Peter Clarke - Defender of the crown (The Elf's Story)
94%
A remix incorporating 6 sub-tunes from the game and narrated in 'Elvish' by… An Elf… (One of the only races who live long enough to pass the tale down)
If you want to know what the elf is saying, (my Elvish isn't perfect)… ..but I've provided a rough translation here:
It isn't a REAL orchestra but it is a real Elf…
I've got to mention LaLa here… Imre, my friend. You have been a brilliant, 'fresh set of ears', during the creation of this piece. Your input & suggestions have been both valuable & welcome… Thank you!
Roughly a months work to weave this into a musical story about a murdered king, a lost crown & a hero who saves England..
1 Best c64 Remix
Technique
Artistic skill
Nostalgia factor
Overall rating
This really deserves it's place, high up in both charts. Just the 1st listen tells you how good the quality of this soundtrack is. I can't imagine how long it took to make or how much work went in to get the attention to detail that is here.
Technique
Artistic skill
Nostalgia factor
Overall rating
Technique
Artistic skill
Nostalgia factor
Overall rating
Two years later and still top-notch… Full disclosure: I was fortunate enough to have listened to various work-in-progress versions of this track thanks to Pete, and he was gracious enough to even incorporate some of my suggestions into his remix. Which is why I held back on reviewing this track until now. But I think now that nearly two years have passed since, I can do it in good conscience.
Although to be honest, there's not much to say about this other than this is how orchestral remixes [i]should[/i] be done. And what's really brilliant about this remix is that it incorporates all the major themes (subtunes) of the original SID in one single coherent piece. The various game tunes are weaved together seamlessly, and the resulting epic brings the listener on a grand journey, following the classic story arc of opening-crisis-climax-resolution. The 9+ minutes of this piece just flies by, which is always a good sign.
This to me is the [i]definitive[/i] Defender of the Crown remix, and I'm sure Richard Joseph would've approved of it, too. I can't think of a better way to honor his legacy than with this remix.