Music: The Adventures of Duane & BrandO aka: The Adventures Of Duane And Brando
I don't usually like rap, but this is AWESOME!
The Adventures ofDuane & BrandO is was is was a Michigan based videogame rap cover band, consisting of members Duane Zuwala and Brandon Lackey, under the not-really-pseudonyms 8Bit Duane and The Amazing BrandO. This description, while accurate, fails to convey the mindblowingly clever rhymes the duo spits. Every song of theirs is easily Crowning Music of Awesome, and they have to stick with a very fun and bouncy style rather than the more serious workings of The Megas.Their trope-worthiness, and general notoriety, comes from their music videos using in-game footage, with these two videos in particular being most well-known:Final Fantasy and Mega Man 2There exists one CD consisting of remastered versions of their entire discography, available for free on their website, as well as multiple solo albums for the two of them.They separated due to Creative Differences for 6 months, but reunited from April 1 to July 30th, 2010, after their American-wide tour with The Protomen and The Super 8-Bit Bros.PS: For now, let's keep all three bands together. It makes things a little easier.
Tropes:
Action52: Arguably the finest lyrical interpretation of Cheetahmen II created by man or machine.
Link's Shadow: Same moves, same tights, same fuckin' drive!
Averted Trope: The Final Fantasy I rap dodges all the popular Light Warrior personalities popularized by 8-Bit Theater. The Fighter is smart and the leader, the Red Mage flaunts his powers by using them, the Black Mage is slick and effective, and there's a Black Belt on the team.
Although the Eight Bit Theater lineup is referenced: Garland says to the Black Belt "I'll make you wish you would have chosen Thief." But it's probably said for the fact that the Thief is a master at running.
Tails as well. He's always either left behind or totally abhorred while he's around.
Tails: Tails is the name / Sonic's right hand G / You'll go no no, nono, no!
Sonic: Shut the fuck up.
Call Back: While any sequel songs (Zelda/Mario/Castlevania 2 etc.) all contain references to their respective predecessors. Of special note is Duane's rendition of the title theme from Mega Man 6 borrows its first four measures of lyrics from Mega Man 2 by Duane & BrandO.
Dragon Warrior also reuses a couple of the Sonic rap's lines. Tails (played by Duane, who also did the vocals for Dragon Warrior) lampshades this.
Zelda III makes a subtle reference to the last line of the previous song, in which Link asks "We're brother and sister in the next game, right?". This version of Link is a Chivalrous Pervert who constantly hits on a reluctant Zelda, who is constantly hinted to be a relative. (But only in this song: see Did Not Do the Research below.)
Cluster F-Bomb: "I'mmah fuckin' kick you in your stupid fuckin' face" is one of MANY. Oh, and can't forget the song TITLED "Fuck You".
Seriously, everyone swears in these raps. Except for, amusingly, Bikke from Final Fantasy I. You know, the pirate?
Wood Man also has an amusing aversion to the word "fuck". He opts for "freakin'". He does say "ass", though. Roll and Dr. Wily don't swear either, and Proto Man's only swear is cut off.
Darker and Edgier: Zelda II is much more serious than most of the band's other songs. There are a few jokes here and there, and the Running Gag with Duane popping up to comment on what's happening, but they're mostly at the beginning and during the middle, while the temple, final boss and especially the Great Temple segments are surprisingly poetic.
Link: You know that I will save you, I'm made to, I'm breaking through
Zelda: You know that I have faith, Link, I'll wait, Link, I'll wait for you
Link: You have no choice, love,
Zelda: I know that you'll rescue me, this is our destiny
Both: I hear your voice, love,
Link: I've only just met you but something inside of me drives me on, so I battle, who are you?
Did Not Do the Research: Well, actually, they did. Despite some lines (Simon Belmont armed with a stake?) it's clear they've played the games they rap about and are just taking artistic liberties. In fact, during the Mega Man 2 rap, they talk about Proto Man and Rush, despite them both appearing in Mega Man 3, and in one scene, they're playing the game, and have apparently superimposed the Rush Jet over Item 2, just to follow the song. That's dedication. *
In their Castlevania song, Simon Belmont says: "It’s a disgrace; and you know that I’m comin’, even though in the next game I’ll be replaced. Uhh, whoops! I don’t know that yet." Simon is still the playable character in Castlevania II. He is replaced in Castlevania III by Trevor Belmont, but chronologically, he is Trevor's successor.
Brand0 ends Zelda II with the line "We're brother and sister in the next game, right?" He actually remains convinced that Link's uncle meant to say "Zelda is your sister", in A Link to the Past, despite both retcons and the original Japanese that came before it declaring otherwise, simply because that's how he grew up hearing it. He explains his belief in a Freeze Frame Bonus at the end of the Zelda II video.
when Zelda says "Link I think there's a chance we might be—" but Link interrupts with "DESTINED? It's true, so just accept it!" which uses information from both the original and the GBA remake.
Mega Man: "And that's how we roll" Roll: "Need my help?" Mega Man: "Nawww. / Get back in the kitchen, / shit is under control / It's a man's world, baby / don't be flashin' ya vag / here's my back hand bitch/ ya got a problem wit' that? * punch*
And of course, "The Carpet Is Lava", which they actually lost a few YouTube subscribers over.
There is no... relationships. Only men, and others. Women will no longer be referred to as women, but "Dishes Do-ers". We will also refer to them as... Bitch! ...You are the birth giver, or the abortion haver. I shall crap in your hand and you shall run it to the toilet! ...You shall have your own special room, it will be called the storage closet.
Double Entendre: King Koopa claims in the Super Mario Bros.. rap that he'll "Eat the fucking Princess with cherries and whipped cream".
Buzz Buzz: One last thing before I finally die… Take this thing, it’s called a Sound Stone, guy. There are eight different melodies that you have to record To prevent the Cosmic Destroyer from sending all to the horror of eternal darkness. I’m dead… ...Do you wanna hear my story again? Ness: Yes. Buzz Buzz: One last thing before I finally die...
"Gonna live and let you die, bitch! 'Cause I don't need you! / I think I'll just crouch down over here and stab your knees, dude! / Stabby stab stab, how you like that shit? / I'm gonna call you Error 'cause you're fuckin' useless!
Link: Aw, shit! (I thought to myself) What am I going to do?
In Joke: It's impossible to catch all of them, since they are worked surprisingly well in to the flow of the song. One of the funniest jokes in their discography is in the Sonic song with the line "Did I do that?". For those of you not in the know, this is a reference to actor Jaleel White's role as the voice actor for Sonic in Sonic SatAM and The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Not to mention that in both the Zelda 2 and Castlevania 3 raps, there's that woman holding up the sign. In Zelda 2, it says "4 out of 5 ladies prefer this model" and in Castlevania 3, it says "TREVOR'S GOT BALLZ".
Insult Backfire: Well, more like Snappy Comment Backfire, from Episode 2 of the Zelda 3 rap:
So door igamo set say llamo Tamagotchi Ali I dunno what exactly that means I don’t speak no Chinese
No Pronunciation Guide: Although the subtitles say "Bikke", his actual name is replaced with a cough instead of being spoken. In a YouTube comment DnB claimed that none among them could agree on how to pronounce it.
Overly-Long Gag: The end of the "Saturn Valley" portion of Earthbound is the Grapefruit Falls password. Which happens to be doing nothing for three full minutes.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Their last show was a perfect example of this. Duane simply couldn't stand still, while BrandO seemed a lot less energetic than he does in the recorded songs. Check it out here.
Spiritual Successor: Action Adventure World and The Amazing Brand O's solo work with VGM, though stylistically Action Adventure World is closer to the majority of Duane and BrandO's work.
Start Helping Me: In A Boy and His Blob, the Blob keeps running away from the Boy.
Stealth Pun: In the Final Fantasy song, there's a short section with Mega Man characters playing as a band. Bass is on Bass.
The Bad Guy Wins: The Sonic the Hedgehog rap ends with Sonic losing the final battle. Played for Laughs in that he lost BY SHARTING. (It's a combination of shitting and farting.)
In Castlevania III, Trevor Belmont loses when fighting Dracula and Brandon quits playing out of frustration.
In Dragon Warrior, Duane loses on purpose because he thought it was a better idea to end the song dramatically.
Chaos: Those fools are on their way / They'll rue the day they came this way / I'm CHAOS! ...in the flesh. The Fiends compare to fleas / compared to me / It's great to be pure CHAOS! ...I laid Erdrickto rest. And one by one you'll die by my hand! / Oh look what I've become! This fantasy is far from final / The worst is yet to come...
Voice of the Legion: Again, Chaos during his own segment in Final Fantasy. One deep demonic voice, one higher-pitched normal voice.
In Double Dragon, during the fight between Billy and Jimmy
Jimmy Lee: Join us! Don't be so stupid! / Teach all of my warriors Sosetsuken / If ya don't, I'll put you in a headlock, G. / By the way, I think yer girl really likes me...
With Lyrics: Almost the entirety of their discography, though they do have a few original songs.
Though many songs merely use the original game tunes as a backdrop to the added in lyrics rather than adding lyrics directly to the song melodies.
What Could Have Been: EarthBound by Duane and BrandO, which is instead being completed by BrandO without Duane's participation.
Mike Christensen, the voice of Spud in Final Fantasy, was to be Hornet Man in the upcoming Mega Man 9 song by BrandO. Due to differences in between the two, this is supposedly to be axed.
A part for the stairs was written for Castlevania III by BrandO, to be voiced by a forum member of the Duane and BrandO forums. The part was highly received by the fans of whom heard it, but axed right before the very end due to differences between the forum member and BrandO.
The Action Adventure World game provides examples of:
Down the Drain - One of the levels in Episode 2 takes place in the sewer.
Duane
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