Every so often, you find a fan tribute to your favorite IP that feels like it was made specifically for you and your Venn diagram of interests. For me, that tribute is Tempo of Time, a 31-minute prog rock epic that pulls together fifteen Ocarina of Time tracks, stitched together into a single, shifting, dramatic musical suite. Like a good dungeon, it loops, modulates, and sometimes surprises you with a left turn.
If you’re thinking “prog rock feels like an odd fit for Zelda,” I get it. But I promise you, this absolutely works.
Allow me one music-nerd-game-nerd moment: Prog rock is all about long songs, weird time signatures, and dramatic, lore-heavy epics about, like, the moon crashing, time loops, or fate. The Legend of Zelda, as an intellectual property, thrives on all of that. Plus, it’s the game series Nintendo often uses to roll out wild new ideas, weird tech, and iconic apocalyptic romance storylines. Basically, prog and Zelda are a match made in the Sacred Realm, and if you don’t believe me, listen to Tempo of Time by Dr. Pez!
Listen along with me through some of my favorite moments:
At 2:03, “Hyrule Field” kicks in with unexpected trumpets (perhaps the best kind of trumpets?), and it feels exactly like running into Hyrule’s expansive center field for the first time. Then, at 5:59 — The “Battle” section rolls right in with snapping fingers and jazz riffs — it’s like a noir bar fight broke out in Hyrule Market. It honestly feels like the Lost Woods got way too into the roaring twenties, and I love that for them.
By 12:27, “Shadow Temple” hits, and suddenly you’re Keese-dodging in the dark, no map, no compass, no idea which way is up. You can practically hear the medieval, proto-industrial mess of fans and guillotines waiting for you just around the corner. Zero idea what’s happening, yet perfect vibes.
Then there’s the finale at 26:18, where “Zelda’s Lullaby” gets reworked for drums, french horn, guitar, cello, and vocals. The team moves through key change after key change, riffing and riffing – It’s catharsis. It’s crying because your health bar is blinking but the Master Sword still swung true. It’s triumphant, and I will never recover.
If you like prog rock, or Zelda, or honestly just really clever transitions and intriguing revamps of iconic game tracks, you’ll have such a good time with this collection of songs. And if you’ve ever blasted Roundabout on a road trip or let Supper’s Ready soundtrack your weirdest daydreams, you’ll feel right at home here.
Trust me: Just hit play.
