K1T5CHW45T3L4ND

I just go back where i belong.

STRIVING 4 PEACE✌️HARMONY🤙& GLOBAL GROOVINESS🤘WON'T STOP TIL WE HAVE WON🤞
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DISCORD IS no1c4pc0mnd0f4n! HIT ME UP HOMIES!!!



ThunderTHR
@ThunderTHR

Arguably perhaps Crush 40's most iconic song (that's NOT "Live and Learn") that they ever wrote for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise (if you go by the raw viewing figures/streaming numbers) is the opening theme for 2005's 'Shadow the Hedgehog', better known as "I Am... All of Me."

Whether you consider it a guilty pleasure track, something that makes you cringe because of its association with what was ultimately a rather controversial and middling game that's often derided for its darker, "edgier" product, or you actually have no shame in admittedly loving the song (like I do), what you MIGHT not know is that the song almost never was.

Infact, earlier on in the development of Shadow the Hedgehog, alternative metal band "Magna-Fi" originally were slating to create a track that would've served as the opening track, which would've left for a MUCH different feel had it actually been used during the well known opening cinematic intro of the game.

This track, known as "Who I Am", was the result of Mike Szuter writing up a song intended for the game after he had been contacted by Jun Senoue in regards to creating a song for Shadow, which Mike was more than happy to do.

Though other reports don't clearly state why the song ultimately wouldn't be used in the game (some reports claim that Magna-Fi ultimately thought the song was "too good" to be in the game, a theory I do NOT believe would actually be the real reason. Other reports claim it was due to record label tampering that prevented it being used), Mike's reasoning is that Jun didn't want the song as he was more interested in the two writing a song TOGETHER.

Inevitably, the two would write a song together that ended up appearing on the game's soundtrack. Though Mike mentions he's "not sure what that song is called", its safe to assume that the song in question is "All Hail Shadow", as it appears in the game's official soundtrack, playing during the credits upon completing the "True Hero" path.

Lyrically, "Who I Am" feels far more suited as an opening cinematic track, as it paints more of a picture of Shadow as a character, where as "I Am... All of Me" paints more of a picture of the events of Shadow the Hedgehog as a whole. Also, a greatly missed oppourtunity as Magna-Fi's track directly uses the line "This is Who I Am", a line frequently quoted by Shadow in the game whenever upon completing a story path.

Lastly, this was NOT the only track to have not made the cut, as "Broken" by Sins of a Divine Mother had also been intended to be used in the game, but ultimately was cut due to Sega (and Jun) being unable to gain permission for the track to be used in the game. As a workaround, members of Sins of a Divine Mother would end up creating a new band, at the time known as "A2" (now known as Mona Lisa Overdrive), and created a new song intended for the game, which would end up becoming "The Chosen One", which plays upon completing the "Semi-Hero" path.

By extension, a second Sins of a Divine Mother song, titled "All Of Me", has been heavily discussed as also being intended for the game and being cut due to the above reasons mentioned for "Broken", but sources for this are much harder to come by. Though, considering the Crush 40 track would ultimately end up being named "I Am... All of Me", one could assume that it may have been very likely intended to been considered.

The link for "Who I Am" featured is of an earlier 'demo', which for all intents and purposes IS the final track, though the guitar solo that takes place about 2 minutes in is an alternate solo recorded by CJ Szuter, before he would ultimately leave the band later in 2005. Mike, who still thought the song was pretty cool, would eventually release the song as the opening track for their 2007 sophomore album "Versechoruskillme", with the guitar solo replaced by a new rendition from their then new guitarist, Chris Brady, which was done as an effort by Mike to let him re-record the solos as it hadn't been released yet, figuring he would be more invested in it.

So that's the story of how "I Am... All Of Me" almost never happened, and how we missed out on an honest-to-god banger.


crepe
@crepe
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