Wednesday, July 5, 2017

MIDI Week Singles: "The Gears Go Awry" - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)


"The Gears Go Awry" from Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin on the Nintendo DS (2006)
Composer: Yuzo Koshiro
Developer: Konami


I should preface that while "The Gears Go Awry" is used in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, this specific version of the song was not heard as is in-game because this version, from composer Yuzo Koshiro, is the version of the song before it was arranged and compressed for Nintendo's DS system; okay, enough of the word "version."

My reason for deciding to use this version of the song as opposed to the one that is heard in-game, was mainly because people who are familiar with the game and the music may not have heard or known about the official soundtrack, which features both in-game music and the music as it was originally composed.  And there is nothing wrong with the music that is heard in-game, it is simply that the opening chords from the organ in this song are so powerful, that I just need to get this out there for the rest of the masses.  Mass?  Handful?  But anyway.

If you know anything about me, it is that I absolutely love a good organ piece, be it Bach's "Toccata & Fugue in d minor" (cliche, but damn are they good), or Beanland's "Tooth & Claw."  To be honest, I cannot fully remember when this song was used, but if the title is any clue at all, it occurs during one of the infamous clock tower stages for which the game is fairly well known for.  And speaking/writing of what Castlevania games are known for, is that music like this absolutely reeks (in the best way possible) of Castlevania.  And impressively,  this was  Yuzo Koshiro's first foray into the world of Castlevania, although I still submit that a fair amount of the music that he wrote for ActRaiser has always sounded reminiscent to me of Michiru Yamane's compositions for a lot this series.

And you know, listening to this song really makes me want to go back through Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin all over again, even though I have not played it in nigh on 11 years, which is kind of crazy considering that by the time I was 11, I was looking forward to owning the SNES, which I am now doing with the SNES Classic (sigh).



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian


P.S.  I just realized that this is the third time we have used music by Yuzo Koshiro for a MIDI Week Single, and I am perfectly okay with that fact.

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