Like Space Channel 5, United Game Artists’ Rez was a game in which music was not only a defining element, but a vital one. While Rez played very similarly to the Panzer Dragoon rail shooters, music acted as a heartbeat for the game, a pulse which every action was tied to. To say Rez was a rhythm game, however, would be inaccurate. Attacking enemies out of synch with the beat was doable, and in some of the more hectic moments of the game it was necessary. Yet if you truly gave in to the game’s soundtrack and pulse you’d discover a whole other level of play where music and visuals meld into some magical new sensation.
Rez’s soundtrack featured the likes of Keiichi Sugiyama, Ken Ishii, Mist, Joujouka and Adam Freeland. Each artist contributed a unique sound a feel for their respective stages, and no track was more memorable than Adam Freeland’s “Fear”. Perhaps I say this because the track accompanies the final stage, a moment when the game is building to its big climax and the player is now fully invested. “Fear” itself is quite epic, starting small and building to a electronic string section crescendo. Seeing as Rez‘s soundtrack is popular with fans, the music is readily available on both an official game soundtrack and on albums from the individual artists. However, unique to Adam Freeland’s “Fear” is the fact that while the track is out there, the in-game edit is not… until now.
Rez fan GO-GO-GST has taken it upon himself to reconstruct Adam Freeland’s original track into a version that closely matches the game edit. GO-GO-GST spoke of the edit in a Tumblr post:
special note: the Rez soundtrack is a phenomenal selection of electronic music, and the “Gamer’s Guide to Rez” companion soundtrack is without a doubt the best way to experience the music outside of the game, with one notable exception: Adam Freeland’s “Fear”, the Area 5 theme, is completely different on the soundtrack. also known as “Mind Killer”, this Freeland track has seen many incarnations, but the ingame version of the tune has never seen a release, possibly due to the fact that the sample of California Soul may in fact have been uncleared at the time of its use in Rez.
knowing this, i’ve decided to rip all of Rez’s sound data and resequence the song in what feels like a proper order. it doesn’t stay true to the 10+ minute long Area 5 sequence exactly in an effort to be more enjoyable outside of the game’s environment and more as a standalone track. it’s still over 5 minutes long and covers all of the thematic elements covered in the Rez version of the song, including the memorable California Soul sample.
A SEGA fan salute to GO-GO-GST for piecing together this classic track!
You can download it for yourself here, or give it a listen below.
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SEGA Tunes: Alien Front Online’s Alien and Army themes
SEGA Tunes: Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed remixes Panzer Dragoon’s ‘Flight’
Classic SEGA Magazine Corner: The Official Dreamcast Magazine blasts off with Space Channel 5
Classic SEGA ads: Space Channel 5’s killer Dreamcast commercial
SEGA Tunes: Hideki Naganuma brings The Concept of Love to Ollie King
Feel in love with this song ages ago. Never realized the in-game version was any different from the soundtrack release version, which is much longer and more complete. Still, this version is nice and different enough. The link to the mediafire file is down. Whoever still wants it can find it by looking through the page source and finding the .mp3 link
Thanks! Went ahead and removed the dead link and replaced with our mp3 file.
Forget this song, what about the boss music in stage 1? I’ve been searching for this piece of music for years and so far found nothing.
Thanks so much for being one of the only remaining hosts for this original file. So many dead links on dead fan pages and dead soundcloud and tumblr accounts. So glad I found it somewhere!