Awesome Music that doesn't fit in any other section.
Works with their own page:
- The 8-Bit Drummer
- Alien Stage
- AOT No Requiem
- Animated Inanimate Battle
- asdfmovie
- Batman
- BIONICLE
- Black★Rock Shooter
- cool and new web comic
- DEATH BATTLE!
- Dragon Ball Z Abridged
- Extra Credits
- Filthy Frank
- Games Repainted
- Gameboys
- Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi
- Glitchtale
- Hazbin Hotel
- Hellsing Ultimate Abridged
- Homestar Runner
- Homestuck
- Hottie 3: The Best Fan Fic in the World
- Hyadain
- Inverted Fate
- Jreg
- Keit-Ai
- Khonjin House
- Kurzgesagt
- Magic: The Gathering
- Masha and the Bear
- Mega Man Fan Works
- Murder Drones
- The Nostalgia Critic
- Nu, Pogodi!
- Oceanfalls
- PewDiePie
- RWBY
- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
- Royal Robbie
- Shrapnel
- The Sifl and Olly Show
- Sonic Generations: Friendship Is Timeless
- Spawn
- Storyshift
- Supergirl
- Superman
- Vanilla Level Design Contest
- Video Game Dunkey
- Vocaloid
Other Works:
open/close all folders
Advertisements
- Adidas's
new advertising campaign is an epic montage of sports and music, but the most epic part of said advertisement is the background music: Justice's Civilization.
- The Segata Sanshiro Theme Song
. It was so popular that a single of it sold 100,000 copies.
- While being a remake of an old classic song, the Discovery Channel commercial
never gets old. And then of course, we have the other version of this song
(and the other other version...
)
- It also doubles as a Heartwarming Moment for Discovery, just for the sweet lyrics and sense of unity it brings with it.
- If not for Optimus Freakin' Prime in the 2009 version. Boom-da-yada, boom-da-yada, boom-da-yada, boom-da-yada...
- This Japanese advertisement
for 24 is truly awesome music.
- RHYTHM! OF! LIFE! OF! LIFE! OF LIFE!
"Pleh." Ska-dwidit-DWEE-DWEE doodle-oo-doo deh BWEEEE!! Notable for taking the best bits of the best song from Sweet Charity, and mixing them to funny, clever visuals.
- This
Nike advertisement, using the "Promontory" theme from Last of the Mohicans. So. Fucking. Badass.
- The all-too-brief Rolex theme
composed by Vincent Pope (the linked video is a compilation of many different arrangements).
- Gatorade's "Evolve" song, as it's presented in their commercials
and in its full length
. Motivating and Heartwarming Music as well.
- A good example of how presentation is everything: Rescue Me makes "Empire State of Mind" awesome.
(Alicia's vocals are fairly incredible to begin with, but combined with the visuals, it's enough to give you goosebumps.)
- The FreeCreditReport.com songs, from Pirates, to Cars, to Girls, to Rockstars, to Bikes, to Renaissance Faires, to Cell Phones, to Rollercoasters, to Reno, they can write a song about anything! Too bad they're replacing the band...
- This
HBO intro is so preposterously over-the-top it loops back around and becomes legitimately awesome.
- The new Blackberry Torch 9800 advertisement
.
- The U.S. Army commercial music
.
- This Kia Sorento ad
has incredible music.
- Japan Break Industries
. Best company jingle, ever. (Or you might try its sped-up version)
. Here's
the original Japanese version.
- The BBC's version of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day
", originally done for a licence fee spot to illustrate the wide range of music played on the Beeb, later released as a Children in Need single. You will never hear all those people doing one song ever again...
- They may just be shoes, but damned if Air Jordan commercials don't have some epic music. Case in point
, and even Lacrimosa.
- GRAB YOUR GARMIN!!
- This
advert for the Sony Walkman.
- This
Warner Home Video promo from Sweden.
- This
commerical for J. G. Wentworth.
- This original version
from japan and yuyoyuppe made awesome version here
.
- In 2006 the BBC turned the hype for an upcoming nature documentary into one of the biggest ad campaigns on British TV that year. How? By relying heavily on this song
.
- Japanese DS app Kokoro Scan had an incredibly Japanese, but incredibly catchy music video
made to promote it.
- This Guinness ad
; the song didn't exist in a full form 'til after the ad when there became demand for it in single form. "Phat Planet" by Leftfield
if you're wondering. It's only a riff in the ad, but fits perfectly.
- "You Haven't Lived Until You've Cruised."
- The music in this commercial
. It was also in an episode
of the 1990 Flash (skip to 7:22).
- For the launch of their BBC music service, the Beeb brought together a truly momentous collection of artists called "The Impossible Orchestra" to produce a beautiful, genre-blending cover of "God Only Knows"
by The Beach Boys. The full cast can be seen here
, and, in addition to classical violinists, choirs, folk singers, singer-songwriters and an operatic soprano, it includes Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Brian May, Elton John, One Direction, Kylie Minogue, Lorde, and Dave Grohl.
- In Sweden there is the short but well known
intro
vignette
for the company Svensk Filmindustri (Swedish Movie-industries).
- The music for the cat-herders
is grand and magnificent, with a palpable sense of accomplishment.
Asian Animation
- Flower Fairy's second end credits theme, "Flower-like Happiness"
(花一样的幸福), is a sweet and beautiful melody where the singer asserts that she wants everyone to be happy like a flower. In the show proper, a simpler version of the song plays in Season 1 episodes 19 and 20 as An'an catches glimpses of what her mother Lily was like in the past, before she had to leave for the fairy world of Labelle.
- Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf:
- The theme song for the season Marching to the New Wonderland (which shares its name with the season) sounds way more rockin' than a series like Pleasant Goat has any right to be, but it's sure to get you pumped up for the show.
- The theme song for Mighty Little Defenders, "Marching Bravely", has very metal-sounding instrumentals that perfectly fit a song about not being afraid of and overcoming dangers.
Comic Books
- In V for Vendetta, there's an original song, "This Vicious Cabaret
" with written music and really great lyrics. And the fact a recorded version exists is just the icing on the cake. The unexpectedness factor is part of what makes it so awesome, but it really is pretty epic on its own.
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910 more-or-less follows the plot and tune of The Threepenny Opera. The finale in particular is awesome. There's also a scene featuring an altered version of "Sympathy For The Devil" that plays during a Mushroom Samba action sequence.
- In Countdown to Final Crisis, Pied Piper sacrifices himself to destroy Apokolips by playing "The Show Must Go On" by Queen.
- The Joker's irritatingly catchy yet still pretty funny showtune during Gordon's torture in The Killing Joke is this as well as an iconic moment for the character. Someone also attempted to make a recording of it, substituting the Joker's lyrics for the real lyrics of the song he used.
- In a meta-example, Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, where James Roberts, the writer for the series, provides a soundtrack list which is made up mainly of indie rock songs. They're all awesome but special mention goes to "Lost Coastlines" by Okkervil River
, the main theme for the series.
Demoscene-related
- Viznut and PWP:
- All...
- And of course their headbangable VIC-20 music in Impossiblator 3.
The third segment is based on Summer Lameness.
- Doctor
by Trilobit. Nice to see limited Atari 2600 sound capabilities being put to test. And so does Tom Jones
by the same author.
- Even NES gets some groove with Quantum Disco Brothers
by Wamma.
- BRD's Hybrid song
(also alternatively known as "Funky Stars"). And yes, the song is a one half of the Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden theme song (which in itself deserves a mention as well).
- Anything by Crusaders, although the Space Deliria demo
and the Bacteria music disk
stand out. Especially "Twelfth Warrior" and "Who Knows" from the latter.
- Edge of Disgrace
by Booze Design is a 15 minute long Commodore 64 demo, which pushes the hardware to the limit, including great visuals and a great soundtrack that plays during the whole length (in sync with the visuals) and doesn't overstay its welcome, constantly deviating but keeping the leitmotif. Bonus points for referencing The Terminator and making it seamlessly fit with the rest of the music.
Literature
- Soul Music. A book about Awesome Music. Also, Death with a guitar.
- In the Animated Adaptation, the Big Stadium Production of "The Messenger
" at the Ankh-Morpork Free Concert is the most awesome of several Awesome Music examples. Especially since (as in the book) it's recognisably the same tune as the quiet and haunting "Sioni Bod Da
".
- "We Can Rule You Wholesale"
, the national anthem of... Ankh-Morpork. Seriously. That it's also a Funny Moment goes without saying.
- In the Animated Adaptation, the Big Stadium Production of "The Messenger
- An in universe example appears in The Dalemark Quartet. Moril can make people fall asleep, create illusions, move mountains, force Big Bads to reveal themselves, and more when he plays properly.
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. A thousand times over, with music references everywhere. The use of the Bob Dylan track "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again"
is most awesome.
- The work John Bergin did for Dan Abnett's Traitor General is pretty impressive and it fits the spirit of the setting perfectly. It can be downloaded for free from his official site here
.
- While Awesome, the music is so moody, ominous, and Grimdark that it counts as horrific. The track "Nine Wounds" has lyrics sung by Saint Sabbat describing her gruesome martyrdom. "Mindlock" does nothing less than Mind Rape the listener. "Too Many Ghosts" sounds like something out of Silent Hill. And "Sabbat" makes it clear that in this setting, saints don't guide you to heaven, they promise "rivers of blood and oceans of sorrow." In conclusion, Warhammer 40,000 is 'effing metal.
- Eric Flint's 1632: the Siege of the Wartburg
. Obviously based on the US Army using rock music to chase Noriega out of the Vatican Embassy in Panama, but made AWESOME by using classical music: Wozzeck
, Night on Bald Mountain
, Bydlo
, In the Hall of the Mountain King
, Arise ye Russian People
, Battle on the Ice
, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.3 3rd Movement
, Rite of Spring
, Liebestod
, Ride of the Valkyries
, Entry of the Gods into Valhalla
, Wotan's Farewell
, Siegfried's Funeral March
, Immolation of the Gods
, Shostakovich's Eighth
, and then the Crowning Moment: The Lark Ascending
. If that doesn't break your will, nothing will.
- If you can't TASTE the win dripping out of The Absence's 'World Divides
'... You don't deserve ears.
- Anytime Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" starts playing in The Dresden Files - and it's happened twice thus far - it means Miss Gard is about to do something appropriately awesome.
- The fact that one of these involved a helicopter a la Apocalypse Now just made it that much more awesome.
- Three words: Beasts of England
- John Ringo's A Hymn Before Battle. The ACS assault at the end uses a massive hologram and playing Immigrant Song (led zepplin) on max volume to break the morale of moronic aliens (read zerg)
- The multimedia project Shadows of the Empire has a soundtrack
to go with the novel. There are different tracks for different parts of the book, and there are of course elements of John Williams' music in it. It's not bad just in general, but Night Skies
, which plays Xizor's and Vader's leitmotifs more slowly and thoughtfully and eventually surges into the Force Theme, is highly regarded by just about everyone. Also, The Destruction of Xizor's Palace
.
- Xizor's Theme
is magnificent. And The Seduction of Princess Leia
is just a crazy, whirling, utterly romantic waltz that demands listening.
- "Leia's Nightmare" actually makes an original Star Wars piece much more epic, by making a far louder crescendo of music, accompanied by CYMBAL CRASHES! where the original had nothing.
- Xizor's Theme
- In The Hunger Games, Rue's lullaby definitely qualifies as Heartwarming Music.
- In Life, the Universe and Everything, Arthur once, on a video tape, hears the people of Krikkit sing a happy song and thinks about Paul McCartney "sitting with his feet up by the fire on evening, humming it to Linda and wondering what to buy with the proceeds, and thinking probably Essex".
- They later sing a ballad "which would have netted McCartney Kent and Sussex and enabled him to put in a fair offer for Hampshire".
- This is all topped, when, during the climax, someone at the back of a (real) crowd starts singing a tune, which would have enabled McCartney to buy the world.
Nature
- The superb lyrebird.
- The call of loons.
- The nightingale.
- The northern mockingbird.
- The Eurasian Blackbird.
- Whales.
- RAIN
.
- Jupiter
. Yes, that giant planet makes its own music.
- CAUTION: Pun alert! This is the sound Uranus makes. Link.
- Get enough Cicadas together, and it sounds like a 1950's horror movie!
People
- Pick an R&B or Soul tune made from the mid 50's to the late 70's. Any R&B or Soul tune made during that time. Chances are it was written by Smokey Robinson, and if not, then it was probably written by Curtis Mayfield, both of which wrote dozens to possibly hundreds of songs, and started when they were teenager, and both of which who were innovative bandleaders who inspired artist after artist for decades, from tunes of the pains and wonders of love, to deep songs about the anguish of poverty. It's no wonder they're considered two of the greatest songwriters and composers of the 20th Century.
- Duke Ellington, and his Man Behind the Man Billy Strayhorn.
- Art Tatum. There's a reason why many consider him the best pianist of the 20th Century, and the best jazz pianist of all time. Hell, there's even a scientific term named after him (the fastest tempo possible that is still recognizable as a rhythm).
- Koji Kondo is a strong candidate for best video game composer ever.
- Or else Kenji Yamamoto, solely on the merit that he gave us the Phendrana Drifts music from ''Metroid Prime''
, which is quite possibly one of the greatest and best-fitting video game songs ever.
- By that logic, we should also mention Mahito Yokota, who did the majority of the soundtrack to both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2.
- Keiki Kobayashi deserves mention among this crowd for his masterful work in the Ace Combat series.
- Several composers for the Sonic series could deserve a mention. Among several others:
- Jun Senoue (Crush 40 guitarist; and one of, if not the main composer for the series since Sonic 3)
- Tomoya Ohtani (Sonic Adventure 2 onward; the lead composer for the Sonic '06 and Sonic Unleashed soundtracks)
- Fumie Kumatani, Kenichi Tokoi (both Sonic Adventure onward, as well as Unleashed, the Sonic Riders games, and the NiGHTS series)
- Mariko Nanba (Knuckles Chaotix, and several games from Sonic Heroes onward; as well as other SEGA gamesnote )
- Tommy Tallarico deserves a spot here.
- Junichi Masuda should get an Oscar for the soundtrack to Pokemon Red/Blue. Honestly, is there a single gamer who grew up in the 90's that DOESN'T have the Battle Theme branded on the inside of their skull?
- Or else the Pokecenter theme.
- Go Ichinose, who also did the series, is rather under-appreciated.
- Hideki Naganuma. Jet Set Radio series. Sonic Rush.
- Jun Ishikawa, the mastermind behind the soundtrack to most of the Kirby games.
- Arata Iyoshi, composer for the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, which (especially the Explorers series) rivals some, if not most, Final Fantasy games in quality.
- Yuzo Koshiro managed to work wonders with the Sega Genesis, creating the techno-inspired soundtracks for the Streets of Rage series. He has also composed music for Namco × Capcom, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Kid Icarus: Uprising, and his contributions to those games are a joy to listen to.
- Motoi Sakuraba deserves credit for squeezing the most out of the single speaker from a Game Boy Advance for his soundtrack of Golden Sun and its sequel.
- Or else Kenji Yamamoto, solely on the merit that he gave us the Phendrana Drifts music from ''Metroid Prime''
- Michael Giacchino is quickly becoming the Heir-Apparent to John Williams' Awesome Music throne. Lost, Alias, Cloverfield's "ROAR!", the Medal of Honor series, The Incredibles, Up, even Star Trek (2009), though the track titles, err...
- John Barry and his damn Out of Africa and Somewhere in Time scores, and that doesn't include all the amazingness that is the James Bond music...
- John Carpenter. Not only did he direct some of the scariest damn movies ever, he composed fantastic scores—the chilling Halloween theme, the insanely badass Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) theme, and more. [1]
and of course [2]
.
- Rob Dougan. Clubbed to Death alone would have given him immortality, but then add Furious Angels, Chateau, and whatever else he's got coming for us.
- Technical excellence piano-wise doesn't make up nearly half of what Tom Lehrer will forever be remembered for: anyone who doesn't laugh on first hearing "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park", not to mention most of his other works hasn't a funny bone in their body.
- Harry Gregson-Williams. Responsible for the soundtracks of Armageddon (1998), the Metal Gear Solid series, and more.
- John Powell, especially his scores for the Bourne movies. "To The Roof
" from The Bourne Supremacy, is enough to make anyone want to engage in some international intrigue.
- His work in How to Train Your Dragon is also just as awesome, but in a different way, see "Forbidden Friendship
"
- His work in How to Train Your Dragon is also just as awesome, but in a different way, see "Forbidden Friendship
- Frank Klepacki, composer of the Hell March songs (essentially THE song for Armies Are Evil and for the Command & Conquer: Red Alert series.
- Kristin Chenoweth. You might know her as Olive Snook from Pushing Daisies. Her moment of awesome of choice (and she has a wide range
from which
to choose
) is "Glitter And Be Gay,
" from Candide. Watch. Just watch. This is the woman who sang a few notes before going on stage at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and received a standing ovation.
- "If You Hadn't, But You Did." See ya later, Joe!
- Charles Mingus. He inspired Yoko Kanno's work on Cowboy Bebop. An incredible bass virtuoso, the greatest jazz composer after Ellington, and a man who truly lived and loved through music. Try for yourself
!
- The one and only Luciano Pavarotti, considered to be one of the finest tenors of the 20th century and known as "The King Of High C's".
- Imogen Heap is a legend. Not only does she have a fantastic voice, but her songs are so frickin' awesome. "Hide And Seek" is just amazing, "The Moment I Said It" is incredible, and the stuff she did while part of Frou Frou is just as good.
- Tim Minchin. His songs... his piano... and his hair...
- Toshiro Masuda. Especially Grief and Sorrow
.
- U2 manage to pull off an Awesome Trifecta with the song "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad
". Not only is it an incredibly awesome (not to mention out-of-character for U2) song in its own right, Bono wrote it as a gift for Frank Sinatra on his 80th birthday. And if that isn't enough, the original intention was for Sinatra to sing it himself, but he was not well enough.
- Hell, U2's entire catalogue is a lot like that. How did they advertise the release of a U2 Greatest Hits album? Just a title card with the album cover ... over which the Edge's opening guitar riff from "Where the Streets Have No Name" is playing. The crowd goes wild.
- Larry Mullen Jr. When his drumming is particularly powerful, it's the equivalent of a Let's Get Dangerous! moment for the lads. For validity's sake, here is @U2's Top 10 U2 Drum Songs.
- Howza bout Eric Whitacre? He writes achingly beautiful choral pieces
and then he goes and writes a freakin' techno-opera about fallen angels engaging in gladiatorial battle!
- Godzilla Eats Las Vegas
. 'Nuff said.
- His two "Youtube Virtual Choirs" were created by Whitacre posting a video of himself conducting, while contributors posted videos of themselves singing accordingly. Hours of careful video-editing later, and voila: Sleep
and Lux Arumque
, consisting of singers from all over the world.
- Water Night
is probably Whitacre's signature piece, showcasing his dense, luscious harmonies, ability to set text, and tendency to write insanely complicated songs. Most choral songs are written with a maximum of four notes at once (soprano alto tenor bass). This one is written for fourteen.
- Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of Our Universe
. Yes, that's the title. Yes, that's what he was trying to capture with this 22-minute orchestral piece. Yes, he succeeded!
- Godzilla Eats Las Vegas
- Chanticleer. Listen to their Christmas Spiritual Medley. Now.
- Likewise, Chanticleer's performance of "Loch Lomond"
.
- Their signature song, Franz Biebl's "Ave Maria"
. (It is a tad repetitive, but you can safely skip from 1:55 to 3:38 without missing anything critical.)
- For those unfamiliar with the world of choral music (and let's face it: who isn't?), Chanticleer is an ensemble that does choiring as a day job. While no hard-and-fast figures exist, it's likely that there are no more than ten choirs in the world who can claim that.note
- Likewise, Chanticleer's performance of "Loch Lomond"
- Anthony Warlow's voice is almost unparalleled in theatre. He's well known for playing the Phantom in Australia, and was Jekyll & Hyde on the 1994 studio recording, so he's definitely done softer and creepier stuff, but combine "This is the Moment" with his performance as Enjolras in Les Misérables and his incorporation of "Anthem" from Chess into his concert performances, and you cannot help but be awed and inspired by the man's voice.
- Inon Zur
has been quietly accumulating awesomeness under the radar. just check that discography!
- Bear McCreary. BEAR. FRAKKING. MCCREARY.. His music is possibly some of the most original sci fi TV music ever written. Taiko drums, erhu, violin and orchestral yodeling galore. His fan following for the Battlestar Galactica music is massive.
- Not to mention his epically kickass cover of All Along The Watchtower from Season 3.
- Ron Jones is an unsung hero of TV and video game music. The man got sacked from Star Trek: The Next Generation cause Rick Berman thought his music was too epic. Still managed to rack up an impressive amount of credits, including the incredible score for Starfleet Command
, as well as Family Guy and American Dad!. Have a listen
''.
- Steve Vai
.
- George freakin' Strait. Find one country music fan who doesn't worship him.
- Lisa Gerrard. Not only does the woman have amazing vocal talent, she invented her own language and sings in it. You really have to hear it to understand. It sends shivers up your spine. She performs in "Dead Can Dance" and has worked on several films. [3]
.
- Hey, Enya did the same thing!
She calls her language "Loxian", and sings many of her songs in it. And that's not even mentioning all the other songs she's known for, like this one
, and this one
!
- Hey, Enya did the same thing!
- Bill Conti deserves a nod, for his theme to the original "American Gladiators." Oh, and a little thing he did for a movie in 1977, too.
- Buckethead is the greatest guitar player ever. Ever.
- Bruno Coulais. Nominated several times for the French equivalent of the Oscars. Often uses Mickey Mousing with the lighting. You might know him from the impossibly awesome soundtrack of Coraline.
- Edward Lodewijk Van Halen. He popularized tapping and created shred guitar. So you think that Steve Vai, Buckethead and all of the other guitarists are great? Well, that is because of Eddie Van Halen. There was one man who did make that possible though.
- Eric Clapton. Nowadays not as cool as in the 60's. But how cool was he then? Well his album with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers was the first album to feature modern rock guitar and he played in the first supergroup. The sunburst Les Paul, today considered a classic became that after Clapton started using one (it had been discontinued for years before he bought it). There's a reason people wrote Clapton is God all over London. How big of a god? Jimi Hendrix considered him to be the best guitar player ever and the reason he wanted to come to England. Eddie Van Halen mentioned above? To put it simply, Eddie Van Halen said that besides tapping (which came from Jimmy Page) his playing was based around Clapton's.
- Clint Mansell. Apart from his well known offering in 'Lux Aeterna
', there is also the brilliant gem of 'Dead Reckoning
' from, the movie Smokin' Aces. Other things to look at are his work on the films Moon and Fountain.
- The comedy-music group 'Axis of Awesome' have a brilliant song, 4 Chords
Watch it now.
- John Mackey. Full Stop. Asphalt Cocktail
, for example. Another example, you say? How about some Redline Tango
?
- Lalo Schifrin, active in over three decades of music, just TRY to pick a film that he hasn't composed a score to.
- Video game composer Jack Wall. Need an example? Look no further than the Suicide Mission
piece from Mass Effect 2. Need another example? How about the Main Theme
from Jade Empire? Clearly he belongs here.
- How about Christian praise and worship musicians? Robin Mark deserves a mention here because of his two Awesome Music hits: "Days Of Elijah" and "You're The Lion Of Judah".
- Vangelis is the king of all electronic and new age music. For proof, listen to "Ask the Mountains", "Echoes", "Hymne", and any number of others.
- Akira Yamaoka, best known for the Silent Hill, is the king of Electronic Video Game Music. He's also down work on DanceDanceRevolution and beatmania. Oh and he's a
great guitarist.
- Jimi Hendrix. One of the greatest artists to pick up an electric guitar.
- Yoko Shimomura, best female composer alive.
- Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for the first ten Final Fantasy games and part of Chrono Trigger. He's considered on par with Koji Kondo.
- Hans Zimmer whose ability to mix Electronic Music, Rock, and symphonic music is unparalleled. Just listen to the soundtrack to The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean, or The Lion King (1994).
- Danny Elfman, king of Dark Film Score.
- Yoko Kanno whose work for Anime like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell is legendary and eccentric.
- John Williams, composer for Star Wars and various Steven Spielberg movies, is considered one of the greatest composers of our time.
- David Gilmour and Roger Waters, the chief writers and members of Pink Floyd. The former is one of the greatest guitarists in Progressive Rock, and the latter is an awesome writer and singer.
Podcast
- The entire score of 1865 is completely composed of original compositions. Special mention goes to the opening theme. You just know you’re in for something awesome when that music swells.
- The Residents Of Proserpina Park theme music, "Proserpina Bop", is light and bouncy electronic jazz that perfectly fits the whimsical laidback nature of the show.
Radio
- Adventures in Odyssey's theme music: Dum Duuuuuum Dum dum dum dum duuuuuuuuum...
- ElvenQuest. Although this is a comedy/parody series, the theme music is epic, as suits a grand fantasy adventure.
Sports Team Anthems
- For fans of English Premier League club Everton the opening drum beat
of Z Cars, which plays whenever the team come onto the pitch. An example of the fans' reaction.
- For Liverpool, Everton's rivals across the park, it's Gerry and the Pacemakers' cover
of 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.
- Members of the Spanish government were so inspired by the sight and sound of a crowd of Liverpool fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" that they made an (ultimately ill-fated) attempt to put lyrics to Spain's purely instrumental national anthem to give Spanish crowds a similar song behind which to rally.
- "Marching On Together", the team anthem of English football team Leeds United. Alex Ferguson (Manchester United manager) says that to this day despite Leeds' financial troubles and demotion to the lower leagues there is no more intimidating moment in football than when "Marching on Together" is played at the start of games at Elland Road.
- Edinburgh side Heart of Midlothian FC's anthem, the "Heart's Song".
Doubly so since they won the Scottish Cup in 2012.
- A CFL example. For Saskatchewan Roughriders fans "Green is the Colour".
- Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America"
famously became an unofficial anthem for the Philadelphia Flyers (ice hockey). The song's effect on the Flyers is legendary; the team has won 77 out of 102 times when the song is played before the game. They even placed a statue of her outside their stadium
as a memorial after she died. Her rendition is also used during the seventh-inning stretch of all New York Yankees home games. Keep in mind that all other MLB stadiums do this only on Sunday games or national holidays.
- Not quite a team anthem, but Constable Lyndon Slewidge who sings the national anthems
at pretty much all the Ottawa Senators home games is an outstanding singer, among the best to sing anthems at hockey games. Plus, all Sens fans know his trademark salute, blown kiss, and thumbs up.
- The University of Michigan's "(Hail to) The Victors"
, "the greatest college fight song ever written" - according to John Phillip Sousa, for crying out loud!
- If you ever go to an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, make sure to get there early enough to watch the roof open. It's accompanied by a truly awesome soundtrack, including a CHOIR. The roof-closing music is equally awesome.
- The Fields of Athenry
being sung by 60,000 Irish at a rugby match is pretty special. Also sung at the football in Euro 2012.
- England have taken to drowning out the haka with "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"
in recent years.
- South Africa's anthem "Ons Vir Jou, Suid-Afrika" can challenge this for power, though.
Theme Parks
- Disney Theme Parks
- The Space Mountain rides have all had great music over the years, including one piece
by surf guitar legend Dick Dale, but none of them can hold a candle to "Space Mountain: De La Terre A La Lune"
. It was the first roller coaster in the world to have an onboard synchronised audio system (SOBAT), and a fully orchestrated soundtrack truly completed the experience.
- A few attractions (such as Space Mountain, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and California Screamin') have on-board sound systems that play music through the duration for the rides. They all sound really good.
- The Main Street Electrical Parade has always been awesome. During its original run from 1972 to 1996, more floats have been added to the parade, which also resulted in longer parade music. This compilation
manages to round up as many float songs as possible in one single music medley. For those who have enjoyed the original parade, time to relive your childhood. Ditto for MSEP's successor Spectromagic.
- The original version of "Illuminations" was pretty awesome in its own right, mixing together some of the best-loved classical music from the World Showcase countries — and even including a version of "It's a Small World" that's pretty cool!
- The Theme from Soarin' Over California.
Absolutly beautiful. So beautiful that when Jerry Goldsmith (the composer of the song) came down from his first ride on Soarin' with the music he composed, he was in tears.
- At this point, we should probably just direct your attention to Mouseworld Radio
, where you can often hear this music.
- Several, including the scores to Illuminations, Tapestry of Nations, Fantasmic!, "Horizons", and the Jeremy Irons version of Spaceship Earth.
- The Space Mountain rides have all had great music over the years, including one piece
- Six Flags Great America played a fantastically tongue-in-cheek creepy song/audio monologue to crowds in line for its horror-themed roller coaster, "The Demon". The original recording was destroyed, and the song believed lost for decades, until a former fan who'd taped it at the park put it up on a webpage just a few years ago; now, they're back to playing it while you wait.
- The background music from Universal's Islands of Adventure goes above and beyond what is typically expected from the medium. Mostly inspired by John Williams' score of Hook and composed by William Kid, it was all conceptually connected through that single vision, resulting in a strong, immersive and surprisingly cohesive soundtrack despite the contrasting lands. It's so great, that when the park first opened, a soundtrack was released of the best tracks.
Web Comics
- A rare Web Comic example: "O buddy Roy", in The Order of the Stick. (lyrics
)(tune
)
- A sequence in untitled featured a scene with a gangster and the ghost he doesn't know is following his every move driving along, merrily singing along to "Just What I Needed" by The Cars...right before hitting a cow. As the car flips through the next few panels, we can still see the lyrics playing from the radio.
- Brawl in the Family's has a number of "musical comics", which have lyrics in the strip and an .mp3 in The Rant.
- We've got the music used for the 200th comic special, Ode to Minions
.
- The three Christmas comics at the very end of their 2010 year all sound good too.
- The Most Awesome title has to go to Matthew's long awaited 400th comic: The History Of Nintendo
. A webcomic glorifying Nintendo's game history? Cool. Freaking including the Ultra Hand, Love Hotels and rhyming every major Nintendo employee. Awesome!
- The comic's finally come to an end, but there's still time for One Final Song
.
- We've got the music used for the 200th comic special, Ode to Minions
- Fans gives us The Language Of Your Voice
.
- Looking for Group: "After my mayhem I simply don't do - what's the word? - CARE!"
All set to "Part of Your World", to boot.
- Though it's a rough animation, we still have the epic duet between Cale and Richard: This Is War
- Though it's a rough animation, we still have the epic duet between Cale and Richard: This Is War
- Dead Winter: Please allow me
to introduce myself
, I'm a man of
wealth and taste
.
- Kickstart My Heart
is now in progress, if this page
is of any indication. (Read the Alt Text for a Youtube Easter Egg to listen while you rock!)
- Kickstart My Heart
- Given its source material, Touhou Nekokayou was bound to have a few. For a start, Edge of Spacetime ~ Navy-Blue Generation
, the theme for Meimu aka Kon Yakumo.
- Meimu also gets Aperture Girl
as her introduction.
- Rin Satsuki's theme, Strange Bird of the Moon, Illusion of Mysterious Cat ~ On The Shoulder of Hisou Tensoku
, a remix of one of ZUN's non-game melodies, is also pretty kick-ass.
- And this being Touhou, it wouldn't be complete if there wasn't at least one remix mashing up the ZUN canon with something from another work. Here's
Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle mixed with Sburban Countdown.
- Meimu also gets Aperture Girl
- Tess Stone, creator of Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name, gives us the main character singing Queen and The (somewhat) Stoic supporting character finishing off the lyric.
What more could you ask for?
- Ellen's Song, from El Goonish Shive. The most awesome part could be one of several things. It could be that Ellen was the only one to receive the fabled perfect score at karaoke, or it could be that Ellen is using it to tell Nanase that she knows, she feels the same way and that coming out as a lesbian is okay. Link to the original strip here.
There are also two versions of the song on Youtube. Version 1.
Version 2.
- One-Punch Man: The opening.
Made more awesome since it's by JAM Project.
- Girl Genius has the heterodyning that is the mark of the Heterodyne family. Heterodyning in the real world is a way of alternating frequecies to create new frequencies, and the Heterodyne Sparks hum in this way to tune out distractions and increase their focus. It's illustrated as very fancy curly music notes
, as opposed to the way that normal music
is shown in the comic. Agatha later engineers clanks to be able to produce heterodyne-style music, which ends up doing a lot of ...interesting things, like suppressing
the implanted personality of her mother. She then goes on to use the heterodyne music she plays on the organ to direct an over-engineered circus
- including a merry-go-round that can level a small town - in attacking an entire army, and succeeding.
- Rain: The Animated Series gives us “Little Victories (Rain's Theme)”
, a melancholic yet whimsical tune that perfectly sets the mood for the journey to come.
Web Video
Youtube Poops
Original music- King Harkinian sings Chim Chim Cher-ee
by Waxonator is a surprisingly good cover of the song from Mary Poppins with surprisingly good sentence-mixing.
- Falcon Bluff
, referencing a quote from Brawl in the Family, and with themes from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, is basically some of said games covered by Captain Falcon's iconic Falcon Punch. The result is a loud, hilarious remix of those themes with Falcon shouting "Falcon Punch" all the way.
- Glitchboyadvance's KRABBY LOGO POOP MIX MADNESS
, the Awesomely unholy love child of TheBigL1's Krabby Patty Cacophany
and another ytpmv which is probably gone forever.
- Moto200 has some particularly catchy ones, such as: "Sing Like the King
" and "Do You Wanna?,
" sung by King Harkinian.
- "Scrub Scrub Scrub
" by NeoNintendo is catchy, especially when it takes lines from the King in the CD-i Legend of Zelda series.
- "Hot Cold Sodas and Cold Hot Popcorn
" by Nuthacker is a head banger using cleverly edited dialogue from cartoons and live-action television shows to make amazing lyrics.
- "Ganon - Your Face
" by kwarkman85. Done to the tune of "Pokerface" by Lady Gaga, but sounds much more awesome.
- I.M. Meenskau
is so catchy, you wish it was longer.
- Harkinian's Rhyme
by Jackvo Productions, in which The King does a freestyle rap.
- Harkinescence - Bring King to Life
by Harter Stuhligan. King Harkinian sings "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence.
- CREAMS BUBBLY CLOUDS
is not only catchy, but has a hilarious video thanks to how different Cream looks in each clip used even though it's all from the same show.
- Medley of YTPMV
(a second version was planned but then canceled
) Among the songs in this medley, we have Gourmet Race, U.N. Owen was her? and Goldenrod City. The remake has been used alot for YTPMVs, usually with random sources, but sometimes with more specific ones, like with Ed, Edd n Eddy here
or with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic here
.
- From the same author, we have YTPMD
(remade with
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 soundfont). Among the many songs of this medley, we have Gourmet Race, Beware the Forest's Mushrooms, Corridor of Time and U.N. Owen was her?.
- Also from the author of the remakes, we have C-Side of YTPMV
(also remade with
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 soundfont). 36 songs are added to this medley
, including Portal's Still Alive, Super Mario 64's Bob-Omb Battlefield, Kirby Super Star's Masked Dedede, Super Smash Bros.. Brawl's main theme and the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, SpongeBob SquarePants and El Chavo del ocho Opening Themes.
- From the same author, we have YTPMD
- "Morshu As Scatman
" by MegaGrambo. Morshu sings "Scatman" by Scatman John. With his two lines in the whole game he's in. It could be one of the most impressive examples of Manipulative Editing in all of YTPMV.
- Electric Squid Sisters
by Trudermark, combining both Mr. Krabs and the Squid Sisters into one great song.
- Hedgehog Stew
by iteachvader uses original catchy electronic music and mixing of various lines to make one memorable Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog YTPMV. Other good AOSTH YTPMVs from iteachvader include Win The Race
, Where are you taking me?
, Skydiving
, What'll It Be?
and Getaway Submarine
. Also by iteachvader, Objection Funk
is an Ace Attorney YTPMV that is unbelievably catchy.
- "Semi-Gloss Lipstick"
by NPCarlsson features the voices of Mr. Krabs and Mario Head, as well as music cues and sound effects from the episode being pooped, to the beat of "Through the Wire" in a way that not only sounds great, but is done so naturally that you could almost believe they were originally meant to be there. "That was pretty good", indeed, Mario Head.
- WalnutFaceBrand's CLOWN
. What the hell was That?
Something awesome Krusty, something awesome.
- Universalquantifier's Robotnik Demands An Explanation
, in which Robotnik shouts "WHY?!" to the tune of several songs from the Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis games.
- Morshu from Faces of Evil is able to sing lots of different songs due to people changing the pitch of his distinctive "Mmmm!" Some examples:
- Morshu Sings Music From Video Games
by DavuuWart.
- Morshu breaks Out In Song
by CptFarfegnugen .
- The obligatory Morshu sings "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" (Crash Test Dummies)
by CrazyPillX.
- Morshu Sings Music From Video Games
- How Metallica Became Famous
by CraaazyCat13. Doing the Mario has never rocked this hard.
- JonArt93's Giga Drill Break Sparta Remix
is not only a good Sparta Remix, it's a good song on its own. "Giga Giga Drill BREAK! Giga Drill BREAK! Just who! The hell!"
- The Light Shines for Sixteen Hours, as much a visual treat as an audio one.
- 8 Sides of Nico Nico Douga
, 8 Awesome Angles of YouTube
, and The Glorious Octagon of Destiny
are medleys of various remixes of Jack Black's appearance
on Sesame Street. The results must be seen to be believed.
- Muscular Wonders: Terry Crews' Greatest Hits
is a similar medley with Terry Crews' The Man Your Man Could Smell Like commercials for Old Spice.
- Mowtendoo's Super Spice Bros 2
will make you feel like POWER!!!!! It's so powerful that Old Spice itself commented on the original upload!
Old Spice: Mowtendoo, we love your video and would like to chat. Could you message us at our Facebook page? We'd like to chat with you. - A second medley known as The Power of Terry
was uploaded a year later, with Terry himself even commenting on it on Twitter.
- Mowtendoo's Super Spice Bros 2
- In a similar vein to the Jack Black & Terry Crews medleys, here's one based on
the "Kitchen Gun" segment from The Peter Serafinowicz Show, taking twelve songs and remixing them with the segment, including but not limited to "Super Bell Hill" from Super Mario 3D World, "PoPiPo" by Hatsune Miku, and "Take On Me" by A Ha.
- Ed, Edd n Eddy + :Smiles and Tears" = "Smiles and Eds
" by rcmerod52.
- What's The Mattoh?
by SkulY2K. It's a Michael Rosen-fied version of "Dr Zaius".
- ASDFukkiretasdf
by RemSlyPro. The sheer amount of audio samples are what makes it.
- Dr. Octagonapus 4
by MrRoboto113
. The first two weren't all that great, and the third one was an April Fools joke, but the series really grew the beard for the fourth. Shame it's the last one.
- Crash Sheeran - Shape of Woah
by NPCarlsson. During the WOAH meme's hayday, what was originally an in-joke during a Let's Play of the N. Sane Trilogy became this beautiful little colored gem. Aside from the WOAHing being on-point to "Shape of You," the visual editing here is out-of-this-world. The original animator of the Crash meme sprites even commented on it!
Chris Patstone: Hi NPCarlsson, I created the original "Woah!" animation that has spawned countless video edits like this one. This is now one of my favourites. Keep it up! Love, Chris Patstone. - Parodia de Torero de Chayanne
is actually what the name says, a simple and funny YTPHMV, but the quality resides in the little details; for example, the background chorus is also edited.
Other videos
- The Luckydo Rap
, a World of Warcraft Machinima by Web Video/Wowcrendor. Even Blizzard
has acknowledged it as such.
- Ladies and gentlemen, the Slender Man Song!
And its accompanying rock remix
set to clips of the various webshows. And some from some fanfilms, such as Entity and Proxy. And so on, so forth.
- Eighties Man
, a song and accompanying music video all about The '80s, by none other than D.C. Douglas.
- Dragonball Z Abridged:
- Both their rendition
of "I'll Make A Man Out of You," and Ghost Nappa's theme song.
- If you hit Burter's dead body hard enough, you can play a song. Vegeta plays the Tetris theme.
- The "Rockin' It Out" Fan Vid, which features Goku and Vegeta in an epic guitar duel.
- Bardock - The Father of Goku Abridged featured both "Dare" and "The Touch" from Transformers: The Movie. Bardock even uses Prime's legendary "__ must be stopped, no matter the cost!" right before The Touch starts. Awesome Music indeed.
- Nappa singing "Killing in the Name" for the Christmas album.
- Vegeta singing "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Dragonballs."
- It may have been short, but Nappa's rendition of KISS's "Detroit Rock City" was still awesome.
- Freeza's ringtone
is glorious.
- "Yamcha the Scarfaced Bandit
," which plays during Yamcha's fight with S.N.O.W. Man., who plays the song for fighting music.
- "KILLING CRABS! IN THE OOOCEAN! KILL IT FAST! PAIN EXPLOSION, YEAH!!"
- Goku makes his entrance on Namek to Hulk Hogan's theme. The sheer awesomesomeness made many a head explode.
- Piccolo's arrival to the fight against Freeza is made even more Badass when framed by "Battle With Magus" from Chrono Trigger Resurrection.
- Piccolo's arrival to the fight against Lord Slug is made even more Badass when framed by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's theme, "Glass Shatters".
- Nappa's short rendition of "Stupify" at the end of Lord Slug.
- Cat loves food, ye-yeah, yeah yeah!
- The end credits
of The History of Trunks combines Cha-La Head and the Doctor Who theme. History of Trunks in general has a lot of this, and a lot of it is borrowed from Doctor Who. Special mention goes to the use of Doomsday when Trunks discovers Gohan's body and subsequently becomes a Super Saiyan.
- Both their rendition
- Atop the Fourth Wall:
- Not including the ultra-catchy "Gunslinger" OP theme, he's quite fond of borrowing music from the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who (in particular, the Doctor's "I Am the Doctor" theme) as well as themes from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
- The old-school midi version of "Gunslinger" used in his Game Boy #1 review.
- If anything could outdo the theme song, it's the Ballad of Linkara
that closed out his 200th episode.
- "A New Identity"
has been composed specifically for the moment where Linkara changes his outfit.
- Fans have also enjoyed the Christmas-themed version of the theme song, even though it's recent enough that it's only been used in a handful of December reviews (and on the Christmas DVD).
- The use of the Epic Rocking bits from "Ghost Love Score" for the epic battles in Brute Force. Especially ROBO BEAR VS. CYBER GORILLA!
- Rob Cantor
's "Shia LaBeouf" is odd, but the orchestration and use of not just one, but two choirs makes it a masterpiece. It takes a silly concept and executes the idea completely seriously.
- The official webpage for Dear Evan Hansen, and its official Twitter account, put together a virtual choir from fans from around the world (31 countries, to be precise). The editing, the harmony, the diversity shown, it's all simply stunning and moving as can be, truly encapsulating the theme of You Are Not Alone: "You Will Be Found"
.
- The theme song for Economy Watch, composed by Harshkrit Golla, is excellent and uses David's favorite music genre, jazz.
- Say what you want about Game Dude, but his theme song
is awesome.
- Every one of the background songs Dream plays in his videos. Dream even said on his Minecraft Manhunt Debunking livestream that when he's editing, he times his cuts to his music.
- "Delete This Tweet"
. Who knew a song about Twitter comments sung by a bunch of living trashcans could be such a banger?
Real Life
- During the Falklands War, the crew of the sinking HMS Sheffield, freezing and wounded in the southern Atlantic, passed the time to their rescue by singing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
- During the Battle of the Black Sea, US pilot Michael Durant was captured. After 10 days in captivity, he was released. On the way to the medevac plane, the US Ranger Batallion stationed there started singing "God Bless America". That's right: The first music Durant heard after his stint in captivity was "God Bless America" as he's being evacuated. Boo-freakin'-yah.
- This moment
at the 2008 Macy's parade.
- The Internationale
unites the Human Race.
- As The War Approaches
.
- Barack Obama became President while the John Williams composition Air and Simple Gifts
, was performed by Itzhak Perlman on violin, Yo-Yo Ma on cello, Gabriela Montero on piano, and Anthony McGill on clarinet.note
- The Youtube Symphony Orchestra
. Not just for the music, but for the global auditioning done on Youtube of all places.
- Ben Folds playing Chatroulette at a concert
. Can double (triple?) as a Funny Moment and a Moment of Awesome.
- "Stand By Me
" as produced as part of the Playing for Change project. In fact, all of Playing For Change is amazing. Here's War/No More Trouble
and Don't Worry
.
- A Drum Corps' rendition of Mozart's Symphony #40. Not Mambozart
. Energetic and just effing awesome.
- The 1999 Academy Awards
.
- The Lavender Song
. It sounds like a (catchy, cabaret-swing-style) pissed-off gay-rights anthem - and it is. It was first sung in Berlin, in 1920. "We're not afraid to be queer and different - and if that means hell, hell, we'll take the chance!" Becomes a Tear Jerker when you see the line "Round us all up, send us away, that's what you'd really like to do" and remember that German homosexuals were first arrested, then deported to concentration camps, then sent to death camps, and finally, when WWII ended and the camps were liberated, were released only to be immediately sent back to prison for violating sodomy laws (with the notable exception of East Germany, which did not uphold Nazi-era sodomy laws and eventually rendered all anti-homosexuality laws redundant by the 1960s).
- This
acappella version of Flight of the Conchord's "The Humans Are Dead". Or this
techno/dubstep version. Of course.
- "Layla" by itself probably could use a mention here, but when you include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
...
- The Voyager Golden Record
, basically a mix tape for the entire planet.
- Conan's last night
on The Tonight Show. That is all.
- Weather Report's
album Heavy Weather
. In particular, Birdland
. Keep in mind that as of that recording the band had five members: Manolo Badrena on percussion, Alex Acuña on drums, Jaco Pastorius on bass, Wayne Shorter on sax... and Joe Zawinul on synth making it sound like an actual bid band. In this live video
you can see Zawinul's synths.
- "The Sacred War"
, one of the most famous Soviet songs from World War II. One can practically feel the utter fury of the lyrics, which called upon Mother Russia to rise up and give the Nazis hell for all it was worth — which the Soviets did over four years of the bloodiest fighting of the entire war.
- Basically any songs made famous by Red Army Choir counts as one. One of those was White Army Black Baron
. It's triumphant.
- Even a computer virus can provide Awesome Music. Case in point, the techno.com virus
. A full version is fine too.
- "Abysmalaria"
, an original composition by one 8BitDanooct1 of Youtube, was created with FamiTracker, a music maker designed to faithfully emulate the Famicom's sound capabilities (which includes the default 2A03 sound chip; and the Nintendo MMC5, Konami VRC6, and FDS expansion chips). This song is quite possibly the crystallization of pure 8-Bit awesomeness.
- The 2010 Emmy Opening Number
. Also doubles as a Funny Moment.
- "No Motherland Without You
".
- "Der Heimliche Aufmarsch
" by Ernst Busch, a German actor who was a communist, certainly is this. The fact that he was able to record this song before World War 2 and keep it away from Nazi attention just makes this song all the more awesome!
- "All You Need Is Love"
, as performed by people in over 156 different countries at the same time.
- Say what you will about the bad rep circuses have for animal abuse, but the song "Put A Little Circus In Your Life"
is so damn awesome.
- King Richard the Lionheart of England composed an absolutely beautiful song, Ja Nus Hons Pris
while in captivity. It perfectly captures the theme of Hope Springs Eternal while being a lament on his imprisonment.