is no slouch, and given its updated sound and similar style, it makes sense to get behind this new blood. But, I'm sorry, it's just not as good. Hopefully, whichever wins, it's successful in the matches to come, I'm going with the chestnut.

I guess this Kikuta person really likes high piano arps! That's good though, I like them too, but it's pretty funny when hearing these two songs back to back. Anyway, selvaggio seems like the more developed track to me, not just in production but also melodically. It's also shorter, which is a good thing in almost all cases, including this one. Honestly, even selvaggio is a bit too long for its own good.

: Seiken Densetsu 3 - Sacrifice - Part Three
: Concerto Gate - selvaggio

selvaggio starts off kind of dull, but I was really liking it come 0:42 until it went back to the same stuff a short while later. Actually thought the break was the weakest part. It's really not bad, but it's not really engaging me.

Sacrifice is a pretty good final boss theme. Maybe a bit on the long side, but all of the sections are pretty good and I can't point to anything I'd want cut from it. I actually prefer Part Two from the first half of the battle (no one agrees with me). Still, pretty easy vote for it here.

wtf, still head-to-head after 50 votes...

These dick-move pairings are getting fucking old. I think I'll wait for Drakken to vote again, in any case.

When I first heard Sacrifice years ago, I didn't like it for what it wasn't: not Seiken 2. Now I appreciate it more for what it is.

The other joke was "Since I know Sacrifice, let me play this entirely random so