ReMix:The Revenge of Shinobi "The Lonely Lover" 5:14

Had I had my thinking cap on, we could have rolled this out for Valentine's Day or even International Break-up Day (though that occurs on OCR's birthday, December 11th, so that's actually a non-starter!). Regardless, for all the lonely hearts out there, Battle Shapers co-composer WillRock has got your VGM-flavored tonic via his pensive rock version of The Revenge of Shinobi's ending theme! Will was inspired, naturally, by big '80s energy:

"I was inspired by Gary Moore's "The Loner". I went for a more guitar-centric approach, with less shred and more of a slow, deliberate approach, with a big emphasis on MASSIVE 80'S SNARES. Pretty no-nonsense. Hope you guys dig it."

Despite being a child of the 80s, I'd actually never heard "The Loner" at all before encountering Will's submission, but I absolutely hear how its backing synth chords have that VGM vibe. The whole track sounds like something that could have come out of a 90s Japanese arrangement album inspired by the 80s, and I'm on board. :-D Judge prophetik music was in full agreement that Will nailed the homage:

"big synthy opening before the guitar came in. drums are both loud and very arena. 0:40 is the B melodic content, complete with significant scoops and MASSIVE 80's SNARES. the full drumbeat comes in at 1:12 [...]

2:32 is a bit of a break right on cue, more in energy and in the backing parts than elsewhere. 3:20 feels like the start of the end with the recap there, but there's still quite a bit of music left. 4:08's arp coming back in is nicely reminiscent of the opening and the original. the song noodles through some soloing (and some bongos?) for another 30s and then fades out.

this is a slam dunk, as expected. the style is perfect for the original and it's well-handled. nice work."

Arrangement-wise, it sounds amazing, and the Gary Moore influence across the track's extremely evident. WillRock's guitar positively wails, you're gonna dig it. Classy extended fadeout as well with some trememdous "meedley meedley MEEEEEE" soloing. Would have loved to have heard a quick cameo of vocals like in "The Loner" to get the full effect; don't leave 'em hangin' like that! Next time you do anything with power ballad vibes, Will, hit 'em with some vocals, baby! :-) That said, massive props to WillRock for a faithful channeling of "The Loner's" form, fantastically fusing it with The Revenge of Shinobi's finale. We're not lonely in believing Yuzo Koshiro would be a lover of WillRock's inspired direction and impeccable execution!