Recurring Fantasy: VGBA Explosion! #3

So here we are again (several months later) with my next iteration in the "VGBA explosion" series!

Now, the further along I get with these, the harder it does get to list new, fresh, great material.
However, I realized the other day, while listening to it, that I had yet to share another great Video Game Music enthusiast... That enthusiast? The infamous BRENTALFLOSS!

VGBA Explosion! #3 - Brentalfloss Trilogy

For those who don't know him, Brentalfloss is famous for his "What if (Insert Game) had Lyrics?" where he took random songs from video games and added lyrics to the tunes. It sound simple enough, but it turned into something amazing, awesome, and generally hilarious. I'll list a few examples for your listening pleasure.

If you enjoyed those, be sure to check out more videos on his channel. (Link)
He's got quite an assortment of music and videos on his Youtube channel, but the general idea behind all of them is video game music and comedy. Most of his material is from older games, but he has begun to explore into more ventures like original music and even some newer-ish titles. Of course, this post is called "VGBA Explosion! #3", so let's get down to the explosion of video game music. Obviously though, the focus here is Sir Brentalfloss and his various works. Below, I list his main trilogy with my thoughts of each one as well links to them on bandcamp. (For listening!)

Now, first up was his first CD "What If This CD... Had Lyrics?"

Listen here

Now, by the time this album had released, brentalfloss had already a good variety of "What if this game had lyrics" videos on Youtube. This was simply a collection of some of the more popular ones plus a varied group of original creations and mashups. My favorite tracks on this album are...

Gotta Run / Be the One (featuring The Megas)
Tetris With Lyrics (A-Type)
Final Fantasy Classic With Lyrics
Mushroom Kingdom (Sister Christian parody)

And those are just a few examples of the songs contained within. Thanks to this album and the song "Gotta Run/Be the One", I learned about one of the greatest (IMO) video game bands of our time! (The Megas. Seriously, go give them a listen and thank me later.) This was truly the album that started it all. After it, I knew I was in for the long run as a brental-maniac or whatever you could call his fans... flossians? Something like that.

The next CD released in his trilogy was the "Bits of Me".

Listen here

Now, I actually pre-ordered this album. I have a lovely physical copy signed by the man himself. With this album, it was basically the same thought as the first one. However, at this point, it started feeling a bit more creative, and we gained a few more mash-ups that greatly defined this album for me. Some of my favorite tracks include:

Star Fox: Space Oddity (It's David Bowie's Space Oddity but Star Fox themed! Watch the hilarious video done with puppets here.)
Contra With Lyrics (feat Konami Kode)
The 2-2 Blues
Final Fantasy VI With Beerics

Now, unfortunately, the Final Fantasy VI with Beerics ruined the song that it is covering for me... ruined not in a bad way but in a "I can't hear anything else" way. (It's Terra's theme.) This album felt a bit more exploratory to me. It had the share of "With Lyrics", but it felt that more songs were there to be original/not as by the book as his core material used to be. There's lots of good and plenty of jokes to be had. It's another enjoyable listen from the b-floss man.

Finally, there is his third and most recent CD, "Flossophy"

Listen here

This is definitely a kick up from the previous albums. (Cover-wise for sure.) He starts hitting up with more "Flossophical" ideas here like a wider variety of games that aren't all retro-ish and even an original idea with his (apparently controversial) Fight For Love. (Video Link) Keep in mind, I did have mixed feelings when I originally saw this video, but I have grown to like and even love this song with every listen. Besides it, I also enjoyed:

Super Mario Bros: The Musical (Hilarious.)
Earthbound With Lyrics
Zidane to Vivi (This one... makes me tear up everytime.)
Cave Story With Lyrics
Ballad of the Mages (Cute video here.)

Now, true enough, it's still around half "With Lyrics", but now he's broken away from most of the older titles and really explored some variety. A couple songs (namely Fight For Love and Zidane to Vivi) are actually pretty touching in a way. They're a pretty big branch off of his normal style, and they're just good songs. They make me have... feelings. Of course, as always, he brings his hilarious style and lyrics to enjoy.

So overall? Brentalfloss is a great musician, lyrical genius, and more creativity than I could ever have ever in my life. If you remotely enjoy retro game music, you should give it a shot. His material can sometimes be really crude, but I think it's almost always worth a listen. If nothing else, it's just so darn clever and funny. And that's all I've got for this explosion.

To reiterate... I enjoy brentalfloss, and I hope you do too.

Buy the albums and more of his music from...

Thursday, April 10, 2014

VGBA Explosion! #3 - Brentalfloss Trilogy

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