[VGM] Need a boss fight piece about 7-8 minutes long

[Zaq]

Yeah, I know, this isn't the best possible forum for VGM chatter. Whatever. You clicked.

I'm working on another one of my personal "boss battle collection" projects that I do every now and again, and I need some help coming up with a good piece to put in the middle as a bridge between the two halves.

Background and context in the spoiler if you care:

Spoiler

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I love putting together these boss battle collection (BBC) playlists. It's almost become a hobby of mine in its own right. This is my seventh one, give or take, and I've been doing this since about 2003 or so. I learn something new with each one, and the general shape of them has evolved over time. I've reached a point where I've basically got each one as two distinct workout-sized "sides" (30-35 minutes each), with parallelism between each side, and I link the two with a bridge piece of some stripe. The bridge piece is typically a big, dramatic song that's long enough that it would be kind of disruptive to the flow if you were to put it on its own. More details in the obnoxiously nested spoiler!

Spoiler

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See, I had FF6's Dancing Mad as the big finale piece to a couple of the early BBCs, and it's pretty wonderful there... but it's also kind of intimidating to put it there. It's this monstrously long thing that really takes you on a massive journey as you listen to it, but that makes it really awkward to cut off in the middle if you happen to need to change what you're doing. Over time, I started having to really gauge if I was willing to commit to listening to the whole thing before I started. If I thought I was going to get interrupted, I'd usually cut off after the song right before the end and then switch to a different playlist. Which is fine as far as it goes, but I still like having the big long pieces around, you know? The solution turned out to be to place the really long stuff in the middle between the two halves—if you've got enough time to listen to both halves, you've got enough time to listen to the big thing in between, and it serves as a great intermission and mental reset button between side 1 and side 2.

Anyway, it's this bridge piece that is giving me grief this time, and that's mostly because I've got a new rule for myself this time. I've decided that this time I'm not going to include any songs where I've already used a version in a previous collection. A lot of modern VGM culture is about remixes and covers, so it's normal for me to have a million different versions of a given piece (I have one playlist—which I don't call a boss battle collection—that's just 13 different versions of "Wily Castle 1" from Mega Man 2), and I've certainly never shied away from putting two different versions of the same song in two different BBCs. I feel like challenging myself this time, though, so like I said, I can't use anything that I've already used. And since this is the seventh collection, there's a nontrivial amount of material I'm barring myself from using. I had something all planned out for it, but that ended up not working out because of reasons that aren't relevant to today's discussion.

Long story short, I'm looking for a song that meets these criteria:

• Boss fight song. Yes, a video game boss fight. This is VGM, after all.
• 6-9 minutes long. 7-8 would be perfect, but I'll accept a little bit of wiggle room there. But it's gotta fill enough space to be a dramatic intermission between two halves of a greater "album."
• Big, dramatic, and attention-grabbing. Can be symphonic, can be shreddy metal, whatever. Leaning towards symphonic if possible, but it has to be meaty, whatever it is.
• I can't have used it before. And unfortunately, I've used a lot before.

Beyond that? I'm open. Can be original or cover (though I tend to stay away from the really electronic chiptunes these days), from whatever series you like, whatever.

I'm honestly not sure if it's less obnoxious for me to try to list out everything I've used before and have people dig through it or for you to just start naming stuff and have me shoot down the ones that I've already used. I guess I'll stick a list in the spoiler?

Spoiler: Off limits because I've done it already

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I'll try to maybe organize by series so people can find stuff easily, I guess? Not gonna lie, I'm doing this stream-of-consciousness.

Final Fantasy
Battle 2 (FF4)
The Decisive Battle (FF6)
Clash on the Big Bridge (FF5)
The Dreadful Fight (FF4)
Zeromus (FF4)
Dancing Mad (FF6)
Grand Finale (FF6)
The Fierce Battle (FF6)
Those Who Fight Further (FF7)
Force Your Way (FF8)
J-E-N-O-V-A (FF7)
One Winged Angel (FF7)
Final Battle (FF3)

Chrono Trigger
Boss 1
Boss 2
Showdown with Magus
World Revolution
Gato's Song

Zelda
Molgera (WW)
Mini-Boss (WW)
Ganondorf Battle (OoT)
Calamity Ganon (BotW)
Masked Monsters (MM)
Majora's Wrath (MM)

Mario
Fight Against a Somewhat Stronger Monster (SMRPG)
Fight Against an Armed Boss (SMRPG)
Fight Against Smithy (SMRPG)
Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming (SMRPG)
King Bone (SMG)
Arch-Nemesis King Koopa (SMG)
Fight Against Mario... No, Doopliss! (PM:TYD)
Mid-Boss Mayhem (MxR:KB)
In The Final (M&L:BIS)

Undertale
Basically everything with, like, three exceptions. I've got Undertale covered. Deltarune too. This particular playlist already has quite enough Toby Fox in it. Love that man, but we're good.

Pokémon
Club Master Duel (TCG)
Battle! Trainer Red/Blue (Sun/Moon)
Gym Leader (RBY)

Grandia II
Everything. No, really. I've got it.

Sonic
What I'm Made Of (Sonic Heroes)
Live and Learn (SA2)
Open Your Heart (SA1)
Boss Battle (Sonic 2)

Hollow Knight
Everything. Basically. I've already overloaded this playlist with Hollow Knight. You don't even know, man.

Secret of Mana
Danger
Meridian Dance

Metroid
Ridley (and spinoffs thereof, like Meta Ridley and Ridley X)
Metroid Prime
Hive Totem

Mega Man
Surge of Power (MMBN6)
X vs. Zero (X5)

Kirby
Dedede's theme
02
(I've actually got most of them covered in a big medley piece I included four generations ago...)

Crypt of the NecroDancer
Momentum Mori
Last Dance

Baten Kaitos
The True Mirror
Vitriolic a Stroke

Shovel Knight
Rough and Tumble
The Apparition
The Vital Vitriol

La-Mulana
Ancient Machine
Interstice of the Dimension

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Our Festival
Evil Banquet

Miscellaneous
Bombardment 2 (Skies of Arcadia)
Audi Famam Illius (Smash Bros Brawl)
Fighting of the Spirit (Tales of Phantasia)
Star Wolf (Star Fox)
Pokey (EarthBound)
Heartbreak Corlin (Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon)
This Precious World (Fire Emblem Warriors)
One Hell of a Time (Cuphead)
Revived Power (Shadow of the Colossus)
Boss Battle 1 (Lufia II)
Final Battle with Grunty (Banjo-Kazooie)
Your Sanctuary (EarthBound)
Gangplank Galleon (Donkey Kong Country)
Terrormisu (Wario: Master of Disguise)
Sinestral Battle (Lufia II)
And a couple others that I'm pretty sure you won't try to suggest...

If you want an idea of the kinds of songs I've got in mind for this specific slot but that are off-limits because of having been used, I've put a fully orchestrated version of FF6's Dancing Mad (don't have a link to that one) in this slot, I've put a hauntingly beautiful 9-minute-long version of Wind Waker's Molgera there, and I've put a really long and really dramatic version of Chrono Trigger's World Revolution there.

As always, I love this stuff, so even if you don't have the perfect answer to my problem, I'd love to just get some chatter going and discuss whatever aspects of it. I know that this isn't primarily a VGM forum, but still, even just a comment like "cool project, bro" would make me feel less alone.

tl;dr: Please help me come up with a good, long (6-9 minutes), dramatic VGM boss fight song that I haven't used already!

[Durkoala]

Well, for BBC songs, there's a couple of good ones, even if they can be a bit shorter than you're looking for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps2Bzu5tG3A

OK, with the obvious joke out of the way, I do have a track that's nearly perfect: Fallen Blood from Epic Battle Fantasy 4*. It's nearly nine minutes long and even sounds a bit like Dancing Mad, enough to make me wonder if the creator was inspired by it.

Divine Madness by the same artist (Phyrnna) is also pretty good, but probably less fitting.


*An indie flash series that's been around in various forms since the golden age of browser games.

[Zaq]

Well, for BBC songs, there's a couple of good ones, even if they can be a bit shorter than you're looking for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps2Bzu5tG3A

OK, with the obvious joke out of the way, I do have a track that's nearly perfect: Fallen Blood from Epic Battle Fantasy 4*. It's nearly nine minutes long and even sounds a bit like Dancing Mad, enough to make me wonder if the creator was inspired by it.

Divine Madness by the same artist (Phyrnna) is also pretty good, but probably less fitting.


*An indie flash series that's been around in various forms since the golden age of browser games.

Hey, I appreciate the responses!

You're right, Divine Madness isn't exactly what I'm looking for. It's okay, but it's not long enough or gripping enough to fill the role I'm seeking to fill. I might stick it in a later compilation as a regular song, though!

Fallen Blood is an interesting suggestion! I've never looked at the series or the artist before, so I'm glad I asked for help. It's a good length. I'll listen to it a few more times and see if it grows on me. On first listen, it's not bad, but it didn't blow me away the way I was hoping for. (I mean, yeah, being blown away is a pretty tall order and I'm not saying that I'm always going to find something that matches such a standard—but I don't think it was quite as awe-inspiring as the standard set by the Molgera piece or the World Revolution piece I linked, you know?) Still, I'm not saying no. It's going in the maybe pile. And I would never have found it on my own, so I sincerely appreciate the suggestion!

Definitely still open to other options—anyone got more suggestions?

[tiornys]

Here are a couple of tracks from Child of Light that might work for you:

Metal Gleamed in the Twilight

Serpent Boss Battle

[Kato]

Hm... long list... It's kind of difficult to find something with the proper length, but I feel like you can extend or loop if necessary?

So.. just throwing out some ideas...

Something from Radiant Historia (like, anything. But if you insist on Boss themes I guess you have to take Red Locus or Edge of Green, though both are too short)

Metal Gear series had some good boss music but I cannot remember specifics.

And there is way more in the Zelda franchise.

And how hace you not used anything from the Dragon Quest series?

[Rynjin]

Kingdom Hearts is chock full of great music. Yoko Shimamura is a great composer.

I really like KH2 Final Mix's boss fight music for Roxas: The Other Promise, but sadly it's only 4:31 by default (though loops pretty flawlessly.

Similar length, Rage Awakened is also great.

[Otomodachi]

From Gitaroo Man, Legendary Theme segueing into Ressurection. I *THINK* Resurrection is the ultimate song of the game, but since it's a weird rhythm game Nope, did more research, that's the jam hell yeah. A titch over 3 minutes of charming melodic rock, into a much more amped up back half. A solid 'The Pillows' vibe, if you watched the FLCL anime.

Mother. Effing. Gary. If you don't remember fighting this absolute rear entrance of a imaginary human being, this song gets downright Gregorian in the final third.

Two honourable mentions, cuz these guys really cook-

This one's a bit too short and not a boss fight

And this one is just plain too short for this purpose (Battle Against an Unsettling Opponent)

[DeTess]

Allright, I should have some suggestions lying around here. The length makes this one a bit tricky, as I know a bunch of good ones that'd be like 5 minutes.

Nier Automata has got a bunch of gems, but they often include segments that are pretty chiptuney, so that might not be what you're looking for. They also take a bit to build up. Still, links for A beautiful song and Dark colossus

From final fantasy there's hellfire from 15, triumph from ff14. FF14 in particular could be a gold mien for a list like this, as its soundtrack is both massive and of pretty high quality.

This is both too short and seems to be a bit different to what you're going for, but I can't really do this list without giving rivers in the Desert from persona 5 a shout-out. Speaking of persona, The Battle For Everyone's Soul is worht a lsiten as well, I think. And to complete this set, a quick mention of genesis from persona 4 as well. Genesis lacks flexibilty though, as it starts fairly plodding and threatening, and then ends in a triumphant note all the way at the end. If you can time things really well, it can work, but otherwise it's probably not what you're looking for.

[DavidSh]

The Ar Tonelico series of games had some good music, I believe.
From Ar Tonelico 3 "Qoga" came XaaaCi, music for the final boss battle, which clocks in at about 7 minutes.

The music for the final boss battle for Ar Tonelico 2, EXEC_over.METHOD_SUBLIMATION was officially 3 tracks, labelled ~lamenza, ~ee wassa sos yahar, and ~omness chs ciel sos infel, at 4:16, 4:48, and 6:36 respectively.

[Zaq]

Before I go any farther, can I say just how happy I am to see this much chatter on this topic? Sincerely. This is cool.

Here are a couple of tracks from Child of Light that might work for you:

Metal Gleamed in the Twilight

Serpent Boss Battle

Hmm. That first one has potential, definitely. Good energy to it, and it hits an appropriate tone. The fact that apparently the album version isn't as long is a bummer, though. I was hoping to not need to do any editing (because, um, I don't actually know how to do that, and also it doesn't feel right). Or rip anything from YouTube, for that matter. That just doesn't feel right. I may have compiled the first collection in 2003 and pulled most/all of the songs from Kazaa, but I don't want to do that anymore.

Second song is okay, but it's got the same problem as the first (arguably more so). Still, nice pieces! Maybe I'll have to explore them a bit for my next collection.

Hm... long list... It's kind of difficult to find something with the proper length, but I feel like you can extend or loop if necessary?

So.. just throwing out some ideas...

Something from Radiant Historia (like, anything. But if you insist on Boss themes I guess you have to take Red Locus or Edge of Green, though both are too short)

Metal Gear series had some good boss music but I cannot remember specifics.

And there is way more in the Zelda franchise.

And how hace you not used anything from the Dragon Quest series?

I don't think I've ever played a Dragon Quest game seriously, so I never knew to look for songs from it. Got any links to point me in the right direction?

MGS is a very interesting angle that I hadn't considered at all! I may have to do some digging there.

Kingdom Hearts is chock full of great music. Yoko Shimamura is a great composer.

I really like KH2 Final Mix's boss fight music for Roxas: The Other Promise, but sadly it's only 4:31 by default (though loops pretty flawlessly.

Similar length, Rage Awakened is also great.

Yoko Shimomura is fantastic. Definitely one of the great names out there. The Other Promise is a little too gentle, to be honest. It's a fine song in its own right, but it's not the vibe I want.

Rage Awakened is really cool. Thank you for sharing it! Too short for this specific slot, but I'll definitely consider it for a regular slot next time.

From Gitaroo Man, Legendary Theme segueing into Ressurection. I *THINK* Resurrection is the ultimate song of the game, but since it's a weird rhythm game Nope, did more research, that's the jam hell yeah. A titch over 3 minutes of charming melodic rock, into a much more amped up back half. A solid 'The Pillows' vibe, if you watched the FLCL anime.

Mother. Effing. Gary. If you don't remember fighting this absolute rear entrance of a imaginary human being, this song gets downright Gregorian in the final third.

Two honourable mentions, cuz these guys really cook-

This one's a bit too short and not a boss fight

And this one is just plain too short for this purpose (Battle Against an Unsettling Opponent)

Man, Gitaroo Man has a great soundtrack. Tainted Lovers is the best song on it, though I do harbor a deep love for Born to Be Bone. Resurrection has never really done it for me, though.

That Bully piece didn't really do anything for me, sad to say. Maybe it'd be meaningful if I'd played the game and I knew what motifs it was playing with and calling back (assuming that it was doing such a thing at all), but overall I just really didn't feel any connection to it.

Unsettling Opponent is a fun groovy chill piece, but it doesn't fit the bill here.

Allright, I should have some suggestions lying around here. The length makes this one a bit tricky, as I know a bunch of good ones that'd be like 5 minutes.

Nier Automata has got a bunch of gems, but they often include segments that are pretty chiptuney, so that might not be what you're looking for. They also take a bit to build up. Still, links for A beautiful song and Dark colossus

From final fantasy there's hellfire from 15, triumph from ff14. FF14 in particular could be a gold mien for a list like this, as its soundtrack is both massive and of pretty high quality.

This is both too short and seems to be a bit different to what you're going for, but I can't really do this list without giving rivers in the Desert from persona 5 a shout-out. Speaking of persona, The Battle For Everyone's Soul is worht a lsiten as well, I think. And to complete this set, a quick mention of genesis from persona 4 as well. Genesis lacks flexibilty though, as it starts fairly plodding and threatening, and then ends in a triumphant note all the way at the end. If you can time things really well, it can work, but otherwise it's probably not what you're looking for.

I have heard a lot of good things about Nier Automata. I may need to check out the game itself someday.

That A Beautiful Song is pretty intense. I like the multi-stage nature of it considering the specific demands of what I'm doing. I'm not averse to some electronic bits now and again if they're done well, but I have in fact reached a point where I don't usually go for completely unaltered chiptunes anymore. This is good stuff, though. I wish it had an actual conclusion instead of just kind of cutting off, though. Does it do that in the OST?

Dark Colossus takes its time building up, but the bridge piece can sometimes be given that luxury. It's not bad at all. To be honest, it might be the strongest contender I've yet encountered in this thread! Same problem as above, though—that's not an ending, that's someone knocking a plug out of alignment. Wonder if there are any versions that have a satisfying conclusion.

Hellfire sounds awesome! That might do the trick. You can tell about when I stopped really paying attention to Final Fantasy by looking at what songs I've included in the past (the SNES ones were the best), but it's hard to fault the music. It's got a great reputation for a reason. It's a hair shorter than I wanted, but it's still really good.

Triumph kind of feels less like a fight and more like a cutscene. I'm not getting the desired level of engagement out of it. The second phase is better, but I'm not sure it's worth the laid-back first part.

Rivers in the Desert has a pretty good groove, but you're right, it's not quite what I'm here for today. Battle for Everyone's Soul is okay, but it's missing a little something. Not sure what. I think I agree that Genesis is too slow. A bit of buildup is fine, but it honestly just feels like it's dawdling.

The Ar Tonelico series of games had some good music, I believe.
From Ar Tonelico 3 "Qoga" came XaaaCi, music for the final boss battle, which clocks in at about 7 minutes.

The music for the final boss battle for Ar Tonelico 2, EXEC_over.METHOD_SUBLIMATION was officially 3 tracks, labelled ~lamenza, ~ee wassa sos yahar, and ~omness chs ciel sos infel, at 4:16, 4:48, and 6:36 respectively.

That's pretty intimidating to look at. Honestly feels kind of inaccessibly weird just from the names. Is that a language I'm not familiar with, or does the game just love making up words? Not familiar with too many languages that triple up vowels like "XaaaCi," but hey, the world is vast. Got any links?

[Kato]

Not to be lazy but searching yourself would probably take as long as me searching for it.

Anyway, here's a compilation of DQ boss themes, so I think you can listen and see what suits you best.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oVlscAAdoC4

Also, I forgot to point out other things Grant Kirkhope has done, like the music for that Mario & Rabbids game. Or more Donkey Kong?

[DeTess]

That A Beautiful Song is pretty intense. I like the multi-stage nature of it considering the specific demands of what I'm doing. I'm not averse to some electronic bits now and again if they're done well, but I have in fact reached a point where I don't usually go for completely unaltered chiptunes anymore. This is good stuff, though. I wish it had an actual conclusion instead of just kind of cutting off, though. Does it do that in the OST?

I'm afraid so, yes. Both songs are made to be looped over fairly long boss fights, so it makes some sense that they don't have a definite end. The version on my OST CD are slightly different, but basically just end on a fade-out that could have looped back into a previous section of the song.

[Zaq]

I'm afraid so, yes. Both songs are made to be looped over fairly long boss fights, so it makes some sense that they don't have a definite end. The version on my OST CD are slightly different, but basically just end on a fade-out that could have looped back into a previous section of the song.

A fade-out is very different from just cutting off. Loop points are sometimes just a fact of life in this genre, but still, there’s some ways to end the tracks that feel better than others. I’d probably be okay with a well-done fade-out, but that video honestly felt cut off mid-line, not just “reached the end of the phrase and now we’re done.”

I think the strongest contenders I’ve encountered yet out of these suggestions are Dark Colossus and Hellfire. I’ll listen to each a little more and see how hard it is to hunt down purchaseable versions.

Still open to other suggestions, of course! I really appreciate the discussion and the help from everyone.

[Sermil]

The other Persona 5 boss battle theme is Will Power. Also quite good, but only 2:45.

edit: Most people think of that as the "Persona awakening music", but it is also a boss battle music. Specifically, it's the battle music when you are battling

Spoiler

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Sae Niijima's Shadow, the boss of the casino level.