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To put it simply, the Advantage is a four-piece instrumental band that covers tunes from games featured on the old-school, gray-box Nintendo Entertainment System.

To put it in a bit more detail, the Advantage is a talented quartet of musicians who skillfully manage to capture a handful of memorable melodies from old Nintendo games on this album (their second), converting the primitive pulsings of an 8-bit sound system into a dynamic sounding, toe-tapping instrumental soundtrack for people who grew up using controllers with less than ten buttons. There are many fine selections on this album from classics such as Mega Man II, Wizards and Warriors, Contra, Metroid and The Guardian Legend. As a hardcore NES fan and collector for nearly twenty years, I can testify that these new versions of insanely catchy NES tunes are 99% spot-on, with intricate, multi-layered guitar work and precision drumming. While I enjoyed this entire album, my favorite tracks are the Moon theme from Duck Tales, the Woods theme from Castlevania II, the entire montage from Air Fortress and the alien's lair theme from Contra.

Some may dismiss this album as a novelty item that won't hold interest after a few spins. However, for people like me, it's a fun slice of nostalgia that warms my cold, cynical heart. The Advantage have stated that their goal is to cover every song ever played in an NES game, so I'll be looking forward to their next installment sometime in the future. If you like this, be sure to pick up their first album too.



People who liked this also liked:
Mouthwash - True Stories [reissue]The Blood Brothers - CrimesBoy Sets Fire - Before the EulogyDead Kennedys - Give Me Convenience Or Give Me DeathSaetia - A RetrospectiveSystem Of A Down - Steal This Album!The Blood Brothers - Young MachetesThursday - Full CollapseAmbitions - QuestionAnti-Flag - For Blood and Empire



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    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 at 5:11 PM (EST)

    Are you kidding? This band was so fun live! That's the kind of guitar playing you want to watch as well as hear. I saw them in a crappy underground venue in Nebraska and it was still awesome.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, April 3, 2006 at 5:21 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Kkkkkkkaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrnnnnnnnooooooovvvvvv

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 1, 2006 at 7:04 PM (EST)

    You neglected to highlight it too, scene-boy. Why not inform the rest of us?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 1, 2006 at 11:52 AM (EST)

    the reviewer neglects to highlight the indie super-outfit this band is comprised of. that is what sets them apart.

    Posted by SilentStorms on 2006-03-31 09:12:11
    My Score:

    Shit! If you fellas like this then you will thoroughly enjoy Ahleuchatistas, as it sounds the same (except no nintendo covers). This mp3 is fucking sweet!

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 3:35 PM (EST)

    to my knowledge - 2MA are still alive & well....they have an active MySpace account, anyway....

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 2:26 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    novelty rock ten steps below Weird Al, if you buy this kind of stuff you're not helping the situation with popular music.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 2:04 PM (EST)

    Are 2MA still around?

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 10:27 AM (EST)

    Two Man Advantage >> The Advantage

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 10:17 PM (EST)

    I know its current and all, but this band should cover the main Katamari song. "Na Na Na Na Na...."

    Posted by rkl on 2006-03-29 17:01:46

    well, to put it in a simplistic way...
    while both are talented musicians, the advantage restrict their songs to individual levels
    the minibosses do the whole suite.

    also, the advantage suck live, and are no where near as talented as the minibosses.

    Posted by istapledmyfoot on 2006-03-29 05:36:10

    minibosses are lame, advantage forever HOW could you beat spencer fucking seim???

    Posted by xote on 2006-03-28 23:12:01

    this band kicks ass

    Posted by rkl on 2006-03-28 17:25:08

    the minibosses are much better. youre just a fool :(

    Posted by JoshCBFL on 2006-03-28 16:56:23

    No way in hell are the minibosses better.

    Posted by hungryjoe on 2006-03-28 16:49:07

    Someone tell them to do Jackal. That game has some great music, which is good because I spent a *lot* of time in first year trying to finish that damn game. Now I can do it in about 20 minutes.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 4:44 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    the minibosses are better and were first.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 2:47 PM (EST)

    To the noter below:

    Then stop pissing and moaning and write a better review.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 2:32 PM (EST)

    The reviews today all suck. Who cares about novelty rock, Nintendo BS except video game nerds.

    Posted by cash_money_hustla on 2006-03-28 14:30:24

    As odd as this may sound, I think its hard to compare the Minibosses and the Advantage. They both take different approaches to what they're doing. I think that the Advantage are more talented, but they only do portions of game songs. While the Minibosses will do all the music in the entire game in one song.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 12:50 PM (EST)

    minibosses > the advantage

    Posted by SalsaShark on 2006-03-28 12:07:37

    This band is pretty awesome, but you all honestly really need to check out the NESkimos, too. They're the shit.

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