True Colors – The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2
JEZMM:
“If True Blue was about the quality of the music in the franchise, this compilation is about the wider variety of the music, covering almost every genre that modern Sonic has touched upon to great success. My only disappointment with the album was that there was only one song that was an entirely original, never-before-heard remix, and it was a song that has been remixed several times already –” Dreams Of An Absolution”. Having said that, it’s a beautiful and inspiring remix, and while we have heard a bit of the almost-new Open Your Heart remix before, that’s still an amazing track too. The other bonus tracks however either aren’t huge deviations from the originals, or are simply rarer tracks from Sonic’s history. On the plus side for long-time fans though, this is the first official release of “E-102’s theme” to have a definitive finish, and “Cosmic Eternity” has a slightly extended ending. As a fan of all varieties of Sonic music, I found it to be a fantastic musical celebration of the extended cast, although those who would rather Sonic stick to one genre may have mixed feelings.” [8]
Thumbs Up!: Fantastic variety of tracks. The new stuff ranges from “nice” to “awesome”.
Thumbs Down!: One too many Shadow-related tracks. New content may disappoint some.
Favourite Track: Dreams Of An Absolution (Starry Night Remix)
BLITZCHRIS:
“Both True Blue and its more recent brother True Colours, interest me for one major reason. Remixes. True Blue did well, but has True Colours stepped up to the plate? I dare say it has, bringing home 4 new and 1 previously released but unobtainable remixes. The long awaited Lee Brotherton remix, “Open Your Heart” attempts to modify the more rock-driven song into something suitable for a club, and does so with flare. Crush40 return with Mike Szuter of Magna-Fi fame to produce a mix most fans will appreciate with a combined cover of All Hail Shadow. There is something almost, ‘complementary’ about the grouping of Mike’s voice with Jun’s guitar. Ohtani’s ‘Starry Night’ remix of ‘Dreams of an Absolution’ was the low point of the album for me, destroying one of the songs that saved Sonic06 from complete embarrassment. It sounded like a mash between two songs that just didnt ever belong together. Lastly, the original demo for Lazy Days just wasn’t as cheesy and doesn’t have the same energy as its original. It was interesting however to hear how the song has evolved since its original release. It’s not a bad mix, just something different. A listenable version of the “Sonic3 MegaD Mix” was a cause for celebration, with the track only previously obtainable through the menu background music of another game. I’m a massive fan of “look-a-like” and I would have loved to have seen a more complete version; it was nice to see its inclusion anyway. ” [8]
Thumbs Up: The track selection for the rest of the disc was fairly spot on.
Thumbs Down: Ohtani’s ‘Starry Night” remix did not impress at all.
Killer Track: All Hail Shadow
T-BIRD:
“Again, like I did with my review for the C40 album, I’m going to pitch from the collector’s end of the pitch. While I can’t faulter the selection of tracks here (indeed, nice to see some unexpected stuff like Gamma’s theme), and a double-whammy of Shadow tracks in the form of Julien-K will always go down well. However it’s the same old Sonic tunes re-packaged, and I think there’s only so much of this the fanbase will lap up. Where are all the classic chip-tune tracks? If I was in marketing i’d be putting together a “Best of Classic Sonic” and stuffing it full of Sonic 1,2, 3&K tracks, and surfing the demand of even the non die-hard fans wanting to purchase a little bit of their childhood in CD form. Am I right? The remix and demo tracks are nice little touches to the end of the album, and it’s good to see some of the more obscure pieces like “Look-A-Like” haven’t been forgotten by SEGA as again this is probably a definitive track for a number of people in the fanbase. I think the real destroyer track on this album is the “K-Club mix of Open Your Heart” as it tears up both the melody and tempo of the original and makes something brand new – something the fans want and this album on the whole fails to deliver. If you’re gonna buy one of the new albums from last year kids, go for the C40 compilation, or better yet Jun Senoue’s “The Works”. [6]
Thumbs Up!: A thoughtful selection of non-Sonic character themes from through the ages.
Thumbs Down!: You’ve probably got most the tracks already.
Killer Track: Open Your Heart (K-Club Mix)
A “truly colourful” collection of new and old tracks. Yet, this is another album on which re-released tracks feature predominantly, with the mixed bag of six new songs splitting opinion.
True Colors is still available for purchase from the Jun Senoue Official Store, as well as play-asia, and CD-Japan.
Are we totally off the mark again? Or… do you agree with us? Let us know in the comments!
There was no “Fly In The Freedom” in SA1. I think you mean “Believe In Myself.”
I’m not a fan of pop/dance but you cannot argue with great musicianship. I’m talking about Mr Bentley Jones of course. His remixes absolutely make this record. How often do you find a pop artist who writes his own material but is also fantastic behind the mixing desk? This man needs to be a huge popstar. He’s probably the only genuine popstar to ever exist.
Nice spot needsemail – my bad – T
Wait, why is Ungravitify, by Cashell bad?
I thought it was a great track, Fumie Kumatani (the composer), did a great job with the music, it felt really surreal and heavy (pardon the expression). I loved it. C40’s version was pretty much just as good, although it had better vocals and some sweet guitar
@ Scartillery
It says “rendition” which means it isn’t the original. A lot of remixes get royally f@#ked up in the music industry so its nothing to complain about.
I’m not gonna get this complication of music though. I’d rather have a CD stuffed with great original music or more obscure stuff.
I found True Colors to be incredibly underwhelming. Even considering the obvious bias toward including mostly vocal themes, they could’ve added more songs to the album, as well as remove some of the crap presented here. I’d give the album 2.5/5 at most. Nothing compared to its solid predecessor, True Blue.
Oh man, they got Look-a-Like on this? I love that nonsensical credits song! I’m surprised, I figured this only had songs from games. Next album they should release the full version, and maybe throw in the South Island theme from the same movie for good measure.
@ Metal: I hear ya! I think the album could have benefited from 3 or 4 tracks from the Sonic OVA – That would have really sold it.
@Brainzilla: I’d agree they could have stuffed more on here, but I think the idea of more vocal stuff is that it is more, for lack of a better word “listenable”, which I know isn’t true for most Sonic fans, but on the whole there is more appeal over just instrumentals.
I think the trouble with this album is it’s 70% tunes we’ve heard before, thus not very exciting, plus 30% “obscure” or remixed materials, that will only appeal to die hards.
xD My heart flew wen I heard the starry night remix of dreams of an absolution xD I loved the new remix of open your heart.And the theme of Gamma was one of my favorite songs from SA1. x I gave it an 85.5% bc I will never be a fan of All Hail Shadow. hmph I prefer I am all of Me… x
I’d argue about some of the others, but it’s good to see that I’m not the only one who thinks the new Open Your Heart is a godsend. That’s the one that really makes the album worth it, IMO.
I think what would have made it better for me if “Un-gravitify” was replaced by “Catch Me If You Can” (the Zero Gravity version), it’s a theme for three and a theme based around characters rather than the game. Also the SA2 remixes to be replaced by the SA1 counterparts, I love the SA2 soundtrack, but most of the songs in SA1, in my opinion, dominates.
Also where the hell was the “Team Chaotix” theme?
Would appreciated a few new remixes, but most of these are fairly/very good songs.
I agree with both Scartillery and Soul Gauge. In the fact that I also think Un-Gravitify is a gorgeous track, and the Crush 40 version wasn’t QUITE as good (still great though).
However I also agree that Catch Me If You Can would have been better and more in theme with the album. I also wish Team Chaotix had made it on there. Perhaps replacing the All Hail Shadow remix – I really found that kinda weird and pointless.
Well, if the version of Un-Gravitify presented is the original one from SR:ZG2, then I don’t understand why you guys complained, it’s an excellent track with a great vibe and atmosphere. But if it’s the menu version of the song (that awful remix that plays right when the game starts) then yeah, you have a point.
You know what, I’d like to see an album with music not from Sonic games, but inspired on them instead. Like, seeing game music composers (and some ocremixers) creating original tracks based on the style we see in Sonic games. It would be cool 🙂
Yah know I really do get tired of people ragging on Knuckles’ tracks from SA2…I happen to like a lot of hip hop and rap and was glad that SEGA made an attempt to try and please every genre. There’s a lot to like on this album because there’s a track for everyone…now if only Aquatic Mine had been on there..this would’ve gotten a perfect 5/5 from me..but as it stands I’ll give it a 4/5. Hope to see a new compilation soon!
Un-Gravitify is the best song ever made in the Sonic series! The Crush 40 version was terrible.