Showing posts with label Listening Chamber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Listening Chamber. Show all posts

Thursday, April 11, 2013

The Listening Chamber: Metroid Metal - Metroid Metal (2003)

After a brief period of extreme business In Real Life, and with several other entries having been started but none yet finished, we’re back with another installation in the Listening Chamber.  In the last two discussions in the Listening Chamber, we featured a band that focused on the music from games from a particular console and a band that only played songs from a particular company.  This time, we will take a look at a project that only features the music from games in a particular series.

The project is Metroid Metal, and the album is the self-titled Metroid Metal, self-released in 2003.  The original Metroid Metal was a project begun by Stemage (aka Grant Henry) in 2003 with the intent to only cover all of the songs from the original Famicom Disk System / Nintendo Entertainment System title, and not songs from other Metroid titles.  Stemage later decided to cover songs from other games in the series, and the project expanded into a full band playing as Metroid Metal Live.  Additional songs have been recorded since the original release in 2003, and an extended version of the album was released in 2007 with the same title.  This discussion will focus on the original 2003 release.

Metroid Metal - Metroid Metal (2003)

Metroid Metal contains 12 tracks – all 12 of which are VGM covers from the original Metroid game – and runs for roughly 29:21.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Listening Chamber: MegaDriver - Push Start Button (Round One) (2003)

Most VGM cover bands tend to focus on games that were well known, or on games from systems that were more popular when development for the system still occurred.  Where games from the 8-bit or 16-bit consoles are concerned, the focus in VGM covers has tended to be oriented towards consoles produced by Nintendo, with the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System receiving more attention than their contemporary competitors.  However, those systems were not the only popular consoles of their day, and they are not the only systems with games that have had VGM covers made.

Sega’s Mega Drive (known as the Genesis in North American markets) led the gaming market for a time while Nintendo transitioned from the 8-bit NES to the 16-bit SNES, in part due to their advertising campaigns which claimed that “Sega does what Nintendon’t” and included the fictitious “blast processing” term.  “Welcome to the next level” indeed.  And while Wii all know that Sega is no longer in the console making business and Nintendo is still around, there is no denying that Sega certainly had their time on top.  Thus, it should not be surprising that there are VGM cover bands focused on covering songs from Mega Drive games, and we’ll be looking at just such a group in this discussion in The Listening Chamber. 

The band is MegaDriver, and the album is Push Start Button (Round One), self-released in 2003.  MegaDriver is based out of São Paulo, Brazil, and they play heavy metal renditions of music from video games on various consoles, with an emphasis towards games from the Sega Mega Drive.  The group currently consists of two guitar players, a bass player, a drummer, and a vocalist, although they did not have a vocalist at the time that Push Start Button (Round One) was created.  Of special note is that the lead guitar player, Nino MegaDriver, plays tracks on two special custom guitars.  One guitar has been made out of a Mega Drive console, and the other is made in the shape of Sonic the Hedgehog’s head.


MegaDriver - Push Start Button (Round One) (2003)

Push Start Button (Round One) contains 11 tracks – all 11 of which are VGM covers – and runs for roughly 30:53.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

The Listening Chamber: The Black Mages - The Black Mages (2003)

Video game music cover bands are usually made up of fans of video games, and it’s probably safe to say that they’re also composed of fans of video game music in general.  There are also orchestral covers of video game music made by groups of musicians who aren’t necessarily invested in video games at all.  But what about VGM cover bands comprised of VGM creators?  In this discussion in the Listening Chamber, we’ll look at just such a group.

The band is The Black Mages, and the album is the self-titled The Black Mages from 2003.  The Black Mages were originally comprised of three members, all of whom were video game music composers for Square Enix: Nobuo Uematsu, Kenichiro Fukui, and Tsuyoshi Sekito.  They performed instrumental rock covers of songs from the Final Fantasy series of games.  On The Black Mages, the group consisted of Uematsu and Fukui on keyboards and Sekito on guitar.

Eventually the group expanded to six members, and they released two additional albums before dissolving in 2010 after several members, including Uematsu, were no longer working for Square Enix.  The group never toured, but rather played several concerts to promote sales of their albums.  They were limited to playing covers of music from games owned by Square Enix since the company owned the band, so there were not covers of songs from any other companies released under The Black Mages name

The Black Mages - The Black Mages (2003)

The Black Mages contains 10 tracks, all of which are battle themes composed by Nobuo Uematsu that are present in games in the Final Fantasy series, and has a run-time of 51:23.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Listening Chamber: The NESkimos - Battle: Perfect Selection (2002)

Nerd Up returns from a Holiday break with another installation of The Listening Chamber.  Not every VGM cover band is successful, and not all successful VGM cover bands play what would be called “good” covers.  Determining what constitutes “successful” or “good” is rather subjective, and opinions on styles vary from person to person.  This can lead to a polarizing situation where different people might love or hate the music, and that is the case with the topic of today’s discussion. 

The band in question is The NESkimos, and the album is Battle: Perfect Selection, self-released in 2002.  The NESkimos are based out of St. Augustine, Florida, and although they had hung up their instruments in 2008, they started making some appearances at conventions and other events again in 2012.  In general, The NESkimos play rock covers of music from video games from the NES and SNES, but the group does perform some songs in different styles such as surf rock and bossa nova.  The group currently consists of two guitar players who also provide vocals on some tracks, a bass player, and a drummer.  Between the period of their last album release and their reformation, they had no drummer and used sequenced drum tracks instead.

Most of the differences in opinion on the band’s quality arise from the fact that they do not always attempt to recreate the songs they are covering note-for-note, and they will often create additional parts to songs, change the way the song is played, or add lyrics to the arrangement.  While none of these things is unheard of in cover bands, The NESkimos were the first widely known VGM cover band to do this.  Some people had issues with the improvisation.  Others thought that the songs were simply being played poorly or incorrectly since the notes were not the same as the original music from the games.  I’ll leave it to each individual to decide for themselves if they like the style or not.

The NESkimos - Battle: Perfect Selection (2002)

Battle: Perfect Selection contains 23 tracks – 22 covers and 1 original skit – and runs for roughly 1:12:08, making it longer than most other VGM cover albums. 

Friday, December 14, 2012

The Listening Chamber: Game Over - Nintendo Metal (2002)

Previously in The Listening Chamber, we looked at the early work of Minibosses, one of the first VGM cover bands to release an album that was widely received.  This time, we’ll look at one of the first VGM bands to release an album that included original vocals to go along with their rendition of the music from various video games.  The band is Game Over, and the album is Nintendo Metal, self-released in 2002 by Game Over.  Game Over are based out of Sweden, and currently consist of a vocalist, a guitar player, a bass player, and a drummer.  The musical style is metal covers of the music from classic games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, with original lyrics created by the band for most songs that tell a story pertaining to the particular game that is being covered.  All of the lyrics on this album are dark in nature, with themes of hopelessness, despair, and failure being prevalent.

Game Over - Nintendo Metal (2002)



Nintendo Metal consists of 5 tracks – 4 with vocals and 1 instrumental – and has a run-time of 17:37.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The Listening Chamber: Minibosses - Minibosses (2000)

Video games, as an immersive form of media, tie in graphics, cinematics, sound effects, music, and player input in an attempt to create an environment that absorbs the player in the action and environment of a game.  In the early years of the gaming industry, technological limitations with respect to both audio and video capabilities of systems allowed for only minimalistic approaches to the type of sounds and graphics that a game could contain.  As processing power and storage space increased over time, game developers were able to expand upon what they could offer.  Competition for sales led companies to seek out, train, and develop talented sound programmers and composers to create expansive aural themes and memorable music that would help to attract consumers to their games. 

Many memorable tunes were created in video games spanning all types of genres over the course of many years; indeed, fans of video game music are still listening to the soundtracks of games that were released well over two decades ago from the original writing of this post.  Musically talented fans of video game music learned to recreate the songs and jingles that they enjoyed listening to while playing games.  Some of these video game music enthusiasts grouped together and formed bands with a focus on playing the covers of video game music that they enjoyed.  With the open community structure of the internet, these bands were able to reach a broader audience around the world than they would otherwise have had access to, and fans of game music were able to experience what otherwise would only have been available in local markets.

In this inaugural writing for The Listening Chamber, we’ll take a look at the first album from one of the earlier VGM bands to establish themselves.  The band is Minibosses, and the album is their self-titled Minibosses, self-released in 2000 on Kraid Records.  The group plays instrumental rock covers of the music from now classic games, at this time mostly from games released on the Nintendo Entertainment System.  On their earlier albums, including Minibosses, the band also included original songs that they had written which are not, interestingly enough, about video games.  Minibosses also includes a cover of the theme song to a 1980s cartoon.

Minibosses - Minibosses (2000)


Minibosses contains 11 tracks – 7 covers and 4 original songs – and runs for roughly 41:45.