Best Soundtrack Contest - Mk III

[Reading]

Stage Themes

"The Palace That Was Found" - Evil Foundry

"The White Of Sky" - Skeleton Dome

"Unawakening Float" - Night Palace

Boss Themes

"It Has Come To This" - Erazor Djinn

"Seven Rings In Hand" - Alf-Layla-Wa-Layla

I really, really would vote for the Event and Party themes, but it's been so long since I've played the game, and I only mostly recall these tracks. I downloaded the Adventure Disk Soundtrack (containing stage themes and boss themes) yesterday, and I'd download the rest of the soundtrack, but I don't think I'd be able to form a concise opinion on the event and party themes in such a short time.

In any case, this!

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Stage Themes

The Palace That Was Found

This song really conveys an ancient fortress in a way I'm not really sure of myself. I like the Arabian-style acoustics in conjunction with the modern drums and electric guitar. That orchestral background in some of the sections is really appealing to me; in the beginning section, it really sounds like it's conveying something evil or negative, and sounds almost sad. This effect is pushed even further when the beginning section is repeated closer to the end of the song. The orchestral section is one octave lower, creating a more an even more subdued, negative flavor. Then it's back to its original octave, but everything else except the electric guitar background is abandoned, forming what I feel to be the epitome of the song's mood; sad and sinister with a somewhat dangerous overtone. I find the vocal phrases in this song to be quite fitting and somewhat amusing: "Who's gonna rock the place?" "And no one can touch this!" Just talking about it really doesn't give you a true idea of how it sounds; you should really listen to the real thing.

This is hands-down my favorite stage theme from Secret Rings. It feels like it could suit any sort of ancient indoor area with an arabesque (pun not intended) flavor. Of course, that's sort of specific, but picture...Sonic exploring a huge abandoned museum to find an object while fire and battles rage in the burning city outside.

The White Of Sky

This is a very unique song in terms of Sonic (as JezMM said) - nothing else sounds quite like this calm, dark tune. I really don't know how to describe the song's feeling; as I mentioned, it's calm, and a little dark, and it feels sort of...weird? No, that's not the adjective I'm looking for, but I just can't put my finger on it. I like the somewhat "This is a place where something bad has happened!" feel with the orchestra section at the very beginning of the song, and how it goes into the strange acoustic main section after that. The "central" portion at 1:22 always stood out to me for some reason. It's like the song's laying back, just sort of lounging. This song fits the Skeleton Dome perfectly. It also came to my head as a suitable tune for a desolated, charred, flaming forest (the part at the very beginning of the Skeleton Dome sort of looks like this, although I'd have to see it again to refresh my memory).

I think here is where I should mention that I think Secret Rings's soundtrack has a very distinct and capturing flavor to it. Perhaps it's because of its sheer uniqueness, or the frequent vocals. Whatever the case, it's very easy to start actually thinking about the music while you're playing the game, and it really immerses you into the level. It's like nothing else in the game ever existed; what you're doing now is now. This feeling happens in a lot of other games, too; it's like what you're doing is so capturing, it's hard to imagine X earlier event from the game even happened in the very same "existence". But I have no idea how to describe all that, so I'll stop here.

Unawakening Float

It was a tough choice between this one and High and Broken, but I like Unawakening Float because it just sounds so sinister and intense, getting the feel of the big bad guy's evil headquarters exactly right. It reminds me of some of the final level tracks in Mario games, for some reason. I can near-clearly recall the Night Palace now that I listen to this song. And now that I think about it, Sonic and the Secret Rings was just so much more...epic than Sonic and the Black Knight. Of course, I'm about to enter the final level in Black Knight (no, not Avalon), so whatever lies next could easily change this opinion, but Secret Rings was so much longer, and really felt like a new Sonic adventure. Black Knight seems so watered down in my opinion, and more like a cheesy children's game. I don't dislike Black Knight, but once I finish, I've got to play Secret Rings again...

Boss Themes

It Has Come To This

Not really sure what to say about this one - I don't really like most of the boss themes in this game, but this one's sort of decent, I guess. It's a great song that sets the mood of the "final" battle, and the intense vocals help a lot too.

Seven Rings In Hand

This song is a very fitting main theme for Sonic and the Secret Rings. It sounds fitting for the legendary Arabian Nights atmosphere, with slower, almost chanting-like vocals. The chorus with "Seven Rings in Hand" sounds very intense, approving, majestic, and...metallic? Precious metals just come to my mind when I hear that section for some reason. I think a lot of the feeling has to do with those background acoustics, though I'm not sure exactly what they are.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, I think JezMM just described that in the post above mine.

Edited April 24, 2009 by Reading

[The Joiner!]

Stages:

The Palace that was Found, High and Broken, Unawakening Float

Bosses:

Poison Spear, Blue on the Run

Events:

The Last Palace, Ali Baba and Sinbad Rescued!

Party:

Character Select, Yellow Sneakers, Violin Higher's Class

[JezMM]

I'll be having to end this about an hour early since I need to be at work at exactly the time it finishes, lol. So half an hour remaining to vote.

Current winners are The Palace That Was Found, Seven Rings In Hand, Yellow Sneakers, and alas the Event Category still stands to be eliminated.

I admit I'm surprised no-one else cares for the ending theme, Worth A Chance. =o Apparently it wasn't that popular lol.

Edited April 25, 2009 by JezMM

[JezMM]

Well there goes that half an hour lol.

Round 33 - Sonic and the Secret Rings (Final Vote)

Please vote for one track.

Primary Vote Winners

"

- Evil Foundry

"

- Alf-Layla-Wa-Layla

"Yellow Sneakers" - Party Game Theme

I vote The Palace That Was Found, but man this was a toughie between that and Seven Rings.

Edited April 25, 2009 by JezMM

[SoniClub]

Yellow Sneakers:

Most of Sonic and the Secret Rings Music just didn't do it for me. So Yellow Sneakers; just cause it's funky.

[Serperior]

I vote for seven rings in hand simply for it being one of the few memorable tracks in this game

[Blue Kirby]

Seven rings in hand for the win

[Reading]

The Palace That Was Found.

Edited April 25, 2009 by Reading

[canderson]

The Palace That Was Found.

Seven Rings in Hand is the only song in this game I dislike. =P

[ovarloard]

Seven Rings In Hand. Epic song.

[null]

The Palace that was Found.

[savvn]

What about night palace? Come on that song is awesome. Oh well, I vote for evil foundery.

Edited April 26, 2009 by savvn

[JezMM]

What about night palace? Come on that song is awesome. Oh well, I vote for evil foundery.

Alas, you missed your chance to try and get it into the final if you wanted to. I agree overall, Unawakening Float is my favourite song in the whole game.

Oh, also, 14 hours left to vote.

Edited April 26, 2009 by JezMM

[JezMM]

The winner is The Palace That Was Found!

Round 34 - Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Primary Vote)

Please vote for the appropriate number of tracks per section.

Vocal Themes - Only 1 vote allowed

"Un-Gravitify" - Main Theme

"Catch Me If You Can" - Ending Theme

"Un-Gravitify ~Electro Extended~" - Remixed Theme (Instrumental used for Main Menu)

Track Themes - Up to 3 votes allowed

"Through Traffic" - Megalo Station/Nightside Rush

"Spiral Madness" - Botanical Kingdom/Snowy Kingdom

"Gadget Round" - MeteorTech Premises/MeteorTech Sparkworks

"Aquatic Time" - Aquatic Capitol/Tempest Waterway

"Sealed Ground" - Gigan Rocks/Gigan Device

"Dive Into Gravity" - Crimson Crater/Security Corridor

"The Core" - Astral Babylon/Mobius Strip

"Blast Town" - 80's Boulevard/90's Boulevard

"Multi Attack" - Survival Mode

Event Themes - Up to 3 votes allowed

"Meteor Falls" - The robots of MeteorTech awaken

"When Robots Attack" - The crazed robots attack Sonic and he discovers the power of the meteorite piece

"Mystery Of The Meteorite" - Dr. Eggman explains the origin of his Meteortech company

"The Divine Wings" - The mystery of the Arks of the Cosmos appears to be related to Babylon Garden

"Give Me The Power" - Jet acquires the Ark of the Cosmos from the Gigan Rocks monument and makes a wish

"Full Speed Ahead" - Eggman steals the Arks of the Cosmos Jet had acquired (remix of "Eggman Again" from Sonic Riders)

"Babylon Garden" - Eggman is defeated, and Babylon Garden appears thanks to the Arks of the Cosmos.

"The Lightless Black" - Tails realises something isn't right, before the master robot steals the Arks of the Cosmos

"Stop The Black Hole" - Sonic dives straight into the storm in a last ditch effort to stop the black hole

"After The Storm" - Jet decides he still has a score to settle with Sonic

"Wish And Hope" - Tails and Amy talk about the Babylon Garden's crash

My votes:

Vocal Themes - Catch Me If You Can (this was REALLY hard since I love this and Un-Gravitify so much - shall talk more later...)

Track Themes - Through Traffic, Dive Into Gravity, The Core

Event Themes - When Robots Attack, After The Storm, Wish And Hope

[Blue Kirby]

Only voting "Un-gravitify". I didn´t like this soundtrack too much.

[ovarloard]

Vocal - Un-gravitify

Track - Through Traffic, Spiral Madness, and Gadget Round

Again, I'm not going to vote on the event themes because I don't really listen to them. During the cutscenes, I prefer to focus on the dialogue.

Edited April 28, 2009 by OvErLoRd

[goodone121]

Un-Gravitify and Multi Attack.

[Rusty Spy]

Vocal: Catch Me if You Can

Track: Blast Town

Event: Stop the Black Hole

[JezMM]

24 hours remaining to vote. The current finalists are: Un-Gravitify, Through Traffic, and the event category currently stands to be eliminated.

[canderson]

Vocal: Un-Gravitify!

Track: Aquatic Time, Sealed Ground(this one better win JeZMM XD), and Dive into Gravity!

These are the best 3 stages as well. =)

I don't remember to much of the event themes. I'm sorry.

[JezMM]

Right, tiebreaker time. Event category is obliterated into a million pieces and Un-Gravitify wins the vocal track vote.

Round 34 - Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Primary Vote) TIEBREAKER

Please vote for one track.

Track Theme Winners

"Through Traffic" - Megalo Station/Nightside Rush

"Dive Into Gravity" - Crimson Crater/Security Corridor

24 hours to vote, first to two votes wins.

[Blue Kirby]

Through traffic

Lol now i remember i wanted to vote 80th boulevard :___D Nevermind, it would be disclassified too soon.

Edited April 29, 2009 by Blue Kirby

[SefHighwind]

I'm going to vote for Through Traffic as well. I actually liked the soundtrack for this game, and this song really is fun to rave to in the car.

[ovarloard]

Through Traffic. Only track music better than it is Spiral Madness, and that's already been eliminated, so...

[JezMM]

Well, with three votes, one more than required to win, Through Traffic seems to be the winner.

Round 34 - Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Final Vote)

Please vote for one track.

Primary Vote Winners

"Un-Gravitify" - Main Theme

"Through Traffic" - Megalo Station/Nightside Rush

Through Traffic is really damn awesome, but my vote has to go to Un-Gravitify. It has a very cool almost surreal edge to it no other main theme has had. Really captured the mood of the game to me.