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C64
COVERS ALBUMS
REVIEWS
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Two interesting C64 arrangements albums have been released recently.
I thought it would have been interesting stuff to review for the Atari scene. :)
The "Tune" collumn in the tables indicate the number of the original tune in
the production .SID file (available in the High Voltage SID Collection at
http://www.hvsc.c64.org/).
You can purchase the albums at Synsoniq shop : http://www.synsoniq.com/
You can also find samples of the albums in .MP3 format at the provided URLs.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Press Play on Tape - Loading Ready Run [http://www.pressplayontape.com/] |
+-----+-----------------------------+---------------------------+---------+----+
|Track| Song | Author |Duration |Tune|
+-----+-----------------------------+---------------------------+---------+----+
| 01 | Rambo: First Blood part 2 . | Martin Galway ........... | 03:39 | 01 |
| 02 | Ghosts'n Goblins .......... | Mark Cooksey ............ | 03:33 | 02 |
| 03 | Warhawk ................... | Rob Hubbard ............. | 04:25 | 01 |
| 04 | Monty on the Run .......... | Rob Hubbard ............. | 05:35 | 01 |
| 05 | Beyond the Ice Palace ..... | David Whittaker ......... | 02:33 | 01 |
| 06 | Wizardry .................. | Mike Alsop .............. | 02:45 | 01 |
| 07 | Commando .................. | Rob Hubbard ............. | 04:03 | 01 |
| 08 | Thing on a Spring ......... | Rob Hubbard ............. | 03:42 | 01 |
| 09 | Aztec Challenge ........... | Paul Norman ............. | 03:00 | 02 |
| 10 | Auf Wiedersehen Monty ..... | Rob Hubbard & Ben Daglish | 05:41 | 01 |
| 11 | Paperboy feat. Game Over .. | Mark Cooksey ............ | 04:17 | 02 |
| 12 | Krakout ................... | Ben Daglish ............. | 02:48 | 01 |
| 13 | Thrust .................... | Rob Hubbard ............. | 03:16 | 01 |
| 14 | Master of Magic ........... | Rob Hubbard ............. | 04:35 | 01 |
+-----+-----------------------------+---------------------------+---------+----+
One day i read a news on the Orange Juice website about a band performing live
covers of classics C64 tunes. Very interested, i searched for stuff about them
and i found a video of the band performing Commando at The Party 2000, cool!
But while playing the video, my enthusiasm decreased... Oooh what was that! It
sounded like a band who began playing their instruments just about one month
ago... And i think it was really the case back then.
Press Play on Tape is composed of nothing less than 6 musicians, these being 2
keyboard players, 2 guitar players, a bass player and a drummer.
After some concerts, as they were becoming famous over the scene (certainly more
for the concept of C64 covers concerts than for their musical skills), they
released an album named "Loading Ready Run".
So how does it sound? Hopefully, much better than the concert recordings!
I think that studio mixing helped a lot (especially multiples takes in fact ;).
Anyway there are always little synchronisation problems, some parts sounding
sometimes too fast and complex for them to play in perfect tempo. Also some
notes in the main melody ring sometimes a little false.
Special mention to the drums which are played perfectly (glad because it's the
most important instrument to keep the tempo stable!) and even if the drummer is
playing electronic drums, these are probably not sequenced here, as it was
already good in the live video i saw. Also this guy says that he isn't a drummer
since long, so he has reached a good level quite fast in my opinion.
And about the arrangements? These guys play rock instruments so it mainly
sounds rock and the style doesn't differ a lot on each tracks.
Lots of things have been modified from the original SID versions like more
complex drums, harmonised instruments playing the melody, chord accords in the
back and specific instruments choices, but the main structure of the tunes
hasn't been touched much.
Also there aren't a lot of additional parts or solos, but some freestyle stuff
seems to have sometimes replaced the original melody (a few times anyway).
The synthesizers instruments used are most of the time quite basic ones (i could
even say childish sometimes) and i find it quite a shame because they could have
been using some more stylish ones, same complain about some guitars effects.
Also i would have prefered a more funky rhythm in some parts, but it's a highly
personal opinion. ;)
These guys being big fans of Rob Hubbard, half of the tracks on the album are
some of his compositions. Also most of the selected tunes are well known ones
even for a non C64 owner, as the games have been released on others plateforms
or the tunes covered in others formats (by Mad Max and Tao on ST for example).
[Tracks Review]
Like lots of Martin Galway tunes, Rambo First Blood intro got long arpeggios
sequences which give a wide feeling to the tune and it's nicely rendered here.
Ghosts'n Goblins is quite close to the original but got (slightly) less weird
drums. There's an easter egg in the reversed voice in the background of the
intro. ;)
The guitar which plays the intro of Warhawk doesn't restore the stressing
feeling of it. Same fact in a later part, the whole cover being cooler than the
original.
Monty on the Run is one of my favorites tracks. It's as fast as the original
tune and even if there are some small problems, the rock melody is nicely
reproduced by the guitar. Also this instrument fits perfectly in the blues part
in the middle and i love the rock part that comes after.
There's a transition from the previous track with Beyond the Ice Palace. The
intro here is less dark than the SID version. After that it nicely alternates
the calm and nervous parts, the whole arrangement being more rhythmical than the
original.
Wizardry is an acoustic cover, expecting some shy synthesizer strings in the
back. It's slower than the original and less rhythmical. There's also an
additional part in the middle, but very close to the original melody anyway.
Commando arrangement got a problem, a really loosy synthesizer lead. Also the
repetitive part in the middle is too long and should have been cutted short as
it goes on boring for 30 seconds, but the original is like that too and the
melodic part coming after is really nice. A more funky rhythm wouldn't have been
a nice addition here, in my opinion, along the slap bass.
Thing on a Spring sounds like the original, the happy feeling being greatly
served by the childish synthesizer instruments. The drums solo at 02:58 is a
nice inclusion. :)
The original Aztec Challenge tune have certainly been composed with some hard
rock inspiration and it's is highly expressed here. But i prefer the style of
the Nexus 6581 version as it sounds darker, mainly because there are once again
out of place synthesizer instruments here.
Auf Wiedersehen Monty is another one of my favorites. It got, like his
predecessor, some very rock inspirated parts which sound great played on a
guitar.
The Paperboy cover is very faithfull to the slow funky-blues feeling of the
original but adding lots of elements like solos when there weren't any as well
as a nice break-part at 03:06.
I don't like Krakout at all, but i've got the same problem with the original. In
fact this tune got "crazy" melodies which, even if it's fun to listen the first
time and certainly delirious to play, make me skip this track when i listen to
the album. It could have been a comical-show song, fun but not listenable as it
is for me. Anyway the retranscribtion is faithfull.
Thrust is my thrid favorite piece, mainly because i love the original. The
instruments choosed are quite good, even the synthesizer instruments choice is
not that bad. The wah guitar effect at 01:55 is also a really nice idea, even if
it has been highly suggested by the original SID instrument. Note that it's not
a complete cover, the original having some repetitive parts and also one which
sounds probably too weird to be reproduced by live instruments.
Master of Magic is a great cover, the rhythm complexity, as well as the baroque
style and the tragic feeling of some parts are perfectly rendered. Rob Hubbard
has been inspirated by a song called Shibolet from the band Synergy when
composing the original tune.
Until recently the C64 covers albums available were filled with techno-remixies,
so if you're interested in another kind of arrangements, this album can be an
interesting pick.
But what we got here are rock instruments played versions of the tunes and not a
lot more. And if you've heard the Giana Sisters cover by Machinae Supremacy for
example, don't expect the same variations in the arrangements or the same
mastery of the instruments here.
What i like in arrangements are nice unexpected variations or additions and i
din't found many in Press Play on Tape work.
Anyway the fact that the covers stay very close to the originals tunes will
certainly please lots of people and the weaknesses don't prevent these of being
very nice to listen, some tracks and parts being really great.
But i am not sure that these guys will improve their skills and release another
C64 covers album, as their last idea was to make a boys-band clip where they
were singing the Comic Bakery melody with lyrics about how much they love their
C64, over a boom-boom melody...
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Reyn Ouwehand - Nexus 6581 [http://listen.to/nexus6581/] |
+-----+-----------------------------+---------------------------+---------+----+
|Track| Song | Author |Duration |Tune|
+-----+-----------------------------+---------------------------+---------+----+
| 01 | Last Ninja 3 intro ........ | Reyn Ouwehand ........... | 04:26 | 03 |
| 02 | Shape ..................... | Johannes Bjerregaard .... | 03:41 | 01 |
| 03 | DMC IV part 2 ............. | Johannes Bjerregaard .... | 03:23 | 02 |
| 04 | Enlightement: Druid II .... | David Hanlon ............ | 03:51 | 03 |
| 05 | Flimbo's Quest ............ | Reyn Ouwehand ........... | 03:16 | 01 |
| 06 | Dutch Breeze: Flip the Flop | Reyn Ouwehand ........... | 04:14 | 01 |
| 07 | Deflektor ................. | Ben Daglish ............. | 03:50 | 01 |
| 08 | Special Agent ............. | Johannes Bjerregaard .... | 03:50 | 01 |
| 09 | Blues Meanies part 1 ...... | Steve Barret ............ | 01:42 | 01 |
| 10 | Asian Legends ............. | (Check detail bellow) ... | 07:52 | ** |
| 11 | Aztec Challenge ........... | Paul Norman ............. | 04:06 | 02 |
+-----+-----------------------------+---------------------------+---------+----+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Asian Legends Medley Detail |
+-------------+-----------------------------+---------------+----+-------------+
| Medley Part | Game | Author |Tune|SID Tune Part|
+-------------+-----------------------------+---------------+----+-------------+
| 00:14-00:59 | Fist 2 The Legend Continues | Neil Brennan | 01 | 00:00-00:45 |
| 01:09-02:03 | The Last Ninja ............ | Ben Daglish . | 06 | 00:46-01:40 |
| 02:03-02:26 | Yie Ar Kung Fu 2 .......... | Martin Galway | 05 | 00:15-00:38 |
| 02:26-02:57 | Legend of Kage ............ | Fred Gray ... | 01 | 00:10-00:35 |
| 02:57-03:23 | Yie Ar Kung Fu ............ | Martin Galway | 12 | 00:00-00:22 |
| 03:33-05:02 | Way of the Exploding Fist . | Neil Brennan | 02 | 00:00-00:57 |
| 05:09-05:39 | International Karate ...... | Rob Hubbard . | 01 | 00:25-00:59 |
| 05:39-06:10 | Last Ninja Remix (Approx.). | Reyn Ouwehand | 04 | 00:31-00:46 |
| 06:10-06:39 | Last Ninja 3 .............. | Reyn Ouwehand | 06 | 00:20-00:34 |
| 06:57-07:43 | Last Ninja 2 .............. | Matt Gray ... | 02 | 00:50-01:36 |
+-------------+-----------------------------+---------------+----+-------------+
The first time i saw this album on Synsoniq website, i thought, looking at the
techno-styled cover, that it was just another one filled with bunch of "C64
techno remixies no more interesting than all those you can download freely on
the internet", like the Back in Time series...
But no, it's definitly not this kind of covers we got here.
The arranged tunes aren't the most well-known C64 game-tunes, so if you're not a
C64 owner and gamer, you'll have probably never heard of most of these.
Personnaly, i only knew three of these before listening to the album (the Asian
Legend medley counting as one).
The album is arranged and produced by Reyn Ouwehand, who was a C64 game music
composer back in the 80's and is now a music producer. So the arranger being a
music producer, you can certainly imagine how professional and interesting these
covers are.
Great point is that the style differs on most tracks and the instruments used
too. Reyn Ouwehand has also called a sax player in, himself playing all the
others instruments. Maybe some of these are sampled but anyway none are out of
place and the "real ones" sound realistics. There are even some vocal themes
inclusions in a few tracks (no lyrics though).
[Tracks Review]
Last Ninja 3 intro tune is arranged in an asian/epic style, with a deep reverb
and some chorus voices, the original SID tune sounding already very epic. The
rhythm sounds quite modern and there's a synthetic lead inclusion at 2/3 of the
track, making this cover fitting nicely as a modern "Once Upon a Time in China"
movie opening. ;) There's a solo in the original tune which hasn't been covered
here.
Shape is a C64 demo tune composed by Johannes Bjerregaard to show what he was
capable of. Here we got a very funky version greatly deserved by the sax playing
the main theme. The others instruments are funk-typicals. There's also a
synthetic instrument playing the background melody which sounds quite close to
the original SID one.
DMC (Danish Music Company) IV demo is another music demo from Johannes
Bjerregaard and its 2nd tune got a quite arabic/celtic melody and very tough
instruments. Reyn made a metal arrangement of it which reproduces perfectly the
original powerful feeling. It's astonishing to hear how the original high
octaves SID breaks sounds close to their guitar rendition! The main theme seems
to be played by the sax player along synthesizer strings. This version got more
progressive drums than the original and it adds a lot to the powerful feeling.
It's one of my favorites pieces of the album.
Enlightenment Druid 2 a very calm tune, heard many times in the various
Fairlight cracktros over several plateforms. There're lot of faery instruments
used in this version but the main theme doesn't sound as faery as the original
because it's played by an acoustic guitar which got less echo than the original
SID instrument. There's also a (low frequency played) slow beat coming in the
middle of the track which adds a nice dreamy sensation.
Flimbo's Quest cover sounds quite like a western cartoon music, because there's
a banjo and a typical saloon piano along some funky beat and bass. There's also
an organ solo which adds quite much to the funky style and a nice guitar part.
It results in a great cover of an originaly very funky tune.
Dutch Breeze was a 1991 C64 demoscene production featuring lots of upbeat tunes
by Reyn Ouwehand. He choosed to arrange the less melodic one from the demo,
named Flip the Flop, extending its typical minimalist 90's dance style. The
funky bass intro has been wiped out and only the main theme is present. It also
features lots of cut-off effects and a drum'n bass beat.
Deflektor is a tune focusing on the main melody with a mostly repetitive
background. Here we got a nice rock arrangement with a piano performing the
solos. A calm guitar part varies from the rest of the track and a vocal theme is
also included sometimes.
The sax player is back in Special Agent cover for a funk/rock arrangement. This
track sounds quite like an opening for an US cop show. Special mention to the
calm part which features a vocal/synthetiser solo over some SID arpeggios and
sounds marvelous.
With the absence of rhythm, Blues Meanies is very calm tune and the cover is
even calmer, featuring mostly classical instruments like a flute, a piano and
violoncello, but also an electric guitar. It's an originaly very short piece,
lasting around 30 seconds before looping, so the cover is quite short too,
keeping two loops of the original theme before adding an additional ending part.
And we reached THE Asian Legend track, my favorite piece over the whole
album. This cover is in fact a medley of various themes from C64 asian
-scenarised games, arranged in a (quite typical today) funky/asian style. So we
got classical asian instruments perfectly mixed with a funky beat, a groovy
bass, some synthesizer leads and an electric guitar. It's funky as i would have
wished this kind of medley to be, with a great relaxing part in the middle. The
themes are perfectly placed, around 8 minutes of pure delight! I just miss the
theme i love from the second part of IK+ tune. ;)
As i wrote in the Press Play on Tape album review, the Aztec Challenge SID tune
seems to have been composed with hard rock inspiration. So here we got a metal
cover of it featuring strong trash guitars. The high octaves theme is performed
on a guitar played with a fast moving mediator along a spooky synthesizer lead.
But it's certainly the trash feeling that Reyn Ouwehand wanted to express most
in his arrangement, because at 3/4 of the track there are some additional
electric noise which got volume increased while the music volume is reduced,
ending on loud noise only. Not very cool to listen especially with headphones
and big shame because it would have been a great cover without this weird stuff.
So here we got another C64 non-techno covers album (okay, expecting Flip the
Flop which sounds dancey ;) and this time it got lots of variation in style and
sounds professionnal in composition and masterisation. What more to ask for?
Also no arrangement sounds out of place and all match perfectly with the
original composition.
The best C64 covers albums released so far, in my opinion. :)
[>-------------------------------------------------------) 22/11/02 Dma-Sc (--<]
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