Lost in the Music ~ Chronotorious by the Bad Dudes

     I love all things Chrono Trigger. I have the SNES, Ps1 and DS game and on more then one occasion, have thought about getting the PSN edition of the game. I have Chrono Trigger desktop images, statuettes and hopefully soon, a Lucca plushie.

     So when a friend of mine sent me a link to a song called Rockin on Heaven's Door by the Bad Dudes , I was intrigued. She said it was a good tune and that I should give it a listen. My first impressions were mixed. It does sound nice and quite relaxing. It sounded safe. However, when the second half of the song picks up, it changes gear to something more heavy. The way the soft serenade fades into something more heavy was flawless and each section compliments each other. This song is fantastic and quite possibly one of the best renditions of Zeal Island I have heard in a long time.

     Rockin on Heaven's door was a good introduction to the album, but how well does the rest of the album measure up. Coming in at just under 50 minutes, the album takes only a few tracks from the original Chrono Trigger album and remixes them. While I would have loved to see more select tracks like Outskirts of Time, Battle with Magus or even the unreleased Singing Mountain. I would like to see the Bad Dudes take on more of these tracks.

     The songs they have remixed are nice and varied instead of just making them into rock covers, they make a variety of different sounds. From the Techno (Chronotorious) to Classic Piano (Longing for the Wind) to even Death Metal (Dethfrog, which may be one of the funnest concepts on the album). Normally I am not a fan of Death metal, but this concept just makes me smile, turning the very simple, yet badass Frog's theme into a parody of a Death Metal song.

     I should mention that the song succeeding Dethfrog is a more adult contemporary track in Cave Girl which only adds to the hilarity. As I have said, they have taken Frog's theme from a prideful fanfare, to a mockery of Dethklok from Metalocalypse. Meanwhile, they took the primitive, yet jazzy Ayla's Theme and turned it to something very relaxed, almost into the easy listening category. Even when Cave Girl picks up, it still somewhat easy listening, only with a slight edge to it. The contrast is hilarious and it makes these 2 songs fantastic to listen to back to back.

     So you must be asking yourself, should you get Chronotorious by the Bad Dudes. The answer is yes. It is only 9 bucks on their bandcamp site. It is well worth it and you will be supporting independent musicians. This is a great album and for the Chrono Trigger fan, a must have. You can find their CD on their Bandcamp site and be sure to check out their main website here.

     Next week, I should hopefully be back on schedule and with September rolling around and kids back in school, I think we should take a listen to Mr Megaran as he teaches us in Language Arts Volume 1. I am Daimo Mac and I am lost in the music.

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     Follow me on Twitter @lostwiththmusic or email me at lostwithmusic@gmail.com.