Let's talk about Jun Senoue.

[Dizcrybe]

This guy. Been doing Sonic music since Sonic 3, bringing us the various heard throughout the game, not mention half of 3D Blast's Genesis soundtrack. Then he did Sonic Adventure, the rest, as they say, is history.

Seems to be a somewhat controversial figure lately (i.e. since Sonic 4: Episode 1's music was leaked). His music is the kind you either love due to its upbeat cheery rockin'-ness, or hate because it all sounds the same and the arrangements are a mess.

Either way, he's contributed a great deal to the sound of Sonic games, and still remains a fan favorite. Most of the time.

So I wanna know what you guys think. Is Jun Senoue one of the best Sonic Team composers out there, or is his music blase and uninspired?

Personally, I can't get enough of his stuff.

[Tornado]

What is that he is holding in his hands? That doesn't look like a cat.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Tornado

[Dizcrybe]

What is that he is holding in his hands? That doesn't look like a cat.

It's certainly not alive.

[Soniman]

What is that he is holding in his hands? That doesn't look like a cat.

I must thank you for getting the obvious joke out of the way.

[TheOcelot]

What is that he is holding in his hands? That doesn't look like a cat.

No, it's a duck. His latest collection.

What are the markings on his guitar? They look really cool.

[Jack / Joker]

As much as I like Mr. Senoue, pretty much all of his best work is in collabs, without anyone else he doesn't really stand up to the likes of Tony Harnell or Tomoya Ohtani in my opinion...

[Urban Flow]

I like Jun Alot. One of my favorite songs from him is the Special Stage from 3D Blast. I gotta say though, I think Fumie Kumatani and Mariko Nanba are quite underrated.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Urban Flow

[Solkia]

He needs a haircut

[Old dead account]

I like a lot of Senoue's works even nonsonic stuff. But honestly he has got to learn better instrumentation. Whatever happened to his greater works from SA1? Nowadays he can be described like this for his non-rockin' works:

Squidward: so does anyone know how to play an instrument?

*Jun raises hand*

squidward: No jun, a cat is not an instrument...

*...jun raises hand again*

squidward: a duck is not an instrument either

And I apologize for the beaten to death joke

[Mogtaki]

Well, it's because him that I like to Rock! One of my earliest experiences of it and he's certainly inspiring. Without him, no Lemanic, musically speaking.

He's like Desmond Child on Ecstacy. What's not to love?

I wouldn't go as far comparing him to Desmond Child. Maybe Nobuo Uematsu with less variation in his work: mostly rocky and similar sounding.

Anyway...I like the guy, I really do, but it's not his guitar I love. He has fantastic bass, I think people forget about the bass. He doesn't seem to function very well by himself until he collaborates, I guess, but I wish kids wouldn't treat him like a god in video game music when it's the orchestrated stuff in Sonic that's utterly fantastic too. Sonic Unleashed has a great soundtrack without him.

[Stritix]

I don't think his latest work holds up to his older work at all. He's great, but I'd say he needs to put more effort into his tunes like he used to.

[AlphaRuby]

I like his work too. Though if we get a Sonic 4 Ep 3 and if they still want to use synth, then put him with a group of other musicians. Getting rid of him completely would just come off as over-reacting to me.

[Dr. Crusher]

He's not bad at all for the most part, but I prefer the works of a few others a little more, such as Fumie Kumatani and Tomoya Ohtani. I feel they tend to have more variation.

And justified as it may be, I'm sick to death of those cat/duck jokes.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Dr. Crusher

[Brad]

I've gotten pretty bored with his stuff honestly. I'd like somebody new to take a shot who could give Sonic music a breath of fresh air. If you get me. Though I'd take him a thousand times over Iizuka.

[Balding Spider]

What is that he is holding in his hands? That doesn't look like a cat.

It's his portable cat sound generator.

[Jix Hedgehog]

Ran into him (and Iizuka) at Comic-Con this year, he seemed very friendly - willing to stop for pics with fans.

He signed my Generations game box at Boom, enjoyed his music.. obviously very talented.

I don't think I've ever seen him smile thou

[Frogging101]

I've gotten pretty bored with his stuff honestly. I'd like somebody new to take a shot who could give Sonic music a breath of fresh air. If you get me. Though I'd take him a thousand times over Iizuka.

?

This guy makes music, he's not a producer. And besides, what's wrong with Iizuka? He brought us Colors and Generations, which are widely thought to be the best modern Sonic games.

[Antronach]

I appreciate the direction he has taken the music in from SA1. He's had a few hiccups here and there, but I generally like his music. His collabs and remixes are exceptionally awesome. We do need more Fumie Kumatani and Mariko Nanba though.

[Mr. Taxi]

I don't like his work.

Even if we discount Sonic 4 and Sonic Adventure 2's generally uninspired soundtrack, we are still left with a boring opus at best. His tunes for Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis) are but a few - Panic Puppet Act 1, Green Grove, Spring Stadium... that's about it. He only did jingles for Sonic 3.

So I'd take Naofumi Hataya over him any day.

[Rexeljet]

I like his stuff, but I don't think he should be given restrictions and limitations when composing/arranging music. He's at his best when he's rocking out with a guitar, slap bass and high-quality synths, rather than low-quality synths and Sonic 2 percussion for music that loops after 15 seconds. To be fair though if someone like Fumie Kumatani, Tomoya Ohtani, Kenichi Tokoi or Richard Jacques had the same restrictions then their work would probably be just as bland and grating.

He's still responsible for some of my favourite music tracks in the series, like Azure Blue World, Windy & Ripply, Pleasure Castle, Crazy Gadget, Final Rush, Grand Metropolis, Final Fortress, etc. etc. etc, though he's still quite capable of producing forgettable bland tunes as well (pretty much all the songs in Shadow the Hedgehog). I'd still say that Kenichi Tokoi, Tomoya Ohtani and Tatsayuki Maeda are my favourites but that's not to say that I don't think Jun Senoue is a really good musician.

[Scar]

Though Jun hasn't produced his best work recently, I'm fine with him as Sound Director. Even in Generations, he only made a handful of tracks, and he usually collaborates with almost every big name in Sonic music when making a big-budget soundtrack. I think his work is best when he focuses on making a few standout tracks, while letting others work on the rest of the OST.

Plus, don't let him near any synthesisers.

[\Lennox]

*cat sound*

Okay, other than that, where's the love for Kenichi Tokoi? That guy did most of the music for the Modern-era Trilogy! DDDD8

[TCB]

I like his work; though like others have said before me I think he's at his best when he's collaborating with other artists on a soundtrack. Granted; Heroes' soundtrack is one of my favorites that he worked on. That's not to say from a standalone view he does have some excellent compositions. His own "The Works" album is a good example of that in my opinion.

And Lennox...d-don't forget about Tomoya Ohtani! D:

Edited December 3, 2012 by TheChaosBlue

[Fuzon-S]

What are the markings on his guitar? They look really cool.

That's his Sonic and the Black Knight themed guitar if I'm correct. He has different ones such as his well-known Sonic Adventure one, Shadow the Hedgehog, and even NASCAR-esque theme with parodied sponsor stickers.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Jun, awesome musician during his earlier years, and still pretty good aside from you-know-what.

[Brad]

?

This guy makes music, he's not a producer. And besides, what's wrong with Iizuka? He brought us Colors and Generations, which are widely thought to be the best modern Sonic games.

Yes, I was referring to the fact that out of the two remaining Sonic Team members since Sonic 3 I'd take him to stay over Iizuka. Yeah, and Iizuka also brought us "Sonic 4" and Shadow the Hedgehog. I'm not saying he's all bad but honestly I feel like he doesn't even know what he's talking about sometimes regarding Sonic. :/