Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 25! Portugal/Until, Arlosa Mine/Battlerock Galaxy, Sasha/Regal Ruin

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 17, an annual celebration of the best of the best video game music according to the voters!

Important Links:
Bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=477304
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SAJKYJmYhccLvbf_H-5uSA7-eMwXfW8k1q74Qho1bLU
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80433657
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0wlcxj-kHQRU1yHo-kpMxGe
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_IU5iCFTM_4WEx8ZWKwznMz5v2tarCKh1Ag0mxIgAes
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
Discord: https://discord.gg/WDvMS4a

Rules:
- Listen to both songs in a given match, at least through the loop time provided (to make sure you don't skip before you've heard the whole thing!)
- Please consider the loop point listed when judging the song; if a video loops one minute 5 times, don't treat it as if it's a repetitive 5 minute song
- If it's a match between your favorite song ever and a song you despise, still LISTEN TO BOTH! Votes can and will be disqualified if there is suspicion songs are not being listened to, and you may be discounted for the rest of the contest for repeat offenses.
- No alt accounts, no rallying or begging, etc., etc.... You only get one vote! Swapping votes is alright, just make clear that you've already made a vote and are swapping.
- Make clear what your voting options are! Please keep votes separate from any comments, and use the titles given in the topic post.
- Voting in all matches is not mandatory, feel free to skip matches you do not wish to vote in.
- Vote based on the links provided, and not other sources of audio. Links are specifically chosen for best quality and the like.
- Don't discuss vote tallies in this thread, or in other threads, as they may influence votes. Likewise, please refrain from looking at the running tally before voting.

Voting Period:
- Today's matches will last 24 hours from the time of posting, or 24 hours from 10pm Eastern, whichever is the later time.
- Please note this may mean that two topics will be active at the same time!
- If you anticipate being unable to vote in a given day, please send an absentee vote to @banshiryuu, or post your absentee vote in the discussion thread!

.

Match 1

Uncharted Waters - Portugal
Composer: Yoko Kanno
Loop Point: 4:04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KFC42UWCD

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Sasha's Theme

Sasha vs Sonic is a painful matchmake, but I'm hoping whoever wins it can sweep the entire corner. Big, big fan of both.
Lisbon is a song I've had stuck in the head a lot, best wishes to it too. <3 Tiara is fine.
I was about to not vote Battlerock but then I decided to relisten. It's a close match, I think whoever wins it it's okay.
Pretty good day, C1 was very lovely.

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Sasha's Theme

Until
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Arlosa Mine

Tears to Tiara - Until
Super Mario Galaxy - Battlerock Galaxy
Sonic R - Back in Time

Portugal
Galaxy
Back

Until
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Until
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Sasha's Theme

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Sasha's Theme

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Tears to Tiara - Until
Super Mario Galaxy - Battlerock Galaxy
Advance Wars: Dual Strike - Sasha's Theme

Battlerock Galaxy >>>> Sasha's Theme >= Regal Ruin : Back In Time > Until > Arlosa Mine > Portugal

I could go on and on about how much I fucking adore the Super Mario Galaxy OST, and Battlerock Galaxy is one of my favorites because of what it represents. But it's 2:15 AM and you don't want to hear about that, so I'm moving on. I don't think I'm that big of a Yoko Kanno fan from what I've heard in this contest so far. Match 3 was fucking hard, I only ended up going Sasha because Sonic R music has this bad habit of lingering too long at the end and dragging everything out too much. Both great songs tho

Until
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Sasha's Theme

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Until
Arlosa Mine
Sasha's Theme

Until
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Uncharted Waters - Portugal
Caravan Stories - Arlosa Mine
Sonic R - Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Back In Time

I wish I could write paragraphs about why I like songs, but "song really good" is just so much simpler to get across while saying the same thing in as few words as possible. Peak efficiency.

1. ???
2. Xenogears - One Who Bares Fangs at God
3. ???
4. Control - My Dark Disquiet
5. League of Legends - Nilah, The Joy Unbound
6. ???
7. Magical Chase - Waltz of Meditation Part2
8. Mortal Kombat (Sega CD) - Techno Syndrome
9. Alto's Odyssey - A Moment of Tranquility
10. Spark the Electric Jester 3 - Utopia Shelter ~ In the Depths
11. ???
12. REFLEC BEAT groovin'!! - DADADADADADADADADADA (Long Version)
13. Deus Ex - The Synapse - Ambient
14. ???
15. Sonic R - Back In Time
16. ???
17. Legaia 2: Duel Saga - Lost Forest
18. 7th Dragon 2020-II - Shutoko - Spiral Maze
19. Chrono Trigger - Yearnings of the Wind
20. ???
21. Dragon Poker - Kanashimi no Mephisto feat.Mahoushoujo Ran & Mahoushoujo Akane
22. ???
23. ???
24. Cladun: This is an RPG - Knight of a Foreign Country
25. Pokemon Scarlet/Violet - Battle! (Zero Lab)
26. ???
27. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - The Apex of the World (Rain)
28. osu! - escape (through the looking - glass, and what alice found there)
29. Galactic Pinball - MOONMAN'S Fandango
30. ???

Uncharted Waters - Portugal
Super Mario Galaxy - Battlerock Galaxy
Sonic R - Back in Time

Portugal: Piano, accordion, and acoustic guitar is like the perfect combo. The melody-writing is top-notch and the way each instrument works off each other is so good. It definitely fits the classic western European vibe it was going for. Yoko Kanno is the best.

Until: Very pleasant song. Nice vocals and instrumental. Definitely feels like an anime ED, which isn't a bad thing. Good song. Also, why aren't we using the topic upload for this? The audio quality in the video is abhorrent. Link for those who want it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6asqiUZ3iEo

Arlosa Mine: I love the soundscape of this song. Super cool instrumentation with all sorts of percussion. Melodically, it's not particularly strong, but I think the overall soundscape more than makes up for that. Great song.

Battlerock Galaxy: Why is this the matchup for Arlosa? I really want to vote for Arlosa, but it's hard when it's against my personal favorite Galaxy song. The snare, strings, synths, brass, everything just comes together to create an orchestral masterpiece. Like I've said of Galaxy before, half the greatness of SMG is how well the individual orchestral parts are mixed with every instrument getting a ton of breathing room. Fantastic song.

Sasha's Theme: Yeah, this is the only song I'm not fond of today (which is unsurprising considering it reminds me of old Pokmon music). Very weak melody and the limited instrumentation really holds it back.

Back in Time: Another great Sonic R song. Great vocals and the melody is so catchy. Not my favorite of the day, considering how strong the day is, but it's still really good.

Really strong day for me. I hate match 2.

Votes:
Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Sasha's Theme

three almost but not quite tossup matches

i'm really not sure why but i'm just not feeling portugal here that much. maybe it's how it doesn't really evoke strictly a picture of what i'd associate with portugal of the time which feels like a bit of a sin considering that's exactly what it's supposed to be doing, maybe it's how it just doesn't do that much for its 4 minute runtime, or maybe it's just because of the level of competition in this field and honestly the level of competition in the part of the bracket it's in. i dunno, just feels like it should be better than it is, even if there's nothing to properly criticise. myeah, could be worse could be better is my real takeaway i guess

until is an anime ending (probably?) theme that is... honestly kind of just unremarkable too by general standards. it's not bad either, there's just definitely no shortage of stronger examples out there from that generation. i can confidently even say i prefer the ending theme from the other tears to tiara game i randomly included in my srpglist earlier this year, and I don't have very strong feelings about that one either, it was definitely one of those picks i tossed in just for the sake of having series representation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uuS19JIcZ4). again not that until is overall bad here, just it doesn't evoke as stong a reaction as i'd like

arlosa is a very lush song with a depth to it. like it a lot and would probably have taken it over quite a hefty amount of the field, just got in a very awkward scenario where every song in its fourpack, one probably r3 matchup and several possible r4 matchups really don't work in its favour to me

and yeah unfortunately battlerock galaxy is a song i have considerably more attachment to. really never expected to get to vote for my favourite smg song in a contest since i really thought i was the only one that liked this galaxy and its theme compared to others

okay i'm just going to get the inevitable back in time remark out of the way first. it really does, doesn't it. I didn't get the opportunity to play sonic r until i ended up renting sonic gems collection... i honestly don't even remember when now, but it was well after i ended up getting mega collection plus, which was also definitely not new at the time either. it's hard to not get blasted by peak 90s nostalgia listening to this and the rest of the soundtrack though. i have no idea what my favourite sonic r song is, i think it's fair to say a lot of people probably can't decide since they're equally exceptional at this, and this song especially just serves as a direct reminder

it's difficult to really convey in words why advance wars songs work so well for me, especially one like this. the different emotions it evokes, the different kinds of songs it makes me nostalgic for, the unique nature of the theme that is both accurate yet surprising, there's probably about 10 reasons i ultimately like it. i wish i could write too tbh

Until
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Mine
Time

correcting vote to Battlerock Galaxy lol

Portugal
Back in Time

MaxGalactica posted...

Also, why aren't we using the topic upload for this? The audio quality in the video is abhorrent. Link for those who want it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6asqiUZ3iEo

Pinging @banshiryuu separately about this so that it actually gets changed. I didn't find this upload until after nominations ended.

This isn't true anymore but I feel like it wasn't showing up in searches previously because I remember only finding it after noticing that other OP's/ED's from the series had topic uploads and looking through some playlist. Or maybe I'm just bad at searching who knows.

Until
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

didn't feel like proper big boy write ups were in the cards today when my notes just amounted to me typing up the word portugal ten times in a row followed by a bunch heart emojis

pretty good six pack even though i have clear winners in my eyes. match 1 is definitely the easiest because yoko kanno really is a goddess who can do no wrong, while match 2 is the hardest even though battlerock isn't even a top ten smg song (that's including the second game's music which imo flawlessly feels like an extension of the first's. which is probably a sacrilegious statement, but i am quite frankly so done with having conversations about these games ) i forgot that the advance wars song that made it was sasha's theme. talk about a pleasant surprise. its one of my go-tos for relaxing vgm so i am like mildly shocked to see it. i feel like i underestimate how much other people like chill music ... i heap all this praise and im still voting for sonic ^^;

Until
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal sure does sound like a song called Portugal in a strategy game. Until is a completely average "anime song". Doesn't really do anything for me.

Arlosa is moderately funky, though there are a few CS songs I like more. I'd say the same for Battlerock. I've always found it a bit odd how many SMG songs get into VGMC...

Sasha's Theme is fine I guess. I don't really get it. Back in Time is a bit better.

Until
Arlosa Mine
Sasha's

I am home from gdq and have to return to work, and by work i mean "place where i am a political football and therefore have plenty of time to write extensive essays on songs." and by songs apparently I mean countries? Not sure how that happened. This song sounds very Italian countryside to me. I suppose this is reasonably appropriate, Iberia isn't that far from Italy, but the "Spanish" sound in my head is incredibly different than this, what Portuguese-speaking friends I have are from Brazil, and this is radically different from any of that. Castinets are at least vaguely Hispanic but again not what I expected? I kinda like it though, nice interplay with the melody. But yeah. Maybe I just need to expand my horizons and meat some actual Portuguese folks. I refuse to fix that typo.

At least, not until I listen to the next song. See what I did there? And now everyone realizes they did not miss me at all ANYWHO yes i can hear you lady that is how music works. wait you used "boku" does that mean I should interpret this as singing from a masculine perspective? I've never really been clear on that. Like there's songs where that's clearly the case -- "Hikari" aka "Japanese Simple and Clean" very clearly has two voices, one male and one female -- but sometimes it's just "boku" is two syllables and you need a two-syllable word and every single female first person pronoun is at least three. Which is weird from the perspective of English but you don't actually use your pronoun that much in Japanese so it's fine. As for the song itself, it's... fine? Feels like a reasonably generic early 2000's Japanese ballad. Nothing particularly special about it, but I did enjoy it. Lyrics are nice, might do a TL later if I have (even more!) spare time at work this afternoon.

I miss 2019, sometimes. I am tempted to write more but I think not.

SMG music is just not my thing. While I am very far from the biggest basiscape fan here, anything against it is still fighting an uphill battle, one SMG is basically destined to lose. Everything I want in music, it denies me.

i can't believed the remake did CO power themes dirty. Okay "dirty" is a strong word but simply a more upbeat version of the character themes is insufficient. The Dual Strike theme from this game is one of the most memorable, thrilling, powerful moments there is. When you activate it, when you see the bars fill up, when the lightning crackles, you are filled with the conviction that there is nothing that can stop you, that the big damn heroes have arrived and they are gonna take all the turns. And while I see there's normal CO power themes on the OST so I assume they're playable somehow, those remixes are also, uh... Bad.

Back in Time is fine, but it doesn't compare well to the rest of the OST imo. maybe technically top 5 though.

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time

Portugal
abstain
Back in Time

Tears to Tiara - Until
Super Mario Galaxy - Battlerock Galaxy
Sonic R - Back in Time

Until
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Until
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

"Regal Ruin" is handily the best song of the day

Until

Can you hear my voice?
The seasons pass, and still my thoughts linger on you
But that isn't a sad thought; it's strong and kind.
And so, from far and away, I sing.

I could never forget you
I try to be mature, only to revert to a child
It's for the best that we never meet someday, somewhere
Or else I'll just fall in love with you all over again

The grass sea glowed gold
But my eyes were locked on your face as you stood beside me

An eternal visage, glimpsed within ephemeral time
I'd never known such feelings, not until you opened my eyes

I could never forget you
I meet more and more new people,
But there's still you, smiling in my memories someday, somewhere
Never change, not within my heart

And so I continue this endless journey
Crafting from my memories a kindly song

I could never forget you
I try to be mature, only to revert to a child
It's for the best that we never meet someday, somewhere
Even now, I could never forget you
I meet more and more new people,
But there's still you, smiling in my memories someday, somewhere
Never change, not within my heart

Until
Arlosa Mine
Back in Time

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Sasha's Theme

Portugal
Battlerock Galaxy
Back in Time