Ah damn, I shoulda searched in kanji! Yeah, the stereo is a must. Brings back memories of ripping stuff in BridgeM1, which (IIRC) had stereo support... I know I still got my MegaBlast rip from back then, when Clarice Disc seemed an impossibility.
(no matter how hard CC fuck up elsewhere, I can't disavow them entirely - whoever's in charge of their OST division is a true go-getter)
Iconic gamushara.
I always remember him mentioning in
this interview, that he didn't think his music stood apart from the games the way others could...
Uemura wrote:If I listen to Konami or Sega’s music outside of the game, I still really enjoy it, but when I hear the music I wrote apart from the game, it sounds really lonely, cheap, and embarassing. From a technical standpoint I think we definitely weren’t on a very high level, and I personally can’t believe how many fans we still have, and how passionate they are about the music.
...but in this earlier one, talking about
his preferred sound:
Iona: What type of bands do you like?
Uemura: I like folk songs: something you'd hear in Kaguya-hime. Since there are no new tracks in that genre, I've continually listened to old songs. I generally like dark sounds... hard rock also has many songs with dark melodies, especially the European stuff. When I was in [the band], we were doing gloomy, European-style songs.
I know artists tend to self-deprecate, but it has to be said, amongst STG music, Uemura's stuff in particular was always inimitably fiery yet grey-hued. Only the much later Sato & Sato's iconic Raiden I & II OSTs come close, imo, and the first even has a barely-disguised cover of Hishouzame's st2 BGM for its own second stage.
That
Tsugaru arrangement is a great illustration. Even out of game context, it's a striking counterpoint to the unbridled
FUCK YEAAA! of an A-JAX or After Burner II. I love those outfits too -
what kinda sadsack numbnuts couldn't? - and ultimately, it's that divebombing intro power chord heralding a vicious naval skirmish I associate most with Tsugaru. But there's a time and place for everything, you know? Uemura and co are most definitely A Thing, irreplaceably smouldering.
Also:
Actually around the time I was at Cave, I made a hard rock-only ringtone site. It was called Sakuretsu [Explosion] Rock (laughs).
^ Always makes me smile.
That's a great name! (all credit to blackoak/shmuplations and GP/gamengai for quotes!)