FFVI Remix Album: Balance and Ruin Review: Disc 3

Disc 3? Already? Wow. Word. Awesome. Let’s do this!

This Disc will be rated on a scale of 1-5 Mogs. One of my favorite characters in both FFVI and FFIX.

Track 1 – Flava de Chocobo (Techno de Chocobo) by Joshua Morse

A very groovy interpretation of Techno de Chocobo by Joshua Morse, who is now infamous in my mind for making the all-too-awesome “softcore-esque” “Awakening” on Disc 1. Without a doubt, if you brought this song to a 70’s disco, people would be dancin’ the night away. I can see their afros, fu manchus, and chest hair now…

Track 2 – Johnny’s Got That Funk (Johnny C Bad) by Anti-Syne

Daaaaaamn, Anti-Syne. You stepped up your game on this track. Johnny does indeed have that funk on this eclectic mixture of of old and new. Anti-Syne wasn’t afraid to go out on a limb, and it paid off. He successfully branded this remix as his own while keeping enough of the original to create a beautiful homage to its predecessor. The breakdown with about 45 seconds to go brings it home.

Track 3 – Gestahlian Sonata (The Empire ‘Gestahl’) by Rexy

I’ll say that I don’t know much about Classical sonatas. I’ll also say, again, that I don’t have much experience in the classical music world. However, one thing I do know is that this song sounds damn good. It changes the tone, but is still dark, depressing, and foreboding as ever while bringing down the tempo. Awesome work by Rexy, and a strong start to the third disc.

Oooooh, and right at the end, there’s a little piano riff of the Final Fantasy Prelude! Wow. I had this at 4.5… But I’m kicking it up to full marks for that.

Track 4 – The Megiddo Brigade (Devil’s Lab) by djpretzel

Another intense, solid track. It keeps the listener interested with slight variation throughout while keeping both the theme and tone of the song similar to the original.

Track 5 – There’s Nothing Like Flying (Blackjack) by DDRKirby(ISQ)

Anything that can capture the feeling of flying in music is pretty darn great in my book, and DDRKirby(ISQ) does a great job of it in this track. The lilting, bouncy tones along with the driving beat combine for a sense of wonder and exhilaration that are required when creating a song like this. I can picture myself up in the great blue sky, wind whipping my hair as I pilot my airship to lands unknown…

… Then, I realize I’m in Vermont, and I haven’t seen the sun in months. Ah well, it was a nice daydream.

FIVE MOGS. SO GOOD.

Track 6 – Mogstradamus (Mog) by Brandon Strader

Y’know, I never really was that down with Mog’s theme, as much as I loved the character himself… I dunno. I think it sounded just a little bit too… I dunno, silly, maybe?

Regardless, this remix is awesome. A few dubby-wubbies, mixing in the original theme well. It turned out wonderfully.

Track 7 – Aggressive Blue Magic (Strago) by halc

I LOVE 8-BIT SOUNDS IN ANY REMIX EVER. THEY SOUND SO GOOD. WHEN YOU HAVE THEM THROUGHOUT THE SONG/AS A MAIN PART OF THE SONG, IT PROBABLY MAKES ME THE MOST HAPPY. THIS SONG DOES THAT, AND IT MAKES ME THE MOST HAPPY.

AM I GOING TO USE CAPS LOCK THIS ENTIRE TIME?!

Nope. Well done, halc.

Track 8 – Pure Essence (Relm) by José the Bronx Rican

Chill. A soothing melody, light, bright, and listenable. José did a nice job making the song his own. Nothing too flashy or mind-boggling, but solid.

Track 9 – Illusionary (Another World of Beasts) by Sole Signal

An appropriate name for this track, “Illusionary” is ethereal and a little creepy. It starts getting a little dub-funky about two minutes in, and I’m not complaining. Nice use of strings to create more ambient creepiness. Again, not my favorite track, but still solid.

Track 10 – Black Genesis (New Continent) by Rexy, Brandon Strader

I was excited to sink my teeth into Rexy’s next track after her previous 5-Mog performance, and while it was very different from “Gestahlian Sonata”, I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, it’s interesting – the ReMixer behind “Gestahlian Sonata” and the one behind “Mogstradamus” come together to create one of the more brutal, intense tracks on the album thus far. Not really my style, but I can dig it.

Track 11 – Meditations on an Apocalypse (Catastrophe) by zircon

Lovin’ the quick, staccatoed tones in the background. Heavy beat with much lighter instrumental overtones. Great mix of the two. Solid. No complaints.

Track 12 – Evisceration (The Fierce Battle) by Flexstyle

This is certainly Fierce. My brain felt like it was indeed being eviscerated by listening to this. Gotta give it some props for being honest.

Nice use of dubs. Better use of wubs.

I feel like if I listened to this too much, I might go a little crazy. For now, though, I’m lovin’ it.

Track 13 – A Tranquil Rest (Rest in Peace) by Forrest Powell

Aw. This track made me sad. Both because it sounds very depressing, the title is depressing, and because I don’t think it’s as tranquil as it should be, given the title. There’s too much going on. When I think “tranquil”, I think minimalist.

It’s just a difference of opinion, I guess, but I think it’s pretty average.

Track 14 – Elegy for a Ruined World (Dark World) by Derek Oren, Jeremy Robson

Whoo. Epic 10-minute song. There’s never much of a pickup, and to be honest, I got a bit bored after the first five minutes or so. I’m going to give it a bit of a better listen later.

Track 15 – Event Horizon (The Day After) by Palpable, OA

Great mixture of guitar and fun, Nightmare-Before-Christmasy tones make this tune quite awesome. A fun, driving interpretation of the original. Palpable for the win.

Track 16 – Blackjack’s breakup Bossa (Blackjack) by Calum Bowen feat. Xarnax42

Hahahaha. I LOVE the vocals in the beginning of this song. Normally, I’m not down with them (as you can see from my previous reviews), but this song doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is exactly what you need for this sort of hotel-lobby remix. Gah, I think it’s great. Not for everyone, but a lot of fun.

Overall

I’ll be honest – I think that the second disc blew me out of the water more than this one did. However, the second disc fell flat on its face with the Opera, and this one was much more consistent.

Because it didn’t blow me out of the water, I’m going to give it a 4.5 Mogs, just because its consistency was great – it was just missing the X-Factor that would bring it up to a 5. Very, very well done.