Music! DJ Hero 2 Edition

So, we all know how I feel about DJ Hero, and yet my opinion on DJ Hero 2 wasn't quite as strong despite every video for every song from the soundtrack saying how 'sick' it was and such.  So I figured, perhaps I didn't give it quite the fair shake.  And seeing that FreeStyleGames is still around...for now, it seemed like a pretty good time to give it that fair shake again.  And in all honesty?  Perhaps I was a little too harsh at first, or maybe I just expected too much.  But honestly, it's mixes like this one here that colored my judgment.

Two songs that they could have possibly taken and done something with to make them better than their individual versions, yet all they do is basically play one song over the music of the other.  And given that the song they use prominently is basically the same 30-40 seconds over and over again it's repetitive as hell, the mood is too slow, and it's just not a fun beat like most of the previous games soundtrack.  I do, of course say 'Most', since there were a few disappointments in DJ Hero's list as well.  (My Name Is vs. Loser?  How could you screw that up?)

It gets a little better as I dig a bit deeper, though not by much.

Once again, half of this song I'm not really a fan of, but at least both songs are fairly evenly presented, aside from the fact that "Not Afraid" is basically just played over the beat of "Lollipop" like I was complaining about with the previous one.  The problem with this type of 'mix' is that it's literally a three or four step process.  Getting both songs separated into music and vocals and splice one over the other.  And while other remixing might be just as simple, it shows a little more creativity in the final product.  And once again, with this mix, the mood just seems too slow and it just drags on.

"Replay" vs. "Rude Boy", which some might recognize as the song featured prominently in the advertisement(s?) for DJ Hero 2, gets it more right by doing more wrong, somehow.  The vocals to "Rude Boy" are barely featured, and when they are, it's just at the end.  And while I don't really know too much about either songs, I'm pretty sure it's, again, just "Replay" playing over "Rude Boy"s music.  Yet, at least the mood is somewhat better and more upbeat, and it's generally got more of a flow to it than the two previous songs.  I guess the fact that it's fun enough to listen to makes it a fairly good mix!

Finally, "LoveGame" vs. "Heartless" is probably the mix from the game I've listened to the most, partly because, well, you guys all know I enjoy a good Gaga song (because there are a few and I can like the song without giving a crap about the artist), and partly because it's just a good mix, once again, somehow.  I can't place it, maybe it's because it kind of feels like the songs are more evenly spliced than any of the others I've heard, or maybe because it's poised to be the one I'm most familiar with and thus can enjoy as it's played in a different way with a different style.  I'm not quite sure.

So really, I'm still willing to go out on a limb and say that I still think DJ Hero 2's mixes, on the whole (unless I've missed much better examples) are technically inferior, but that in general they aren't bad.  Just that what I've heard left me a little underwhelmed when put up against "Feel Good Inc." vs. "Heard it Through the Grape Vine" and "ABC" vs. "Semi-Charmed Life".