New Release... Nemesis/Gradius (The Arrival - 1st Wave)

[poke16384]

Just a quick Shout...

After about 18 months away, dealing with a couple of, (let's just say 'life-altering' issues), I've just uploaded a short cinematic re-imagining of the music for the opening wave of 'Nemesis'. As I've written in the track-notes, The C64 music accompaniment to this arcade conversion disappointed me greatly at the time. 'Nemesis' was and probably still is, my favourite shoot 'em up, (Slap-fight is pretty good too) and the really poor soundtrack on the C64 version stopped me ever playing it... I've said before, in an interview with C64.com...

"Were there any particular games that you would have liked to work on or converted from arcade?"

"Oh God, yeah! Just one! NEMESIS! I loved that tune. I spent fortunes on the arcade machine and that opening music used to make my heart soar. When the C64 conversion came out, Paulie and me were at Ocean. I can't remember who ran out and bought it, but I remember a crowd of us all clustered around a TV-screen and the loader finished... And my heart sank. It was so disappointing! No feel to it! It was thin and weedy and not even transcribed properly. Awful! It's one of my favourite pieces of computer music and I will do a remix of it at some point."

So, as always.. All comments welcome... (and if you listen and think it deserves a lower mark then at least put a comment on with your reasons ).

[Dumper]

I just downloaded it, very good remix, Peter.

[poke16384]

Thanks Dumper

[LaLa]

First off, may I say what a privilege it is to listen to your remixes on RKO! It's always great to see that an original SID composer is still active on the scene. (And just between us, to this day I still prefer your Ocean Loader SID over Mr. Galway's. My friend and I used to spend countless hours playing air-guitar to it! )

Okay, back to your remix. The intro is fantastic, very cinematic, full of suspense! Which is why I think the continuation (esp. after 1:20) is a tad unusual - I guess, I expected something more dramatic after that masterful buildup. Instead, the tune turns more cheerful. Don't get me wrong, that part is really good all by itself, it's just a bit odd to have such a quick mood change within the same short piece. Regardless, it's all put together very well, I quite like it!

And I sincerely hope that whatever life-altering issues you had, it's all resolved by now. Wishing you nothing but the best!

[poke16384]

Hey Imre....

Thank you for your kind words.. I worked SOOO hard on Ocean Loader 3 at the time. I was up against Martin Galway, so it had to be something a bit special to stand up to his work. It seems to have stood the test of time and I'm just grateful & humbled that so many people have said so many nice things about it since then. I worked in the same room as Martin for 12 months and got to see and hear his work and methods. We never collaborated, except when he was developing 'the 4th voice', (3 channels + drum clicks & pops). He never liked my stuff and I never really liked his. we were VERY different musicians. He was all about 'Sound 1st and music 2nd' while I was the opposite. That said, I still think Mr Galway significantly outranks me on overall contribution.

I agree with what you're saying on the remix.. what can I say? It is a jolly tune! But it's the main melody so, I had to play it at some point... The opening suspense etc is more what I used to feel having dropped my 10p coin into the Nemesis arcade machine. It's what I imagined, (in my 20's) as the game began. I used horns, (as the lead sound) to try and give a bigger, more dramatic feel to the melody but a jolly tune is a jolly tune and you can't get away from it without radically altering the chords behind it.

Psst! I've provided an explanation as to what the 'life-altering' stuff is/was in my next 'New Release' announcement

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