ReMix:Final Fantasy VI "Dark Blue Substance" 4:01

Mattias does an excellent job with this electronic dance/hybrid track that features a funky-as-getout downbeat bass & kick groove. Pay close attention to just how much the groove changes over time, from an upbeat jam with some swagger to a more driving, rockish beat (w/ an acoustic kit) @ 1'31", via the previous transition with the sweeping piano arpeggios. From an arrangement perspective, these are otherwise jarring types of transitions, but here they're handled with the right amount of craft and acknowledgement that it actually works. The artist writes:

"Cyan's theme is a very, very strong theme melodically. So, of course, I completely butchered it. :) This remix actually came about because I bought a Dave Smith Instruments Mopho and came up with the initial bassline. I almost had to use a crowbar to get the actual source tune into the thumping techno organism I'd created, but in the end I think the melody, in its simplicity, worked out brilliantly! It's a testament to the melody of Cyan's theme and video game music melodies in general that they can almost stand on their own in any kind of arrangement and still be recognisable and carry the track. I guess that's why we're all here, eh?"

Well, that AND of course all the money, fame, parties, & general rockstar lifestyle that come along with... contributing to an online community of video game music fans. Which is to say: YES, your guess sounds plausible! I can hear how this might have started out life as an original & been mutated to serve the dark purposes of our organization, but it sounds like the crowbar worked, and left nary a scratch, ding, or dent on the end result. Interesting comment about the compositional plasticity of most VGM melodies; of course, sometimes it can probably just seem that way to us, because we're nostalgic or have heard certain themes so many times that we know them well enough to expand on them. Probably a little of both. In this case, Mattias really did fundamentally alter the structure & effect of the source to a fairly drastic degree, putting so much emphasis on the stylistic transition and reversion, but as he says, the source tune was flexible enough to allow this, and the end result definitely puts a distinct spin on things and could never be criticized as uninterpretive. Very creative & mutative arrangement from propellerhead MHG, who puts his Reason to good use yet again. Yeah.