Search - Advantage :: Elf-Titled

Good enough to beat the first Ninja Turtles game

Palindrome | CAMAVT | 01/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you don't already know what the Advantage do, one look at the record cover and the song titles should pretty much spell it out for you: they cover 8-bit Nintendo songs. Mostly with only 2 guitars, a bass, and drums (exclusively with those on the first album). This disc features slightly more obscure games than the first album (Solar Jetman and Guardian Legend vs. Mario 2 and Zelda on the first record), but some are arguably more rewarding than the more easily recognizable tunes. I forgot just how awsome the music for the first level in Batman was. The Ducktales moon theme is incredible, as is just about any piece of music from Mega Man 2 (greatest game soundtrack ever? Certainly on the NES, I'd say).

Even if you didn't play the games and don't get the instant nostalgia kick the more memorable tunes give you, the songs are still worth listening to for two big reasons:



1) These songs were composed to be looped endlessly without getting annoying, so this is some high quality, complicated melodic music condensed into a minute or two.



2) The musicianship is incredible. All of the string work is ridiculously complex and precise, while Spencer Seim of Hella gives his guitar virtuosity a break and plays drums, which is really the secret weapon of the Advantage. Most NES games only had enough memory to allow the melody and harmony for their music, remaining completely bereft of any kind of rhythmic elements. Seim, however, tears it up; the drumming oftentimes becomes the most propulsive element of a song.



If you're a fan of NES games and/or post-/math-/whatever-rock, then you should definitely check out the Advantage."

Better than the 1st?

Russell R. Heinrichs | Chicago, Il USA | 02/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I think arguably it is. The CastleVania & Contra songs they picked are pretty much the best ever released in the series, and the music for Megaman games were always well put together. And even you haven't heard the music before (never own or played Wizards and Warriors) the songs all seems to stand much better on their own than the song selected for the 1st album. Fans of Castlevania/Megaman/Double Dragon should pick this up."

Another great cd by The Advantage

N. Harrell | Sweetwater, Tennessee United States | 03/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being a fan of both Generic and The Advantage, I can say I was not disappointed with the new release. The production quality is way up on this second cd too. Highly recommended to anyone that is into the video game music genre and likes straight covers."