Music man of awesomeness Richard Jacques. Composer of well-known Sega games such as Sonic R, Sonic 3-D Blast, Headhunter and Jet Set Radio will be signing at “The Maestros of Video Games” event at Dark Delicacies Books & Collectables in Burbank, California on June 11th. Several other game composers such as Greg Edmonson, Mike Reagan and more will attend for an hour-long Q&A panel followed by a meet and greet signing.

With this news and Aaron Webber mentioning “special musical guests” for Sonic Boom, the chances of Jacques attending Sonic Boom seem pretty high. I’m getting my Jet Grind Radio and 3-D Blast covers ready to sign. Oh man! Can you feel the sunshine? Everybody jump around and get excited!

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Tales of Knighthood Review

by Extaticus

Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog; all games with stupendously superb soundtracks, all of which were directed by none other than Sega’s resident guitar god, Jun Senoue. The man is quite frankly an absolute genius; his incredible slashes of remarkably powerful rock and marvellous metal have been stalwart features of Sonic soundtracks since 1998, and his wowing influence continues to dominate the styles of the series’ masterful music even when he’s not actually directly involved in creating it. Since giving the first truly 3D outing a distinctly “rock” flavour, Jun’s become a world-renowned musician in the gaming industry, and has even contributed some material to popular Nintendo arena fighter, Super Smash Bros: Brawl. After leaving his post as Sound Director in the Sonic series for a few years (following the release of Shadow the Hedgehog), Mr Senoue has finally been invited back to work on the official soundtrack for the much-anticipated Wii title, Sonic and the Black Knight. So, has the long wait been worth it, and has the master of video game metal managed to make just as powerful and positive an impact as he did on Sonic Adventure, ten years previously?

Unfortunately and disappointingly, the answer to this question is, most definitely, a disconsolate and resounding “no”. Screeching guitar and overly simplistic melodies both serve to make Tales of Knighthood a thoroughly unenjoyable experience to listen to, and this is further worsened by the fact that the whole soundtrack exhibits very poor audio engineering throughout virtually the entirety of its duration; most of the various (and derivative) rock licks are ruined by their shockingly woeful tinniness, and the mismatched blend of classical and modern instruments creates nothing but tedious clashing and sharp discord.

The uninspiring and unoriginal orchestral pieces don’t help matters much, either; comparing them to their older equivalents in previous Sonic titles (such as the awe-inspiring Tricky Maze from Sonic Adventure) does far more than enough to show their true direness, and also reveals a worryingly high level of under-complexity in the newer tunes. Boring, lacklustre, and monotonous, these orchestral interludes give very little to the overall quality of the album, and serve only as worthless and pointless intermissions to break up the equally dull repetition of the rock.

It’s a real shame, too, as Tales of Knighthood not only marks Jun Senoue’s return to Sonic, but also the long-awaited comebacks of Richard Jacques (of Sonic R fame) and Howard Drossin, (who contributed to the fabulous Sonic & Knuckles soundtrack, and was also involved in creating the music for other classic MegaDrive titles such as the much-venerated Comix Zone and The Ooze) though neither of them have actually produced anything outstandingly spectacular for this particular album. A notable mention, however, is Drossin’s Dragon’s Lair, (not to be confused with Dragon Slayer, a dreary orchestral track with a stupidly similar name) which provides at least a moderately enjoyable listening experience, but – due to its uninspiring melody – falls a few marks short of being able to be classed as the incredible masterpiece that one would expect from such an acclaimed and experienced artist.

There is, however, a single, individual piece of music – composed by a newcomer to the world of Sonic sounds, Tommy Tallarico (famous for his work on the original MDK and Earthworm Jim) – which stands head and shoulders above all of the other tracks on the entire two-disc span of Tales of Knighthood; with a stupendously spiffy blend of spicy flamenco and riveting rock licks, Molten Mine is a wholly wonderful joy of a tune to listen to, and it serves as the one and only saving grace for the entire album as a whole. I was personally extremely shocked and disappointed, then, to discover that this magnificent musical magnum opus was actually a remix of one Mr Tallarico’s previous works; namely “Action”, from the distinctly unpopular Saturn and PlayStation helicopter simulator, Black Dawn. This in no way stops it from being an excellent tune, however; it’s just a major disappointment that the stellar sound team behind this decidedly un-stellar soundtrack couldn’t – at the very least – come up with some decent, inventive and new material for us all to devour and enjoy.

Tales of Knighthood, then, is – in virtually every way – a potentially wonderful album, though it’s thoroughly and totally ruined by Senoue’s scrap-metal, Drossin’s dross, and Jacques’ junk. And although Tommy Tallarico’s tremulously tantalising cover of “Action” from Black Dawn provides at least some classy and exciting listening material, it does precisely and absolutely nothing whatsoever to alleviate the diabolically serious originality crisis which grips the soundtrack so tightly. As it stands, it’s just an incredibly unsatisfactory group of unnecessarily lacklustre tracks, most of which provide absolutely zero pleasure and exert next to no charm at all. Oh well; for Jun Senoue, there’s always Sonic 4 and Sonic Colours, right? [2]

Thumbs Up: Molten Mine even though it is disappointing to find it is a reworking of an existing song.
Thumbs Down: The rest of it!
Favourite Track: Molten Mine

JezMM
To me, Black Knight was a disappointing game to play, but it had a saving grace of being presented beautifully – the script, interface, and music being my favourite things about the game. Maybe it’s just because I’m a sucker for orchestral being mixed with modern styles such as rock, but I found it to be one of Sonic’s best soundtracks to date. Particular stand-outs for me were Misty Lake – that saw Jun’s signature style taken from guitars to violins, Deep Woods with its enchanting layers of instruments and beautifully melancholic melody, and the epic and exciting trio of tracks that were Crystal Cave, Molten Mine and Shrouded Forest. The cut-scene songs are also notably good, with Calm After the Battle… Arondight and Merlina – The Queen of The Underworld being favourites of mine. To the Rescue… A Knight’s Law is also a highlight – it’s so catchy and uplifting I almost wish it could be some kind of recurring “Sonic’s theme” in future games! Even the menu themes are expertly composed – The Ash Grove, Name Entry, and Option are wasted on the small amount of time you hear them in-game!
My only non-personal-taste-driven criticism for the soundtrack would be the oddities that are Titanic Plains, Faraway Avalon and Knight’s Passage. These stage themes have a surprisingly short running time before repeating and somewhat outstayed their welcome after a minute or so. Camelot Castle also drags on a bit longer than it should on the CD. [9]

Thumbs Up: A huge variety of tracks and styles, despite the comforting “Ye Olde English” vibe overseeing every theme.
Thumbs Down: Variety however does come at the cost of there assuredly being a fair few dud tracks for each individual listener.
Favourite Track: Deep Woods

BlitzChris
While I wasn’t too phased by the lacking game play or dull predictable story to Sonic and the Black Knight, the music saved the game from being a complete shipwreck. When you play a stage in a Sonic title you want music that engages the ears; the stage themes to SatBK do just that. I do love a good guitar and it was great to see Senoue back to his finest, accompanying the almost orchestral sound the entire album takes. I was a little ticked at the over use of violins throughout the album. I understand that they are a great orchestral instrument and that they are quite fitting for a ‘knights-themed” game, but to have them in almost every song does begin to drain the individuality of each track. Most of the ‘event’ music sounds the same, but are excused as every other track is a stage theme, and they are bloody fantastic. If a track on this album is shorter than 1:58, I wouldn’t bother listening to it.
Being a lover of remixes and covers I was relieved that they included the It Doesn’t Matter guitar/violin cover used in the fan art area of the game. [7]

Thumbs Up: Stage Themes. Fitting for the stages and just plain fun to listen to.
Thumbs Down: The overuse of violins..
Favourite Tracks: Molten Mine and Shrouded Forest.

T-Bird
In the same vein as Sonic and the Secret Rings, the soundtrack cleverly plays on a rockier take on the archetypal music from the region; with Secret Rings there were a lot of middle-eastern scales used along with sitars and associated percussion. Unsurprisingly with Black Knight, grandiose orchestral pieces are the primary framework for the majority of the pieces composed for the game. In many places this works; for example Howard Drossin’s Dragon’s Lair is a hard hitting rock track with cleverly used synth vocals to emulate a horn section, while Senoue’s Camelot Castle retains his signature guitar sound while pounding ahead with a rather militaristic snare drum. However I am slightly disappointed by the frequency of the hard hitting tracks, with the large majority of the music featuring on this soundtrack falling into the trap of becoming generic incidental tunes. Hopefully with the up-and-coming titles such as Colors, we can expect to see a bit more variety. At least you can enjoy some reworkings of classic tracks like It Doesn’t Matter while you enjoy fan art, eh? [6]

Thumbs Up!: A fitting selection of grand tunes and hard-hitting rock anthems!
Thumbs Down: Another album full of samey incidental tunes that could have featured on any soundtrack from the past four years.
Killer track: Dragon’s Lair

A collection of songs with some entertaining rock tracks and orchestral scores. Some fans may find the soundtrack formulaic with the heavy reliance on incidental pieces,  and may be disappointed with the lack of originality in places.
Completely disagree? Let us know in the comments!

What do you guys think about this new development? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Sonic Wrecks

SEGA composer extrodinare Richard Jacques will be appearing on BBC Radio 2 later on this evening on Simon Mayo’s Drive Time, between 5:05pm and 5:25pm GMT according to Richard’s facebook page. As to what Richard will be talking about during the show, we currently don’t know…but it is fantastic to see Richard getting more mainstream recognition!

Listen in Live tonight via BBC’s iPlayer link (at the top of the page).

After yesterdays announcement that Bentley Jones’ new song So Much More will be the theme song for upcoming game Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing some fans were worried that Richard Jacques involvement might not come to be after all but Sumo Digital’s Steve Lycett(AKA S0L) has laid those worries to rest.

In the SSMB’s Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing topic Steve Lycett posted the following:

For those worried that Rich Jacques isn’t behind the music in the game – rest assured he very much is. All the menus are Mr Jacques creations, as well as other music used throughout the game.

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S0L
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Look’s like the soundtrack is shaping up to be as fan pleasing as every other area of the game. Excited? We sure are.

The wait is over for many fans waiting for the location of the second ever Sonic the Hedgehog convention – the Summer of Sonic 2009 is to take place in the Boiler House, at the Truman Brewery venue in London’s Brick Lane. The location makes it easy to get to for those traveling to the capital.

SOS 2009′s official website broke the news just now, with some information on the venue – the room holds 500 people, includes an outdoor area for extra space and fresh air, and has a distinctive chimney slap bang in the middle. We don’t think it works though, so toasting marshmallows (or cooking chili dogs) doesn’t look like an option, unfortunately.

The organisers have also dropped some hints to the happenings on the day – entry will be free, name registration will be required once again (although this time for legal obligations, not like 2008 where registrations were taken to prevent overcrowding) and Richard Jacques and TJ Davis could well attend a second time. The duo have been pencilled in for an appearance, but nothing has been set in stone, the website stresses.

More details are said to trickle in on a regular basis, so check out the Summer of Sonic website and The Sonic Stadium for the latest!

WHERE: The Boiler House, Truman Brewery (Summer of Sonic 2009)

Whilst the TSS crew were at Video Games Live last night watching things rock out, we were surprised that the set contained no Sonic the Hedgehog medley this year. We didn’t mind though, as someone on stage let slip that co-creator and presenter, Tommy Tallarico, is to be working on the music to Sonic and the Black Knight.

The reveal came during the evening show when the editor for the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition, Keith Pullin, took the stage to award Tommy with for his contribution to video game music (some 200-odd games he’s composed for, from Earthworm Jim to Disney’s Alladin to Metroid Prime). Pullin stated that Tallarico is working on a Sonic the Hedgehog game, whilst the presenter turned to the audience and shhh’d everyone down. Even ArchAngelUK, Sega Europe’s community manager, was surprised of the detail.

During the meet and greet later on, we spoke to Tommy and he told us that he was working with Richard Jacques on the same title. He did not commit to say which Sonic game he is working on, but given Unleashed is a month or so away, the only likely contender is Black Knight.

It will be Tommy Tallarico’s first Sonic game, and being a massive fan of the guy myself I can’t wait to hear what he’s got going for the slash and dash ‘em-up. We’ll keep you posted on any further developments.

Yeah, so this one’s been sitting in the archives for a while. Originally recorded on 30th June 2006, Mark Kidley from RadioSEGA and myself sat down with the one and only Richard Jacques for a chat about his career, experience working on Sonic soundtracks and with Sonic Team and much more besides. This was to be used for the original Summer of Sonic event in 2006, but time flies when you’re all of a sudden organising a real life convention.

Even though this interview is two years old, it’s well worth a listen for any RJ fan, particularly as we were out of time during Summer of Sonic 2008 to ask him any pressing questions. Juicy tidbits such as Sonic R’s original work-in-progress name being Sonic TT, his role behind Video Games Live and what game fans pester him the most about. You can download it from the TSS Media Portal – link below.

Summer of Sonic 2006: Richard Jacques Interview (TSS Media Portal) – 10.1MB
Right click and select ‘Save As…’

SAGE director, Shadix, and I got to interview Richard Jacques during SAGE and we had an extensive discussion on his favorites, creative process, and various other thoughts. The interview takes about a minute to get into it, as there’s a strange hiss for a bit, but yes, there is an interview after that noise. Also, whenever a caller-hangs up, there’s a bit of dead air. Technical difficulties, ya know.

DOWNLOAD THE RICHARD JACQUES INTERVIEW NOW!

Also, reminder! At 9 PM EST on Thursday, August 20th (which would be today), Mike Pollock, the voice of Dr. Eggman, will be in the chat channel to field questions and on the air to host a gameshow! It’s a can’t miss event!

IT’S FINALLY HERE! THE 2008 SONIC AMATEUR GAMES EXPO IS HERE!

We invite any and all Sonic fans to come to the 13th iteration of this long-standing, Sonic community tradition, hosted by one of the community’s original sites, Sonic Fan Games HQ. Play the latest and greatest fan projects all in one place for one glorious week of celebrating not only Sonic the Hedgehog, but our community as well.

Please, hop right into the chat room, look at the schedule, and just read everything there is to read about the show! It’s going to be great!

A word of warning about certain booths: Sunday is usually the slowest day for the booths section, as dead links will be weeded out and some people will be putting up their demos throughout the day, due to time zone differences. Bear with that fact, because it happens every year. Come Monday, everybody should be ready to roll.

Be sure to check here for TSS Staff’s input on all the fangaming action!

With that said…

ENTER SAGE 2008!

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