Video Game and Anime coverbands

[kiyo-chan]

Recently, there's been a big increase in the number of bands that specialise in covering songs.music from video games and anime. It's becoming a quite a big thing and with VG and anime music getting more and more popular, and like your usual rock songs, there are people itching to hear the songs live, even if it's not the original performers of the song performing. Some people see this sort of "covering" as blasphemy, others see it as marketing opportunities, and others just see it as an annoying trend. Of course, there are those that like it too, and really, that'd prolly where the majority of people lie.

For example, there is the band Select Start (http://www.selectstartband.com) from the town that I'm currently in (um, I mean, my university town. Which I guess you could call my hometown in a sense, but I'd rather not haha. The cellist of Select Start, however, is a friend of mine from days of old and I recently got a chance to hang out with all the band members, all of whom are very cool awesome people. And the guitarist's apartment is incidentally enough diagonally across from my apartment. Total coincidence.). They've played a a few cons (Recently Otakon....hey, anyone hear them live before at a con before? hehehe) and I'd be lying if I said they sucked.

But by no means is this a plug in disguise haha *looks at the mods nervously*. It was that I got to hang with these guys and see just how dedicated they are to their band life (not just the money. These guys just seriously love playing, though the cellist IMed me one day all hyper because NPR had mentioned them, but he added that though it was exciting, fame wasn't what the band was about.) and how in love with VG and anime music that they choose to share it with the world that I wondered what you all thought of VG and anime coverbands....

So! Discuss....*sits and waits* ^_^

[Escushion]

My opinion of them depends on the quality of their work and if the cover does justice to its original. When it's a plain cover, what I want is a jazzed up version of the original song: better equipment, better sound quality, and maybe some emphasis on other pieces of the melody (some tracks have brought to my attention pieces of the song I was unaware of before.)

What happens sometimes is that the cover band gets cocky, thinking they can improve the original song. On occasion, they can, and we get an even better piece of work. A girl who did "To Zanarkand" as a piece for her final in piano class (or whatever it's called) actually did a varied speed rendition, and it's now my prefered listening. But more often, the band just screws it up when they try to go off on their own.

More often, I prefer bands like the Minibosses, who take the tracks of the game and do their own thing with them. Like a medley remix rather than a deviating cover. There's a lot of good stuff on OCRemix, such as "A Foray into Eastern Horizons," that even blends the music of more than one game.