1. Consider Yourself a Hero
   Wassup Thunder
2. By Thy Mighty Hand
   Souperion
3. The Bionic Brass and Blue
   TheVodouQueen

Ok after listening i think Wassup Thunder should get the win..

From the top....

Souperion - I dig the choir man, it sounds lovely, and creates a perfect atmosphere. I also like how you went for a slower more cinematic approach. Gothic is probably what i associate with the most. The organ really seems to work super well here, and a highlight, because your putting a different spin on the original intent. For me i feel the some of the sounds are a little too artificial, and doesn't blend as well as it could. Also i feel it stays in a similar sound palette for majority of it's runtime. This one isn't as strong of a reaction, but i think it could be better in that regard. Also I'd watch out for the organ's range, because organs are known for being bass heavy, and that could potentially make things muddy, which in this case was pretty close. The choir however was amazing and definitely makes this one enjoyable experience. Well done!

Wassup Thunder - Sweet orchestra vibes all around, i like it a lot. Great drums and melody, it reminds me of the symphonic arrangement from the composer himself. Especially since the original is more like 80's rock, and this is classical music. Really like how each instrument is transcribed well, the melody is a versatile one, so this can work. I might be biased towards the original source, but it could help bridge the gap, if you add some kind of synth element. I know it's orchestral music, and as a avid listener of classical music, i think it's a great touch, but i don't know, i just like that idea, maybe it's me. The tempo changes were too sudden for my liking, better transitions could make it work more well. I do love the strings, it's a very epic piece. The strings don't seem to have any articulation in them, it sounds very...one sided is probably the word. However it's largely because of the lack of articulation. However i love the orchestral sound, it sounded great for it, if anything just polish is needed, well done!

TheVodouQueen - Great voice samples, i find it very engaging to the concept. If anything it works well in the aesthetic, since Turrican is set in the future. Your sounds are vaguely similar to mine lol. It's kind of like we had the same 80's synth mindset haha. I mean of course they're both completely different, it's just a joke i'm doing. I think a lovely synth lead for the melody is just the job, you captured the melody excellently. Wish the drums came in earlier though, the beat takes ages to come in. The samples are also a little too long for me. Not saying it's wrong to add them, what i mean is that, before the beat i waited on a 20-30 second voice/SFX clip before it drops. When the beat comes in though, oh man, does it sound amazing. I like the kind of beat for the source, it's a great touch. There is some background element i can't put my finger off, that seems weirdly out of key, but it could be me. It get's masked in the chords and melody, but when you solo it, it's more obvious. The melody and chords are really good though, amazing work there! The whole concept is lovely, you did an lovely job on this. Well done!

1. Consider Yourself a Hero
   Wassup Thunder
2. Nothing Will Stop Me
   TheVideoGamer
3. The Bionic Brass and Blue
   TheVodouQueen

Was feeling laconic today, but good stuff ya'll.

Wassup T.: You had me at that reference to Contra's ending adulations, and the mix delivers. The level of drama moves nicely though the piece, I was eager to hear what would come next all the way through.

TheVideoGamer: Real fun take on the source. Very peppy and exhilarating, a real celebratory feel. Those stabs on the arpeggios made my day.

TheVodouQueen: Nice direction for this one! I got a bit bored with all the voice-clips in the beginning, but the thing really grooves once it gets rolling. I suddenly crave 80s tv shows.

1. By Thy Mighty Hand
   Souperion
2. Nothing Will Stop Me
   TheVideoGamer
3. The Bionic Brass and Blue
   TheVodouQueen

Great music, everyone. I hope to get better at giving useful, understandable feedback to help everyone along their musical journey, but until then, here's my brief reasoning.

Souperion: I liked the concept of this piece, it does carry that kinda... chapel hymn vibe that I think you were going for. The choral chords (heheh) came out real well to support the melody. The airy space between the bass chords and lead organ/strings was a good effect. Really enjoyed the outro.

TheVideoGamer, nailed that 80's synth vibe. Everything's cripsy clear and funky (that opening "wa wa wa wa" sound made me chuckle immediately.) Your rhythmic variations fleshed the piece quite well, giving it energetic new life. I thought you succeeded at making the transitions more natural and satisfying as well.

TheVodouQueen, I believe you hit this song's proverbial nail on the head with that 80's TV show vibe and sound bytes. Sounded like robo cop quotes I think. Anyway, you captured the kind of lower recording fidelity authentic to the 80's genre, and I think that complimented your instruments really well. Great work capturing that retro style for this one!

1. Consider Yourself a Hero
   Wassup Thunder
2. By Thy Mighty Hand
   Souperion
3. Nothing Will Stop Me
   TheVideoGamer

Aw shit, here we go again...

I gotta be heavy nitpicky just because of the outstanding quality and coolness and genre-differences of these songs. Each with their own unique take on an absolutely beautiful track.

Choosing the "best of the best" is awfully hard around you guys!

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1) 'Consider Yourself a Hero' - Wassup Thunder

Pros:

* Love the beginning build up to the big fanfare. Very worthy of a Turrican movie. :D Kind of reminds me of Starship Troopers a lil' bit. Unsure why or if that was a motivator for this. xD

* The drums are pretty cool, and the very Marine-style marching band motif and even the more primal big kettles matched the main beat perfectly. Invokes the thoughts of war and sacrifice. All the good stuff.

* 2:25 - 4:10 was...the greatest part of the entire song. The increased pace and more action-oriented feeling driving home the ideas of freedom and victory were fantastic. I'm unsure why, but atop of the rest of it it feels very patriotic and I'm sure if I never heard the original song, I'd think that this actually came from either a different game entirely or some Hollywood blockbuster / worthy cinematic experience. Great job!

Critique:

* From 4:15 onwards, that's definitely where that Starship Troopers / American patriotism starts to sink in. Maybe a bit TOO much. I liked the flutes, but somehow...I think this softer composition actually took away from the overall song. It feels too lighthearted too suddenly, and flipped the song from ultra serious "war never changes", am I watching a war film vibes to almost a parody of the concept. Maybe it's because I wasn't a big fan of the tonal shift in the original song, but this felt like it could've been its own separate affair (two separate songs).

* That weird flat 'do-doot' of the trumpet / cymbal crash at 5:09 - 5:10 took me out of the zone for a split-second. I think it could've been cut to silence a bit earlier to stop that abrupt, fumbling horn sound...

* Otherwise, this song is very, very well done and put together. Loved listening to every second of it, even the ending. ^_^

2) 'By Thy Mighty Hand' - Souperion

Pros:

* You're in your wheelhouse again, and with the added fresh touch of those hymnal vocals... As always, evocative and beautiful. Makes me feel like I'm about to fight a Dark Souls boss at the beginning, I swear.

* The organ play for the main melody gave me goosebumps to listen to--in an extremely good way. I had a hard time choosing between you and Wassup in particular, because unfortunately, both the songs were right up my alley and so finely tuned and tremendously well-executed. :( If joint 1st were an option, I'd take it.

* The back and forth and juxtaposition between the softer, darker, more solemn "praying" moments to the bigger, more bombastic, ray-of-light "spiritual" moments throughout the song was a treat. Exquisite. I'm unsure how else to describe it, but I never thought this genre would work for 'Freedom'--albeit I should've expected it, coming from you, (or a sea shanty!) ;) But yeah, I don't have a whole lot to say, other than fantastic job.

Critique:

* Again, I'm sorry I have to be nitpicky, and this feels a lot more like expectation and preference rather than a "you did this wrong" thing, but honestly by the time we hit that 3:20 or so mark, I wanted some church bells or tubular chime hits in there. Even if it took over the drum slot of the actual song, (which I noticed you took out altogether), like one or two hits on occasion from that point till the end I think would've added that bit o' spice to the song.

* Still not a huge fan of the song's later, more lighthearted "victory" fanfare part, but you melded it with the rest of the song very well, and kept that motif going. Good stuff.

* I'm sure Anachromium is better suited at critique on more orchestrally-defined pieces of music, but I kind of felt there was a big limitation on instruments in this piece--of which you could've incorporated some sort of very minor percussion to just spice it up. I guess it goes with my first point, but I heard--besides the vocals--about 3 instruments? What sounded like a harp / some strings, upper organ (high notes) and lower organ (low notes), and that was about it. I know religious choral / choir tends to be pretty few in terms of instrumentation, but maybe just a bit more here and there would've widened the song scope a bit...I guess fleshed it out and made it a bit more well-rounded. However, the play on volume did wonders for that in-and-of-itself, so this is a very, very minor point I'm making. D:

3) 'Nothing Will Stop Me' - TheVideoGamer

Pros:

* Yup, definitely getting the Depeche Mode vibes from the very opening bars. Those synths slap. Love it. <3

* This song out of the lot is more related and uses more of the oddly light-hearted nature of this 'final battle' music feel. The latter half of 'Freedom', which I mentioned before I wasn't a huge fan of, actually was really good in this song, and made it real New Wave Dance-sounding, like some weird '80s club music. Nice. :D

* I liked the ending. :0 Find it funny how we kind of had the same idea of how to end the song. Unsure why, just amusing to notice. xD The plucked bass was smooth too. <3

Critique:

* Sadly what killed the song (for me anyways) was the drumkit. I have no poignant idea as to why or how, but somehow the synthesized drums were just...I think too high for me. Not the volume, but the tone. I guess it's more fitting for the vibe you were going for, but for me I expected deeper drums. Not enough to be fighting the bassline or pads, but enough to give that thumping beat, (e.g. 'Personal Jesus' or 'People Are People' from Depeche Mode, to name two examples.)

* Wasn't a big fan of the claps or the cymbal crash at the very end either. :( I think the running drumline would've been fine enough without the claps...

* But at the same time some added percussion is still needed. I'm starting to think the claps particularly aren't an issue, it might just be the rate of their use (i.e. too many claps). It's hard to describe. I can't put my finger on it but just, something is out of wack for me in the song where it clashed in my head and was off. Maybe other people's critiques can narrow the issue down a bit better than I can...apologies! D:

1. Consider Yourself a Hero
   Wassup Thunder
2. The Bionic Brass and Blue
   TheVodouQueen
3. Nothing Will Stop Me
   TheVideoGamer

Souperion - Wonderful intro, loved the organs in combination with the choirs.

TheVideoGamer - Liked the style, it's catchy and well mixed with lots of variation.

TheVodouQueen - Much stuff is in this song and lots of variation. Especially liked the last sections.

Wassup Thunder - Nice interpretation of the source, song is very complete and well mixed.

1. Consider Yourself a Hero
   Wassup Thunder
2. The Bionic Brass and Blue
   TheVodouQueen
3. Nothing Will Stop Me
   TheVideoGamer

Very intriguing round this time! Again everyone coming up with different styles, fun to listen to, great stuff!

As always I'll try to comment on the stuff that strikes my ears which is more or less depending on the genre and how familiar I'm with it.

It's extremely difficult for me to find a ranking this time as all remixes are great in their own way and I have a reason for every single one of them to get first place.

First place goes to Wassup Thunder for considering himself the hero and risking an orchestral arrangement knowing full well he'll get around twenty pages of criticism from me.

Second place goes to TheVodouQueen for answering the call and making me want to watch a 70s tv show!

Third place goes to TheVideoGamer for a song that lives up to its name and gives you the feeling that there's nothing that's gonna stop you.

Detailed commentary

=================

Souperion - By Thy Mighty Hand:

This one builds a beautiful atmosphere! The balance feels good, the elaborations on the themes are a nice personal touch! I also like, how the overall formal layout follows the original without being the same.

Two things that I'd like to critisize:

• The harp line at the beginning has some notes in it that just don't fit the uplifting atmosphere (e.g. at 0:25 or 0:34)
• The ending could build up more - it feels a little bit unsatisfying.

In an alternate universe you'd get #1-pick for the atmosphere you build up and the goosebumps I get when listening.

Wassup Thunder - Consider Yourself a Hero:

Great ideas in this one! Many small things I notice in this one, that I'd try to go on as I listen through it.

• Horn's at the beginning could be a bit louder while having less amount of dry-signal in the reverb. The drum hits are too quiet, they can really blast ofer the rest of the orchestra! (Not a critisism, but could you try and put the main theme at 0:40 on a rock guitar? I got the feeling that it would be a blast! :D)
• 1:20 feels a little bit unbalanced, the high strings could get more in the background, strings on the low end are missing a bit. You'd probably want the the pulsing rhythm in the strings in the mid range and put some low ground below. (Like around 2:00)
• 2:10 bring out those horns!
• 3:00 the high strings feel like there's no fundament to the melody.
• Love the quiet part beginning from 4:15 (Although probably every drummer would make a nice decrescendo into that part)
• 5:10 feels extremely fast as a transition
• Maybe the last chord's too much, the soft ending would feel more open without having a final note.

Even so there's a ton I had to say about this one, I still enjoyed it very much!

TheVideoGamer - Nothing Will Stop Me:

Great vibes in this one! Love the sound selection and the beats!

• Although the melody synth has some high frequencies to it that make it a little bit unpleasant for me to listen at. (I remember, I critisized something along those last lines last time, so I assume it's probably just a matter of taste.)
• 2:00-2:10: Here's I really LOVE the high frequencies!
• 3:20 feels a little bit cloudy, the main melody's hidden away. Maybe a transition would have been more interesting to listen to, slowly clouding the theme into the reverb/backings?
• The last hit on the drum feels awkward to maybe, like being an eigth too late, can't help myself.

Anyway: great work again! Would be my #1-pick in terms of consistency!

TheVodouQueen - The Bionic Brass and Blue:

Again you come up with a great concept that's very fitting to the source. Now I have to see if I can find the TV series anywhere.

• Good sound selection overall, small tweakings to the original theme that leave it intact while giving a completely different feel.
• At 4:10 and 5:22 the way you break tonality is way better than it was in the double-round mashup, even though it still feels a little bit weird on the first listen.
• Somehow the bass drum has a chirping quality to it. Can't say if I like it or not - it definitely has something!
• The only thing that I can critisize is that the voice samples feel just a little bit repetitive, in terms of the end being the same as the beginning. It feels like there's no journey from start to finish.

Asides from that: That's just good stuff from you once more! The seamless way you managed to integrate the samples would probably make it #1 for me on another day.