Sonic Live in Sydney (Album) Review

  

Details

"Sonic Live in Sydney" was a musical preformed in "SegaWorld Sydney," an an amusement park closed four years after opening. Sonic was oddly featured with blue arms and Sally (from the "Sat Am" cartoon) was also featured in a lot of merchandise. The musical featured costumed actors of Sonic, Robotnik, Tails, and Sally, but it was later replaced with a puppet show. Knuckles appears on the CD for promotional purposes, not being a part of the storyline. Where Robotnik kidnaps Sally, falls in love with her, and Sonic knocks Robotnik out with a sleeping potion. This is a very obscure and odd piece of Sonic history.  

 

Summary

The disc features three original songs and then the performance. 

The beginning of "What are we waiting for " sounds like it steals the tune something, I just can't think of it! Regardless, it's...something. There are points when it becomes pretty obvious "Sonic" is a female. Eventually when it gets to the chorus, it is actually catchy, and no less cheesy than the Sat Am opening. 

"Give Me Chaos" has a "Monster Mash" quality to it, with Robotnik's narration. Kind of amusing but worse. The next song, "Thank You for Being You," is even worse than that. It's very 90s ish, and kinda' makes "My Sweet Passion" seem like a master piece. It could be cute, but it's overly drawn-out. I don't think it's very "Sally."

The performance is odd story wise, but based on audio: Sonic and Robotnik's actors aren't perfect but they do a decent job at imitating their DiC cartoon voices. Impressive considering the accent differences I guess. Tails and Sally's voices are way off, though. Tails is insanely annoying and Sally's accent is confused. There are quite a bit of musical elements from the Genesis games, specifically Sonic 2, I think, but serves more as a background to the dialogue.  

  

Final Ranking: E

Um. It's not as bad as I thought, truthfully. I guess the chorus of "What are We Waiting For" is the best moment. The songs...aren't terrible, but fairly cheesy. The fourth track, "the show," is really the worst part.

As a whole...I gotta' wonder how none of this has shown up in a YTP or parody. I guess it's just that obscure. 

Virtual Sonic (Album) Review

 

Details

Virtual Sonic was composed by Howard Drossin. From what I learned on Sonic Retro, the music was rushed and done in only one month for the opening of Sega VirtualLand (an amusement facility in a Las Vegas hotel that closed in 98). The album describes itself as: "enhanced music inspired by the world of Sonic." 

 

Summary

In total the selection is odd. The music is funky jazz, cultural atmosphere, metalish rock, 90s hip-hop, and featuring samples ranging from chants to opera and grunts of "come on"...It's kinda' all over the place without anything to link it together. Impressive given the amount of time.

While there are new versions of some familiar tracks, like the Sonic and Knuckles theme, most of the music seems loosely inspired. After just listening to Sonic Boom, the spinball tracks don't seem too different from that album, though. 

The wild "Knucklemania" is kinda' funny, but it's basically a clue as to what the character was like at the time. "Robotnik's Revenge" is strange, seeming to be a funky, very 90s track inspired by Sonic 3 & Knuckles with a hint of Spinball. Much of the tracks, if they do resemble Sonic games, resemble those (likely because those were the Sonic games the composer had experience with). "Sandopolis" is vastly different than Sonic & Knuckles' Sandoplolis, however, being more akin to a song made much later for Sonic 06, Dusty Desert. "Boss Opera" may have been inspired by Final Fever from the JP OST of Sonic CD, but other parts seem to contradict this, so I'm not sure.   

"Chaos Jam" seems ahead of its time. Perhaps it was inspired by US Sonic CD OST (rock), but when it combines guitar and hints of the funky Spinball theme, it ends in something that resembles Sonic Adventure. Second most enjoyable track, the first being...

"Metal Sonic." Having vocals makes it stand out on the album, but also in general. The "Classic Sonic" era was mostly made of female vocal songs, so this (being male) also stands out for the time. While the lyrics are infamously hard to make out, they are oddly fitting, calling Metal a "black-eyed stingray," and insisting, "he's put together the wrong way." It's interesting to compare this with the song "Look-a-like" from the OVA because they, much like Stardust Speedway Bad Future, seem to represent the American vs Japanese view of Metal Sonic, and by extension, Sonic.   

  

Final Ranking: C

A little strange. I like "Metal Sonic" and "Chaos Jam" a lot, and the Spinball tracks are also good choices. "Knucklemania" is memorable and "City in the Clouds" is peaceful. 

It's not that it's bad, but that it's an odd combination in total. 

Sonic the Hedgehog (Album) ["Sonic Arcade"] Review

   

Details

Arcade Co. made a 1996 Sonic the Hedgehog album based on the series. It is perhaps best known for "They Call Me Sonic" (which was given a "Furry Tails" parody by Bentley Jones at the "Summer of Sonic" in 2009). "Sonic Electronic," "Sonic and Tails," and "King of the Ring" were also songs featuring lyrics. There were extra versions of "They Call Me Sonic" and "King of the Ring." 

"They Call Me Sonic" has a music video (that reused footage from Sonic 3, Sonic 2, Sonic and Knuckles, and a scrapped Sonic game). The artwork featured was from the box of Sonic Chaos. 

 

Summary

"They call me Sonic" sounds like it was narrated by a little kid. Despite how it sounds at first, it becomes addicting and is the best of the vocal group. "Sonic Electronic" is cheesier, and "King of the Ring" follows suit. "Sonic and Tails" strikes me as the worst, but it's probably the accent.   

The rest of the tracks are easier to take seriously, their Sonic Riders resemblance making it ahead of its time. The electronic music is a lot of fun energy. However, their resemblance to the actual levels seems minimal. I found all of these pretty enjoyable but...

"Entering Death Egg Zone." It sounds oddly happy. Then there's the robot voice randomly spatting out "casino...night zone!" and other stuff. "Enter the Final Zone" is similar because it's mostly just a voice saying "Enter the final zone!" but it's more mysterious, which saves it.      

  

Final Ranking: C

The lyrics aren't much to brag about, and with the high "child" sounding vocals they seem silly. Also, this seems to be pretty loosely inspired (ex: "Wing Fortress Rave" sounds more "Rave" than "Wing Fortress"). However I'd be lying if I said I didn't find the music likable. The songs are insanely catchy.  

StH: Remix (Album) Review

 

Details

Not long after Sonic Boom was released, Japan's own Sonic CD music would be released with Sonic the Hedgehog Remix. As the title suggests, the tracks are remixes. They were done by the original composers of the Japanese OST, Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata. The vocal credits were "yasu" and Momo Michishita (as "momo"). 

Part of the song "Brand New World" can be heard in the 2011 rerelease (in Time Attack mode with the Japanese OST selected). 

 

Summary

Generally I prefer Sonic Remix to the original Japanese tracks. "Dr. Gigglymen," a remix of the boss music, is a prime example of why. Everything about the original boss theme was 90s cringe. Likewise, I don't have much respect for the Japanese version of Stardust Speedway bad future, and disliked the "hues" in all time zones. 

HOWEVER, these elements wind-up addicting when morphed into "Dr. Gigglymen." The "heys" here sound smooth and catchy rather than the being the out-of-place juxtaposed garbage they are in Sonic CD. With extra influence from Final Fever, the piece soars into being one of the best Sonic CD songs. 

Techno Power mix, while being a version of Wacky Workbench as a whole, includes much of the bad futures together, creating a cool combination of some of CD's best moments. Miracle Blue/Little planet is a beautiful contrast, being a peaceful assemblage of the good futures. 

There's a lot of fun techno energy that feels less experimental and more put-together. There's just one drawback... 

The vocal songs. While I've come to enjoy most of them, they'll sound like complete nonsense to any American listener. Personally, I'm fond of all of them except "Love you 'Sonic,'" but I can see it scaring off new listeners.     

Final Ranking: A

Despite the wonky lyric/vocal tracks, Sonic the Hedgehog Remix is awesome. I think it's a fun, energetic improvement over the original Japanese music. It's a must-listen for fans of the JP OST, but I think it's appeal could go beyond that if more people knew about it. 

Sonic & Knuckles (Album) Review

  

Details

Sonic and Knuckles received a 1994 album, "Sonic & Knuckles Sonic the Hedgehog 3." Despite the name including Sonic 3, the music is purely from Sonic and Knuckles. It features tracks composed by Howard Drossin, Jun Senoue, and Yoshiaki ("Milpo"), and was arranged by Akinori Minami. 

The songs were not recorded directly and were instead re-sequenced, allowing for extensions, different intros, and altogether a different sound. 

 

Summary

Somehow the album improves upon what's in Sonic and Knuckles. Songs that seemed bland like the special/bonus stage music ("Rings and Diamonds Land"), the boss music, and even Sky Sanctuary seem livelier, despite the instrumentation. 

The Flying Battery is a must-listen. While probably much simpler, I'd rank it over the Mania version. It's my favorite from the album. 

Death Egg sounds fairly different, but it's interesting. Overall, the songs are either equal to, and sometimes better than, their game counterparts. 

A notable coincidence: the intro to Sandopolis sounds a lot like Crisis City (from Sonic 06).  

The lengthy "Sonic and Knuckles Remix" is a combination of the music, and it's great. Up until it hits Sky Sanctuary, then it just sounds like it's skipping around weird. 

  

Final Ranking: B

It may seem simple, but this is an awesome, retro-sounding collection. Impressive. 

Sonic Boom (Album) Review

Details

Sonic Boom, released in 1994, serves as the soundtrack release for Sonic CD and Sonic Spinball. As such it is mainly by Spencer Nilsen and David Young (composed most of CD), featuring Sterling (Collision Chaos, Metallic Madness, and Robotnik) and Pastiche ("Sonic Boom"/vocals). Howard Drossin (known for Sonic Spinball, & Knuckles, etc) also contributes.  

Interestingly, it seems to be unknown whether these are actually full, uncut versions intended for Sonic CD, or if they were remixed later for the album. 

 

Summary

Fans used to the JP OST probably won't notice a difference. US fans, though, will immediately focus on the slight changes. There are different instruments, vocals, and extended portions, making each song an alternate version. 

The changes with the biggest impact are: Wacky Workbench's good future, Palmtree Panic's bad future, Metallic Madness, and Quartz Quadrant Present, though all songs are altered in some fashion. The basic deal with this album: make every song sound even better. 

The full version of "Sonic Boom," about 3 minutes, also comes from this album. The ordering is a bit strange, and the songs have funny names like "Workbench Workout" instead of just calling it "Wacky Workbench Present." Several of the future tracks have been combined, such as "Palmtree Panic" which is both the good and bad future. Additionally, several tracks from the game are missing here, such as Metallic Madness Good Future.

However the album makes up for this with its funky Sonic Spinball bonus tracks. Unfortunately The Machine and Showdown weren't used, but "Fight to the Volcanic Fortress" makes up for their loss (being pretty much 3 seconds in the game but over 3 minutes on the album). The tracks are unique and quite enjoyable.   

Final Ranking: A

While the missing tracks are a bummer, these enhanced songs from Sonic CD and Sonic Spinball are awesome and defiantly deserve more credit. 

Quote of the Month

 "Talk about low budget flights! No food or movies?! I'm outta' here!"

-Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Adventure 2