JustShawn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Madness: The Trial of Lucy]

Holy shit...i downloaded this a long time ago...and didn't write a review? What's wrong with me?!!!!
(facepalm)
Everything that's going on in this piece is brilliant, and the atmosphere it creates gives that essential gamer's most beloved theme for a chaotic battle, or cut-scene!

To be perfectly honest...this piece should be used in various other flashes with some "intense" battles...and hopefully see this piece used in the future :-)

DESHIEL responds:

Nice to see that someone still finds this appealing after madness day.

[Raging Ravens]

I can really feel LoG in your work...and that's quite a nice touch of inspiration really :-)
Now, one thing I do have to gripe you about is the repetitiveness of your lines. Your chorus really didn't have a big flare either...flowed with the mainstream, but it lost it's brutal appearance at 2:12 when you hit a high on the strings...and kept going with it.

I do however, like the essential build-up and general flare that is given with this piece. It screams the title well, and could even carry over onto more...ohh so much MORE!

BONUS: My class-mates are sitting over my shoulder listening in on this piece and one of em flat out asked me if LoG released a new instrumental...
LMMFAO!

OceanPlanet responds:

Best criticism, thanks a lot for taking the time to fully analyse the song! It was a days work haha but I will reflect on this information and make changes because you clearly know your shit.

I'm glad you liked it more or less man :) Haha LoG instrumental. GEEEEEZUS xD what do you think i should have done better in these choruses? So I can improve and take into account better what people would like. :)

[FBM-Metaljonus]

Biggy took the words right out of my mouth, but! The reverb in my opinion, could be a signature aspect to this piece if you think about it...JUST THINK ABOUT IT ALREADY!!! \m/
*coughs*

Ok, so, moving on...
The hype, melody, and atmosphere IS loved!
The Lead, fantastic!
Your drums, symbols, and Hi's are a bit low on the volume side, but they DO blend in famously!
When listening to this on 50% volume, I could SWEAR at around 2:40ish I heard talking in the background...or is that just me? O_o

I'm picking up on some BFMV and A7X inspired lines here too...with a dash of FFDP...
*shrug*
Loved it, and Fav'd

Metaljonus responds:

I'm so confused w the reverb!!!!! lol jk. Thanks for the review and listening to it so closely but sad to say there is no talking in this recording lol I record everything directly into the computer. I don't own a mic :( I will be soon tho lol. And this song was written for some action background-esque type stuff for someone in Japan. But it never got used lol I was going for a guilty gear meets nightwish meets malmsteen type vibe I guess lol Pretty much an EPIC vibe. I do plan on redoing this song tho! Thanks again for the review and for listening Mr. Shawn! \m/

[Tension Cuts - OST]

Uh...this is more of a sample to be honest. There's no real kick, no huge bass drops, and honestly...it's got more of a cinematic feel to it.

I'd go over it with your friend again and mess around with some other free samples that are out there to get the desired effect.
Sorry for the 0 bomb...but, a LOT of improvement can be made with this piece.

ZepicZorua responds:

Cool I get it but I'm a scrub at music so Grayson will have to fix it

[~Hero's Fire V1.5~ (Trailer Music) (Team Newbie Adventure 3 OST)]

MUCH better than the original!
I used to listen to the original when fucking around on my emulator tweaking old NES games...but the length of this piece is a bit to be desired.

Maybe lengthen some? :D

Evilgrapez responds:

Thanks for the review! Nice to know you like it so much. It's short because it was only made for the trailer of the game, but an official V2 will be coming later! I'll tell you when it's out!

Sometime I might extend this though if I get enough requests. :3

- Evilgrapez

[unshatter]

Very true to your style THAT's for sure!
How many layers? I'm picking up on 5 at least...and i'm guessing two sound gates?
Listening with a critical ear as Nomad did, I detect no flaws, or sudden skips. Everything flows together smoothly, and is quite soothing!

The sudden drop at the end does disappoint, but what can we do? You're the brains behind this piece, but I do suggest shaving that down a smidge to make it more appealing or even go as far as utilizing fade-outs and fade-ins.

How many artists have you heard lately go as far as to push some fade's? I've yet to hear one as of late utilize fades...and it's long over-due :-)
In your next masterpiece, try it. I'm sure you will not be disappointed with the end results.

johnfn responds:

You're speaking to the KING of fadeouts right here. :D

Seriously, probably LunacyEcho and TaintedLogic are gonna go cry now because after talking me out of doing fadeout endings for the last 2 years, you've gone and encouraged me and undone all their hard work! THE JOHNFN HAS SEEN HIS SHADOW! SIX MORE MONTHS OF FADEOUTS!

[LV 99 MP 999 HP 9999]

......
Dan...what were you thinking when you mashed this together?
I'll give you 1 star for creativity, and another for a thrilling piece, and 1 for the construct of the piece.
-1 for the overly repetitive nature of the piece. I do have a suggestion for this piece though, and that would be to shave out a few of the repeats, and lower the volume of the lead by 15%. It's drowning out your other instruments and that's kinda painful on the ears my friend. (-1 for the high volume)

Other than that, this piece is quite rockin'

DanJohansen responds:

Well, obviously you're alone in this statement, and I disagree with you, repetitive nature?
Come on lol The track changes total direction more than once, that's more than most music.

I can hear the instruments very well with the leads going, but yes, the leads are main in this track. Much like vocals become the highest instrument during vocal parts.

Anyways, glad you enjoyed it man!

[Generic Battle Theme]

While it carries well, and holds the overall feel of a retro game from NES days...I do have one gripe, and that would be it's length. Sure, a short loop always plays out nicely, but with particular piece, you could have easily extended it and gave it a chorus, thus improving your score :-)

Do not feel discouraged, but take this nice piece and build upon it!
Take it from 8-bit, up to 16/32 and then see how it feels afterwards. There's always surprises to behold in music as you never know exactly what you're going to get as a finished product unless you specifically aim for something.

With creation, failure is a course we all must take. Perfection, should never be achieved as there will be no further room for growth!

Hikari responds:

Truth be told, I was going to extend the song with a chorus and then bridge but I got 'frustrated' and decided to just finish it instead of sleeping on it. The reason I keep making 'chip tunes' is because it allows me to focus on making good music rather than spending a bigilion hours on sound designing. Don't get me wrong though, I love sound designing, and I would argue and say that I'm really good at it. But it got to a point where I really just needed to start making songs and not sounds. Witch is ironic because this is a twenty second loop. Making some music is better than non i suppose though. All that aside though I do appreciate your review and the time it too you to compose it. I will in the future take the time and effort to make a whole song rather than cheeping out.