My own breakdown of AC's OWA

Abbas

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This is my own personal opinion of Advent Children's version of One-Winged Angel. Any input is welcomed.

0:00-0:38 The intro
enter guitars and drumming. The preemptive drumming ornamentations is well done and the entering guitars aren't bad.
0:50-1:09 This isn't bad either, though I'm not sure the med-volume shred at the end is appropirate.
1:09-1:09 This is a heavy riff, but it's all too metally. My problem witht his is that when the vocals enter, there's this really awkward sharp note at the end of each line. It's just bad. Although I love metal, the general riff with the sharp notes just seem to clash together with the song.
01:45-2:00 Uh, no. Leaving the guitar out would have been way better than this eighth-note monstrosity.
02:16-02:20 The rhythm in this riff is somewhat dynamic, going along with the progression. Not great, but they could've done way worse.
02:23 By far the best section in the entire song, and, unlike the rest of the song, it was beautifully played and they couldn't do better with it. The guitar was present, but not dominant. It was subtle and apt. It also played along with the progression. The drumming enhanced the rhythm incredibly well.
The strings' melody was taken straight out of the original OWA, and it was very nice the way the guitar replayed it, with some minute staccato. Quite good.
03:05-03:13 No comment. It's not incredible yet not horrible.
03:14 Dear God, what were they thinking? This is my least favorite section. It sounds like it was played by Megadeth!
04:01 Same riff, though I have to admit, the vocals are extremely beautiful in this part.
In general, I wasn't a big fan of the solo.
04:52 This was very nice. It's a good thing the Black Mages didn't touch this. I've always liked the flute melody. And the reverse cymbal sound (the one resembling an echo) had a very nice feel. My only problem with this is that they could've directed it better in the movie, because the sound deserves some attention.
The end is just the same as it was from the original song, only it was supported by some drums. Nothing special with the guitar. Oh, and it's a good thing the guitarist managed to squeeze in a wide-vibrato high note. God forbid there should be 5 consecutive seconds in the song without that.

In general, the drumming was quite well, but there was way too much guitar for the song's own good. Instead of trying to merge the song with some rock elements, they went out and transformed it into that kind of song. Eighth note riffs, vibrated sharp notes, rhythms played by TWO guitars (which is completely unnecessary) and a sloppy arrangement ruined what great potential this song had.
I love Nobou Uematsu's music, but when he said that he succesfully combined rock and classical (and actually went out to say how other bands failed), he just didn't seem that much of a great musician to me.
And as much as you all feel the need to flame, I'd appreciate if you criticized me in a contructive manner. So, on what point do you agree or disagree with me ?
 
0:00-0:38 The intro
enter guitars and drumming. The preemptive drumming ornamentations is well done and the entering guitars aren't bad.
There is no drum kit present at this point of the song. However, there are relatively strong Timpani's present with one small roll on the cymbal. I love the use of the brass and the strings to emphasise the use of the staccato, too.

You forgot 0:39 - 0:49, so I'll add my 5-pence worth in. This is where the drum kit enters, with heavy use of cymbals and quite obvious crescendo's throughout.

0:50-1:09
This isn't bad either, though I'm not sure the med-volume shred at the end is appropirate.
I couldn't disagree more. The heavier the better.

1:09-1:44
This is a heavy riff, but it's all too metally. My problem witht his is that when the vocals enter, there's this really awkward sharp note at the end of each line. It's just bad. Although I love metal, the general riff with the sharp notes just seem to clash together with the song.
I'll assume you meant 1:09 - 1:44, so I changed it to that. I always thought that note went more flat than sharp, but only a tad. Not something noticable on an instrument. And it's a very difficult song to sing, trust me :P The heavy rock/metal addition really makes a difference.

01:45-2:00
Uh, no. Leaving the guitar out would have been way better than this eighth-note monstrosity.
I tried to imagine that. Have you ever heard the pure orchestral version of One-Winged Angel? It sounded too much alike.

2:01 - 2:15 = Love the flute and percussion.

02:16-02:20 The rhythm in this riff is somewhat dynamic, going along with the progression. Not great, but they could've done way worse.
I kind of agree - it's like a prolonged upbeat which was necessary. The vocals were slightly too much.

02:23 - 3:04 By far the best section in the entire song, and, unlike the rest of the song, it was beautifully played and they couldn't do better with it. The guitar was present, but not dominant. It was subtle and apt. It also played along with the progression. The drumming enhanced the rhythm incredibly well.
The strings' melody was taken straight out of the original OWA, and it was very nice the way the guitar replayed it, with some minute staccato.
I also love this part. I close my eyes then my back gets shivvers for the whole time. I imagine an orchestra filled with a string band, with them, eyes closed, actually moving their entire bodies to the song. Amazing. The part where the drumming enters the song is also the part where Sephiroth begins to show how capable he is of annihilating Cloud, thus adding to the magnificent effect. What a fantastic crescendo, too.

03:05-03:13
No comment. It's not incredible yet not horrible.
Enter the key-change.

03:14 - 4:00 Dear God, what were they thinking? This is my least favorite section. It sounds like it was played by Megadeth!
I too hate this part. It's absolutely useless and is far too repetitive. Stick with the original composition, Square :P

04:01 - 4:51 Same riff, though I have to admit, the vocals are extremely beautiful in this part.
In general, I wasn't a big fan of the solo.
Switching from Bass to Soprano voices really did add a dynamic effect. Oh, and the guitar solo did seem to compensate for the horrible effect beforehand.

04:52 - 5:11This was very nice. It's a good thing the Black Mages didn't touch this. I've always liked the flute melody. And the reverse cymbal sound (the one resembling an echo) had a very nice feel. My only problem with this is that they could've directed it better in the movie, because the sound deserves some attention.
The sudden dimuendo is necessary for the small conversation in the film. It is a chance to just stop listening to the music and to admire Sephiroth, I believe.

5:12 - END. The end is just the same as it was from the original song, only it was supported by some drums. Nothing special with the guitar. Oh, and it's a good thing the guitarist managed to squeeze in a wide-vibrato high note. God forbid there should be 5 consecutive seconds in the song without that.
It was similar. Every two bars had another addition to it and I loved the use of the dynamics. First, just the vocals and a pedal. Then strings playing staccato entered. Then the simple rock enters with the soprano voices. Then the guitar enters with a glissando. Then hard cymbals enter.

The finale is by far the best, after the "Mi fili" 's finish. SEPHIROTH with all combined efforts in the band could not be improved upon.

Unless I've mentioned otherwise, I agree completely. The drum kit was amazingly added. Admittedly, there was a little too much guitar, but I think that some people just aren't used to hearing such modern music in a Final Fantasy title.

Well done for actually doing this, by the way. Quite accurate.
 
Wow, thanks very much. I honestly didn't expect anyone to agree with me, since so many seem to like The Black Mages.

I'm not on my computer, so I'll have to recheck if I got the timings correct, since you point otherwise. I also admit getting the time of the drum-enter wrong. Kinda lazy, heh. Knew everybody would know which point I meant.

You also managed to slap me senseless with some of those terms, heh. I'm pretty sure I know the effect, but I'll just go to my dictionary and my own reply later.

Thanks a bunch for replying, by the way.
 
Which terms? I'll gladly define them myself for you if you'd like. I've taken Music as a course in school and I'll be getting my final exams for it at the end of the year. For my mock exams/prelims, I got top grades (not bragging by the way) so I'd be sure to explain the words I used. I wouldn't use them if I didn't remember what they meant :P.
 
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