johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[A New Day Is Rising [WIP]]

I will review as I listen.

Ah, starting out with the old 1 instrument, going to 2, etc. You sound like me :P (maybe not a good thing ;P )

Yup, kind of distorted synth in there hitting all the obvious notes. Definitely sounds like me.

Ok, new guy at :56. You're still hitting the obvious notes. Diversify your melody! Make me go like :O

At 1:25 you bring in a cool beat, I like how it isn't shoved in my face. Props.

Aha, faceshoving is achieved at 1:48. That synth is brought back with that melody, stacked on that other melody. Dude, you write songs just like me. I love it. Well actually, I don't really give me songs room to breathe, and you have a lot of empty space, which I appreciate.

Work on your melodies a little bit.

[-Ricochet Love-]

Jeez.

This is a pretty incredible song. You're clearly at the top of your game. I've been following you since plingplong, and you just get better and better. You're definitely one of my favorite audio artists in the portal.

[Cave Story-Geothermal]

Ah, nostalgia.

I love this song and that game. Thanks for the memories. Although I can't help wishing you would bring out that other voice more often (the one that you hear right when the song is starting). Still, really nice job.

[==(Oasis)==]

Good job here.

I tend to hate most stuff on the portal these days. It's sad. You see the top 50 list, most of it just falls flat for me. Too standard or derivative, trying too hard, no good grasp of what to do with music. I almost feel ridiculous coming here, but every now and then I find an unexpected gem. Like this.

The central melody is strong, but the song structure is what I like here. Nothing is in your face; instead, most of it is buried under the surface. I like the digging.

This is a good piece. It's refreshing. I look forward to hearing more of your work.

[ParagonX9 - Metropolis [8]

This... is awesome.

I would put this in one of your top 5 best songs. You nailed the gameboy feel and I love it! You also definitely have the 'metropolis' theme going here, and I just love the melodies. This is a slow grower, I didn't like it the first few times around but, knowing you, I kept it on repeat for a while.

[NH22 - Isotope]

Very nice

You're right at the edge. You're RIGHT there.

What I mean is, you're this close from having an amazing song, heck, being an amazing songwriter. This has a great mellow feel to it, and you must have mastered sound ages ago because it's incredibly clear and brilliant. You just need to work on melody a tiny bit more. It's a little repetitive, too. Still though. This is really really good. I will continue to look out for you. Keep trying. I eagerly look forward to your next piece. Keep me updated.

[Winterbliss]

A really good song.

I wish I could give 9.5s. Ah well, this is still pretty excellent. Feels a lot like winter. Some of it even reminds me of Metriod (Prime) ... a good game ^^. The only strange part is the little violin thing in the middle; it seems like it needs a little work and the violin somewhat contrasts with the other instruments. Still, this is a super cool song.

[-Outrun-]

Spectacular.

You have made me a true believer of this audio portal thing. Okay, I've always been a believer, but you've just added on to my believing. Excellent song! It has a spectacular beat, and doesn't drop at all in 7 minutes. I've rarely given out tens recently, so thank you for giving me an opportunity :D

[*Touch the Sky*]

Cool and not immediate.

Like the other reviewers, it took me some time to figure out just what was going on in this piece. Eventually, I figured out that it was a really powerful melody chorus buried under a lot of chords, then copied a lot and separated by some rather less interesting segues of piano randomness. I think that it could do with a good polish to make those intermissions more interesting, but the melody itself is excellent and deserves a good 9 stars.

Valtrix responds:

Yeah, the chorus is the best part. I tweaked it a little bit, but that was mostly Envy there, so it doesn't surprise me that you found the other parts less interesting. It was certainly different trying to get my writing to match the chorus melody, but I think what I have might not be as interesting as the melody, but still flows smoothly, which is what I was going for. I wouldn't say it's quite so random, though maybe a bit so...You know, it's hard to make every part of a song interesting and non repetitive :P

Thanks a lot for the review!