Preliminary Match #13

Listen to all five songs and select the one you like best.

Speed Freaks - City
Dragon Quest III - Adventure
Xanadu Next - The Treacherous Woods
Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean - Main Theme 1
Granado Espada - The G appears

City: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Adventure: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
The Treacherous Woods: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Main Theme 1: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
The G appears: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

Speed Freaks - City
Quite a catchy tune right off the bat =0 Electro-ish feel to it (which admittedly isn't my kind of thing), but I love the blend of tunes and the rhythm. Overall, a very cool song =D Nothing I dislike about it that I can think of.

Dragon Quest III - Adventure
Hohoho =D A very Dragon Quest-ish feel. Triumphant and pretty puffed up. Despite being an older ditty, it's very nicely done. For some reason, it feels a tad repetitive to me, but maybe I'm imagining things... =x Still! A very nice song.

Xanadu Next - The Treacherous Woods
The unique instrumental choice snagged me right off the bat; I loved the strings-work on this song. Pretty weird! Not a one of these tunes so far is a stinker =3 I love the choice of strings in this song though; it's really quite snazzy and fits my tastes. I love a well done strings-section in my songs. High marks for this.

Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean - Main Theme 1
And so it arrives =D One of my nominations~ This composer is easily one of my favorites. The Airship (same composer & game) was nominated two years back by myself, and it finished in the top 16. This song is a close second behind that, in my opinion. Despite this, I want to see how this baby will do. It's got good strings (something I enjoy, as forementioned!), and the cello/violin-work is gorgeous. Naoki Kodaka seems to enjoy using cello, violin, and oboe in this game, and those are three of my absolute favorite instruments. The songs so far in this grouping are quite nice. If this wasn't in this pairing, I'd probably vote for "The Treacherous Woods", hands-down. Still, this song has been a favorite of mine for years and I'm gonna stand by my nomination~

Granado Espada - The G appears
This kinda killed my cool, mellowed feel of this grouping so far! =x The electric guitar work is quite nice, and the song is nothing to gripe about. I particularly enjoy how it picks up around the 1/4-mark though. The a violin, I think, kicks in for an interesting blend of instruments =D Constantly evolving (what I like in some tunes), so it'll earn marks from that.

All in all, a very nice, tight grouping here. I'm afraid that I'll stick by my nomination, though =3 If it happens to go down against any of these, though, I don't think I'd complain too much. They're all quality tunes in my opinion.

That or I've had too many White Russians tonight.

Consider me a surprising fan of City. Playful, catchy and just too much fun. Main Theme had a couple moments and G wasn't bad either (though pretty generic as far as rockin goes), and of course the classic DWIII field theme gets a nod, but City is just too good here.

"City" is a pleasurably upbeat enough track. It's not forging new territory but it does use existing conventions well.

For the record, I also listened to the remaining four tracks but, in retrospect, I was wasting my time.

Speed Freaks - City
I like the introduction of the melody prior to introducing the rhythm. The mid section was a nice surprise too. The percussion had some beautiful effects too.

Dragon Quest III - Adventure
I'm not too fond of those old Japanese rpg melodies.

Xanadu Next - The Treacherous Woods
This song has a melody, but there are memorable melodies and forgettable melodies. This song has a forgettable melody. The slow pace is quite boring too.

Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean - Main Theme 1
Nice violin play. I digged the quality of the song. It's not like the melody was any good, but it was nicely played.

Granado Espada - The G appears
It's something else to use violins in rock music. I didn't like it though.

Speed Freaks or Albert Odyssey...
Speed Freaks it is.

City - Beats and laser sounds are what really stuck out to me on this one.

Adventure - This one gets the nostalgia points but those opening notes remind me so much of a song from Star Wars so im not so sure.

Treacherous Woods - Nice sound to it, and some interesting ideas, but It doesn't seem like it knows exactly where it wants to go, with some beautiful dissonance one second, and then a syrupy and overly cute chord change the next. Good but not awesome.

Main Theme 1 - Decent, but the pads overpowered a bit, giving the song an overly hazy feel. Very nice performances.

The G appears - SOme questionable production choices, but pretty easily my favorite of this batch.

Speed Freaks - City
Electronica done right, which in this age of cookie-cutter trance tracks (whose only redeeming feature is bass notes still audible even when loaded with date rape drugs or ecstasy), that's something to celebrate. Infectious melody, nice development, and that ever-so-elusive bouncy and enthusiastic techno sound make this a keeper.

Dragon Quest III - Adventure
A surprisingly traditional march, which gets a fair bit of mileage out of its synths. I have to admit not being a big Sugiyama fan, though; I just wasn't engaged by the music, and there wasn't a nostalgic connection to make up for it.

Xanadu Next - The Treacherous Woods
A nice surprise, this one. It's not often one hears acoustics and electrics competently combined; while this isn't at the level of Quatera Woods, it's close. And that's enough to earn it a download and a gold (er, green) star.

Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean - Main Theme 1
Decent, but I didn't like the violin part--and that's pretty much all the piece has going for it.

Granado Espada - The G appears
This sort of thing just screams "Baroque-era Spain," doesn't it? It's a well-known fact that the modern electric guitar was invented in 1488 by a Valencian nobleman, and that the drum set was perfected soon after using spoils and metallurgical techniques from the vanquished kingdom of Granada. Unfortunately, the modern melody wouldn't be discovered until 1613 by Sir August de Mylodee.

1: Speed Freaks
2: Xanadu Next
3: Albert Odyssey
4: Dragon Quest III
5: Granado Espada

Innovative track title #1! "City" is a personal favourite of mine, and has been for quite some time (hell, I kept badgering Rimo to rip Speed Freaks just so that I could listen to this track again!). Bouncy, cheery and accessible electronica with several mind-bogglingly awesome melodies. And it's all brought together by clever rhythms and beats. Yeah, this is probably the best electronic-racing song I've ever heard.

Innovative track title #2! "Adventure" is an utterly charming piece of music, isn't it? Wonderful Sugiyama orchestration brings the composition's vigor and adventurousness to life with buoyant frivolity. =3 A great little Dragon Quest ditty, in summary.

Innovative track title #3! Oooh, Sound Team jdk kicks a hell of a lot of ass. They almost do the same here, but given the (foreboding) atmospheric limitations, there isn't much freedom for them to truly express themselves in the form of melody. Still, "The Treacherous Woods" is overall an above-average forest theme, but doesn't wow me any way in particular.

Innovative track title #4! Apparently Albert Odyssey music kicks ass, too. "Main Theme 1" is indeed a very fine piece of RPG VGM, what with the pleasantly pastoral developments and spectacular music samplings. The woodwind melody in particular is nice and celtic. Quality, quality stuff.

...Crazy track title #1! And to end an otherwise spectacular grouping is this dose of weaksauce. "The G appears" has passive violins, offensive percussions and standard melodic development. *shrugs*

"City" - 10/10
"Adventure" - 8/10
"The Treacherous Woods" - 7.5/10
"Main Theme 1" - 8.5/10
"The G appears" - 4/10

Yet another really fun grouping!

City was some very enjoyable techno; Adventure seems well done and there are some great tunes in there, not listened to much Dragon Quest in my time; Treacherous Woods has a pretty tune but the overall impression is a lacklustre one; I love Albert Odyssey and its violin solos but although they are very beautiful they don't push the boat out very far at all; was really not expecting a violin solo... interesting but the bland rock that makes up the rest of the track doesn't do a great deal for me.

Quite a tricky choice this one but I think City has the edge in terms of charm and groove so will snach the vote from the clutches of the others.

City, a technoish track that is good, a little infectious, but not my thing. Also, enjoyed to an extent The Treacherous Woods, but ultimately forgettable as others have already mentioned.

The G Appears would get a second place vote for me. Kind of liked the blend of all the instruments. Won't be downloading it though.

I have to vote for Main Theme 1 since it has been in my favorite playlist for quite some time. I think it was in a prior VGM contest, but not very prominent. Like the bounciness and use of strings throughout. Beeeeautiful.

Good five-pack here, especially the latter three songs. Going with Main Theme 1 - one of my personal favorites, though The Treacherous Woods would get my vote in many of the other groups thus far.

I'm surprised City is winning - I found it totally forgettable.

1) City doesn't go anywhere for me.

2) I actually prefer the NES/GB chippy version of Adventure to the SNES's orchestral synth. The song is simply more boring at the beginning with the SNES's synth, but does pick up later with the violin.

3) Treacherous Woods is a pretty beautiful song I haven't heard before.

4) Main Theme 1 is above average for the kind of song it's supposed to be, I guess. The trills are a great extra, without them I probably wouldn't have kept listening all the way through.

5) The G appears is pretty cool. I wasn't really expecting the violin to break in there.


Overall, I'm pretty depressed City is winning this round. I blame Main Theme 1 for stealing Treacherous Woods's votes. In any case, I'm going to lean with The G in this case, since it probably won't even matter.

City - Whee! Quarter beat bass and other funkiness!? Just quarter beat bass would have been sufficient enough for me, as simple as that criterion may be. I'm really liking the other things added, augmenting the whole song overall such as the simple cowbell and scratches. The staccatos keep the song nice and light.

Adventure - Cookie-cutter but cute, and for some odd reason, more engaging than other tracks of the same ilk. Probably because of the easily distinguishable sections. It screams RPG, and I like it!

the Treacherous Woods - Sufficient, but I wished the focus was more on that nice twanging acoustic guitar. The flute route for a woods theme is a bit too safe and overdone.

Main Theme 1 - Nice ornamentation throughout, although this sounds like another forest theme and that lumps it with Treacherous Woods for me, which I would pick over Main Theme 1. Honourable mention for the woodwind part and this time, the tambourine is not active enough for me.

The G Appears - I like when the pace picks up to accept the unexpected entry of the violin, as well as those record scratches. A strange and exciting combination of instruments, but even with my rock bias I have to admit the song is kind of messy. Second place ever so slightly under City.

City may not be the most monumentally musical achievement in the world, but damn it sure is addicting. I like how it ends in the middle of the good part; it made me want to play it again. Heavy use of toms at times were kind of silly, though. Easy vote, though Main Theme 1 came close with it's sweeping pads.

Adventure sounds like the music I would hear if moving on three overworlds in three different stock RPGs simultaneously; there's some really good parts, but they're so oddly put together it's almost unbearable. Unfortunate, because 1:00-1:06 could very well be the best 7 seconds in the prelims.