There is a good chance you have not heard about them before. The Megas are a rock band themed around the video game series Mega Man. All of their songs are based around the music from the games and, for the most part, the songs relate to the character. Each song is sung as a different character from the games; since there really isn't much of a story to the games, this means that most of the songs are from the point of view of the bosses. In that case, the song itself is their stage music.
The Megas currently have two albums out, with a third on the way. Get Equipped is their debut album, and all of it's music is from Mega Man 2. (Their sophomore work, That's Megatainment, is about the first game.)
I like this band. This is one of my go-to albums when I want to listen to something for a while. Their music is energetic and (much like the colorfully killer robots that are the inspiration for the music) is neither too light or too dark, making for good listening no matter what you are feeling like at the time. This is music you can really dance too.
Sample songs:
Song ranking (least to best*)
11. "Lamentations of a War Machone /End Song": Too slow paced for my liking. I know it's basically an epilogue, but I don't get why they didn't replace it with the boss theme (most renditions of the music from Mega Man 2 put that near the end).
10: "The Annihilation of Monsteropolis /Air Man": His personality is based upon a bad pun. Less technical than the riffs from some of their other songs, which I don't like as well, and a general bias against the song it's based off of (a common theme for this list).
9. "Blue Like You /Flash Man": Compared to the arrangements of some of the other songs, this one I don't like as well as the original. It may be the pace, or the lyrics,but I am kinda 'meh" about this song.
8. "Programmed to Fight /Crash Man": This is like, the third time that Crash Man is depicted as a heroic character (Bob & George and Crash & Bass being the other two). It seems to be a general fandom consensus. Anyway, pretty dark considering that, if these songs were the Justice League, Crash Man's stage music would be The Flash. It's energetic and lighthearted in the same way.
8. "Programmed to Fight /Crash Man": This is like, the third time that Crash Man is depicted as a heroic character (Bob & George and Crash & Bass being the other two). It seems to be a general fandom consensus. Anyway, pretty dark considering that, if these songs were the Justice League, Crash Man's stage music would be The Flash. It's energetic and lighthearted in the same way.
7. "Promise of Redemtion /Bubble Man": Consider yourself lucky you're not in last place, Bubble man. You are basically Evil Aquaman. It's mostly the part at the end that I like, and why it nabs the #7 spot.
6. "Carved From the Mighty Oak / Wood Man": Not terrible; it's just that I think that there are better songs on the album. It;s a testament to the overall strength of the record when you have to choose which songs you like the least. Blame it on me not liking Wood man's music all that much. (that and slight lyrical weakness at times).
5. "I Wanna Be the One / Dr. Wily 1-2": Many people consider Wily Castle 1 to be the best song in that game. The Megas somehow made it even more awesome than it was previously. Also, note how Mega man's attitude changes between this and 'Lamentation of a War Machine."
4. "The Quick and the Blue / Quick Man": This narrowly beats out the previous song mainly because of my love for the original song (despite never having played the game). Love the horns, breakdown, and the personality they gave Quick Man.
3. "Man on Fire / Heat Man": I'm guessing this song gets a lot of audience participation live. Considerably slower than the original piece, the beat remians steady and generally cool (no pun intended).
2. The Message from Doctor Light / Level Select": Great energy. Especially love the hamminess of the singer (my love of over-the-top singing will be further explored when I review The Protomen) and the breakdown.
1. "Metal Dance / Metal Man": this is what i love about The Megas: fast rocking, and energetic.
* "The Beginning of the End" and "A Fate Forged in Steel" are both little more than sound effects, and so are not included in this ranking.
