by David Hsing on 18th of December, 1999
Itzuka Tenshi ni Nareru
Perfection. Just what a remix should be - making something completely different out of a song and still making it sound great. A quick, persistent heavy downbeat (turn up the volume and the bass!) is preceeded by an awesome keyboard intro that just sucks you in. Somehow it reminds me of a space dogfight ala Macross Plus. I couldn't get the image out of my head so I wrote a whole alternate universe Rayearth fanfic with it!
Setsunakute
After a lengthy intro (lasting 1 minute 30 seconds) with a very fast, flat beat with fits of record-scratching that seemed out of place, the vocals start with the beat continuing in the back ground while a low, stretched bass provides intersperced downbeat at the beginning of each mini-phrase. Starting with "Setsunaku", the highlights in the original are replaced with record scratching. In some places there were no vocals and the song dragged while the noise is going on. Total length of the remix: 6 minutes. It took me quite a while to get used to this song. My first recommendation: Get rid of the badly done record-scratching.
Yumeiro no Tsubasa
Well, if the Setsunakute doesn't prove to be your cup of tea then you probably couldn't down this one either. Believe it or not, they squeezed in about 7 staccato-like beats per second (I can't be very accurate with the count of course but it's somewhere around there). The song is punctuated by a male voice going "umpth!" near the start of the remix. The part of the song I actually liked is the middle portion starting with "Itsudemo..." when a chorus of voices join in with a wordless drone in the background. That's the one and only thing I liked hearing in this remix (its lone redeeming quality), the rest I wait to pass on because the constant staccato beat is very annoying.
Verdict
So what do I think of it. I think that unless you're an Umi fan you might want to give it some thought before buying this cd. The first remix was fantastic but Polygram really dropped the ball on the rest. I know they're trying to match the CD to Umi's personality (she's a passionate, in-your-face "type A" kindava gal) but I think the artists should have focused on producing what would sound best instead of what matches up to the theme of the CD. I'm no musician but I have an idea for how at least one of the remixes could have been done:
Yumeiro no Tsubasa - The remix removes half of the beats, effectively slowing the song to half of the speed of the original. The remaining beats are then turned from flat beats to upbeats (light) and downbeats (moderate). This is what the song would sound like if it's turned into a ballad. A muted midi piano gives a mellow sound in the background. A synthesized violin (since everything on these remixes are synthesized) provides an intro with introspective imagery. A sprinking sound effect punctuate the two phrases ending in "afurereba" and "takishimete" gives the impression of falling snowflakes or a dream. A muted synthesized string instrument responds to Umi's voice during certain phrases.
Now wouldn't _that_ sound a whole lot better?
