Escushion
01-30-2005, 08:35 PM
I'm not sure how long the second Black Mages album has been out, but I just found out.
For those who don't know, the first Black Mages album was a compilation of covers for the battle themes of several Final Fantasy games.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the first one, I found this second version to be pretty underwhelming. Things start fantasticallu with the battle theme from FFIII (the real one, not VI in disguise.) The second tune, a cover of the final battle of FFIV, is slightly shaky, but is overall a good tune and an improvement over the old Majestic Mix.
Then we hit a snag. The third track is a cover of Vamo' alla Flamenco, the theme played for the chocobo treasure hunt mini-game from FFIX. The original version sported slick guitar playing and an overall Latin feel. The attempt to metalize it is decent, but not very good. The electric guitar riffs just replay the melody poorly; it wasn't written for that type of playing. The nice effect is lost and this track is a good example of why the Black Mages should stick to battles. Branching out to other fast tracks seems like a good idea, but it really doesn't work here.
Track 4 is Hunter's Chance, the tune played in FFIX when monster-hunting in that one town and when fighting Hades in Memoria. This one also had a very different feel, with more of a folk arrangement to it (not sure if that's the best description.) The Black Mages' rendition is not as good as the original, but at least doesn't take away its strengths. I suppose that's because this one actually sounded like a battle (being used for them is another matter) more than Vamo' alla Flamenco. It's still a stumble compared to any of the tracks on the first Black Mages album.
I had no idea what they would do with Track 5, Otherworld. Yes, Otherworld. They were taking a heavy metal gruntfest of a song and... how could they possibly make it more metal? The answer is, they didn't. Instead they neutered it, both musically and literally; a woman sings this time :p. Not that there's anything wrong with a woman singing metal; most of the metal I listen to has a woman as the primary vocalist. But not only is a woman singing completely inappropriate for this particular song, but this woman is not proper for it. She sounds like one of those cutesy girls (you know the kind) trying to make her voice sound tough. To make matters worse, the great guitar work from the original has all been toned down drastically. It's really sad and the track probably shouldn't have even been considered. There was nothing good they could do to it.
Next is Matoya's Cave, a track from Final Fantasy I. It's an unlikely track, because it's not a battle song, nor is it quick. It's really not a fit for the Black Mages, and it shows. Even while inappropriate for the album, it still had the potential to be a good stand-alone song. Unfortunately, it suffers because it doesn't know whether it wants to be a steady melodic folk song, a slow metal track, or a saucy jazz if guitars were used for that. As a result, it's a train wreck and is easily the worst track on the CD.
Things improve drastically for a brief moment. I was never as much of a fan of The Man With the Machine Gun, Laguna's battle theme in FFVIII, but this is a solid track and as the previous one is probably the worst on the album, this is probably the best.
And then we're downhill again, with what should have been the best track on the album. Maybe I'm A Lion had a great melody and excellent composition in its original form. It also used guitar, but the quality was limited due to the musical processing power on video game CDs at the time. Therefore, one would think the Black Mages would make it all it could be, right? Sadly, that's not what happened. Not only is the beginning a complete mess, but when the really harsh guitar pieces from the original should be coming, they make them tame, stealing all the juice from this excellent song. Other problems on this disc may be bad decisions or stumbles, but what happened here was just a simple, unfaithful screw-up.
The next is Fight with the Four Fiends from FFIV. You can guess the battle its from. This track is decent enough, but the source material for it was never all that great anyway.
Track ten is titled The Skies Above and is a cover of the theme To Zanarkand. "Wait Escushion! To Zanarkand? From the FFX opening? That slow piano solo turned into a metal song?" Yes, that one. And to be honest, this would be the worst track if Matoya's Cave had decided what it wanted to be. It starts with the piano, takes a break, and then goes on for 5 more minutes with a guitar version while some guy sings lyrics pertaining to the game. This did not improve from the demo Daiju posted a while back. It's still just as cringe-inducing.
The last track is more of an homage to Final Fantasy type songs than a cover. It's an original of the Black Mages (I believe; it's certainly not from a game) and tries to emulate the feeling of Final Fantasy tunes, with moderate success. Not a bad track, but not all that interesting.
And so wraps up the second Black Mages album, a big step down from its predecessor. FFVI is absent due to a lack of remaining songs (it had three on the first album and the only battle song left really is Atma Weapon. They're probably saving that for the third album, along with tracks inappropriate for it.) FFVII is also gone, probably for similar reasons. I'm sure a One-Winged Angel cover is inevitable. And then FFV is criminally ignored despite being barely represented on the last album in favor of covering Matoya's Cave of all things.
But at least they didn't cover anything from FFX-2. I bet I just jinxed it.
For those who don't know, the first Black Mages album was a compilation of covers for the battle themes of several Final Fantasy games.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the first one, I found this second version to be pretty underwhelming. Things start fantasticallu with the battle theme from FFIII (the real one, not VI in disguise.) The second tune, a cover of the final battle of FFIV, is slightly shaky, but is overall a good tune and an improvement over the old Majestic Mix.
Then we hit a snag. The third track is a cover of Vamo' alla Flamenco, the theme played for the chocobo treasure hunt mini-game from FFIX. The original version sported slick guitar playing and an overall Latin feel. The attempt to metalize it is decent, but not very good. The electric guitar riffs just replay the melody poorly; it wasn't written for that type of playing. The nice effect is lost and this track is a good example of why the Black Mages should stick to battles. Branching out to other fast tracks seems like a good idea, but it really doesn't work here.
Track 4 is Hunter's Chance, the tune played in FFIX when monster-hunting in that one town and when fighting Hades in Memoria. This one also had a very different feel, with more of a folk arrangement to it (not sure if that's the best description.) The Black Mages' rendition is not as good as the original, but at least doesn't take away its strengths. I suppose that's because this one actually sounded like a battle (being used for them is another matter) more than Vamo' alla Flamenco. It's still a stumble compared to any of the tracks on the first Black Mages album.
I had no idea what they would do with Track 5, Otherworld. Yes, Otherworld. They were taking a heavy metal gruntfest of a song and... how could they possibly make it more metal? The answer is, they didn't. Instead they neutered it, both musically and literally; a woman sings this time :p. Not that there's anything wrong with a woman singing metal; most of the metal I listen to has a woman as the primary vocalist. But not only is a woman singing completely inappropriate for this particular song, but this woman is not proper for it. She sounds like one of those cutesy girls (you know the kind) trying to make her voice sound tough. To make matters worse, the great guitar work from the original has all been toned down drastically. It's really sad and the track probably shouldn't have even been considered. There was nothing good they could do to it.
Next is Matoya's Cave, a track from Final Fantasy I. It's an unlikely track, because it's not a battle song, nor is it quick. It's really not a fit for the Black Mages, and it shows. Even while inappropriate for the album, it still had the potential to be a good stand-alone song. Unfortunately, it suffers because it doesn't know whether it wants to be a steady melodic folk song, a slow metal track, or a saucy jazz if guitars were used for that. As a result, it's a train wreck and is easily the worst track on the CD.
Things improve drastically for a brief moment. I was never as much of a fan of The Man With the Machine Gun, Laguna's battle theme in FFVIII, but this is a solid track and as the previous one is probably the worst on the album, this is probably the best.
And then we're downhill again, with what should have been the best track on the album. Maybe I'm A Lion had a great melody and excellent composition in its original form. It also used guitar, but the quality was limited due to the musical processing power on video game CDs at the time. Therefore, one would think the Black Mages would make it all it could be, right? Sadly, that's not what happened. Not only is the beginning a complete mess, but when the really harsh guitar pieces from the original should be coming, they make them tame, stealing all the juice from this excellent song. Other problems on this disc may be bad decisions or stumbles, but what happened here was just a simple, unfaithful screw-up.
The next is Fight with the Four Fiends from FFIV. You can guess the battle its from. This track is decent enough, but the source material for it was never all that great anyway.
Track ten is titled The Skies Above and is a cover of the theme To Zanarkand. "Wait Escushion! To Zanarkand? From the FFX opening? That slow piano solo turned into a metal song?" Yes, that one. And to be honest, this would be the worst track if Matoya's Cave had decided what it wanted to be. It starts with the piano, takes a break, and then goes on for 5 more minutes with a guitar version while some guy sings lyrics pertaining to the game. This did not improve from the demo Daiju posted a while back. It's still just as cringe-inducing.
The last track is more of an homage to Final Fantasy type songs than a cover. It's an original of the Black Mages (I believe; it's certainly not from a game) and tries to emulate the feeling of Final Fantasy tunes, with moderate success. Not a bad track, but not all that interesting.
And so wraps up the second Black Mages album, a big step down from its predecessor. FFVI is absent due to a lack of remaining songs (it had three on the first album and the only battle song left really is Atma Weapon. They're probably saving that for the third album, along with tracks inappropriate for it.) FFVII is also gone, probably for similar reasons. I'm sure a One-Winged Angel cover is inevitable. And then FFV is criminally ignored despite being barely represented on the last album in favor of covering Matoya's Cave of all things.
But at least they didn't cover anything from FFX-2. I bet I just jinxed it.