BadAss: Paragons & Renegades
Comments from album directors David L. Puga and Pieter van Os (Pavos)
Album freely available at https://badass-pr.ocremix.org

Long ago, ancient scholars agonized over one existential question that would change the time space continuum for all... time and space. That question, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a BadAss album, except for hero themes?" Well, now we have the answer in 18 tracks of badass heroic reimagines of heroic heroes that have hero'd, and even some that aren't necessarily heroic but still did a good in the end. While it may not change the time-space continuum, it'll make the next hour and change pretty friggin' kickass, hardcore style.

It's been a long time. 4 years since BadAss 3, and 7 since the last time I had a hand in directing. It's about damn time, and I'm proud to present the newest in the BadAss line, Paragons & Renegades: A BadAss Heroes Album! It's finally here, you guyses! To commemorate this occasion, I'm gonna tell you a secret: I first started BadAss to have a different sound and tone when compared to what OCR had been putting out to that point, at least in overall style. Much as I loved all the albums to that point, I wanted something meaner and darker; I had just come off of The Dark Side of Phobos and wanted more of that while at the same time not being tied down to a single game, so we joined up with KNGI and made it so. The making of BadAss 1 and 2 were some of the most fun moments I've ever had making music & I look back fondly on those days. We made some kickass tunes, but I like to think it was the friends and memories we made along the way that make these albums good & I think that's pretty kickass!

When Pieter and I first started planning a hero-themed fourth album in the BadAss line in 2019, the only goal we really had was to have fun. I can't speak for Pieter, but I missed having fun making music. I'd been doing contract work composing & sound designing and I was getting burnt out by it all, but I remembered those days making BadAss 1 and 2 and how much fun it was. We were experimental & I think the tracks that come out of a BadAss album show that. So, we started BadAss Heroes if only to be experimental, to let the music guide us, and to just have fun. A lot has happened in the world since then, and so have my reasons for working on this album. This is a hero-themed album & maybe we can all use a reminder to better days when defeating evil and being a hero was as simple as loading up a game and pressing a few buttons. It's become harder to see the better days, and even harder to see the heroism in the world. My hope is that this album leaves you energized, feeling badass, and most importantly, with some good-ass memories. And, hell, if we can inspire a little bit of heroism in you hardcore style, well, that'd be awesome too!

- David L. Puga

Welcome to Paragons & Renegades: A BadAss Heroes Album! A true spin-off from the main BadAss series focusing on heroes this time around and having two discs with their own feel. Why not a BadAss: Boss Themes: Volume 4? Well, as I wrote in the album write-up of BadAss 3, I had been working non-stop on BadAss since its never-released spiritual predecessor, Crescendo to Chaos. BadAss 1 was really an experiment for us (I was just an assistant director then) and so was the music. A genre-style album, not focusing on a certain soundtrack, born from the KNGI community almost more than from the OCR community… it was new in many ways. In BadAss 2, I think David really found his niche of genre and we made it even rawer and focused than the first one. With BadAss 3, I took over as director and had my own staff without David. It gave me the opportunity to grow more as a director and give it more my (genre) niche and vibe: more eerie and more bombastic - more like a movie soundtrack. After that, I felt like the trilogy was complete and I did everything I could with the BadAss formula. But David and I (and others in the project threads) always teased each other with "Well, one day there should be a GoodAss…"

And that day has come! We're going back to something new, something fresh. Bringing different genres to the mix, having a new focus, being able to welcome new and additional mixers to the BadAss family and trying to figure out how to make something work all over again... It was the fresh energy I needed to direct another album, this time with David beside me! It has been a difficult one-and-a-half years for me (i.e. medically speaking), so making the time to work on this album and make a mix for it was very challenging for me this time around. But it has been a great experience slowing down and picking up again with David picking up when I couldn't and vice versa. In the end, it was really fun doing this as it felt like two buddies making something new! And since GoodAss isn't a great name, and since we went for a separation of genres (bombastic and/or more peaceful on disc 1, and way more aggressive and raw on disc 2), this is: Paragons & Renegades! And who knows, perhaps there will be a Paragons & Renegades: Volume 2 in the future?

- Pieter van Os (Pavos)

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1-01. Pavos - "The Hidden Ones"
Paragon: Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed Origins)
Composers: Jesper Kyd, Sarah Schachner
Sources: Assassin's Creed II - "Ezio's Family," Assassin's Creed Origins - "Last NPC Remaining Variation 02"

1-02. Sam Dillard - "Time Warrior"
Paragon: Crono (Chrono Trigger)
Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda
Source: "Chrono Trigger"

1-03. RebeccaETripp - "Chariot of the Moon"
Paragon: Cecil Harvey (Final Fantasy IV)
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu
Source: "Lunar Whale"

1-04. Audio Mocha feat. Pandora's Bread - "Revenge on the Terror from the Deep"
Paragon: Magus (Chrono Trigger)
Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda
Source: "Magus Confronted"

1-05. David L. Puga feat. XPRTNovice - "Human After All"
Paragon: Eshe (Sundered)
Composer: Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis
Sources: "Sundered," "Eshe"

1-06. heymagurany - "Part of Me"
Paragon: Madeline (Celeste)
Composer: Lena Raine
Sources: "First Steps," "Resurrections," "Scattered and Lost," "Confronting Myself"

1-07. HoboKa feat. Sykozealot - "Whip of Justice"
Paragon: Simon Belmont (Super Castlevania IV)
Composers: Masanori Adachi, Taro Kudo
Source: "Simon Belmont's Theme (Stage 1-2 BGM)"

1-08. Chernabogue feat. heymagurany - "Apex Predator"
Paragon: Samus Aran (Metroid Prime 2, Super Metroid)
Composer: Kenji Yamamoto
Sources: Metroid Prime 2 - "Echoes," Super Metroid - "Theme of SUPER METROID"

1-09. MkVaff - "Spirit of the Sword"
Paragon: Fi (Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Composer: Takeshi Hama
Source: "Fi's Theme"

2-01. Lashmush - "Devil's Lament"
Renegade: Doom Slayer (Doom, Doom II)
Composer: Bobby Prince
Sources: Doom - "At Doom's Gate (E1M1)," "The Imp's Song (E1M2)," "Suspense (E1M5)," "Sign of Evil (E1M8)," "The Demons from Adrian's Pen (E2M2)"; Doom II - "Running from Evil (Map01)," "Into Sandy's City (Map09)"

2-02. Mak Eightman - "Fire Cleanses All"
Renegade: Firebrand (Gargoyle's Quest)
Composers: Harumi Fujita, Yoko Shimomura, Tamayo Kawamoto
Source: "Title"

2-03. Redg - "Blood Is Everywhere"
Renegade: Caleb (Blood)
Composer: Daniel Bernstein
Source: "Unholy Voices"

2-04. Steele - "Eternal Shadow"
Renegade: Nero (Devil May Cry 5)
Composer: Casey Edwards
Source: "Devil Trigger"

2-05. bLiNd - "Bassbag"
Renegade: Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem 3D)
Composer: Lee Jackson
Source: "Grabbag"

2-06. Garpocalypse feat. WillRock - "Righteous Ragemaster Rocketship Rampage"
Renegades: ToeJam & Earl (ToeJam & Earl)
Composer: John Baker
Source: "ToeJam Slowjam"

2-07. Gunderslam - "The Butcher of Blavikin"
Renegade: Geralt of Rivia (Witcher 3)
Composer: Marcin Przybylowicz
Source: "Geralt of Rivia"

2-08. Justin Lassen - "City of Lost Things"
Renegade: Earthworm Jim (Earthworm Jim)
Composer unknown (Keith Arem, Mical Pedriana)
Source: "Junkit"

2-09. David L. Puga feat. Mak Eightman - "And Hell Followed Him"
Renegade: Death (Darksiders II)
Composer: Jesper Kyd
Sources: "Tree of Life," "The Guardian"