This really struck me as well. There is a limit to the extent you can re-create the sound of the past, since things like sound equipment and recording circumstances, as well as the general zeitgeist, are bound to be different. The Rockman 9 music sounds more sophisticated and complex than most classical NES music ("Maze of Death" and "Galaxy Fantasy" are good examples, but you hear it all over the album). The synth is lovely and goes a long way to win over my old-school gamer heart, but there's something in the overall sound that makes you feel that this stuff is not from the 80s.

The music itself? I have to admit that the OST hasn't grabbed me as much as I thought it would. Don't get me wrong, I love the NES synth, but about half of the stage themes just pass me by without much of an impression. So far, I feel its an unevenly balanced soundtrack, with some positively awesome tunes, but also a noticeable amount of bland tracks.

My absolute favourite is "Maze of Death". Holy shit is it good! Runners-up would be "Thunder Tornado" (no surprise they choose this one for the trailer) and "We're the Robots". I also have a weakness for "Splash Blue" - it's comparatively slow pace and beautiful melody paints a nice silhouette in contrast to the rest of the music, and it really reminds me of something from Capcom's NES Disney titles (Darkwing Duck or Duck Tales, can't quite remember). However, there's some boring stuff on here, there's no denying that. Some of the stage themes sound somewhat generic and don't register with me even after five times ("Concrete Jungle" comes to mind). I wouldn't exactly call them bad, they're just not too memorable. The only tracks I would call bad are the stage select and boss themes, they just sound like travesties of their NES counterparts. These sound like they didn't even try, like they just thought "lolz it sounds like NES, so they'll gobble it up anyway".

Its a cool soundtrack, but Rockman 2 or 3 it ain't. However, since there's some really awesome stuff on there, and since they had the sheer guts to produce this in the first place, I'm still giving it two thumbs up.

Oh man, I love the boss music. It sounds like Kunio meets Mega Man.

Well, I admit the main offender is the stage select music, the boss theme is just kinda disappointing, I thought. I love the stage select themes from the classic Mega Man games, but MM9's just sounds so lame and bland in comparison (*cue someone else replying about how much they love the MM9 stage select theme*).

By the way, what do you think about this soundtrack, Smeg? Any favourites?

Yo.

The new Stage Select is just too kitchy-hip for me NOT to love.  Totally digging that octave climb accompaniment. 

I'd actually place MM9 right after MM4's as my all-time favorite Stage Select.

EDIT: But about one million brownie points to you, Daniel, for your new Furio Tigre avatar.  "GWAAAAAAAAAAAARR!!!"

YOU'SE TALKIN' TO ME???

This may be a bit premature since I don't have the actual CD or game yet, but I've listened to most of the OST online, and I'm not really impressed.  Thunder Tornado and We're the Robots (or whatever it's called) are really great, and the shop theme is cool, but a lot of the other stuff is bland MM4/5/6 stuff (not counting the awesome Skull, Pharaoh, and Napalm Man themes, of course).  Musically, this is not on the same level as MM2/3.

I wasn't terribly impressed either. MMs 2,3 and 5 are my favorite of the NES games musically and none of the tunes here come even close to them. But the music may grow on me as I play the game.

I hate to admit this, but I'm not falling in love with this album... it just feels like they tried to do too much with it.

Highlights:

"Splash Blue (Splash Women Stage)" reminds me of darker numbers like Dust/Crystal Man just not as catchy.

"Plug Electric (Plug Man Stage)" reminds me of Mega Man 4/5 stuff which isn't exactly the greatest thing in my book put then its one of the more appealing ones because of it.

"Boss" isn't a stone cold winner but it's definately interesting. Gutsy direction.

The Wily themes have some cool little samples from the old games here and there (like that clapping sample) and Wily #4 reprises the very beginning of MM2's stage select.

I don't know about this one yet... if I don't warm up to I don't know if having it to have all the soundtracks will be enough to keep it.

Just started listening to it. Jewel Man's and Galaxy Man's themes are great stuff. I'll listen to the rest at a later time.

Jeepers, I must be the ONLY one here who adores Mega Man 4's score.  Hurray for the minority.

I also feel like I'm a mutant breed for thinking Mega Man 6's music is best by a long shot.

I'm loving Thunder Tornado, Concrete Jungle, Hornet Dance, and Galaxy Fantasy, in that order.  And on the whole, I think that's not a bad showing, even if very little of the rest of the soundtrack is very interesting to me.  I'm bummed out at the boss theme, but I do agree that it's at least an interesting new direction.  Plug Man's okay, and the rest of the soundtrack I think is pretty mediocre.  I just think that 2, 3, and 6 set such a high standard that it would have been hard for this to compare (and nostalgic skew I'm sure is at work, too).

Nope! I dig MM4 a lot, too.

I don't think 6's music is the best but I do like that score a lot. I can't get enough of Plant Man... awesome track. Others like Mr.X Stage, Last Boss and the later half ending (past the Robot Master medley part which is only second behind MM2's credit theme in my book) rock as well.

I like MM4 a lot, too (second Dr. Cossack stage and Skullman are some of the best themes in the series), but I would put it in the lower half of the six classic NES scores. Its still waaay better than MM 1 and 6, though.

I'm always feeling like being in a minority for loving MM5's soundtrack. Tracks like Chargeman and Darkman are just unbelievably good, and even the less awesome pieces like Waveman have interesting styles and sounds. I know I'm definitely not in the majority saying this, but I think 5 is the best soundtrack in the series after 2 and 3.

While we're on the subject, I'd rate the classic NES Mega Man scores in this order (best to worst): 2 > 3 > 5 > 4 > 6 > 1. Never been a huge fan of 6 or 1. MM6 had too much boring filler (IMO), and 1's melodies were pretty simple and rough around the edges compared to the latter installments. Too early to place MM9, but judging by how I feel about it now, I'd place it between 5 and 4 (in other words squarely in the middle, which is a pretty good score).

I was starting to think the same thing reading these responses. Mega Man 4 music is fantastic.

I just re-ripped my entire Rockman 1-6 Boxset again recently and I find all six pretty essential listening. I never did understand how some people can hate some of the OST's in the series, while loving others. 1...Maybe, it being early and all, but the songs do have that simplistic charm to them and are more than enough to stand out among stuff from the NES era (and all of game music, frankly).

I just want to run this thought by someone else who's heard the album: Am I the only one who thinks all the Mega Man II music references takes away from this album forging its own identity?

Not really...I mean, the intro to Brightman's Theme rips off the theme for Fireman. Other MM games have used the "Robot Select" theme before. It's not a big deal. The Woodman thing I mentioned with Concreteman is pretty subtle...people who don't have the intro to Woodman's theme memorized like I do wouldn't really notice it much. I think this one stands on it's own pretty well overall.

So far, Thunder Tornado and Maze of Death are the tracks that are really sticking in my head like good Mega Man music should. I appreciate the nod to Aphex Twin-style drums on the latter, although they're not nearly as skillful. Concrete Jungle is pretty cool, and puts me in mind of Ninja Gaiden music, but with Mega Man pulse sweep drums. I'm not as enamored as everyone else seems to be with "We're the Robots", but I like the title. <3 Kraftwerk.

Yeah I was almost fell of my chair when I heard the founding fathers of Rockman sounds were coming in to collaborate with the arrange album. He's also finally released his real name, Yasuaki Fujita, after coming out of long-time hibernation (or hiding?!).

After beating the game a few times, I can say that I absolutely fell in love with most of the soundtrack. I found all of the level themes pretty memorable, with the exception of Tornado Man's, probably because his level requires some pretty keen concentration - but then again, I didn't like it that much when listening to it beforehand, anyway.

I couldn't get Splash's, Galaxy's, and Magma's out of my head, and that's not to say anything of the awesome Wily themes! The stage 3 theme was a pleasant surprise, which was a blessing in disguise because I had to hear it a lot my first time through. : )

But yeah, it's a bit hasty to start ranking 9's place in the series, music or game wise. Though as my impressions are now, I think it will be looked on upon pretty favorably.

Another BIG MM4 AND 6 fan here!

I'd place the NES games, in terms of music, like this:

3, 2, 4, 6.........................................................5, 1

And YES, Daniel K, the second Cossack theme IS one of the best songs in the series! Don't know where you're getting this Skull Man nonsense from though

And 9 is kicking total ass, as far as I'm concerned!
Haven't played the game yet, unfortunately, and I probably won't be able to until next month at the earliest,  but I WILL be getting it.

And just for the record, I'll rank the regular stage themes:

Tornado Man
Jewel Man
Galaxy Man
Concrete Man
Hornet Man
Splash Woman
Magma Man
Plug Man

And I should point out that it's actually only the latter two I don't really care about. Splash Woman is good enough, but the top 5 are fantastic!

As for the other themes, I share Daniel K's dislike of the Stage select and Boss theme, but then I have never liked ANY of them in the previous games.
The first two Wily Stages are great, the latter two are not.

And Maze of Death is all kinds of cool!

While I think Mega Man 3 is the best (catchiest music ever), I'd place Mega Man 4 in close second (rivaled by MM5's synth Sax-sounding tunes) as it had a distinctive quaity which harkened back to Mega Man 2 a bit while still making for an inventive final product.

I liked 4's music a lot -- it's grungey, washed-out soundtrack gave it a somewhat darker tone in some stages (Dust Man's drear and percussion are perfect examples of more unique sounds in the series) but never abandoned the usual jubliant fare evident in Dive Man and Ring Man stages.

Sir, your attempt at associating MM4's OST with 1990's alternative rock is something that makes my insides weep.

You're right, MM4 was SO much better!