Coop's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Purple Heart]

Not quite military...

I get the feeling that with the title and the sound of the piece, you were aiming for a military theme. The beating heart of the drum throughout the piece was evident, which is a really nice undertone. The trumpet sound was what subverted me from the thought of military - you should have used a bugle :P

Still, this has a similar quality to the Last Post, which is traditionally played as a remembrance tune in the UK. I can see that this one is a more modern piece (duh :P) but it also points towards the people currently fighting not only for the freedom, but to stay alive in conflicts.

Perhaps this tune goes on too long... I would have considered making it to 3 minutes long and then changing it to a loop. It would work much better if the tune suddenly stopped and caught the start again.

[Review Request Club]

[A World's Rigors]

LOTR meets Halo

With this piece, I can feel the way that there are large forces at work here, preparing for some sort of major conflict. The subtle undercurrents of the political rivalries fuelling the flames of war.

The Bells were a really nice touch - not quite tolling the start of the war, but a very nice addition to the piece. This one finishes really nicely as well, calmly fading to black (if that would be applicable to sound :P)

[Review Request Club]

[-=Garage Rock=-]

Catchy tune

The opening reminds me a little of 'Money for Nothing' by Dire Straits. The tempo being quite high, it reminds me of the late 80s / early 90s game 'Road Rash', where you were riding a motorbike in a race, pursuing all of your rivals and beating them around the head with a chain.

I like the blend of instruments, you've worked well on getting them all to play together so neatly. For the record, it really suits the Sauron visulisation as well :P

I look forward to hearing more of your work

[Review Request Club]

Mataro responds:

I don't really see the Money for Nothing in this.. But alright xD

As for Road Rash.. Well, I've never heard of it, personally. But any game that involves motorcycles and beating eachother around the head with chain is cool in my books.

I also found the instruments blended rather well.. Surprisingly well.. Unintentionally well, even! Haha, seriously.. I only spent an hour on this because everything just seemingly fell into place.. Glad you like it, and I'm sorry I took so long to reply. ._.

[==(Celestial Swamp Life)=]

Enthralling

This piece certianly puts me in the mind of the everyday happenings in a swamp - the clicking reminds me of certain creatures which communicate by clicking. That was a very well done part.

Given that the goings on in a swamp for me tend not to be so rhythmic, it's hard for me to appreciate the bass beat, as a uniform beat through the whole song just seems too regular for it. I'd have given different beats through the tune - change between maybe 3 backing tracks for the whole tune, just to give the impression of the entropic nature of the place.

[Review Request Club]

[TheReno-[Hard fought Victory]]

Reminds me of a national anthem

Kind of akin to "Advance, Austraila Fair", albeit without the bass track which National Anthems have for their impetus, this one is a kind of inspiring track, something that I feel should be saved for a few more days (Armastice day is Nov. 11th, where people in the commonwealth remmeber the sacrifices made by soilders and other members of the armed forces.)

As such, I quite like this track, but I would appreciate a little more backing, rather than just having the keyboard / organ in the track. Not needing things like percussion, but a bass beat would certainly help.

[Review Request Club]

TheReno responds:

Thanks for that. This si going to be my first song that Im going to edit so give it a bit of time, Using bass is hard when you already like the song xD

[TheReno-[Sonata of the Stars]]

I can see the resemblence.

This time, wehn I listen to this piece, I feel that I am looking up at the night sky, seeing all of those pinpricks of light and all of the other astral wonders that fly through the endless depths of the Universe.

The pumping beat that you put in every now and again seems to me like some sort of meteor shower, which completed the whole piece, as we well know that all is not calm and tranquil in and around those stars.

Quiet, calming and stimulating.

[Review Request Club]

TheReno responds:

Thank you very much, you have just told me exactly what I wanted to hear, what I made. Its true what you say, all of it and I am glad you saw that, thank you very much

[Rebellion of the Patriots -T.R]

American Football?

I'm struggling to find the references made in your author comments, but I do like this piece. It's bold and, while it could have done with a few interludes of percussion, it was nice for the fact that it didn't have any.

With the way you set this out, I knew it was going to be a 'quiet piece' that made a statement. However, I'm still trying to figure that part out about what statement it's trying to make. Maybe it will make more sense when I've had some sleep.

[Review Request Club]

TheReno responds:

No not football. Soldiers. Like oppresed people fighting for their right to live, their right for freedom. My question was did they become free or stay oppressed. You know at the end of the song.

[==(Frozen Planet)==]

Excellent Ambience

This tune would be good as a background tune for a great many strategy games, especially if you were between battles and restocking etc... puts me in mind of a Space Simulator I used to play, back in the 90s.

I love the piano in this, it's a very calming part of the piece. The choir doesn't tend to get me in the right mood, but this one does, especially when blended so well with the other aspects.

Ambient music is such a wide ranging genre, you really can get away with a lot of different stuff, which you have clearly proven with some of your pieces.

[Review Request Club]

[DH loop]

Needs to be longer

To make an efective loop, this song must be about 3 minutes - the 1.5 minute marker just makes it quite annoying, reasonably quickly.

For me, the first 20 seconds smacked of Final Fantasy on a primitive level - one instrument is only going to sound so good. With more of a chance to blend instruments into a melody, the piece tends to sound more '3D' and more advanced.

It's a good start and I think that if it was longer and fleshed out with a few more instruments in close melody, the whole piece would blossom into something bigger.

[Review Request Club]

Dark-Heart responds:

I know what you're saying. But what am I going to do, this is my first audio submission, and I can't play piano very well. Heh, still, I'll try your advice on this song.

[A Collection of Guilt]

Almost perfect

What more needs to be said about this wonderful piece?

Maybe it's a little loud in places, as parts of the guitar music has a trace of static, which is a shame, because this piece is great. Reminds me of a cross between Rammstein, Dream Theater and Metallica. The vocal pieces needed to be slightly louder, so we could understand was was being sang / said / yelled. I am aware of the fact that Rammstein isn't supposed to be understood, but what the hell :P

The mellow change of tempo put me in mind of Nothing Else Matters, by Metallica, which is why it comes in like that. The body of the song reminds me a lot of Dream Theater and Rammstein - thundering drums, deep bass and a great guitar lead.

Maybe the drums lend a little to Man-o-war as well, but they're not one of my favourites, so I'll back off from that :P

[Review Request Club]

Goatchrist responds:

Thanks!

Well, as I said, the 128 kbit do hurt the song a little, adding more static than intended. The full demo will have better quality.

Your comparisons are definitely interesting, I've never heard anyone comparing my stuff to the bands you mentioned :)

Glad you liked it, thanks for the indepth review!