PROTOMEN
“Twenty floors above the dark streets of the city, Dr. Light lived in a run-down tenement. An eccentric and brilliant man, Light was a loner, a thinker, a man of ideas. Ideas forbidden in Wily’s society.”
-The Protomen
Hope Rides Alone
I was accidentally introduced to The Protomen a month or so ago during custom soundtrack discussion over Xbox Live with some friends. We were discussing perfect music for which to play Worms to.
“Protomen works wonderfully, actually.”
”Who?”
“You mean you don’t know?!”
“Please dear god tell me this is a Mega Man cover band.”
“No, it’s much better.”
So said person sent me the worst MP3s I’ve heard in a long time, well in terms of 92kbs quality. But I couldn’t help but recognize the brilliance of the band. They aren’t a cover band, they’re sort of the ultimate realization of fan fiction.
The story of the Mega Man videogames is given the disarmingly serious expansion and a brilliant stage show. This is captured only in the albums liner notes as direction is given in both story and stage directions.
“Megaman stopped. His path through the city led him to the grave of this brother. Men began to gather below the hilltop where he stood silently, reading the words of his father, carved into the crumbling marker.”
-The Protomen
The Will Of One
This all intertwines as the story of Mega Man and Proto Man plays out. Dr. Light teaches Proto Man about the ways of humans just as Proto Man distorts these things and in turn tries to destroy Mega Man to prove that there are no more heroes.
With musical styles ranging from a country influence to a throw back heavy metal this Rock Opera folds out over 40 minutes of the most loving tribute to one of the greatest 8-bit heroes. It’s a stupendous feat of turning a childhood passion into something that is more than passable for contemporary music. While listening to the album with my wife one evening she even remarked that the music could be appreciated by anyone whether they know the inspiration or not.
I can’t recommend going out and picking this album up enough. The quality is clear and well mixed with vocals that shine out against complex musical background. Out side of the high general quality, this album gives me chills. During certain sections my nostalgia is piqued to the point of the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. The care and dedication taken to make this album happen is more than appreciated here, it’s got my deepest respect.
