johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Roots]

Me 5 minutes ago: "Who's this jerk who's beating my song in placement in the techno portal... wow generic techno instruments, this is going to suck... oh hey this sounds okay actually... wait a minute, this is pretty sweet, how'd that happen."

This is a really good song. The melody has a really nice tinge of melancholia to it. It's actually fairly well mastered too. Especially given how huge all your instruments are, it's impressive how you fit them together. I'm not a huge fan of wubstep, but you handle it subtly and pretty well.

Suggestions for improvement? Tough to say. Maybe more of a breakdown - the listener usually can't deal with such huge sounds without a lot of breaks. Maybe some more melodic variation too. Other than that, I like it! (And of course, feel free to hit me back with a review if you get the chance.)

Morphixx responds:

First off, thanks for taking the time to listen to it mate. I'm glad you liked it! I probably should have added more breakdown in this one like you said. Thanks for the input that. I will definitely go check out some of your songs as well! Oh and have a great day! :)

[-SheepHop-]

People are probably going to crap all over this song because it's not your typical style, and not nearly as polished as your traditional works. Personally, although I did give you a low score, I really encourage you to continue to explore new genres. After all, you only become a better artist by doing so.

Specific crits for this song - I feel like the beat should be a lot stronger and punchier. You really need a massive snare to bob your head to. The addition of sampled vocals was a good idea, but they seem really disjointed. I feel like they could fill the space better, if that makes sense.

Anyway, major props for trying something new, and I hope you continue to do so!

[Insurgent [MSB] (NGADM)]

This is a very good song. I'm not one of those people who 'hates dubstep' because I feel like all genres have potential for greatness. Of course, when you're writing dubstep it's incredibly tempting to just crap all over the drop...

There's a contrast in this song that's evident from the very beginning - your bass and your high synth don't go together at all. The bass is an incredibly funky tune, the synth is this more sad mournful sounding idea. You should either stay behind one or the other.

Your production is absolutely phenomenal, and I feel almost criminal docking you a few points. It's because I feel like I'm missing some sort of overall message from the track. The drops are flawless but I don't hear any kind of theme from them. There are no real gripping melodies or anything of that nature (except that funky bass which kinda gets forgotten about).

Anyway, great song.

GrantBowtie responds:

Ya some people I know object to the funky bass, but other people seem to like it, so don't know what to tell you- Thanks for the input man.

[XS - Leaving (Audio DM 1)]

This is a beautiful song. My only suggestion is that it seems a little repetitive - a piano solo, or maybe just some differentiation would make this perfect.

I'm certainly not docking you on score for this, but what in GODS name is this doing under dubstep? When I listen to dubstep I usually expect the bassline to rip me to pieces. This is closer to *ambient* than dubstep. :D

(Not trying to be a jerk, just genuinely curious.)

Jimmypig responds:

Haha well it's 140 and has dubsteppy beats, so I though... Sorry :(

But no, totally agree, going to remake it for the next EP with (hopefully) singing! :)

(And yes, i'll pop a solo in)

[Pixelated Rainbow]

Beautiful intro.

Some comments.

If you're going to do chiptune, you may as well go all the way and chiptune the drums too. Real drums sound kind of strange when the melody is so chippy.

You have some great stuff in here. Those piano arps at like 2:45 are fantastic!

You've got a good ear for melody. They have this great tinge of melancholia. My biggest problem is that you jump from melody to melody almost at random. It's very difficult to understand the song unless you pay really close attention. Some transitions between your different ideas would really help. Once I started paying attention, it was much better.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this.

NeXsard responds:

taking notes

[Outside the Atmosphere]

This is a very beautiful song. However, if I am to go into super critic mode, I feel like the melody you opened with is your best, and everything else is almost extraneous in comparison. You open with this really contemplative piano melody, but then its almost as if you forgot about that and try to do some other unrelated stuff. Like the synth at 1:10 seems a little undirected.

I do like how you switched up chord progressions halfway in. Nice touch.

OpenLight responds:

Thank you for the review. The reason it seems a bit disjointed may be because of what I was feeling when writing this song. Without going into much detail, it's been a hard couple of months, so I tried to make my song something positive that still managed to express underlying feelings of doubt or suppression.

Long story short, Outside the Atmosphere is about going so far from the world that everything below becomes trivial. The primary melody represents the underlying feelings previously noted while later in the song it becomes more of a springboard into brighter (3:35) or simpler and calmer (4:38) things.

The song ends with the original melody as a representation of returning to the ground.

I guess I should have put that in the description... I may do so, but that's why you felt the way you did. Thanks again for the review! I do appreciate it.

[-Rupture-]

Very nice track. What impresses me most is that you moved away from your traditional baselines and chirpy melodies. The instrumentation is practically flawless. The buildup to that central drums section is well done. That brass sounds like Hans Zimmer (Inception).

If this is the soundtrack of an alien battle, I don't think the humans win. :)

Waterflame responds:

Thanks alot :D That is so great to hear! yeah i know i have it in me to make other things. when i actually try hard. haha. thanks for the review! :D