Welcome, welcome! After hearing that the
Chronotorious album by The Bad Dudes was receiving a limited run of 1,000 copies made, I rushed to make a purchase. I had such confidence in the people behind this project that I didn't even bother checking out the samples before I made my purchase. Was that confidence well placed? Is
Chronotorious worth it? Read on soldier; I'll tell you all about it.
Before I tell you though, why don't we have a picture fapfest?
Here we have the shiny cover of the Chronotorious album, featuring artwork by the very talented
Brianne Drouhard.
Here we have the back of the Chronotorious case. It features the full track listing with the original songs from Chrono Trigger in brackets next to the new mixes.
Is that a Nu? I think it is! Written underneath our lazy friend are the words, "All life begins and ends with Nu." I'm giddy that they managed to sneak in one of my favorite, cryptic quotes.
Wait, there's more? Upon unfolding the insert, we're treated to even more artwork by Ms. Drouhard. This one sees the ensemble dancing Charlie Brown style around a campfire, bringing to mind the famous scene where the group questions the nature of the rift in time. Notice that Magus is scowling. He's always so grumpy!
To the left of the campfire dance party, we have an introduction to the adventure we went on all those years ago.
"It all began aeons ago, when man's ancestors picked up a shard of strange red rock. It's power, which was beyond human comprehension, cultivated dreams in turn, love and hate were born. Only time will see how it all ends."
Up next we have the CD itself. It shows off the party in its entirety, each doing a pose befitting their character and storylines. It makes me happy just looking at it!
Not only has everything we've looked at so far been amazing, but there's even more to gaze upon! Here we have the pack in poster, drawn by
Steph Laberis. It's a depiction of Zeal, and it's going up on my wall immediately.
Here's a zoomed in shot of Chrono, Marle, Lucca, and the Nu.
Ah, what do we have here? There's more to this poster than meets the eye. Here we have a description of each song by the artist who wrote it, as well as a cute rendition of Gato. As you can see in the zoomed in view of Gato, the girls go wild for him.
Finally, here's a picture of my shaggy head holding Chronotorious up for the camera. Why? Because.
If you'd like to read the descriptions on the poster, check out the gallery for the larger sized versions of all of these pictures and even more tasty shots.
Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get into the meat of it. Chronotorious features sixteen different tracks by various members of The Bad Dudes, each with his or her own style and flair. If you're a fan of diversity in music, Chronotorious has it in spades. I'm going to list out each of the tracks below, along with my thoughts and impressions on my favorites. It almost feels
wrong talking about music this good, as I'm no musician, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.
1. CHRONOTORIOUS - The album starts off with this electronic/funk arrange of
Chrono Trigger, the original games main theme. It features an eclectic mix of various instruments, including the piano and an electric guitar. It's good stuff.
2. Castle Rock - A remix of the theme that played within Guardia Castle. More than any of the other tracks on this album, this song scream Chrono Trigger. It's a nice song to kickback to.
6. B.A.M.F. - An arrange of the battle theme that plays when you confront Magus, this may be my favorite arrange on the album. Composed by Dhsu and Mustin, the track switches between a more electronic/funk sound and the tones of a piano. My opinion may be biased by my love of Magus a character, but that love tells me they couldn't have captured him any better than this.
14.Forest Steppin' - A remix of the theme that plays in Guardia Forest, this is the other contender for my favorite on the album. I can't quite put to words just why I love it so much, other than to tell you that I do.
Should you purchase Chronotorious? Yes, you most definitely should. For a mere $12 you'll be getting some of the best Chrono Trigger mixes out there, high quality art work, five bonus songs, and you'll be supporting some of the best video game musicians in the business. Without a doubt, this is a must own for any Chrono Trigger fan.
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