ARTIST: Various Artists
ALBUM TITLE: BadAss: Boss Themes
RECORD LABEL: Independent (OverClocked ReMix)
RELEASED: December 8, 2011

By Justin Polak
Co-founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

Another OverClocked ReMix release, another cool concept for an album. For their 30th album, the OC ReMix community focuses on arrangements of boss music! This is one of those ideas that had me wondering how it wasn’t thought of sooner, as a matter of fact. Well, no matter, BadAss: Boss Themes is available now, and I’m sure it’s already apparent that I am enjoying yet another video game remix album.

There are a few tracks that have been done before, so I do appreciate that the remixes that have been done seemingly hundreds of times are approached from a different angle. The best example I can think of is “Sephiroth – BadAzz.” After an opening that makes the famous last boss track sound as if it were in the original Doom, it quickly morphs into a danceable mix that almost sounds like an original work. I can picture hundreds of Final Fantasy cosplayers dancing at a convention accidentally bumping their bulky costumes, spiked hair and cardboard swords into each other. In all seriousness, I did enjoy this arrangement even though I don’t get into this style of music too often.

I also appreciated that there are mixes from newer games on this album. While there are plenty of remixes from games from all generations, compilations such as this one generally focus on the 16-bit era and below. In other words, I was happy to see a “Laughing Octopus” mix from Metal Gear Solid 4. Not only am I a big fan of the series itself, but the original version of that boss track was my favorite in that installment. The version on this album rocks out in a different way, but still carries the same feeling of anticipation and intensity.

I even got into a couple of mixes from games I haven’t played. For example, I never got into Devil May Cry past the first one, I’ve been meaning to play Suikoden II for years, I’m only vaguely familiar with Shadow Hearts: Covenant and chalk Mass Effect as another major series on my to do list. Yet, as I just mentioned, I still liked what I heard. Out of the four mixes I am referring to, the Mass Effect one caught my ear the most simply because I loved the slow paced beat and the emphasis on bass.

Whenever an OC ReMix album drops, I always quickly gravitate towards a specific track that eventually becomes my favorite one. In this case, I would have to say its the Mega Man 3 remix, “Dr. Wily – A Daring Escape.” I admit that when it comes to my taste in video game remixes, I am very typical: metal and electronic mixes dominate all, for the most part. While I certainly like orchestated music, I usually view video game arrangements of that style as more of a nice nod towards the original. This mix has earned my full respect. To give you an idea of how it might sound, I can picture it being in a Super Smash Bros. game if Mega Man is ever allowed to participate.

As far as the flaws go, only a couple of track bored me, but my real beef is mainly with the way the album was put together. Final Fantasy is one of my favorite series, and I am a huge fan of the soundtracks to those games. However, did we really need five of eighteen tracks to be dedicated to that series? I generally have a problem with a minor lack of variety in OC ReMix albums, and unfortunately, this one is no exception.

Any frequent reader can predict what I am about to say at this point: check out BadAss: Boss Themes. I know I usually end up praising these albums from OC ReMix, but I can’t help that they are generally mixed professionally. Like I said, I wished they eased off the Final Fantasy a bit, but overall there is plenty of style and substance to be found.

RATING: 8.5/10

Download BadAss: Boss Themes for free at badass.ocremix.org.