ReMix:Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty "Solid Snake's Cigarette Break" 3:13

HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER... Newcomer Alexander Bornstein gives us this nifty jazz take on MGS2, with an appropriate-if-unapproved-by-the-surgeon-general title, writing:

"The theme from the first two Metal Gear games have long held a special musical place for me. Hearing the original HGW arrangement for the first time took the credibility of the game to a new level. It's a very expressive idea, and was versatile in conveying the heroism and emotive qualities of the Metal Gear games which themselves were very large in an emotional scope. Jazz is also amazingly versatile in expression, and hearing the minor keyed quality of the theme with the unique synergy of a piano trio and distinctly Jazz influenced harmonies (like those used by Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, or McCoy Tyner) seemed like a curious experiment. I was really excited to hear the results, and hope you enjoy this take on such a well known theme. The piano, bass, and drums were performed by myself."

I do love this theme to death, and consider it one of the most memorable modern VGM motifs, but its reputation was a little tarnished for me after watching this video illustrating the similarity to Sviridov's classical composition from 1974. I'm unaware if this was ever resolved 100%, but even if there was absolutely zero influence or even exposure, the Russian piece does at least have "first dibs" on substantive portions of that melody. There's definitely some great stuff in both pieces that's not mirrored between them at all, but the similarity is rather identifiable.

At any rate, none of that is particularly pertinent to the enjoyability of this ReMix, which does a great job concocting a smokey jazz vibe, perfect for taking a break from all that tactical espionage and getting a brief, cancerous infusion of nicotine. Is Snake a Marlboro Man, or does he prefer Camel? Or does he listen to Don Draper and go with Lucky Strike? Judges pretty much agreed that the introduction was weaker than what followed; DarkeSword writes:

"I think it's solid enough, though I wish there was more going on in that ride pattern. Walking bass is solid, comping picks up after 1:19 and really locks in. Yeah, that percussion could've worked more with the other players. It's cool though. Great arrangement, really intimate. Perfect title too. I dig."

Deia adds:

"I can agree with Vig that the performances overall are not great, but when things get going I think they do the job decently enough. I would definitely like to see you improve, because there are some great ideas going on here that will only sound better as your skill increases in playing."

I think it's really a question of timing, specifically; I think I get what the intention was in the intro, and I do love the voicings, but having the timing be immaculate (and by that I do not mean quantized, for clarification) would have let the first minute contrast as more bottled-up & neat, giving the uncorking at 1'19" a wonderful, anticipatory context. So it's not completely smooth sailing, and Snake might be coughing a couple times what cause his smokes aren't filtered, but the arrangement is solid, the recording is clean, and the performances do get the ideas across. The title suggests a mental image that I think Mr. Bornstein's arrangement delivers on, which is all you can ask, and I'm interested in seeing what he does next.

Oh yeah, because someone somewhere might actually - through some bizarre series of asinine mental backflips - infer that OC ReMix is condoning and/or encouraging smoking cigarettes in any way, let me clarify that this is NOT the case. Snake can just get cloned again, but most of us aren't so lucky, and also they're expensive, the more you know, etc.