ReMix:Final Fantasy VII "Cid (Solace Simplicity)" 2:16

By Children of the Monkey Machine

Arranging the music of one song...

"Cid's Theme"

Primary Game: Final Fantasy VII (Sony , 1997, PS1), music by Nobuo Uematsu

Posted 2000-11-14, evaluated by djpretzel


Okay, it took me three listens just to LIKE this ReMix, but once I did, I found it very haunting and I really began to respect it. It's certainly very empty, lonely, minimalist, depressing, and not melodically satisfying in any way shape or form. BUT, as far as capturing the essence of that sort of mood - like the title says: solace and simplicity - it does a superb job. Mega-reverbed, meandering piano lines, hardcore drums played in a very softcore fashion, sparingly, and an ambient high-pitched space whistle type sound really DO work well together to achieve this highly unique effect. Not something I would listen to for fun, but if you're in the right mood, or want to be put into that mood, I'd say it could be more effective than many drugs. A very formidable and original submission.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Necrox
on 2015-12-08 22:25:12

Interesting tone, wish there was less piano and more atmosphere, but it's still a remix. I actually like the meandering drums; IMO the issue is with the title theme feeling out of place.

avatar
Crulex
on 2014-10-22 10:24:17

CotMM's ReMixes often leave me wondering what I just listened to. And not in a bad way, just in that like DJP mentioned in the writeup, it usually takes a me a few listens to even form an opinion or like one of them. Still, I like this one. "Like", and that's it. CotMM has had many great mixes over the years, and this is decent, but there are better. Aside from my general mixed-to-positive feelings and it's length though, not bad at all.

avatar
Marmiduke
on 2010-01-03 07:32:40

Definitely strikes me as more an experiment with mood and approach than a full-fledged track. It vaguely explores some of the territory that would become a regular staple of CotMM mixes, but comes off as a much more simplistic, uninvolved exercise. I actually like what I hear here, but it's just a little too vague and sparse to be an early classic.

Very nice liberal piano arrangement though. Very nice indeed.

avatar
Otakatt
on 2009-12-02 10:05:12

Reading the other reviews of this song made me want to review it even more. I actually liked CotMM's take on Cid's theme, and this is currently in my FF music folder. Granted that, no, this isn't what I feel is his best work, but I don't view it as his worst either. What I think is probably the most neat thing about it, is that you listen to the original and it's kind of this... uplifting, inspiring theme, and CotMM took that same song and just shifted the mood entirely. There's elements to it that are uplifting, imo, given the nature of this song, but overall it's more somber, I'd say.

There are some issues, of course. Like I do agree with what was said about the drums. For me, they don't really fit 100%. But I still think this is worth a listen and shouldn't be written off entirely for being an older piece from CotMM.

avatar
Bahamut
on 2009-09-29 00:22:24

This is a fairly plain mix, and too short at that. Not CotMM's best work by a longshot.

avatar
Master_Yoshi
on 2008-12-30 17:17:26

The contrast between the uplifting melody and the extremely depressing soundfield (at least to my ears) is what gets me with this mix. This is just such a turnaround from what the melody if cid's theme is, that the mix just doesn't work as well as it could. I think the problem is honestly that cid's theme hasn't been re-arranged near enough to fit with the atmosphere of the rest of the piece. Yes,the playing is really quite emotive, but there's just not enough of a shift in the main theme to really make it fit.

Honestly I think that a bit more re-tooling of the theme would help this stand out as one of CoTMM's best tracks.

avatar
DragonAvenger
on 2008-10-22 21:35:34

I don't not like it, but I can't really bring myself to like it either. It's got some good stuff going for it, but overall it kinda leaves me scratching my head. Not sure exactly what does it either, which makes it confusing.

I could probably echo the other reviewers, but I'm not even sure if it's what they mentioned. I think some of it stems from the depressing quality of parts of the mix paired with the more uplifting melody. Dunno.

avatar
OA
on 2007-02-01 14:57:41

I am not feeling the drums on this at all. The sounds themselves are fine, but the part doesn't mesh with the music, making it sound like 2 songs that happen to be the same tempo being played at the same time. This could go places, but not in it's current state. Pretty obvious that it's an early mix. :)

avatar
Bummer
on 2005-10-11 10:02:05

A CotMM remix with piano? Kewl.

It took awhile to the melody to kick off, and when it did, it didn´t burst out in instruments and sounds, it was clean with just the piano, some drums in the back and some synth that had a more...I don´t know. Creepy? Calm? Smooth? Simple?

The thing that makes this remix not-so-good-as-the-other-CotMM-mixes-ish is maybe just what the name applies.. Simplicity.

Yeah, that´s it.

avatar
anosou
on 2005-05-27 12:14:44

As we all now by now CotMM (yeah, you know what it means!) loves to use real, let me describe it as industrial-distorted-effect-ish sound.

And yes, I like that a lot often.

When I first listened to this mix I just didn't get it was cid's theme until cid's theme starts playing (I know, freaky ain't it?) and ofcourse then I felt at home.

The thing that makes this remix not-so-good-as-the-other-CotMM-mixes-ish is maybe just what the name applies.. Simplicity.

Still it's a neat mix and I like it.

Although some more piano wouldn't hurt.

avatar
Babysoft-chan
on 2004-02-21 23:08:42

This was really well done. I love the sad tone of it. This is definitely going on my "Inspirations" playlist for when I work on stories. And I love how the piano and drums work together in this. And the faint whistling in the background reminds me a little of one of the BGM's from Castlevania. Well done. ^_^

avatar
blindstrike
on 2004-02-08 18:29:26

i, for one, really like the whole whistling in the background...if it were the SAME thing it'd get really old...but there's changes in the whilstles...overall the song is pretty moving and deep. but also hard to enjoy

avatar
Dhsu
on 2004-01-01 10:33:18

Errrr...yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with these guys here. It's not because I don't like his style...believe me, I'd normally be the first person to download a new CotMM mix...just can't get enough of his creeeeepy ambience. But this song...umm, let's just say he's improved a lot since he made this one. Now it's just not up to the standard of his more recent ReMixes. It falls short in a couple areas, one being the drums, like the others mentioned. If you're going for an empty, melancholy atmosphere (which I'm assuming he is, with the wind in the background and all), then what're you throwing a beat in there for? It might be possible to make it work if it were done right, but here it just seems totally out of place. The piano is also subpar, both in terms of composition and performance. To be brutally honest, it just reeks of N00B. Which I can't really blame CotMM for, since that's probably what he was back in the Y of 2K. All I can say is that I'm glad he hasn't stayed that way, and that now he's one of my absolute favorite ReMixers. Keep givin' us the good stuff, m68030. :D

avatar
Eccles
on 2003-06-27 04:31:30

Im not a huge fan of the constant whistling in the background...

The whole thing for me kicks off when Cids theme kicks in...even though its transposed and mostly adlibbed, I really like it.

Sadly, though, the rest of it is kinda...blah.

Its not a bad track by any means...it just doesnt jump out at me and impress me.

avatar
Ginnsu
on 2002-06-04 22:58:06

Final Fantasy VII 'Cid (Solace Simplicity)'

Of all the stuff Children of the Monkey Machine has done, this is probably my least favourite, but admittedly for no good reason. It’s not that this one is not good; it’s just that it doesn't grab me like his other stuff does. The drums do sound substandard compared to most of his work, but I can’t complain about the piano in this one at all. It’s very sweet, especially starting at 1:24. Nice work, Children of the Monkey Machine, keep it up.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Final Fantasy VII (Sony , 1997, PS1)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu
Songs:
"Cid's Theme"

Tags (8)


Genre:
Downtempo
Mood:
Chill,Mellow
Instrumentation:
Piano,Synth
Additional:
Time > 4/4 Time Signature
Time > Duration: Short
Time > Tempo: Moderate

File Information


Name:
Final_Fantasy_7_Cid_(Solace_Simplicity)_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
2,264,769 bytes
MD5:
4ff0e644ed3ffbaed6a92eb376736c24
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
2:16

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes