Alright, getting around to listening to Strife 2 now!
Judging from the names, the fact that Tensei made this, AND THAT IT'S STRIFE 2... this is going to be so epic! :D
1) Spirit of Storms
Sounds like it will be a Stormspirit remix and/or extension! :D
In any case, there's no track-art for it yet, so that doesn't give much information yet, in any case. :P
Let's go!
...THAT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE STORMSPIRIT.
But dang if it ain't epic!
That was a sweet opener to the album! A really cool song to jam out to.
2) Sanguine Panchromatic
I think this is probably going to be something Kankri related?
Once again no track-art, so that won't give us a clue. :P
...Haha, those guitars remind me a lot of Iron Knight! Definitely sounds like a Vantas song then! :D
That was really epic! I don't think it's a very memorable song, nor is Spirit of Storms, but definitely a really cool song!
3) G4M3 OR D13
Probably a song for Latula, or maybe Terezi!
...This one has track-art! That's not a Pyrope though! xD
Like plainWonder said, probably Troll Gamegrl then?
I love that trackart though, all those videogame easter eggs in there! A Pokéball from Pokémon, a sprite of Samus Aran I think, a sprite of Link from The Legend of Zelda, a Mario sprite, and a Pac-Man ghost!
I'm pretty curious what the song is going to be like, will it sound especially videogamey?
...
AW YEAH ROCK OUT BABY.
Woah, that's a really good mix of 8-bit sounds and the typical Tensei riffs!
I really like how diverse this song is! So many really great parts, and it's a very memorable song.
This one is DEFINITELY on the level of the original Strife album! I love it.
4) Rouge on the Rox
Hehe, definitely a Roxy song.
No track-art here either, so let's see what it sounds like!
WHEN SUDDENLY SAMBA
SAMBA OUT OF NOWHERE
HOLY SHIT
NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING TO HEAR IN A TENSEI SONGS
BUT DANG IF THIS AIN'T GROOVY
This... wow. This is definitely not something that sounds like a typical Tensei song, but I LOVE it! It makes me feel like dancing.
I think this is on an even higher level than G4M3 OR D13! Definitely not disappointed by this one!
For now every song is better than the last one every time! That's promising!
5) Perfect Cascade of the Heart
Oh boy, a Cascade remix as a Dirk (or Nepeta or Meulin) song?? :D
If this is going to be what I think it will be, then it will be insanely epic!
No track-art either, so we'll just have the song to go by!
...Pfffff, that sounds like an elevator music.
WELP, forget what I said, SUDDENLY BURST OUT INTO PURE TENSEI. And then some saxophone, reminding me of Blue Atom / Cyan Beast!
Oh man, the part at 1:30 reminds me a lot of Time On My Side!
I wouldn't say it's as great as G4M3 OR D13 or Rouge on the Rox, but definitely pretty dang cool as well!
Doesn't really seem like it's Cascade-related though. :P
6) Hope Strikes Eternal
Oh dear, Eternity Served Cold remix as a Jake song?? :O
On the other hand, the previous one didn't really seem to have anything to do with Cascade, so this might not have anything to do with Eternity Served Cold either. :P
...Well uh, the track-art doesn't suggest anything Jake nor Lord English related, in any case. xD
...
Heh, the first few seconds remind me of Another Jungle.
Woah, that's a really nice song as well! Pretty memorable! I like the diversity in the song too.
Slightly less great than G4M3 OR D13 perhaps, but still awesome!
7) Aerosoul
I'm not very sure who this could be for. Something with Dirk/Nepta/Meulin (soul) or Erisolsprite (Aerosoul was a popular joke name referring to Erisolsprite for a while).
...On the other hand, the songs with track-art we've seen so far seem to suggest these songs aren't for specific Homestuck characters. :P
...
Another pretty cool song. Not very memorable either, but still pretty great!
Like plainWonder said, kind of like some dark version of Heir Transparent.
8) Arachnofunkia
Vriska and/or Aranea song (or Serket-like fantroll?), OBVIOUSLY! I like how it's the 8th song. ;D
...Yup, that looks like a Serket-like fantroll to me. :P
I have a feeling this is going to be funky!
...
Haha, yeah that's really funky and Serket-like!
I also really like the diversity in this song, how it goes to so many different places!
It's even got a few memorable melodies in it.
It's very, very close to G4M3 OR D13 in terms of how much I like it.
9) The King in Red
HYPED FOR THIS ONE. NUFF SAID.
...That track-art though. :O
Looks like a Nitram-like Troll... going all Makara-crazy (what with the throne and all the blood on the wall reminding me of The Grand Highblood)??? Now I'm curious what his story is. :P
REMIXES CRUSTACEAN BY TOBY FOX. OH BOY.
Looks like this is going to be the first song to actually remix an existing song!
Now I'm very curious! I've heard a lot of good things about this song before.
...
DRAMATIC BEGINNING IS DRAMATIC. Sounds like it could be a church song!
And oh boy, where are we going now...
Woah, this seems to be building up to something incredibly epic...
Yeah, I think I hear where Crustacean comes in! Woah, that's a really nice use of that melody.
Oh man, I really love this one. Very, very close to how much I like Rouge on the Rox!
Definitely my second favorite so far, this didn't disappoint at all!
10) Heel Girl
The name would have made me think it's something Latula related, but plainWonder thinks it's a Jade song!
On the other hand, all of the other songs don't seem to be related to any specific Homestuck character, so this probably won't be either.
"Remixes Courser by Alexander Rosetti"!!! Oh man, that DOES suggest something Jade-related.
I'm pretty curious about this one! Is it going to be somewhat Atomic Bonsai-like?
...
Nice beat to start off with!
And yup, there's Courser-like music, very clearly!
Oh man, at 2:00 the Courser melody clearly kicks in! I really like the way it's used here.
Holy CRAP that was AWESOME. It lifted the Courser melody to unseen heights, that's for sure!
Slightly better than G4M3 OR D13, in my opinion, and very close to King in Red in terms of how awesome it is!
11) Unite Division
UNITE SYNCHRONIZATION REMIX LET'S GO??? Or not??? :P
"Remixes 'Liquid Negrocity' by Toby Fox." OKAY THAT IS NOT UNITE SYNCHRONIZATION
Oh god
Ooooooooooooooooh god.
Oh man if this is going to be anything like Time On My Side...
...
Oh man this sounds ESPECIALLY dark. Oh hi Liquid Negrocity!
This entire song reminds me a lot of the part of Collide when Jack and PM are fighting!
Another really great addition to the album!
12) Spirit of Storms (Reprise)
Let's see how much it is like the first one!
...
Wow, that's really groovy! More memorable than the normal Spirit of Storms, that's for sure!
EIGHT MORE SONGS IN THE EXTRA'S IN THE DOWNLOAD!!!!!!!! Oooooh yeah!
Let's see what they are...
13) The King in Red (Beta)
Ooooooh! A Beta song! Like Tensei did with Cascade (Beta)!
Now I'm very curious how similar and/or different it is to the normal King in Red.
...
Well, I did seem to hear some differences with the normal version. I think I like the normal version more! So, I think it's good that this is the extra version.
14) Unite Division (Beta)
Hah, another beta! Let's see if this one has the Liquid Negrocity melody in it too, or not.
...
Oh god, that beginning reminds me a lot of Rex Duodecim Angelus or Lemonsnout Turnabout.
Did I hear some Western-like whistles at some point?
Unlike the King in Red Beta, I think I like the Unite Divison Beta more than I like its ordinary version! It sounded really, really great, and I would have loved to hear a longer version of it.
15) Arachnofunkia (Beta)
Another beta? Huh, are all the extra songs going to be beta versions of songs already on this album? I mean, not that I'm complaining. :P
Let's see how this one compares to its normal version.
...
Hmm, I don't think I heard too many differences. Maybe slightly more guitars in here, making it closer to for example Spider8reath? Yeah, I think I like the normal version of this song more as well.
16) Heel Girl (Beta)
Aaaaand, another Beta.
...
Yeaaaaah, I don't really think I heard the differences in this one. :P
17) daet with roze
...Pfffff, that's not a Beta song, in any case. xD
Oh god, is this some kind of SBAHJ song for Rose? I mean, what with the spelling here, haha.
Or perhaps plainWonder's right and it's a drunk Rose song, about her date with Kanaya?
Let's see what this is like! I imagine it will be a pretty silly song?
...
Hah, those first few notes made me think this was going to start with the Liquid Negrocity melody.
Seems like a pretty smooth relaxing song!
Wow, I really like it! Seems like a song for a lounge or something.
I would have loved it if this song had been longer!
18) Dance of Thorns (Karaoke)
WHAT.
DANCE OF THORNS KARAOKE. WHAT??? xD
I'm... I'm not even sure what to imagine this will be like, oh dear god.
...
It sure starts out as Dance of Thorns... and suddenly it goes down a different route!
Wow. It's really, really different from the normal version of Dance of Thorns. I like what he did with it! I still prefer the original one, but not bad at all!
...Huh, plainWonder might be right that this really is just the ordinary Dance of Thorns, but with the violins removed from it! That's pretty interesting! I'm surprised by how "different" it sounds with the violins removed from it.
19) Bound in Blood (Beta)
Hmm, a beta song, without a normal version of it on the album?
Is it perhaps simply a song that was supposed to go on the normal album but turned out not to be good enough?
Let's listen to it.
...
Oh boy, this is really different from the other songs!
Oh man, I hardly even noticed the Saviour of the Waking World melody in it at first!
Jeeeeeeeez, this is awesome! I think this would have fit really nicely onto this album, as a non-extra! It's definitely one of my favorites here! It's shame it doesn't have a longer version.
20) Duet
A duet! ...With whom? xD
Did Tensei collaborate with someone on this?
Or is it supposed to sound like a song two of the Kids made together or something?
Let's see what it sounds like.
...
Well, the beginning sounds like John! ...And then Rose! Oooooooh, this is a nice melody. I'm kind of reminded of the sound of a few songs from Jit's One Year Older album!
Wow, once again this is entirely different from the rest of the album, but dang it's really cool! I would have ALSO loved to see this on the album as a non-extra.
So, that was it!
I think it's a pretty good successor to the original Strife! In terms of overall quality, I think it's a biiiiiiit less great. There are quite some songs on it that I think, on my first listening, are less great than the original Strife songs, a few that I think that are just as great as those original songs, and a few ones I like more than the original Strife songs!
I'm especially a great fan of the songs that Tensei took in an entirely new and unexpected direction.
So overall, great job!
If I had to make a ranking of the songs right now, I'd say it's something like:
1. Rouge on the Rox
2. The King in Red
3. Heel Girl / Heel Girl (Beta)
4. Bound in Blood (Beta)
5. G4M3 OR D13
6. Duet
7. daet with roze
8. Unite Division (Beta)
9. The King In Red (Beta)
10. Arachnofunkia
11. Dance of Thorns (Karaoke)
12. Hope Strikes Eternal
13. Unite Division
14. Arachnofunkia (Beta)
15. Spirit of Storms (Reprise)
16. Perfect Cascade of the Heart
17. Sanguine Panchromatic
18. Spirit of Storms
19. Aerosoul
With 1-3 = Better than the original Strife songs, 4-8 = Just as good as the original Strife songs, 9-15 = Not as good as the original Strife songs but still really great and memorable, and 16-19 = Pretty good songs, but not that memorable to me.
I’m excited to listen to this, and interested to hear what sort of music it contains. Obviously it’s a followup to Homestuck’s Strife album, but I notice that the cover art doesn’t look particularly Homestuck-y (is that an ice climber?). Obviously this isn’t an MSPA release, but it is paid for, so maybe it can’t be directly billed as a Homestuck album. But I also wonder if there are some non-Homestuck tracks on here? Obviously a lot of them are Homestuck tracks - you can see that from the titles and also because I knew of some of these songs before the release, but let’s see...
The downloaded version also came with a bunch of beta versions of tracks and some bonus tracks. I’m not sure I’ll be talking much about the beta track specifically, but the bonus tracks, maybe. I’m still not sure how much detail I’m going to put into this.
1. Spirit of Storms
As this is a bandcamp release, this just has the main cover art as the track cover, as it is the first track. So I’m not sure initially what this is about...
Nice piano start... Oooh, there’s the Tensei guitar. Guy has a real gift. This is the sort of music I want to be able to make.
This seems like an intro sort of track so far. More laid back, but hinting at great things. Strings and piano with a rock edge - exactly the sort of style I like Tensei for.
This is a fairly short track overall, but it is the intro track, so so I would expect...
Good ending... let’s see what’s next.
2. Sanguine Panchromatic
Sounds like that’s talking about the hemospectrum if anything. Maybe Rainbow Drinkers? I’m not sure. It might not even be Homestuck at all, so who knows. The track art is just the main cover artwork again, so no clues there.
Oooh, dramatic, heroic start to this. Kinda got a funky groove with that keyboard action. Aaah, now with violin it sounds more like a strifing track. My headcanon is that this is a Kanaya song, and if so it’d fit pretty darn well. Some good synths coming in now. And more guitar!
Somebody once recommended the guitar synth that Tensei uses to me. I should buy it.
Drum work is also fantastic, and I shouldn’t overlook it. Nice diverse patterns.
Another short track, but a fun ending!
3. G4M3 OR D13
A Terezi track by name, but! Interestingly enough, another troll in the album artwork. A new one even, having fun with some games and some paint. Let’s listen!
Funky. It does remind me of one of those early 2000s Sk8er game soundtracks. Oooh, synthy! Gives a nice “game” edge. I’m vaguely reminded of Splatoon for some reason. And hey!!! Chipsynth! Now this is the sort of music I’d love to be able to make. Hey, more keyboard. Tensei has a very consistent instrument set and style, which ties these together pretty nicely. Ayy, back to the chipsynth. I love these melodies, and the polyphony of all those different instruments. The drums are great once more. Tensei has really mastered these particular instrument combinations. Everything he makes sounds so darn professional. Well, I mean, he is a professional, so that should be expected I guess.
This one is a little longer, and I’m liking that. It’s looping around but with some variation. It really would be great for a game soundtrack.
Ayyy, chipsynth solo! With drums... yeah! Awesome. Great transitions. And then this final section to take us out. With that awesome chip crescendo and fadeout. Great track!
4. Rouge on the Rox
This is turning out to be a more intensive review than I first thought it’d be, judging by the length of this post. Maybe I’ll divide it into a few parts. I might make this the last track of part one.
Anyway, this has to be a Roxy track. Right? Gotta be. The pun’s right there in the title, even if there’s no unique track art. Let’s listen.
Oooh, sneaky kinda. Wow. I can’t even remember the name for this style. Sounds like a dramatic 80s spy soundtrack, with a playful overtone. Like something out of an early video game. Which is a feel a lot of these have. Roxy stylishly bashing enemies while sipping from a wine glass. Hey, actually, this might suit Mom Lalonde better. Considering her time period and canon sorta secret-agent vibes. I’m not sure.
Jazzy. That’s probably the word I was looking for. Action-jazzy. Boom. Listen to this. I swear I’ve heard this before somewhere but I just can’t recall exactly what I’m thinking of. Some cheesy spy movie or something. Obviously not this exact track but this style and feel. Anyway, it’s building up good. This brass is a really interesting effect. But the staple piano and guitar are there as well. And the end stays true to the theme. Nice! Wasn’t expecting that, but it is a welcome addition.
Anyway, that’s the end of part 1. I’ll listen to the rest of it soon, just as soon as I’m feeling more with it!
You bet I made an arrangement with a Strife 2 song mere hours after its release. Not sure if Arachnofunkia is my number one fave, but if it isn’t, it’s definitely up there. Anyway, here’s a tribute to that, as well as to the Spider’s Claw leitmotif by Toby Fox kind of.
Arrangement of:
Spider8reath - Tensei
MeGaLoVania - Toby Fox
Arachnofunkia - Tensei
Midnight Spider - Yan "Nucleose" Rodriguez
Songs belong to their artists and/or What Pumpkin. Spider’s Claw by Toby Fox, and check out Strife 2 here!!
