"The Robot Museum is an idea I've had up my sleeve for a while now. Ever since playing Mega Man 7 years back and reaching the mid-game robot museum stage, I thought the concept of a robot museum was a great one. It wasn't until I played Mega Man & Bass that the thought of an arrangement album in the style of a robot museum had occured to me."
"The following is the idea that has come into fruition. I've arranged a robot master's theme from the original Mega Man all the way through Mega Man 8 with the addition of a bonus track from Mega Man & Bass," says Joshua Morse.
The robot museum mini-stage in Mega Man 7 was one of my favorite areas out of the entire classic Mega Man series. It was short, but very sweet, containing robot masters from games gone by. The robot museum was revisited again in Mega Man & Bass and it was expanded upon even further into a full blown level. So the fact that Joshua was inspired to create this album from two highly memorable stages from separate Mega Man titles is pretty cool.
As an avid Mega Man fan for more than two decades, I've been in love with the original songs throughout the series and have heard some excellent remixes, both from official album releases and from fans. MEGA MAN: The Robot Museum does not disappoint, featuring some of my favorite Mega Man arrangements. Spark Man has what is my all-time favorite electrical theme from the entire classic series so I was very pleased with what Joshua did with it here. Spark Shock (the tracks are named after the powers of the robot masters) starts out slow, misleading you to believe that the whole song might be of lesser speed than the original track. But after about 30 seconds, it picks up to a head bobbing beat. I like a great deal of music in Mega Man 5, but I always considered Stone Man's theme to be one of the weaker tracks from that game. So it's a little surprising that Power Stone ended up being one of my favorite songs from this album and as it stands, it's the best remix of Stone Man's theme that I've ever heard. Mention must also be given to Air Shooter, which is perfect lounge music. You will never hear better elevator music than Thunder Beam. It doesn't feel right to call it that, but that's exactly what it reminds me of. Soothing, relaxing elevator jams. Capping off this fantastic album is the ninth track, Data Base Accessed, an arrangement of the CD Data Base from Mega Man & Bass. The original CD Data Base Track was a very calming tune. In this album, the tune plays much like an infinitely enhanced version of the same track. It's beautiful stuff and a great way to end a superb Mega Man remix soundtrack.
Do I have any complaints? No, not really. Though how cool would it have been if the actual Robot Museum stages from Mega Man 7 and Mega Man & Bass had been remixed on this album? Can you imagine those tunes being given that unique Joshua Morse flavor? That would have been an extra thick layer of icing on an already sweet, sweet cake.
I've been a fan of Joshua's works for nearly three years now. He's got a very distinct style that puts him in a league of his own from other video game music arrangers. I can instantly tell when I'm listening to one of his songs. MEGA MAN: The Robot Museum ranks as one of his best works and that's saying a lot. If you're into Mega Man music, or you just like music in general (and really, who doesn't?) this free download deserves a spot on your iPod/computer/MP3 player.
MEGA MAN: The Robot Museum
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