By Toby “Radiation” Fox
It took me a few listens to warm up to this one. The first time I first listened to it, this style of music simply wasn’t on my radar. The latter half of the song, with its crazy speeded-up Eddie Morton and its squiggly, synthesized lead, was a little too electro-thrash for me. Each time I’ve revisited it, though, I’ve liked it better. The energy is undeniable.
By Mark Hadley, Andrew Huo and Toby “Radiation” Fox
“Sunny”, to describe it in one word. The song is featured in the comic, but the middle third of the album version is reworked to replace some of the chiptune instrumentation with an orchestral version.
By Seth “Beatfox” Peelle, original (Sunsetter) by Toby “Radiation” Fox
Source: Homestuck
Beatfox takes an original song by Radiation and moves it into a whole new genre. Sunsetter (the original) is fast-paced and electronic, with a fantastic hook. Yet this version is even better. The pace is slowed down a bit and the saxophone / xylophone lead is replaced with a simple, well-executed electric guitar.
The main melody is something you could have pulled out of an album written in the middle of the stadium-rock 80’s (and I mean that as a compliment). This song is has ridiculous replay value (I swear, I could loop it for an hour and not grow tired of it). It’s a great example of the music team building upon earlier works and producing something even greater, and it’s one of my favorite tracks in the whole Homestuck catalog.
By Toby “Radiation” Fox. Original (Doctor) by George Buzinkai
Source: Homestuck
I mentioned in an earlier review that I preferred Doctor as part of a greater composition, rather than as a stand-alone piece. This is the song I had in mind when I mentioned that. Doctor is a big part of this song, and it’s even better for it.
The song begins on a low note, like a music box desperately trying to squeeze out a few more notes before it reaches the end of its winding. From there, it builds progressively, in steps, before cooling off again near the end.
There’s another original song that’s part of Savior of the Waking World: Penumbra Phantasm by Radiation. That’s the flute melody that begins around halfway through the song. In fact, I didn’t mention it earlier, but Descend ends with a fragment from this same song. There’s a few Flash animations where Penumbra Phantasm has been used as a sort of coda, and it can’t help but be memorable. Yet the song has not been released on its own, and it may never be. It’s the white whale of the Homestuck catalog: many other tracks are made better by featuring it.
By Alexander Rosetti and Toby “Radiation” Fox. Meows supplied by Michael Guy Bowman. Original (Chorale for Jaspers) by Michael Guy Bowman
It’s sort of a novelty song, fair enough. But I can’t get past the mad, distorted cat noises.
By Toby “Radiation” Fox
Featured in the end of Act 4 flash animation. In a very crude way, you could describe Descend as a ‘greatest hits’ for Homestuck music up until now. It’s composed of bits and pieces of many different songs. The electronic drumbeat from Upward Movement (Dave Owns) ties the whole thing together, and little bits of songs like Liquid Negrocity, Explore, Atomyk Ebonpyre, and many others make appearances.
It’s a great, fun puzzle, in a way: some of the familiar songs are executed so differently, they can be difficult to recognize. Only upon repeated listening did I realize that the funky bass part at 0:47 (when Mom and Dad are shown on the ship) is the main melody from Aggrieve. Or that the staccato chiptune melody at 2:24 (when Jack start’s tearing shit up on Prospit) is a modified version of Doctor.
The editing job is fantastic. Except where the effect is intentional, the flow of the track is great. This song rightfully serves as the anchor, the featured track, for this album. It speaks to the album’s quality that I rank a few songs even higher.
By Toby “Radiation” Fox
I mentioned that Black was almost a little too electro-thrash for me: this song took a rocket-sled past the ‘too electro-thrash’ line. It’s a strange combination of 60’s science fiction computer sounds, electric guitar, and Snoop Dogg.
By Mark Hadley. Original ‘Black’ by Toby “Radiation” Fox
There’s two versions of this song in the catalog, and I’m a big fan of both of them for completely different reasons. Restrained, skittish piano set against deep, gloomy strings. The otherworldly synth whomping that starts in the second half is great.
By Toby “Radiation” Fox. Partial remix of “Unbreakable Union” by Kalibration, “Courser” by Alexander Rosetti and Seth “Beatfox” Peelle, “Carefree Action” by Mark J. Hadley, and “Homestuck Anthem” by Clark “Plazmataz” Powell
Source: Homestuck
It wanders from calm traditional introduction to frenzied tribal rhythm, and hits every point in between. My favorite part of the song, by far, is the piano interlude in the middle. It’s ominous and terribly foreboding: the most reserved part of the song serves as an accompaniment to the biggest reveal in the webcomic, up to that point.
By Toby “Radiation” Fox. Guitar by Joren “Tensei” de Bruin
Source: Homestuck
Not enough troll violence for you yet? Here’s some more. Another great mash-up of genres, with a synth / chiptune lead dueling with an electric guitar. The hook’s as catchy as they come.
By Toby “Radiation” Fox
Yeah, it’s a novelty song. And the first part is clever and entertaining: Nicolas Cage probably sets a record for ‘largest quantity of batshit crazy packed into a career’. I’ll check with Guinness on that.
But frankly, even a song like this starts running on fumes in the middle when the entire set of lyrics consists of the word ‘boner.’ I guess that was the plan.
By Toby ‘Radiation’ Fox. Original “Upward Movement” by Kalibration
A cool variation on Upward Movement (Dave Owns). That rad drum line gets yet another feature. The rather common classical trio of oboe, harpsichord, and Scalemate is used for most of the main melody.
By Joren ‘Tensei’ de Bruin. Original “Spider’s Claw” by Toby 'Radiation’ Fox
Starts off with a kick-ass guitar solo by Troll Eddie Van Halen (Edward Vhalen, I guess?). Seriously, if you like the intro on this song, go check out Eruption. So far as the rest of this song goes, it’s a slick combination of hard rock and blues horns, with a clean electric guitar bridge snuck in the middle.
By Malcolm Brown. Originals “Doctor” by George Buzinkai, and “Savior of the Waking World” by Toby ‘Radiation’ Fox
Awesome. Just awesome. Rises from a sober melancholy chorus, through a hopeful pizzicato rendition of Doctor, to a ridiculously energetic, driving overture. The song would have a completely different feel without the power-chords backing the main melody.
Technically, this version of the song is not used as part of a Flash animation (though it forms one of the main sections of Cascade). The coda is a bit different from the version used in Cascade: it doubles down on the energy with strings that smack of the shower scene in Psycho, until dropping just a little too abruptly.
‘Black Hole / Green Sun’ by Malcolm Brown. Solo piano, violin, guitar parts written and added by Toby “Radiation” Fox, featuring Joren “Tensei” de Bruin on electric guitar and Kelly Sadwin on violin
Black Hole / Green Sun begins at 10:48 in the Cascade medley. It’s only available as a stand-alone track when you purchase the album, but the album version is unchanged from the final few minutes of Cascade.
I like this remix better than its source (Black Rose / Green Sun), but only just. The changes aren’t huge: this track’s more like a driving classic rock anthem. The melodic guitar solo in the first half is great, and the soulful, Celtic violin refrain in the second half is even better.
And I love the extended chord that finishes things up. Now where’s that been done before?