Reviews by LaLa |
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Displaying Reviews 631 - 660 out of 701 |
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Gyruss - arranged by Fash offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Keeping in pace with the frantic speed of the original tune (and game), this cover nevertheless is just about average. Dancey rhythm section overlayed with some dull, overused insturments from the 80's. Nice effort, but that's it. |
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Warhawk (o2 mix) - arranged by o2Review by LaLa, 04/02/2003 I have to admit, I never thought of Warhawk as an electronic ambient piece, and o2 has trouble covering it that way, too, because sometimes he resorts to some pretty sharp leads and arpeggios in the melody line. Yet again, we get a Jarre does from o2, as the bass line is definitely inspired by Jarre (think Magnetic Fields part 1 slowed down), not to mention the various effects here and there. |
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Ocean Loader v2 - arranged by Marcus Hoffrén offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 This is the kind of remix that sits between a full remake of a SID tune and a DJ-whoever remix that is not much more than the original SID + drumloops. One can hear many pieces of the original SID in here, but it's all rearranged a bit with drums, pads, nice lushy synth sounds - with all the right material. It's not a bad remix at all, but somehow I don't think it's a terribly good one, either. Nicely done, but not better. A commandable effort, though, definitely one of the better Ocean Loader remixes out there. |
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Ode to my C64 (Hammerfist) - arranged by MakkeReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 This cover is pretty unique because it has lyrics! And I don't mean synthetized, over-vocoded voices, but a real human singing! It also has cameo appearances by the evil Atombender dude from Impossible Mission and the I-Ball guy. Not much I can comment about the lyrics itself, but I thought I mention that I'd recommend everybody to download this unique gem. |
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Max Headroom (Orbital 3241 Elevator Mix) - arranged by DHSReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 This is one awesome remix! Actually, you get multiple remixes in one compact package, and they are not always similar to each other, either. I wish I had more time to analyze this remix, 'cause it would deserve it. My only gripe is that it's probably too long (what can I say - I am impatient today). |
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Jinks - arranged by Sebasu offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Some of the background sounds are out of tune. Minus 10 points for that (even though it was done on purpose, I assume). The rest of the remix is pretty decent, though. Plus 10 points for that. The best way I can describe this remix: Jinks does the Blair Witch Project. Scary, mystical, amateurish (which does *NOT* equal to crap in my dictionary!), rough at the edges. |
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Cybernoid II - arranged by Tim ForsythReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Too many high frequencies in the drums destroy the rest of the cover. Take that loudness away from the drumtrack, and this is a pretty good Cybernoid cover, albeit a little thin at times (ie. not fat or ear-full enough, esp. the lead). I quite like Tim's use of the effects which replace Jeroen Tel's original SID effects rather than reuse them. It is obvious that a lot of work went into this very faithful cover. But please, rework those drums! |
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Last Ninja 2 - The Sewers (loader) - arranged by Puffy64Review by LaLa, 04/02/2003 It has a beautiful start (paradoxically, since we were supposed to be in the freakin' sewers 😊, and continues very nicely in the same fashion. It's one of the more laid back tracks on this energetic album, and it has also become a favorite by me. |
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Last Ninja 2 - The Sewers (ingame) - arranged by Puffy64Review by LaLa, 04/02/2003 It's just done perfectly! It fits the mood of this level astonishingly precisely, which is more amazing as there's no trace of any SID sound in this track, either. The ending is a bit abrupt - I wish it went on further! |
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Last Ninja 2 - The Mansion (ingame) - arranged by Puffy64Review by LaLa, 04/02/2003 This is great stuff, too, I reall enjoy it! It doesn't sound as strong or as emotional as some of the other tracks on this album, but it is still by far one of the best covers of this tune I've ever heard. |
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Last Ninja 2 - Accoustic Medley part 1 - arranged by Puffy64Review by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Both part 1 and part 2 are very original, unique, quite individual, yet, well-known by all of us. I probably like part 1 more than the other. Too bad they are both so short. |
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Max Headroom (research programme 9512 remix) - arranged by WobblerReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Was there a Max Headroom Remix Competition that I somehow missed?😉 This remix starts out great. Unlike the previous Max Headroom remix I reviewed, this contains the obligatory Max Headroom samples. The whole remix is sort of technoish, but definitely electronic in nature - which is why the strings sound a bit out of place (although they are filtered synth strings). I'd say this tune is about a minute too long - I'd appreciated more variation towards the end. |
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Wizball - Catelite lives - arranged by D0d0 offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 This is not much more than the original SID with added breakbeats. Personally, these are the sort of covers I really don't like. Especially with Wizball - the whole tune is ruined by the inproper and inexperienced use of drum patterns. I'll make every effort to quickly forget that I ever listened to this. |
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Toni Niemelä - Giana Sisters (psychedelic remix) - arranged by Toni NiemeläReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Back to the beat-music era. A touch of Beatles, too, maybe. I can certainly imagine them playing it. Nice new angle on the same old tune, but overall, I don't think it quite works. But it's very, very well done. [After listening to it a few more times, I did decide to give it my approval. It sorta grows on you… ] |
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Last Ninja 3 - Earth (classic version) - arranged by Gavin LucasReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 A bit more orchestration and arrangement work would help this cover a lot, but I think it sounds very nice as it is. The flute sounds could be a bit better, but the whole idea for this cover was a good one. A beautiful LN3 cover. |
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Delta 2000 - arranged by EccoReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Pretty good effort, but veteran listeners will find nothing new here. I think, this version is too similar to the one on BIT1. The additional piano later on makes it worse, not better. |
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Bruce Chop (Bruce Lee) - arranged by RasmussenReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 SID2MIDI the original, then make some weird selections for the instruments. It gets rather noisy in the middle as a new instrument comes in. Dirty samples? Synth-heavy remix, a bit minimalistic, like the original. |
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Aztec Challenge (Live at The Party 2000) - arranged by PRESS PLAY ON TAPE offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 The soundtrack version on BIT2 - awesome. The horror movie version on Nexus - pretty good, but not as good. For the same reason, I am not fond of this one, either. The lead guitar later on sounds really good, though. |
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Thrust (Live at The Party 2000) - arranged by PRESS PLAY ON TAPE offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Fantastic transition from Aztec into Thrust. Now *this* Hubbard tune was a perfect choice for this band! Alright, so the keyboard player had a tad of stage fright when starting out (and later on, too 😒), but everything else went very nicely. Great use of flange/vibrato and wah-wah effects on the lead guitar for this track! |
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Outrun (Live at The Party 2000) - arranged by PRESS PLAY ON TAPE offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Strange and strangely placed sound effects, but hey, they are good enough for me! 😊 Starts out with the original tune, then it goes into an extensive improvisational part, then switches back to the original. I think this tune would sound a tad better with acoustic guitars, but again, PPOT did a great job with this cover. Also, this is another almost flawless performance. |
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Warhawk (Encore) (Live at The Party 2000) - arranged by PRESS PLAY ON TAPE offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Wowee!!! Awesome beginning! I vote this for the best Warhawk beginning ever! Yet another perfect tune for PPOT's setup. Again, here and there I discovered those… ahem, artistic choices😉, but much less than in other covers. Very well performed, too. It's another favorite of mine from the concert! (Also dancey - my feets are moving when I'm listening to this, that's for sure.) |
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Commando (Encore) (Live at The Party 2000) - arranged by PRESS PLAY ON TAPE offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 I'm glad they did it, because for some reason this one sounds better than when they first played it. Practice makes perfect, I guess. =) Sounds more heavy, really aggressive - like it should. Has a better flow to it. Well, in one word, it's better, period. |
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Comic Bakery - arranged by Red DevilReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 So many people tried to cover this famous tune in so many ways, but I don't think that even one of them managed to do it well. I think, precisely because this is such a well-known tune, it's hard to cover it or please people with a remix of it. I have never liked the idea of turning it into a pop/disco/fast beat tune, and Red Devil chose to do that, although the middle part of his remix sounds better to me. Guitars, pianos, base guitars - you name it, it's all in here. Maybe that's why I don't quite like it - it tries to be everything when it's not. |
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Last Ninja 3 (Ninjha mix) - arranged by Red DevilReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 It would be extremely hard for anybody to top Reyn's own cover of the intro tune, but Red Devil has tried to do just that. Did a fairly decent job, for that matter (I really like it when the flute plays the lead in the middle part!), but I think this cover sounds a bit too much like Reyn's own version with strings, piano, choir, flute. Yes, Red Devil added his won twists to it, but I still feel this is a copycat effort, although a really good one. |
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VoidNoid - arranged by traumaReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 A strange short mix of Arkanoid and The Last V8 with a trendy electro-techno feel to it. I can imagine a long C64 megamix in the same style but this one is too short. |
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Lazy Jones (Funky Jones RMX) - arranged by Slumgud offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Do you know the feeling when you hear an excellent joke the second time, and it's just not that funny any more? That's how I feel about this remix. Sure, it was fun to see that DJ make an ass out of himself admitting that his hit is a C64 cover, but I think we are all over that by now. Sure, it's funny to start this house remix with that shouting male crowd, but it's just not that funny any more. |
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Special Agent 2001 - arranged by JBReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Now, if you want to top Reyn Ouwehand, this is how you do it!!! Concise and very professional. That's all I will say about it. Holy sh*t, it's just awesome!!!… … |
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Last Ninja 3 (tune 7) - arranged by FerraraReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Another XM-MP3 conversion from Ferrara. Another nice one from him, somewhat similar to his LN3 tune 8 cover. The soul of the original is there, which I like. |
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MicroProse Soccer Intro: Smooth FeekZoid Mix - arranged by FeekZoidReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 One of my fav tunes is the MPS intro. While I really like Feekzoid's covers, I think his style doesn't fit at all here. MPS intro is a more upbeat tune, with raw, harsh sounds. I think, Feekzoid felt this, too, as he completely cut out the last 30 seconds of the original tune from his cover. It's just not there. Don't get me wrong, this is an awesome piece of music, it's just not what I feel should've been done for this SID. |
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Bad Cat 99 - arranged by Frank Veeltmann offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Some out of tune stuff in the lead at around 1:30 minutes into the cover and on (I mean, the difference between the original SID and this cover is just really audible here and it doesn't sound good to my ears at all), but other than that, I don't think Chris Hülsbeck could've done a much better job himself (well, okay, maybe *he* could've 😊. Samples from the original SID (or the Amiga version?) and more samples that I am familiar with from Amiga MODs can be heard in it. Nicely mixed with an in-your-face attitude (thus, following the SID original well 😊, a good direct cover. Very disco-like (again, like the original). What can I say - I like it! |
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