This CD is 17 years old, but has never left my regular rotation of things I listen to. I love every single second of it. I even love the part where the trumpet fucks up their solo during the Big Blue portion of the Great Medley.
This album is nothing but nostalgia for the innumerable hours I spent playing Super Smash Bros. Melee with my friends, and the equally innumerable hours spent playing by myself trying to hone my skills so that I could stand a chance against my friends.
I am not well versed enough in classic symphonies to compare this to anything, but this body of work deserves to be recognized by a greater audience than just people who grew up playing the several video games referenced in this album. I will never be able to divorce my knowledge of the source material from the music, and that makes me jealous of non-gamers who listen to this because I find many of the pieces presented on this album to be incredibly moving, especially the Pokemon Medley.
I have no particular love of Pokemon. Sure, I had a butt-load of Pokemon cards in the late 90s and early oughts, and I occasionally watched the cartoon, but that was all a product of how easily I get swept up into fads and not of interest in the subject. I never learned the rules to the Pokemon card game and I never played any of the video games either. But I love the Medley on this album. It is a perfect battle-hymn that leads you through pre-battle anxiety, builds you up with courage, takes you to the front-line and lets you feel the glory of victory. I cry just about every-time I listen to this track for those reasons, but also because you can hear how much passion the composers and musicians put into this song (and every other song on this album) that was born from very silly source material, not to mention the often disregarded art form that is the genre of video games.
I can't recommend this album more highly. It is a beautiful piece of art, and I hope it sees some kind of collector's release eventually, because it deserves one.
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