[F] First Round #12 (Epoch ~Wings That Cross Time~ vs. I Can Still Believe)

Listen to both songs and select the one you prefer.

Download Links:

Chrono Trigger - Epoch ~Wings That Cross Time~
Metropolis Street Racer - I Can Still Believe

Streaming:

Epoch ~Wings That Cross Time~: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
I Can Still Believe: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

Epoch has always been one of my favorites and gets my vote easily.
It goes so well with the final portion of Chrono Trigger where you're just flying through time finishing up the many sidequests.
I think it feels a bit bittersweet.

I Can Still Believe... this is not a bad song, but I feel I should be hearing this on MTV and not a best video game music contest.
I think this feels like a pretty run-of-the-mill pop song, though it's good at what it does... it reminds me of Natalie Imbruglia - Torn or something like that.

Ah, finally my number 1 nomination comes out. I've always loved the catchy flying theme of Chrono Trigger. Nostalgia aside, the song appealed to me when I first played the game. The Epoch gains the ability to fly late in the game, where the urgency to defeat Lavos ramps up (and it was after a mission that's nigh unbearable to play if Ayla were not on your team!)

The first half of Epoch is the sound of adventure, of flying off through time, to parts unknown, to gain enough power to change events in 1999. The second part introduced embellishments which introduced a bit of melancholy, but not despair. No, the heightened sense of action typified in airship themes shine through.

Compared to other tracks in Yasunori Mitsuda's Chrono Trigger arsenal, I always felt this track was under-appreciated. So, here I am, appreciating the track with my nomination and vote.

This is uncanny. Pangalin again voted on the opposite side! Will we never agree on a track we like?

I voted for the one from a role playing game. That's how this contest works, right? I think I heard that's how it works.

(also because the other song sounds like a B-Side from some female answer to Mr. Big.)

Strange - I remember not caring for Epoch that much when I played through Chrono Trigger. Maybe it's grown on me or it works better outside of the game. Either way, it beats that other song.

I'd always wondered what the magical duo of Richard Jacques and TJ Davis came up with for MSR after their first collaborative effort; what still stands as the crowning masterpiece in each respective artists long, colourful career: The Sonic R Soundtrack.

I Can Still Believe has the cheese, the trite lyrics, even the happiness of that work. It's missing the Dance. It's replaced it with mushy drippiness. It's replaced awesome electronic beats and synth with boring 'real' instruments, which mostly have no place in video games, let alone one called Metropolis Street Racer. What the fuck, how does this song fit into a game called Metropolis Street Racer? Where's the techno? You've failed me, Jacques.

'Epoch - Wings That Cross Time' - One of the things I like most about this song is the fact that it doesn't continue with the double-time bounce after the short intro part, giving the song a really cool syncopated sway and letting every other voice have a lot more wiggle space. I love Mitsuda's use of glassy suspended/jazz chords throughout the soundtrack and this track is no exception to that. Additionally, the muted guitar part is excellent under the main sax melody, which of course is very strong as well.

'I Can Still Believe' - I was honestly expecting to hear Darius from Hootie and the Blowfish before the equally-MOR female vocalist came in and slowly ushered me through another bad pop song that does not belong in a video game. Was this song rejected from the people who score Grey's Anatomy? Good lord....

I'm sorry, but when I play a video game, I like the music to take me soaring to another world full of fantasy, excitement, otherworldly awesomeness, etc..... 'Epoch' does just that. 'I Can Still Believe' straps me in cement shoes and plants me in the middle of a teen-movie high school prom in the most boringly average town the Midwest can offer, i.e. chained to the dullest reality possible.

I wasn't thinking much of I Can Still Believe when listening, it's pop music, nothing special. I then read Kolba's post and, with the newfound knowledge, ended up both hating and liking it more at the same time. "It does sound more like Sonic R, now that I think about it" "oh my god why didn't I recognize that voice". And now that I think about it, it's missing far more than the "dance".

Epoch, woah, a really good CT tune that I forgot even existed. I can easily support this. The loop is pretty lame though.

Chrono Trigger - Epoch ~Wings That Cross Time~
CT's been well-vetted by now, but this is one of the songs that doesn't show up in music contests and gets overshadowed by more popular tracks from the game. Zerg really nailed the essence of the song in his post; it strikes a balance between exuberance, urgency, and melancholy--and that's tough to do!

Metropolis Street Racer - I Can Still Believe
As far as this sort of pop music goes, this isn't half bad. The lyrics are a little inane, but overall I sort of liked it. *shrug*

Epoch.

I was ready to roast this one-sided match up. But to my surprise, I Can Still Believe is ... not half bad. Catchy, even. It's a total guilty pleasure, and it doesn't compare to an under-appreciated Mitsuda track (though when have I ever underappreciated a Mitsuda tune?). Still, this isn't the massacre I thought it would be.

Ah this one isn't even a choice for me, Epoch it is!

: Chrono Trigger - Epoch ~Wings That Cross Time~
: Metropolis Street Racer - I Can Still Believe

I Can Still Believe doesn't suck so I'm glad. Everything is better with eurobeat so this is nothing really special, but it's far from terrible.

I'm not really too big on the first half of Epoch, which has an okay melody but nothing much else I really care about. The second half, though, is pure bliss because everything gets awesome all of a sudden: the melody, bass, sax, etc.

Originally Posted by Kolba

What the fuck, how does this song fit into a game called Metropolis Street Racer?

I wondered that too until I looked at the soundtrack. It's divided into sections, each representing a "radio station" that's available while you race. The concept is very similar to GTA, and is probably where Rockstar got the idea. There were the typical genres - rock, pop, jazz, eurobeat, etc.

The game was intended to be a high profile release, so a lot of effort was put into the audio. Unfortunately, numerous delays caused the game to be released near the end of the Dreamcast's life cycle, so it seemed that very few people cared.

But no, the soundtrack isn't up to Jacques' level of work in Sonic R.

"Epoch ~Wings That Cross Time~" is an awesome little airship theme. It's got those uplifting piano (?) chords that I love, and the main instrument, while being a tad grating, reminds me of Chrono Trigger and I guess doesn't sound too shabby with the melody. I much prefer the A section to the B section's slower-paced jumble of melody, although on the whole this piece is still fantastic.

I enjoy the melody of the chorus in "I Can Still Believe", but I don't enjoy a number of things about it: the vocalist, the bridges, the sappy lyrics and tone. Pros to cons, 1:3? Huh, go figure.

"Epoch ~Wings That Cross Time~" - 8.5/10
"I Can Still Believe" - 4/10