EzloSpirit
Come along with PRIII and the butterflies and bees
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2020
- Messages
- 133
- Reaction score
- 203
- Pronouns
- They/Them
- Refer To Profile
Hey, there! People who know me know I love video game music. I've been obsessed with it for almost 20 years lol. Around 2010, I started getting interested in remixes and arrangements, and now my video game music collection is, uh, large lol.
As you can imagine if my username holds any meaning to you, Zelda dominates my collection of arrangement albums, but Pokémon is in second place! Three that come to mind immediately are: The Missingno Tracks, Kanto Symphony, and Harmony of a Champion.
Missingno Tracks is an OverClocked ReMix album from 2011, shortly before BW came out in the English-speaking world. As such, it covers core-series games from Gens. I-IV. Being an OCR album, it runs the gamut of genres, which makes for a varied listening experience. It comprises two discs, the first of which is dedicated entirely to Gen. I. The best track is objectively "My Greatest Rival," a high-quality GSC Rival battle theme remix that takes cues from the anime's original English theme song and includes some rather...interesting lyrics. Yes, it's the greatest remix of anything ever, and yes, I'm being sarcastic. But not 100% sarcastic. The Missingno Tracks is free to download!
The following year, Skotein, now known by their actual name, Braxton Burks, released Kanto Symphony, the first full-length album from their Pokémon Reorchestrated project, which reimagines the OST of RGBY as a full, classical symphony. Braxton's best works are the albums that tell stories (like the later Time & Space) and are the ones, they've said, that they enjoy putting together the most. Kanto Symphony started that, after initially posting individual arrangements to their site every few weeks. The end result is probably the best way to experience the music of those games. Nostalgia aside, it's a beautiful work of music, and it's one of my favorite albums of all time. You can listen to Kanto Symphony on Spotify or elsewhere, as well as purchase from Materia Collective.
Finally, I'd like to give a shout-out to Harmony of a Champion, the only non-Metroid arrangement album from Shinesparkers, who are known for their Harmony of a Hunter projects. This one cost a fortune for years (something like US$28!!) so I couldn't experience it until the past year or so. (I was ready to pay that high fee, but it had dropped to $9 lol.) It was worth the wait. Like Kanto Symphony, HoaC retells the story and game progression of RGBY through music. This time, however, it's a series of suites from different artists, in different musical styles. (You'll even hear a few of the same melodies arranged in wildly different ways throughout the album.) The album also incorporates sound effects, sampled from real life as well as the games, to create a more immersive experience than you'd get from Kanto Symphony. There's some truly awesome tracks on HoaC. I forget which ones they are, though, because my blood sugar is low right now and I can't brain. XD HoaC should be available anywhere you can find Kanto Symphony.
I didn't mean for this to turn into a set of mini-reviews lol, but here we are! All this is really to start a discussion: what are your favorite Pokémon remix/arrangement albums, and why? (OSTs do not apply here.)
As you can imagine if my username holds any meaning to you, Zelda dominates my collection of arrangement albums, but Pokémon is in second place! Three that come to mind immediately are: The Missingno Tracks, Kanto Symphony, and Harmony of a Champion.
Missingno Tracks is an OverClocked ReMix album from 2011, shortly before BW came out in the English-speaking world. As such, it covers core-series games from Gens. I-IV. Being an OCR album, it runs the gamut of genres, which makes for a varied listening experience. It comprises two discs, the first of which is dedicated entirely to Gen. I. The best track is objectively "My Greatest Rival," a high-quality GSC Rival battle theme remix that takes cues from the anime's original English theme song and includes some rather...interesting lyrics. Yes, it's the greatest remix of anything ever, and yes, I'm being sarcastic. But not 100% sarcastic. The Missingno Tracks is free to download!
The following year, Skotein, now known by their actual name, Braxton Burks, released Kanto Symphony, the first full-length album from their Pokémon Reorchestrated project, which reimagines the OST of RGBY as a full, classical symphony. Braxton's best works are the albums that tell stories (like the later Time & Space) and are the ones, they've said, that they enjoy putting together the most. Kanto Symphony started that, after initially posting individual arrangements to their site every few weeks. The end result is probably the best way to experience the music of those games. Nostalgia aside, it's a beautiful work of music, and it's one of my favorite albums of all time. You can listen to Kanto Symphony on Spotify or elsewhere, as well as purchase from Materia Collective.
Finally, I'd like to give a shout-out to Harmony of a Champion, the only non-Metroid arrangement album from Shinesparkers, who are known for their Harmony of a Hunter projects. This one cost a fortune for years (something like US$28!!) so I couldn't experience it until the past year or so. (I was ready to pay that high fee, but it had dropped to $9 lol.) It was worth the wait. Like Kanto Symphony, HoaC retells the story and game progression of RGBY through music. This time, however, it's a series of suites from different artists, in different musical styles. (You'll even hear a few of the same melodies arranged in wildly different ways throughout the album.) The album also incorporates sound effects, sampled from real life as well as the games, to create a more immersive experience than you'd get from Kanto Symphony. There's some truly awesome tracks on HoaC. I forget which ones they are, though, because my blood sugar is low right now and I can't brain. XD HoaC should be available anywhere you can find Kanto Symphony.
I didn't mean for this to turn into a set of mini-reviews lol, but here we are! All this is really to start a discussion: what are your favorite Pokémon remix/arrangement albums, and why? (OSTs do not apply here.)
