Jaroban – My Greatest Rival – Worst ReMix EVER?

As many of you know by now, the album Pokemon: The Missingno Tracks came out about 4 days ago. You can still check  the whole album out here:

http://missingno.ocremix.org/

Well the people have spoken: My Greatest Rival is not only the worst song on the album, but may very well be the worst game remix of all time! Just look at some of these testimonials:

“I know OCR albums tend to be a bit hit & miss, but My Greatest Rival is one of the most goddawful ‘songs’ I’ve ever heard.” — NeelEvil

“Also, if you’re going to download the .zip, delete My Greatest Rival. Shit’s garbage.” – Anonymous @ 4chan

“My Greatest Rival is atrocious if only for the fuckawful vocals” – 4chan

“Essa My greatest Rival começou épica pra caralho, aí veio um truta cantando e fodeu a porra toda.” – guiiivs

[Translation: “My Greatest Rival started out epic as hell, and then a singing trout came in and f***d everything up.]

“Fourth track has both over-long intro with no relevance or tonal/melodic coherence with the rest of the track and vocals from people who aren’t good at singing! That’s double for your money! (lyrics are also terribles)” – Suairyu

[Jaroban: And why would he listen to the intro carefully if it makes him want to hurl?]

“Disc 1, Track 4, immediately deleted. Probably the worst OCR song I’ve ever heard. But I’m sure it’ll probably be the most popular with the tweeny-group just for saying ‘bigger pokeballs’ repeatedly. It’s bland, the rythm feels way off, most of the lyrics are incredibly bland and predictable…it’s just a chore to listen to, and worse, it’s a good song in Soul Silver, so it’s very disappointing to hear it being completely ripped apart so early in the album. I get the feeling they really built the song entirely on trying to get a giggle out of saying ‘bigger pokeballs’ and forgot to actually make the song something you can listen to.” – MAGNUS-8M

 
So is My Greatest Rival the most godawful piece of crap that ever crapped? Or is it a brilliant piece of sociopolitical satire? Weigh in below with your opinion!

 Click here for the original blog post about “My Greatest Rival”

 

EDIT:
I feel like I should provide some context for those that aren’t familiar with the source material.

My Greatest Rival is a remix of this song (Rival Battle) from Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal:

And it’s supposed to sound kind of like:

25 Comments:

  1. this song is the worst thing i’ve ever heard. pure crap. what the hell is wrong with you.

  2. I gotta say I just didn’t really get it. Is it supposed to be serious? A parody? If it’s a joke, it’s not really funny. “Bigger Pokeballs?” Really? Grow up.

    • Are you seriously going to tell someone to “Grow up” while you’re listening to a Pokémon album? Do you really want to go down that road?

  3. Some of you guys just aren’t getting it. The problem is, if you are familiar with the Anime you would recognize that it’s obviously an intentional parody, and also hilarious. Jaroban, good job, don’t let these fools get you down.

  4. You have to face facts, the whole Pokémon craze was garbage. The show was monotonous, the songs were trite, and the games were just a huge marketing ploy. The brilliance of the song is they are plumbing the depths of true human emotion using the same shallow, “be a hero” language as the songs in the Anime. No it’s not all just Pokéball jokes. Those of us that loved the shows and games but loved them ironically will appreciate this song. Unfortunately there aren’t that many of us, and their attempts to transform everyone into mindless, Pokémon-gobbling automatons seems to have worked disturbingly well.

  5. i though it was awesome, and funny. and best of all free!!! WHO HAS THE BIGGER POKEBALLS!!! XD

  6. Look, I’m one of the people that would “get it” if there was anything to get. I’m sorry, it’s just not that good. The singing is bad, and it sounds like it was just crammed in on top of the mix. The balance is all off, there’s no punch, and some of the synth samples are atrocious. I want to like it, but it’s just too much of an incoherent mess.

    • If your really such a stickler that you can’t look passed the (minor) production issues, you’re going to have a really hard time enjoying life.

      • how are you enjoying life if you can’t even tell the difference between something that’s good and something that sucks ass

  7. lol, chikorita dosnt even learn vine whip. dumass!

  8. The rest of tha album was really good. This song just didn’t fit, it wasn’t up to the standard of the rest of the songs. Sorry.

    • Are you even listening to the same album I am? All the other tracks are either bad basement techno, “jazz” which is more a trainwreck than actual jazz, and guitar tracks that, while played well, are ripped almost verbatim off the source material. My Greatest Rival is the only song of the bunch that takes any chances or has even an ounce of creativity. That’s probably why so many people hate it, because it actually requires you to use your brain to listen to it.

      • I WANT ONLY TRAX THAT I CAN MASTURBATE TO. AND I CAN’T WHACK IT TO THIS!!!1 IT MAKES ME SOFT

  9. I LIKE IT. Its funny!
    The mixing is a little off but the mastering is superb 😉

    • You know, the mixing isn’t even really that bad. There’s a lot of stuff going on in this track, and yet you can still hear the vocals clearly. I hear something new every time I listen to it. And it’s pretty amazing how much Jaroban managed to squeeze out of the crappy source material.

  10. AAARRRGH! This song has been stuck in my head for like 3 days! Curse you!

  11. i thought it was sorta funny but I’m kinda disappointed, this was my favorite OST and i was hoping for something a bit more serious, I did not enjoy this musically and it didn’t provoke much of a laugh either.

  12. Hello, I downloaded The Missingno Tracks for my kids because they really love Pokemon, they have all the toys and games, and I really thought they would love to listen to this album. It started out good, but imagine my suprise when this piece of trash came on! It is disgusting, inappropriate, homophobic TRASH and is especially unsuitable for young children! All I can say is HOW DARE YOU PUT THE POKEMON NAME ON THIS. It is not for children! I had to turn it off quickly once I heard what it was. This ruined the whole album for lots of younger Pokemon fans, and you should be ASHAMED.

  13. I love this song. I recognize that sometimes the vocals are not always exactly on key, but the vocal’s goal is not to rock our socks off.
    I really like the intro because it reminds me of the first images in the original OP of Mewtwo and Mew flying around in outer space, in addition to the shot of Ash standing in a gym at night.

    As an aspiring professor of Spanish-language literature, this song has become my anthem. I find myself singing it in the mirror each morning before I go to class, while I’m walking from the subway station to class, and just about anywhere else.
    Thank you for making this song!

  14. Being completely serious here, I loved “My Greatest Rival”. I’m not a musical genius, I’m not musically inclined. I’m just a normal video gamer and just love listening to video game music and many remixes I happen across. Being a frequent visitor of OCRemix, I stumbled upon Missingno Tracks and downloaded it immediately, Pokemon being one of my favorite franchises second to Legend of Zelda.

    Loving “Game On!” and “Shades of Red” instantly (I didn’t like “The Mighty Mighty Pokemon”), I took a listen to Track 4, “My Greatest Rival”. The ambient opening really got me into the song, sort of like I was in some sort of arena with the music playing through the stadium speakers and the voice speaking directly to me as I prepared to face my battle.

    When I heard the opening to the Rival Battle followed by the quick intermix of the Pokemon Theme, I got ready for a wild ride. Now granted the vocalist is a tad off-key, but who isn’t? The lyrics, on the other hand, were perfect and did complete justice to Gold and Silver, the yin and yang of the Gen II games. As I continued listening (and when the backup vocalists joined) I absolutely loved the chorus (I sing this song almost every day when I can, to project my voice by yelling “You…are my GREATEST RIVAL!!!”) and of course, the abundance of “BIGGER POKEBALLS!”

    My words do this song no justice. Bravo. I listen to this every day and I think I may sing it at the next karaoke bar or Anime Con I happen upon. Maybe I’ll add my own little twists to it. Thank you so much for this awesome remix of an awesome song.

    Jason

    • This basically sums up my opinions (aw, I loved Mighty Mighty Pokemon), even if I don’t know how the singer was bad. It’s one of the best tracks on the album.

  15. Well, do people are really are that foolish? Great job Jaroban and Team. I scrolled down the comments quickly and laughed, especially about “Mad Mom”, hopefully a parodist too. Inappropriate for children? No, they usually dont get it, and well if they do, they are old enough for worse stuff 😉 Bigger Pokeballs, quite a great joke. The first moment i heard the frontman vocalist i thought ….whoaw….what is this? Is this terrible? But it is just great! You are a great Singer Sir! Singing like this, the Mix of Good and Worse Intonation was really special! And well, i loved the (intended?) link to Manowar-style, in Lyrics and Voice, “see who falls”. This is a great piece of art, solved from the simple level of shinyness and sparkling of beauty to a higher, more hidden beauty level. Hopefully there will be more Artists with that big pokeballs 🙂 Thanks for the fun!

  16. This song is so creative and funny – I love it. Juxtaposing how simultaneously awesome and ludicrous battling tiny electronic monsters is is a comedic masterstroke, from the epic into chiptune intro, to Chikorita’s reponse to praise, “bzzzt.” The love/hate relationship in rivalry really resonated with me too, both in accurately reflecting my experience competing in the game and in real life, and fits thematically with the epic vs. goofy vibe. Similarly, the non-autotuned singing fits with the emotional theme of a guy hating on his rival (also it’s fine – not off-key). The cheap gags (“pokeballs”), while funny in their own way, belie a deeper understanding of why we love pokemon so much. It’s clear that every element of this song was constructed that way on purpose, and the result is excellent.

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