ReMix:Spyro the Dragon "I'll Torch Him!" 4:07

Great timing on this mix title, given recent events on Game of Thrones ;)

The Police are one of my favorite bands, so I've always found it cool that their drummer, Stewart Copeland, went on to score both films and, yes, video games, with the Spyro series being one of his earlier prominent works. Good stuff, too! We've had other arrangements from the series, but our first ReMix from the original Spyro on PS1 comes from Laarx​ (Jon Kelliher), who turns in a crunchy, satisfying chunk of upbeat rock:

"Well, it's finally happened. After mulling over what to rearrange for quite some time, I found that one of the most requested games on the OCR forums is Final Fant... I mean, Spyro. It shocked me to see that few people (if any) have attempted it. However, it became painfully apparent when I started tackling which song(s) to rearrange why that was. Needless to say, Stewart Copeland's music is on another level, but finding and defining clear-cut melodies in the Spyro soundtrack was a mission and a half.

I decided to go down the classic/prog-rock route since it's where my roots are at; and probably because the music of games like Spyro pushed me towards that direction in my youth. I admit I went a little mental while tracking the guitars because it was so much fun to play. Also, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't not double the lines with the iconic bells that define the sound that is Spyro. Enjoy!"

MAJOR props to Jon for righting a longstanding wrong & giving OCR its first mix from the series originator! As a (badass) percussionist/drummer, it's not surprising that Copeland's work has some of the same emphasis, but I think the ReMixer did an excellent job highlighting melodic content. The vibe is energetic, but not too aggressive, maintaining a positive outlook while still having some classic/prog rock attitude & edge. Very clean production, and I dig that the doubled bells were retained. Gario writes:

"Wasn't familiar with the source at all, so I went to check on it and found it to be so different in style from this arrangement it blew my mind. From slow and subtle to fast and bouncy, the arrangement really goes all out in another direction altogether. The production being top notch is one heck of a nice added bonus, to boot. Nice one!"

I'm a classic rock guy myself, and I dig some of the more mainstream prog (ahem DSOTM) I've heard, so I'm loving this approach to Copeland's work from Laarx. The artist's previous two mixes have been Crash 2 and Command & Conquer, so Jon also gets bonus source diversity points. Check it out - very creative, very enjoyable, and full o' verve!