Square Enix Game/Pop Music Comparison featuring Chrono Trigger

I can definitely see a similarity in those tracks. :)
It's really interesting how the same tune can create completely different effects depending on how they are played (be in instrument choice, speed, or other factors).
 
Your argument against the Rick Astley theory is quite convincing. While it does sound a bit like it, it seems like it is a generic background beat which many people have used (particularly in the 1980s). It's probable that people have likely rolled (ha) with the idea of it being inspired by Never Gonna Give You Up purely because a lot of people became intimately familiar with the song when the Rick-rolling meme became prominent on the internet.

I can also sense a similarity with the later melody in the Japanese folk song which you have provided. Westworld and the Russian folk music too, but to my ears probably the strongest similarity would be the Japanese folk song.

I'm not very familiar with Chrono Trigger on the whole though, so I'm also happy to be introduced to this Robo theme too. It's very catchy.
 
Another well-argued rebuttal. I feel like the depth of these entries improves each time I see them, so keep it up! You weigh up the similarities and differences with a broad knowledge of music and context like nobody else I know.

Aspects of this track reminds me of some Greek folk music too, but I think the Latin / Tango theory as the ultimate origin of the style we hear probably sounds about right.


(Regarding the side-note on the Kaguya Hime song at 4:41, I know it is very different but I also get vibes from Rydia's Theme from FFIV - only loosely but that is where my mind went when I heard it first).
 
Thank you. Although I wonder if I'll be able to make such an entry again as there are not so many comparisons like these who made their way around the web and thus have historical significance.

The greece reference sounds plausible at first glance as the instrument in Kingdom Trial sounds like a lute which is a popular classic greek instrument. But also in other mediterran countries. At first I thought the song to be of italian origin due to this:


About the Rydia Theme, I think if there was one more note it would come pretty close.
 
This is interesting because each section is only a number of seconds long, yet I agree there are strong similarities with all of the tracks you have compared with their respective sections in the Chrono Trigger track. Even without the musical box version I could tell exactly which Les Mis tune you were referring to as I read your paragraph, but the musical box versions of the tracks appropriately helped clarify those similarities.
 
I can agree with the similarities pointed out in these.

I really appreciate being introduced to all of these old Japanese bands. I really haven't listened to much Japanese music in my life and I like quite a number of the songs you are mentioning in your comparisons! Alongside the Western tracks I'm more familiar with, of course.

As for the stock sequence from Irish/Gaelic folk which recurs in Japanese music and the Chrono Trigger track, I’ve heard a similar sound in some of the earlier Peter Gabriel era Genesis tracks as well.
 
I really like that track and that it builds into different phases which are quite distinct.

I certainly can hear the same styles you can, and the comparisons you have selected are apt. I particularly appreciate the Oingo Boingo comparison as that is actually a band I listen to quite a lot!

That last section in particular has, as you demonstrate, many, many tracks with a similar melody. Yet all of the songs still sound unique. That’s quite a remarkable thing about music.

The earliest part of the track also reminds me of the intro to the song Distant Worlds in FFXI, although this was released years later so couldn’t have been an influence or unconscious inspiration. It is just what springs to my mind.
 
I've just managed to read/listen to these tonight!

Dream Of The Shore Near Another World is a lovely relaxing track, and I can see similarity in the country rock tracks you list for close comparison. Particularly the more mellow tracks are very similar in style and pace to me.

Star-Stealing Girl's beginning part seems quite classical to me too, in addition to what you said. I can't quite put my finger on what it reminds me of though. I can see that Night in that Land in particular does fit the 'na-na-na-na' jingle segment well, but I can also see similarity in sound in the other examples presented too.

Radical Dreamers ~The Treasure Which Cannot be Stolen. Yeah the guitar-picky parts correlate. Of the main jingle I think the comparison with B'z and Yes-No is more recognisable in terms of feeling. I suppose it could be anticipated that J-Pop would not be too far away from these tracks but that similarities pop up across boundaries too perhaps signals that certain musical ideas have become universal.
 

People Imprisoned by Destiny does seem to correlate with the melody of that Church Music. And it seems to attempt to stimulate similar emotions. Quite apt considering that Destiny is often linked to religion.

Hydra Swamp (btw I can imagine the Hydra lurking in that swamp just by the sound of it!) does appear to have the same backing beats of those tracks (to varying extents). I think there's a similar variant to that in Genesis' Looking for Someone. It's a variant closer to that in No Anchovies, Please than the other tracks.

At about 3.18 ish.

I'm pretty sure that I've heard a beat like that in some Oingo Boingo or other crazy (but wonderful) 80s bands before, but I can't place it.
 
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