One of my fondest memories of the early years of YouTube was discovering the guitarist Andy Gillion back in 2007. I was searching the website for content on my favorite video games, and while I wasn’t expecting to see much for Streets of Rage — a game considered niche and retro even back then — I somehow came across an eight-minute-long guitar tribute to the Sega Genesis classic. The production on this track is still unbelievable to me, so much so that I continue to listen to it almost 13 years later and have remained a subscriber to Gillion ever since.
YouTube has grown exponentially since that time, now hosting countless numbers of talented musicians with an overwhelming amount of fantastic video game covers and remixes. It’s all the more impressive, then, that Gillion’s tribute to Ocarina of Time still stands on its own today.
Gillion is a devoted Nintendo fan and declares Ocarina of Time to be one of his all-time favorite games with one of his all-time favorite soundtracks. His passion is evident in this track, with a fittingly slow composition of the game’s title screen, before shifting gears into a highly energetic cover of the Hyrule Field theme.
The intensity doesn’t let up from there, with pummeling tributes to the music from Kokiri Forest, The Lost Woods, and Gerudo Valley. Gillion brings it back down a notch with the soothing “Zelda’s Lullaby,” before steadily building the momentum again with “Song of Storms” and ending with the iconic “Song of Time.”
Besides the incredible guitar-shredding, what I love about Gillion’s work is the use of in-game sound effects in his songs. They make the transitions feel so powerful while also adding another layer of nostalgia to the whole affair.
The multi-talented musician is still very active to this day, and has just released a brand new album, “Neverafter.” If you are a heavy metal fan, you need to check out his work.
Here is a small taster of the album from Gillion’s Twitter. He can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.
