Article by Levi Rubeck, illustration by Dylan C. Lathrop

Buyer’s remorse kicked in almost immediately after I clicked the “pay now” button while ordering The Bad Dudes Chronotorious, a remix CD of Chrono Trigger musical arrangements. The remorse came from instant second thoughts: 1) was I too swayed by the limited nature of this release? 2) Maybe I was too tapped into my younger self’s appreciation of this game? 3) Could I possibly trust anything that was remixed? Would this be a series of drum and bass tracks beating the already repetitive-by-necessity nature of these melodies until they were bruised and unrecognizable?


Chronotorious album cover.

I will answer my own questions, starting at the top. Honestly, I was swayed by the limited nature of this release. There are only 1000 copies on physical, laser-read plastic disc, and only these 1000 copies come with the original (but, of course, inspired by Akira Toriyama) artwork of Steph Laberis. After these are sold, you can get most of the tracks at whatever digital distribution service you prefer, but five songs (I’m not sure which) will be dropped.

Record collecting is one of my alcoholisms, especially when I am surfing das ‘net. While I am not as invested in profitability and rarity in my other record-buying habits, for some reason “1000 copies” and “limited poster” were definitely the gateway phrases for me to make this decision. Could I sell this on eBay someday? I’ve never been good at taking advantage of my fellow record-slaves like that, and though this was an option I seriously considered for a moment or two, I’m much too lazy to really do such a thing.

But what about those five tracks that would disappear? I’m nothing if not a completist, and while there are ways around such promotional tools, again, laziness prevailed and I clicked “buy” in order to avoid much googling later.

As for my younger self and the constant war in my heart between adulthood and living in the past, the music of Chrono Triggeris a large slice of a glorious pie chart titled “Things Little Levi is Reluctant to Let Go of”, a list that is, sadly, getting smaller as I accumulate years. I once held my boombox, one with a tiny microphone in the corner, next to the TV to record Magus’ theme onto a cassette so I could enjoy it in an untethered fashion while pedaling into the wind.

I came to rock music a little late in my life, so while many teens, pre-teens and toddlers were busy associating their newfound emotional experiences with their parent’s copies of Led Zep and Beatles records, my heartstrings are plucked mostly by video game music. This is a confession I swore I would never make in public, but there it is. The songs of this game (and many others) wrench emotions out of me that are many times uncomfortable but also quite familiar. It is these emotions, and reconnecting with my roots outside of emulators, that drove me to purchase Chronotorious.

But Chronotorious is a remix disc—Yasunori Mitsuda’s arrangements are the origin but the production is new. Would it be enough to justify my purchase? I have heard the orchestral CD that accompanied the DS rerelease of Chrono Trigger, and they are sweeping and faithful in a way that the actual game soundtrack can’t really accomplish with earbuds or 5.1 surround sound. I’m also a big fan of The Brink of Time, a Japan-only (as far as I’m aware) disc of Chrono Triggersongs in jazz and other band arrangements. Suffice to say that this space isn’t enough to review both The Brink of Time and Chronotorious, but the latter has a huge pedigree to live up to.

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Crono, from Choron Trigger

So yea, about the music: I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would, mostly because it wasn’t the techno-fueled booze cruise that I feared it might be after committing to the purchase. This is not to say that synth presence is at a minimum here, how could it be, given that most of the original game’s music was composed on something akin to MIDI. But plenty of real instruments, including piano, guitar and bass are present and accounted for. Unfortunately, a lot of the guitar is pretty cheesy, with Satriani-style leads lacing much of the background. And some of the piano is a little too bleepy and bloppy, which I leave to you to define as you feel appropriate. There is a playfulness overall though, with well articulated performances and a clear dedication to the game. It is almost enough to make me forgive the songs “Dethfrog” and “B.A.M.F.”.

The first goes a little too far with the joke and not far enough with the homage. Dethklok and Frog are both badass, so on paper it would make sense to combine them, but it doesn’t really work. The guitar is on point with the melody but not so much with the rhythm. That chugga-chugga bullshit is already a cliché in metal and therefore not really appropriate here. And the vocals in the growly/metal/ribbit voice, while not obtrusive for their lyricism, are still too cheeky for me. Luckily, the melody was made for serious pinch harmonics.

Most of what is annoying about “B.A.M.F.” is the title, already unfunny as far as I’m concerned. It belies the epic nature of Magus’ theme. The piano comes in with grandoise aplomb, and then the synth sneaks in, amping things up to a Euro-style porn track. So yes, Magus is a Bad Ass Mother Fucker, and would also lounge with Notorious B.I.G. at the club, sippin’ some Cristal. It’s not a bad approach in theory, but the combination of each half-obnoxious element combines into a fully underwhelming experience.


Levi, showing buyer's remorse

But these songs are really in the minority. “Disodium Guanylate” has some spot on funky bass and keyboards. “The Bad Ending” does the same Rush-itization to the theme of the final battle with Lavos that “Rockin’” tries to pull, but this is a multi-paneled theme that throttles me in the same way that the battle with the planet-devouring alien. “24” takes the organ chords from the mysterious church and turns them into a satisfying free-jazz menagerie, whereas “Cave Girl” takes similar steps but more in Live Evil, funk mastermind, appropriate use of the wah pedal sort of way. These songs all keep close contact with the original sounds while exploring other avenues.

Really, Chronotorious as a whole is well-produced and well-intentioned. It’s a good listen and you can tell that The Bad Dudes and everyone involved are huge fans of the game (and of Chrono Trigger, ba dum bum). While I liked the disc much more than I feared I would, I can’t help but feel that it still commits one of the largest sins of remix culture, which is a strange reliance on genre definition. Putting one song in the context of some other genre can and often works. But like the most annoying cover songs, removing something so far from the source generally leaves me feeling manipulated for a cheap thrill rather than a deep reinterpretation of some hugely influential tunes. Whether or not Chrono Trigger is a classic is still a major top for debate among the forum crews, but it’s clear that its music resonates with many. The Bad Dudes argue a strong case towards more serious appreciation of video game music as music rather than window dressing, even if they make a few missteps along the way.