Well, since you have a good understanding of my musical listening habits,  I'll trust that when I ask of an album opinion from you, you will know exactly what to bring to my attention. heh

But thanks for helping me save a few dollars.

Just got this today, and I can say without reservation that this CD f'n SHREDS!  The samples had me a tid worried, but they don't do this puppy a lick of justice.  It's really and truly awesome (imho).  It's reminiscent of the style of metal used in the SEGA ROCK albums, with a little BLACK MAGES thrown in (but without the hideous vocals, thank goodness), with lots of organ and synths.  Plenty of tempo and rhythm shifts, too, so it doesn't get too monotonous.  Of course, some tracks are better than others, but overall it's a gem.  Definitely my favorite VGM CD of the year.  Tommy, GET THIS!  You won't be disappointed.

Josh

AN, if you like this and are looking for "teh shred", I highly recommend picking up "Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man" as well. That's more of what I was looking for when I got this one (speed, much less organ, awesome and long solos, cleverly integrating the melodies and improv sections) I can't even begin to compare the two...

http://www.myspace.com/vgmetal

Still trying to digest this thing, but the only track that's grown on me in any capacity is Tomahawkman...And I liked that one from the get-go, so go figure. It's not perfect, but it keeps the energy of the original nicely and is just good, clean fun.

I don't know what it is about this album, I've listened to it a few times but outside the boss medley (some of those parts are crunchy) nothing seems to stick for me. My friend seems to enjoy it a hell of a lot more than I do; maybe I'll pass the album along to him as a christmas gift.

Thanks for the recommendation, GoldfishX.  Love those GWAR-like costumes!

I agree 100%. I was also thinking, while listening, why has it taken 20 years? Alph Lyra (Capcom's sound team) made a lot of arrange albums back in the 90s, especially focusing on Street Fighter II, but largely ignored the Rockman series. The music in SFII is good, but Rockman has more music and it is unquestionably superior. It's possible that because SFII ruled the arcade scene, it got more attention from Alph Lyra.

Josh, after reading your comment I decided to listen to the rip I have of this a few more times and it's starting to grow on me. The more I listen, the more I want to go home and break out my axe and shred! It's on my to-listen to list for the rest of the day, so if I enjoy it more I'll end up picking it up with the other arrange album when I order it over the next couple of days. Thanks for the nudge.

I'm planning on doing up a full-fledged review on the album soon after the album has sunk in for about a week of listening.

I don't think my feelings are alien about this album reflecting those of the rest of you here on STC. While I'm trying to accept it for what it is but above all, I can't help thinking the production was indeed rushed and handled by the wrong staffers (what gives Tohru Iwao the biz to handle Rockman?!). Basically, the arranging, while competently done, are paced too lethargic, the selections are questionable, and the arranges are painfully flat, largely undersatisfying and uninspired.

As a huge Rockman fan since the early 1990s, the games and music have been largely responsible for why game music runs my audible life. I for one, had high expectations and hopes but accepting what I got out of this album (for what it is), it's wallowing in mediocrity.

That works, although I don't have too many issues with the selection itself (I WAS looking forward to "Get a Weapon" before I heard how it was arranged). In all honesty, I'd have taken a collection of straight-forward and accurate covers of the originals and would have been satisfied, but this album didn't even deliver that...

Heh, that song grew on me a lot. I likey.

I adore Iwao's previous work, although that was strictly in a performance capacity and not arrangement. That only made it hurt that much more that the result was pretty terrible. His technique on this album is sloppy, frequently off-time and even out of tune! I find it pretty unacceptable.

So, after renewing my musical appreciation of Mega Mans 1-6 by playing through the games, I've now decided to sit down and rediscover the mountains of arranged albums out there.  Arrange Rock Version is my first.

Gotta say, I'm enjoying the hell out of it.  Iwao puts together a nice set of faithfully reproduced melodies played up by punchy guitar leads, keyboards/synths that accompanies rather than deters, and solos that are impactful yet concise.

Like everyone else, I have my own foot-long list of songs I would have loved to see, but I'm more than content with what we got.  Working under the album's short track number constraint, Cut Man is most certainly my first choice for MM1, while Metal Man and Dr. Wily 1 for MM2 follows suit.  Dr. Cossack 2 is pitch-perfect for MM4, and I'm pleased that the only truly great piece from MM5 (Dr. Wily) made the cut.  Huge props for the MM6 Tomahawk Man/Yamato Man double-whammy, the latter of which wins for best track on the album.  Both Title and Boss Mix medleys are solid fare, while Get A Weapon picks up the slack for Shadow Man as the better representative for MM3.

I'm somewhat baffled by the comments about the speed of the arrangements.  Lethargic?  Really?  I suppose if you're going in expecting shred levels of speed, perhaps, but they're honestly not that much slower in tempo than the original tracks.  And the ones that are more moderately paced actually get points in my book for accentuation.

Flaws?  43 minutes of arranged material is comparably short.  At best, it's a nice, lean length that's just long enough for enjoyable listens straight through; at worse, it makes one wish that they had snuck a couple more choice selections in there.  They also could've given the refrains leading into the outros a little more pizzazz, instead of simply carbon copying it from the beginning.

Wow, it has actually been 2 and a half years since this thing came out. I will admit the medley tracks had gained some entertainment value, but going cold turkey from the originals to this was still not a pleasant experience in the least (Metalman especially...it's listenable somewhat now, but I would have seriously snapped this CD into two if I had owned a real copy of it and heard this off it). For reference, I don't think anything here comes close to the rockier stuff on Rockman 10's Image Album (Desert Commando, Nitro Rider and of course, Abandoned Memory and Against the Pressure...Fireball Strike is different from the original, but I've gotten attached to the arrange after awhile).

I'm curious what your take on Chiptuned Rockman is. Now THAT album got my attention in a much more positive way.

There are better fan arranges out there than what's on here.

I still like the Rockman Rock Arrange, as well as the Techno Arrange, which I finally heard this year. Chiptuned is delightful as well.

The only complaint I have for the Rock Arrange is the same as with many arrange albums. A vast void devoid of pits.