[A] First Round #13 (Zoo vs. Batallia Downs)

Listen to both songs and select the one you prefer.

Download Links:

Sleepwalker - Zoo
Final Fantasy XI - Batallia Downs

Streaming:

Zoo: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Batallia Downs: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

Wow, I'm surprised anyone would nominate XI music. Most people familiar with it have become so burned out on it from repeated listens in-game (seriously, I will projectile vomit if I am ever subjected to Jeuno's theme ever again).

Whoa, Zoo. What a surprise! One of my favorite noms thus far.

Sleepwalker - Zoo
Sleepwalker is right. The piece overall has a nice sound, but the overall effect is enough to lull one to sleep.

Final Fantasy XI - Batallia Downs
It's startling to think just how much Final Fantasy XI music Naoshi Mizuta has composed; he's certainly been making up for quality with quantity. Even on the original OST Mizuta's lack of ideas was evident; this is just music that's going through the motions. Sleepwalker might put you to sleep, but this morass will send you into a coma.

Zoo.

"Zoo" has a really weird, hypnotic aura to it. Uhmm...I don't really know what to say about this one but I really liked it. The melody was strong and I liked the piano touches and...yeah. This one's great, that's all that really needs to be said.

I personally never really got into "Batallia Downs". I have a good tolerance and some decent respect for Mizuta's FFXI contributions, but this one does absolutely nothing for me. Is it intentionally minimalistic? Atsmopheric..? Whatever it is, it does very little to engage me and draw me in. (Not even the sitar twinges save it, and I love me some sitar)

"Zoo" - 8.5/10
"Batallia Downs" - 3/10

I've heard a lot of negative things about the FFXI score so my expectations weren't high going into Batallia Downs. Not nearly as bad as I assumed it would be; I actually enjoyed the boring melody very much, and the stoner performance of the oboe and sitar player actually enhanced the atmosphere, though I hope it's not a trademark of the entire soundtrack.

Man, Zoo has string pads AND pitch bending in both the melody AND bass line and I still can't bring myself to enjoy this. Way to go, Barry Leitch, for taking my weaknesses and doing nothing with them holy crap the last second redeems this tune completely, I was laughing forever, holy crap

I don't know what you guys are talking about, Batallia Downs is actually pretty good. It's a subtle background piece that slowly unfolds with mild melodies. It's not gonna win any prices for being hyperactive, but it's pretty satisfying, especially when you reach the bridge with the sitar melody.

But Zoo is a true Amiga classic, and is absolutely wonderful.

Battalia Downs is the dullest piece of shit I've heard in this contest so far. Whoever nominated it needs to be slapped for wasting everyone's time.

Thank god "Zoo" is unique enough to deserve more than the default victory it's going to receive.

'Zoo' - The harmonic choices are lame. The fretless bass sucks. The part where the two harmonizing flutes come in is horribly annoying. Why the fuck is something like this even being considered. This is the worst kind of elevator tripe trying way too hard to actually be a song.

'Batallia Downs' - While nothing about the FFXI soundtrack(s) has really impressed me, this tune is not that bad. It sounds like a commercial for the iPhone or Lendingtree.com for the first few minutes and then starts to get better. The problems stem from the tune being thoroughly unremarkable, as if it were trying to not stand out.

Both of these are pretty unexciting nominations, but I liked the guitar tune more.

Sleepwalker - Zoo
The first note made me shiver already, the badly chosen glissandi made me uncomfortable. And yeah, the harmony is lame.

Final Fantasy XI - Batallia Downs
Anything is better than Zoo. Batallia Downs shows that complexity is not necessary for a song to be good. There is a place at the end that had some dissonant harmony I liked.

: Sleepwalker - Zoo
: Final Fantasy XI - Batallia Downs

Naoshi Mizuta worked on Rockman & Forte, which automatically makes him awesome, even though I don't like most of his music. Like Batallia Downs, which really doesn't do anything. That means it also doesn't do anything I really hate either. It's just there.

Zoo is also just there for four minutes and forty-five seconds. But it has the best ending ever, in that it reminds me that I am listening to it.