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My Review of "Thundercat: Apocalypse"

A trip down nostalgia and wonderment. This is an album about video games that inspired Thundercat.

By Brian AnonymousPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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Thundercat: Apocalypse came out back in 2013 and yet I'm just listening to this album in 2020. I guess it's better to discover things than never to notice them at all. This album feels so close to home but so weird as well. I have to say there aren't many albums that I've ever heard quite like this so I don't even really know the genre of this music. I guess it would be alternative electronic music.

From listening to the first track "Tenfold" I can immediately tell this guy used to play role playing games back when he was a kid because the sample sounds straight out of old Japanese console RPG's of the 90s. I can just imagine it being ripped straight from the Final Fantasy series or Secret of Mana. Fantastic games that I'm sure Thundercat has played in the past.

The mood seems to stay in the melodic tone throughout the album. The next song "Heartbreaks + Setbacks" is a little faster pace but it's very moody and talks a little about some sort of breakup. It's still a trippy song. The tripiness never really goes away throughout this album and I kind of love it for this. I feel like I'm being placed on a ride that I don't want to get off.

The next song reminds me of the background music for not so popular Scott Pilgrim beat em up game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. I can tell this guy is really into games and feel the inspiration in the song "The Life Aquatic". It's extremely trippy and would feel at home on a video game.

The next song "Special Stage" continues on with the video game theme where you hear some sort of pinging throughout the song. It kind of reminds me of Sonic the hedgehog where you go through the casino stage where you bounce off all trampolines. It also reminds me of the Sonic bonus stage as well so that's probably where this comes from. The lyrics are pretty funny because it's about playing a game and getting to the special stage. It's very transparent and not very subtle.

Then we go to the "Tron" song and we obviously know that the whole album is about video games. There's little samples from games in the background and it sounds very experimental but kind of works. His voice is very ominous and inviting at the same time. It's a pretty interesting track. I start to wonder why I'm playing this album all the time and realize that it's a chill out album. It's a cool album to be playing in the background while you're doing things.

"Seven" gets into a different stage of a game that sort of feels like a shooter. It's like you're approaching a boss or something or getting to a climax part of a level or something. There's not much to this song but the instrumentals but it gives off a mood that you're about to finish something.

Then the first song that sort of feels like a real song arrives, "Oh Shiet it's X" actually feels like a funk song. It's just about jamming to a song and is a little bit of a departure of the rest of the album. It's one of the better songs on the album because it feels like a fully fleshed song. It's fun and you can dance to this song. His journey through the song is pretty hilarious.

We then go back to the video game background music track with "Without You". It starts off sounding like a pong game and then goes into a track that is reminiscent of a Japanese anime or adventure game. Possibly another Japanese RPG. It's very melodic again. I'm a little disappointed because I thought we were going somewhere different after "Oh Shiet it's X".

"Lotus and the Jondy" plays after this and I'm thinking wow we have an actual song. Well that's how it starts off and then I realize it just becomes a video game background song again. I'm okay with it because it's pretty consistent with the rest of the album.

The next song is "Evangelion" and I can tell this guy is a true 90s kid because I was a fan of the anime Evangelion in the 90s. This song definitely gives off the Evangelion vibe. I'm learning more about the Thundercat's influences and it's interesting because they're pretty similar to the things I liked during those years.

We then have an interlude only to end it off with the final song "A Message for Austin". This again feels like a video game song. This time it sounds like an ending credits for a game. It's an epic sample that plays out like you just finished a game. The singing voice-over sort of doesn't really go with the song but what can you really do with this sample anyways?

Overall, I enjoyed the album and play this album in the background of some of my activities. It's a good chill out album for those that like video games especially Japanese Role Playing Games of the 90s. I have to give this album a 7 out of 10. It is enjoyable enough for repeat listening.

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About the Creator

Brian Anonymous

I have tons of opinions that change constantly. I watch a lot of movies and play video games. There are some articles on my struggles with languages and dance as well.

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