Bowser (Super Mario World 2) was a big hit for GaMetal, and is up there with Stickerbrush Symphony as one of the most popular GaMetal songs from 2011, and certainly in the top 10 of all time GaMetal tunes.
I had played and beaten SMW2 a long, long time ago when I was a kid, so I didn’t really remember this song. Someone had suggested this song and I went and listened to it and was awestruck by how crazy it is. Bowser themes are notorious for using some sort of distorted guitar sound, but this song takes things to a whole new level. It’s straight up metal.
I decided at that point that this song was a must-learn. I don’t think I’ve heard any other lead guitar solo in a Pre-N64 era game that is this intense and high speed. The organ solo is no walk in the park either. The rhythm line is simple enough but the perfect kind of simple backing needed for crazy soloing.
When I recorded this, mind you I recorded everything at this time with my Jackson RR3 guitar which is in DGCFAD and only has 22 frets, I had to use my old wammy pedal to hit the higher notes in the guitar solo. You can probably tell if you listen closely enough. Now-a-days I don’t have to do so since my newer guitars have 24 frets and are tuned higher.
I decided to give the organ a little more love and also threw in the Big Boss theme. I felt the need to do so, since the SMW2 soundtrack has a lot of organ love in it.
This song also debuted my new (at the time) Roland TD-12 drum module! I was previously using a Roland TD-6v, a solid module, but the TD-12 is way, way better in the dynamics department.
The immense popularity of this remix easily earned it a spot in the Blast from the Past medley as song #13.
I’ve been wanting to remake this one, but people like this version so much that I’ve decided to leave it be for now. Maybe sometime way down the line.