Name	Synthpop
Bgcolor	silver
Color	black
Stylistic origins	Disco, New Wave, electronic, pop, post-punk, glam rock, krautrock
Cultural origins	Mid-late 1970s & early 1980s in Germany, Japan, England
Instruments	Synthesizer – drum machine – bass guitar – Tape loops – drums – guitar – sequencer – keyboard – vocoder – sampler – vocals
Popularity	Worldwide 1980s and late 2000s/early 2010s
Derivatives	House music, trance music, digital hardcore, electroclash, indie electronic,
Subgenrelist	List of electronic music genres
Fusiongenres	Synthpunk, techno
Other topics	}}

Synthpop (also known as electropop, or technopop) is a genre of popular music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the New Wave movement of the late-1970s to the mid-1980s.

Early synthpop pioneers included Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra and British bands Ultravox and the Human League; the latter largely used monophonic synthesizers to produce music with a simple and austere sound. After the breakthrough of Tubeway Army and Gary Numan in the British Singles Chart, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer-based sound in the early 1980s, including Soft Cell, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Japan and Depeche Mode in the United Kingdom, while in Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra's success opened the way for synthpop bands such as P-Model, Plastics, and Hikashu. The development of inexpensive polyphonic synthesizers, the definition of MIDI and the use of dance beats led to a more commercial and accessible sound for synthpop. This, its adoption by the style-conscious acts from the New Romantic movement and the rise of MTV, led to success for large numbers of British synthpop acts, including Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, in the United States.

In the late 1980s, duos such as Erasure and Pet Shop Boys adopted a sound that was highly successful on the US dance charts, but by the end of the decade synthpop had largely been abandoned. Interest began to be revived in the indie electronic and electroclash movements in the late 1990s and, in the first decade of the 21st century, it enjoyed a widespread revival with commercial success for acts including La Roux and Owl City.

Characteristics

Although synthpop in part arose from punk rock, it abandoned punk's emphasis on ''authenticity'' and often pursued a deliberate ''artificiality'', sometimes using synthesizers to replace all other instruments. It owed relatively little to the foundations of early popular music in jazz, folk music or the blues, Early synthpop has been described as "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", using droning electronics with little change in inflection. Later the introduction of dance beats made the music warmer and catchier and contained within the conventions of three-minute pop. According to music writer Simon Reynolds, the hallmark of 1980s synthpop was its "emotional, at times operatic singers" such as Andy Bell, Morten Harket, Marc Almond, Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox. Because synthesizers removed the need for large groups of musicians, these singers were often part of a duo where their partner played all the instrumentation.

History

Precursors

In the first half of the 20th century, experiments in tape manipulation or musique concrète, early computer music, sampling and sound manipulation technologies paved the way for the creation of new sounds through technology. Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time as rock music began to emerge as a distinct musical genre. The Mellotron, an electro-mechanical, polyphonic sample-playback keyboard, which used a bank of parallel linear magnetic audio tape strips to produce a variety of sounds, enjoyed popularity from the mid-1960s. It was overtaken by the Moog synthesizer, created by Robert Moog in 1964, which produced completely electronically generated sounds that could be manipulated by pitch and frequency, allowing the "bending" of notes and considerable variety and musical virtuosity to be expressed. The early commercial Moog synthesizer was large and difficult to operate, but in 1970 Moog responded to its use in rock and pop music by releasing the portability Mini-moog, which allowed much easier use, particularly in live performance. Early synthesizers were monophonic (only able to play one note at a time), but polyphonic versions began to be produced from the mid-1970s, among the first being the Prophet-5.

Progressive rock musicians such as Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman of Yes were soon using the new portable synthesizers extensively. Other early users included Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Keith Emerson, Pete Townshend of The Who and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's Vincent Crane. Instrumental prog rock was particularly significant in continental Europe, allowing bands like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Can and Faust to circumvent the language barrier. Their synthesizer-heavy "Kraut rock", along with the work of Brian Eno (for a time the keyboard player with Roxy Music), would be a major influence on subsequent synth rock. In 1971 the dark British movie ''A Clockwork Orange'' was released with a synth soundtrack by American Wendy Carlos. It was the first time many in the United Kingdom had heard electronic music. Philip Oakley of the Human League and Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire as well as music journalist Simon Reynolds has cited the soundtrack as an inspiration. Electronic music made occasional moves into the mainstream, with jazz musician Stan Free, under the pseudonym Hot Butter, having a top 10 hit in the United States and United Kingdom and in 1972, with a cover of the 1969 Gershon Kingsley song "Popcorn" using a Moog synthesizer.

The mid-1970s saw the rise of electronic art musicians such as Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and Tomita. In 1972, Tomita's album ''Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock'' featured electronic renditions of contemporary rock and pop songs, while utilizing speech synthesis and analog music sequencers. In 1974, Osamu Kitajima's progressive rock album ''Benzaiten'', featuring Haruomi Hosono (who later founded Yellow Magic Orchestra), utilized a synthesizer, rhythm machine, and electronic drums. In 1975, Kraftwerk played its first British show and inspired concert attendees Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to throw away their guitars and become a synth act. Kraftwerk had its first hit UK record later in the year. The group was described by the BBC Four program Synth Britannia as the key to synthpop's future rise there. Italy's Giorgio Moroder paired up with Donna Summer in 1977 to release the electronic disco song "I Feel Love", and its although a disco song first and foremost, the programmed, arpeggiated beats had a profound impact on the bands which would soon be known as synthpop.

Origins (1977–80)

Early guitar-based punk rock that came to prominence in the period 1976-7, was initially hostile to the "inauthentic" sound of the synthesizer, The Do It yourself attitude of punk broke down the progressive rock era's norm of needing years of experience before getting up on stage to play synthesizers. The American duo Suicide, who arose from the post-punk scene in New York utilized drum machines and synthesizers in a hybrid between electronics and post punk on their eponymous 1977 album. Also in 1977, Ultravox member Warren Cann purchased a Roland TR-77 drum machine, which was first featured in their October 1977 single release "Hiroshima Mon Amour".

Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) helped pioneer synthpop, with their self-titled album (1978) and ''Solid State Survivor'' (1979), setting a template with less minimalism, more varying use of synthesizer lines, a "fun-loving and breezy" sound, strong emphasis on melody, and drawing from a wider range of influences than had been employed by Kraftwerk. YMO also introduced the microprocessor-based Roland MC-8 sequencer and TR-808 rhythm machine to popular music, and the band would be a major influence on early British synthpop acts. 1978 also saw UK band The Human League's début single "Being Boiled" released, and in the US Devo began moving towards a more electronic sound. To this point synthpop gained some critical attention but made little impact on the commercial charts.

Tubeway Army, a little known outfit from West London, who dropped their punk rock image and adopted synthesizers, topping the UK charts in the summer of 1979 with the single "Are Friends Electric?". This prompted their lead singer, Gary Numan, to go solo; in that same year, he released the Kraftwerk inspired album, ''The Pleasure Principle'' and topped the charts for the second time with the single "Cars". Prior to Numan the synth acts reflected the bleak and empty landscape of Britain of the late 1970s. In opposition to the anti hero punk attitude, Numan desired to be a pop star. Giorgio Moroder collaborated with the band Sparks on their album, ''No. 1 In Heaven'' (1979). This zeitgeist of revolution in electronic music performance and recording/production was encapsulated by then would-be record producer, Trevor Horn of The Buggles in the international hit "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979). That same year in Japan, the synthpop band P-Model made its debut with the album ''In a Model Room''. Other Japanese synthpop groups emerging at around the same time included the Plastics and Hikashu.

1980 saw the release of a series of highly influential synthpop albums, including Devo's ''Freedom of Choice'', Visage's self titled debut, John Foxx's ''Metamatic'', and Ultravox's ''Vienna''. Synthpop's early steps, and the Numan Futurist movement in particular, were disparaged in the British music press of the late 1970s and early 1980s for its German influences and characterised by journalist Mick Farren as the "Adolf Hitler Memorial Space Patrol".

Commercial success and development (1981–86)

The emergence of synthpop has been described as "perhaps the single most significant event in melodic music since Mersey-beat". By the 1980s synthesizers had become much cheaper and easier to use. After the definition of MIDI in 1982 and the development of digital audio, the creation of purely electronic sounds and their manipulation much easier. Synthesizers came to dominate the pop music of the early 1980s, particularly through their adoption by bands of the New Romantic movement.

The New Romantic scene had developed in the London nightclubs Billy's and The Blitz and was associated with bands including Duran Duran, Japan, Ultravox, Visage, Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow, Soft Cell, Spandau Ballet, ABC and Culture Club. They adopted an elaborate visual style that combined elements of glam rock, science fiction and romanticism. Duran Duran have been credited with adopting dance beats into synthpop sound to produce a catchier and warmer sound, which provided them with a series of hit singles. They would soon be followed into the British charts by a series of bands utilising synthesizers to create catchy three-minute pop songs. A new line-up for the Human League and a more commercial sound led to the album ''Dare'' (1981), which produced a series of hit singles, including "Don't You Want Me", which reached number one in the UK at the end of 1981.

Synthpop reached its commercial peak in the UK in the winter of 1981-2, with bands including Soft Cell, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Japan, Ultravox, Depeche Mode and even Kraftwerk enjoying top ten hits. In early 1982 synthesizers were so dominant that the Musicians Union attempted to limit their use. By the end of 1982, they had been joined in the charts by synth-based acts including Thomas Dolby, Blancmange, The Eurythmics and Tears for Fears. The proliferation of acts led to an anti-synth backlash, with groups including Spandau Ballet, Human League, Soft Cell and ABC incorporating more conventional influences and instruments into their sounds.

In the US, where synthpop is considered a sub genre of New Wave and was described as "technopop" by the press at the time, the genre became popular due to the cable music channel MTV, which reached the media capitals of New York City and Los Angeles in 1982.

In the mid-1980s, key artists included solo performer Howard Jones, who mixed synthpop with the optimism of late-'60s pop, and Nik Kershaw, whose "well-craft synthpop" incorporated guitars and other more traditional pop influences that particularly appealed to a teen audience. Pursuing a more dance-oriented sound were Bronski Beat whose album ''The Age of Consent'' (1984), dealing with issues of homophobia and alienation, reached the top 20 in the UK and top 40 in the US. and Thompson Twins, whose popularity peaked in 1985 with the album ''Here's to Future Days'', which reached the US top ten and spawned two top ten singles, Initially dismissed in the music press as a "teeny bob sensation" were Norwegian band a-ha, whose use of guitars and real drums produced an accessible form of synthpop, which, along with a MTV friendly video, took single "Take on Me" (1986) to number two in the UK and number one in the US. In the late 1980s acts that also moved synthpop into a form of dance music included most successfully British duos Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and The Communards whose major hits were covers of disco classics "Don't Leave Me This Way" (1986) and "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1987).

In the 1980s, synthpop helped establish the synthesizer as a primary instrument in mainstream pop music. It was a major influence on house music, which grew out of the post-disco dance club culture of the early 1980s as some DJs attempted to make the less pop-oriented music that also incorporated influences from Latin soul, dub reggae, rap music, and jazz. Musicians such as Juan Atkins, using names including Model 500, Infinity and as part of Cybotron, developed a style of electronic dance music influenced by synthpop and funk that lead to the emergence of Detroit techno in the mid 1980s.

Declining popularity but continuing influence (1987–2000)

An American backlash against European synthpop has been seen as beginning in the mid-1980s with the rise of heartland rock and roots rock. In the UK the arrival of indie rock bands, particularly The Smiths, has been seen as marking the end of synth-driven New Wave and the beginning of the guitar rock that would dominate rock into the 1990s. By the end of the 1980s many acts had been dropped by their labels. After adding other elements to their sound, and with the help of a gay audience, several synthpop acts had success on the US dance charts. Among these were American acts Information Society, Anything Box, and Red Flag. By 1991 in the United States synthpop was losing its commercial viability as alternative radio stations were responding to the popularity of grunge rock. Exceptions that continued to pursue forms of synthpop or rock in the 1990s were Savage Garden, The Rentals, and The Moog Cookbook. The continued influence of 1980s synthpop could be seen in various incarnations of 1990s dance music including trance.

Electronic music was explored from the early 1990s by indie electronic bands like Stereolab and Disco Inferno, who mixed a variety of indie and synthesizer sounds, but took off in the new millennium as the new digital technology developed, with acts including Broadcast from the UK, Justice from France, Lali Puna from Germany and Ratatat and The Postal Service from the US, mixing a variety of indie sounds with electronic music, largely produced on small independent labels. Similarly the electroclash sub-genre began in New York at the end of the 1990s, combining synth pop, techno, punk and performance art. It was pioneered by I-F with their track "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1998), and pursued by artists including Felix da Housecat, Peaches, Chicks on Speed, and Ladytron. It gained international attention at the beginning of the new millennium and spread to scenes in London and Berlin, but rapidly faded as a recognizable genre as acts began to experiment with a variety of forms of music.

21st century revival

In the new millennium, renewed interest in electronic music and nostalgia for the the 1980s led to the beginnings of a synthpop revival, with acts including Adult and Fischerspooner. In 2003–04 it began to move into the mainstream with Ladytron, the Postal Service, Cut Copy, the Bravery and The Killers all producing records that incorporated vintage synthesizer sounds and styles which contrasted with the dominant sounds of post-grunge and nu-metal. In particular the Killers enjoyed considerable airplay and exposure and their debut album ''Hot Fuss'' (2004) reached the top ten of the ''Billboard'' 200. The Killers, the Bravery and the Stills all left their synthpop sound behind after their debut albums and began to explore classic 1970s rock, but the style was picked up by a large number of performers, particularly female solo artists, which after the breakthrough success of Lady Gaga with her single "Just Dance" (2008), lead the British and other media to proclaim a new era of the female electropop star, which also included Little Boots, La Roux and Ladyhawke.

The success of Japanese female technopop group Perfume's album ''Game'' (2008) has led to a similar renewed interest in Japanese popular music. Other Japanese female technopop artists soon followed, including Aira Mitsuki, immi, Mizca, SAWA, Saori@destiny, and Sweet Vacation. The electronic sound and style influenced other mainstream pop artists, including Lily Allen's second album ''It's Not Me, It's You'' (2009). Male acts that emerged in the same period included Calvin Harris, Frankmusik, Hurts, Kaskade, LMFAO, and Owl City, whose single "Fireflies" (2009) topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The electropop style has also been incorporated into mainstream British R&B;, exemplified by Jay Sean's "Down" (2009) and Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart" (2009) which became chart-topping hits in the United States. Other acts used samples of 1980s synthpop tracks in the production of new records, including Mobb Deep and Rihanna.

Artists

See also

Dance-pop

Schaffel beat – triplet feel popularized in electronic music

Bibliography

''Depeche Mode & The Story of Electro-Pop'', Q/Mojo magazine collaboration, 2005.

''Electronic Music: The Instruments, the Music & The Musicians'' by Andy Mackay, of Roxy Music

Notes

Category:Electronic music genres Category:Pop music genres Category:1970s in music Category:1980s in music Category:1990s in music Category:2000s in music Category:2010s in music Category:Rock music genres

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name	Shop Boyz
background	group_or_band
alias	The Boyz of Shop
origin	Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
genre	Hip Hop, Southern Rap
years active	2004-2010
label	OnDeck Records/Universal Republic
associated acts	DJ Drama, Mims, Lil Boosie
website	http://www.shopboyzonline.com
current members	MeanieFatSheed
past members	Rich Shoo }}

The Shop Boyz are an Atlanta-based hip hop group, originating from the Kings Glen Trail in Decatur. They are most known for their single "Party Like a Rockstar" from their debut album ''Rockstar Mentality''. The group is composed of Demetrius "Meany" Hardin, Richard "Fat" Stevens and Rasheed "Sheed" Hightower. In mid-2008, Rich "Shoo" left the group of a battle with Sheed.

Rockstar Mentality

The group's debut album, ''Rockstar Mentality'', was released through OnDeck Records, an imprint of Universal Records on June 19, 2007. The lead single, "Party Like a Rockstar," charted on the ''Billboard'' rap charts as well as "Rocking My New Hair Do" and the Hot 100 (peaking at #2 on the Charts). "Party Like a Rockstar" was the number one selling ringtone of 2007. Despite the success of "Party Like A Rockstar", the album sold fewer than 200,000 copies as of August 24, 2007.

Shop Boyz performed at CollegeFest 2007 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Shop Boyz released a new single called "Up Thru There" in September 2008.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chartpositions
		! width="30"	! width="30"	! width="30"
2007		* Release date: June 19, 2007	* Label: Universal Republic	11	4	2

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions					Album
		! width="30"	! width="30"	! width="30"	! width="30"	! width="30"
		2	3	1	10	23
	—	111	—	—	—
2008		—	79	—	—	—

References

External links

Official website

Even Rappers Want to Be Rock Stars, ''The New York Times''. Published April 22, 2007. Retrieved May 17, 2007.

Shop Boyz Category:American hip hop groups Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Southern hip hop groups

de:Shop Boyz pt:Shop Boyz

name	Jeff Lynne
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jeffrey Lynne
alias	Otis Wilbury/Clayton Wilbury
born	December 30, 1947Shard End, Birmingham, England
instrument	Vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, piano, percussion, cello
genre	Progressive rock, pop rock, symphonic rock, art rock, pop
occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer
years active	1966–present
label	United Artists, Jet, Harvest, Epic, SonyBMG, Reprise
associated acts	Electric Light Orchestra, Traveling Wilburys, The Idle Race, The Move, George Harrison, Tom Petty, The Beatles, Olivia Newton-John, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan
website	ftmusic.com
notable instruments	Gibson Les PaulFender TelecasterGibson Hummingbird }}

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty. Lynne has produced recordings for artists such as The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Roy Orbison, Dave Edmunds, Del Shannon and Tom Petty. He has co-written songs with Petty and also with George Harrison, whose 1987 album ''Cloud Nine'' was co-produced by Lynne and Harrison. Among the many compositions to his credit are such well-known hits as "Livin' Thing", "Evil Woman", "Turn to Stone", "Xanadu", "Sweet Talkin' Woman","Telephone Line", "Shine a Little Love", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Hold on Tight", "All Over the World", and "Don't Bring Me Down".

In 2008, ''The Washington Times'' named Lynne the fourth greatest record producer in music history.

Musical career

Early career

In 1963, Jeff Lynne, Robert Reader and David Walsh formed a group using little more than Spanish guitars and cheap electrical instruments to produce music. They were originally named "The Rockin' Hellcats" before changing to "The Handicaps" and finally to "The Andicaps". They practised at Shard End Community Centre and performed weekly. However, in 1964, Robert Reader and David Walsh left the band and Lynne brought in replacements. At the end of 1964, Lynne decided to leave the band to replace Mick Adkins of the local band "The Chads".

In 1966, Lynne joined the line-up of ''The Nightriders'' as guitarist. The band would soon change their name to The Idle Race, a name allegedly given to them sarcastically by his grandmother Evelyn Lynne who probably disapproved of pop music as not being a proper job. Despite recording two critically acclaimed albums with the band and producing the second, success eluded him. In 1970, Lynne accepted a lifeline from friend Roy Wood to join the line-up of the more successful band The Move.

The Electric Light Orchestra: 1970–86

Lynne contributed many songs to The Move's last two albums while formulating, with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan, a band built around a fusion of rock and classical music. This project would eventually become the highly successful Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). Problems led to Wood's departure in 1972, after the band's eponymous first album, leaving Jeff Lynne as the band's dominant creative force. Thereafter followed a succession of band personnel changes and increasingly popular albums: 1973's ''ELO II'' and ''On The Third Day'', 1974's ''Eldorado'' and 1975's ''Face the Music''.

By ''A New World Record'', Lynne had almost developed the roots of the group into a more complex and unique pop-rock sound mixed with studio strings, layered vocals, and tight, catchy pop singles. Jeff Lynne's now almost complete creative dominance as producer, songwriter, arranger, lead singer and guitarist could make ELO appear to be an almost solo effort. However, the ELO sound and the focus of Lynne's writing was also shaped by Louis Clark's and Richard Tandy's co-arranging, under Jeff's direction (notably the large string sections), Bev Bevan's drumming, and Richard Tandy's integration of the Moog, harmonium, and Mellotron, with more novel keyboard technology, gave Jeff's songs a more symphonic sound.

The pinnacle of ELO's chart success and worldwide popularity was the expansive 1977 double album ''Out of the Blue'', which was largely conceived in a Swiss chalet during a two-week writing marathon. The band's 1978 world tour featured an elaborate "space ship" set and laser light show. In order to recreate the complex instrumental textures of their albums, the band used pre-recorded supplemental backing tracks in live performances. Although that practice has now become commonplace, it caused considerable derision in the press of the time. Jeff Lynne has often stated that he prefers the creative environment of the studio to the rigours and tedium of touring.

In 1979, Lynne followed up the success of ''Out of the Blue'' with ''Discovery'', which held No. 1 in the UK for 5 weeks. The album is primarily associated with its two disco-flavoured singles ("Shine a Little Love" and "Last Train to London") and with the title's word play on "disco" and "very". However, the remaining seven non-disco tracks on the album reflected Lynne's range as a pop-rock songwriter, including a heavy, mid-tempo rock anthem ("Don't Bring Me Down") that, despite its use of a drum loop, could be considered the antithesis of disco. In an April 2008 interview, Lynne fondly recalled his forays into dance music:

In 1979, Lynne rejected an offer for ELO to headline the Knebworth Concert in the UK, allowing Led Zeppelin to headline instead.

In the absence of any touring to support ''Discovery'', Lynne had time to contribute five tracks to the soundtrack for the 1980 movie musical ''Xanadu''. The score yielded a pair of top-40 singles, with the title track "Xanadu" reaching number one in the UK. Nevertheless, Lynne was not integrated into the development of the film, and his material subsequently had only superficial attachment to the plot. ''Xanadu'' performed weakly at the box office (although it later has experienced popularity as a cult favourite). Lynne subsequently disavowed his limited contribution to the project, although he later re-recorded the title song (with his lead vocal) for the 2000 box set ''Flashback''. In 2007, the film was loosely adapted into a successful Broadway musical, incorporating almost all of the songs from the original film, and also using two other ELO hits: "Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman".

The 1980s

In 1981 Lynne took the band in a somewhat different direction with the science-fiction themed album ''Time'', reaching number one for two weeks in the UK, producing the second Top 3 single in less than two years. The strings were still featured, but with heavily synthesised textures. Following a marginally successful tour, Lynne kept this general approach with 1983's ''Secret Messages'' and a final contractually-obligated ELO album ''Balance of Power'' in 1986. Lynne discusses the contractually-obligated nature of the final albums on the short interview included with the 'Zoom' DVD. ELO now had only three remaining official members (Lynne, Bevan and Tandy), and Lynne began devoting more time to producing.

During his time in the Electric Light Orchestra, Lynne did manage to release a few recordings under his own name. In 1976, Lynne covered The Beatles songs "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Nowhere Man" for ''All This and World War II''. In 1977, Lynne released his first solo single, the disco-flavoured "Doin' That Crazy Thing"/"Goin' Down To Rio". Despite ELO's high profile at that time, it received little airplay and failed to chart. In 1984 Lynne and ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy contributed two original songs "Video!" and "Let It Run" to the film ''Electric Dreams'' (they also provided a third song, "Sooner or Later", which was released as the b-side of "Video!"). Lynne also wrote the song "The Story of Me," which was recorded by the Everly Brothers on their comeback album ''EB84''.

Even before the official end of ELO, Lynne began his move toward focusing almost exclusively on studio production work. Lynne produced and wrote the 1983 top-40 hit "Slipping Away" for Dave Edmunds and played on sessions (with Richard Tandy) for Edmunds' album, ''Information''. Lynne also produced six tracks on Edmunds' follow-up album in 1984, ''Riff Raff.''

In contrast to the dense, boomy, baroque sound of ELO, Lynne's post-ELO studio work has tended toward more minimal, acoustic instrumentation and a sparse, "organic" quality that generally favours light room ambience and colouration over artificial reverb, especially on vocals. Lynne's recordings also often feature the jangling compressed acoustic guitar sound pioneered by Roger McGuinn and a heavily gated snare drum sound.

Lynne's influence by the Beatles was clearly evident in his ELO work and the connection to the Beatles was strengthened when Lynne produced George Harrison's ''Cloud Nine,'' a successful comeback album for the ex-Beatle, released in 1987, featuring the popular singles "Got My Mind Set on You", "When We Was Fab" (where Lynne played the violin in the video), and "This is Love", two of the three songs co-written by Lynne.

Jeff Lynne's association with Harrison led to the 1988 formation of the Traveling Wilburys, a studio "supergroup" that included George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison (as well as Lynne himself), and resulted in two albums (''Vol. 1'' and ''Vol. 3''), both co-produced by Lynne. In 1988 Lynne also worked on Roy Orbison's album ''Mystery Girl'' co-writing and producing Orbison's last major hit, "You Got It", plus two other tracks on that album. For ''Rock On!'', the final Del Shannon album, Jeff Lynne co-wrote "Walk Away" and finished off several tracks after Shannon's death.

In 1989, Lynne co-produced ''Full Moon Fever'' by Tom Petty, which included the hit singles "Free Fallin'", "I Won't Back Down", and "Runnin' Down a Dream", all co-written by Lynne. This album and ''Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1'' both received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year in 1989. The Traveling Wilburys won a Grammy for "Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal" that year. Lynne's song "One Way Love" was released as a single by Agnetha Faltskog and appeared on her second post-ABBA album, ''Eyes of a Woman''. Lynne co-wrote and produced the track "Let It Shine" for Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson's first solo album in 1988. Lynne also contributed three tracks to an album by Duane Eddy and "Falling In Love" on Land of Dreams for Randy Newman.

The 1990s

In 1990, Lynne collaborated on the Wilburys' follow up ''Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3'' and shortly after that released his first solo album ''Armchair Theatre'', with old friends George Harrison and Richard Tandy featuring the singles "Every Little Thing" and "Lift Me Up". The album received some positive critical attention but little commercial success. Lynne also provided the song "Wild Times" to the motion picture soundtrack ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' in 1991.

In 1991, Lynne returned to the studio with Petty, co-writing and producing the album ''Into the Great Wide Open'' for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which featured the singles "Learning to Fly" and "Into the Great Wide Open". The following year he produced Roy Orbison's posthumous album ''King of Hearts'', featuring the single "I Drove All Night".

In February 1994, Lynne fulfilled a lifelong dream by working with the three surviving Beatles on the ''Anthology'' album series. At George Harrison's request, Lynne was brought in to assist in reevaluating John Lennon's original studio material. The songs "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" were created by digitally processing Lennon's demos for the songs and overdubbing the three surviving band members to form a virtual Beatles reunion that the band had mutually eschewed during Lennon's lifetime. Lynne has also produced records for Ringo Starr and worked on Paul McCartney's Grammy nominated album ''Flaming Pie''.

Lynne's work in the 1990s also includes production of a 1993 album for singer/songwriter Julianna Raye entitled ''Something Peculiar'' and production or songwriting contributions to albums by Roger McGuinn (Back from Rio), Joe Cocker (Night Calls), Aerosmith (Lizard Love), Tom Jones (Lift me Up), Bonnie Tyler (Time Mends a Broken Heart), the film ''Still Crazy'', Hank Marvin (Wonderful Land and Nivram), Et Moi (Drole De Vie), and the Tandy Morgan Band (Action).

In 1996, Lynne was officially recognised by his peers when he was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Contributions to British Music" for a second time.

The 2000s

Following legal action to get the ELO name back from Bevan's touring group ELO Part II, Lynne released a new album in 2001 under the ELO moniker entitled ''Zoom''. Although the album featured guest appearances by Ringo Starr, George Harrison and original ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy, it was essentially a second Jeff Lynne solo album, with Lynne multi-tracking a majority of the instruments and vocals. The album received positive reviews but had no hit singles. Despite bearing little sonic relationship to the halcyon ELO days of the late 1970s, it was marketed as a "return to the classic ELO sound" in an attempt to connect with a loyal body of fans and jump-start a planned concert tour (with Lynne and Tandy as the only returning original ELO members). While a live performance was taped at CBS Television City over two consecutive nights and shown on PBS (with subsequent DVD release), the tour itself was cancelled.

Speculation remains rife as to the reason (or reasons), for the cancellation of this tour. Certainly, initial ticket sales were disappointing, with publicity for the concerts minimal. Although often cited by fans as a reason for the tour cancellation, the events and aftermath of 11 September occurred subsequent to the official cancellation of the tour. Greg Bissonette (ELO drummer), when asked, described it as "the greatest tour I never went on!"

Earlier in 2001, Lynne began working with George Harrison on what would turn out to be Harrison's final album, ''Brainwashed''. After Harrison's death from cancer on 29 November 2001, Lynne returned to the studio in 2002 to help finish the uncompleted album. Lynne was also heavily involved in the memorial ''Concert for George'', held at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2002, singing the lead vocal on "The Inner Light", "I Want to Tell You" and "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)", and subsequently produced the Surround Sound audio mix for the ''Concert For George'' DVD released in November 2003. The DVD received a Grammy.

Lynne reunited in 2006 with Tom Petty to produce his third solo release, ''Highway Companion''.

ASCAP honoured Jeff Lynne with the Golden Note Award during their inaugural "I Create Music" EXPO on 24 April 2009, the presenter was Paul Williams. ASCAP's Golden Note Award is presented to songwriters, composers, and artists who have achieved extraordinary career milestones. Previous honorees include Tom Petty, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Garth Brooks, to name a few.

Lynne said in a Reuters article on 23 April 2009, that he has finally been working on the long awaited follow-up to his 1990 solo debut album ''Armchair Theatre'' with a possible tentative release date of "later this year".

He also produced four tracks on Regina Spektor's fifth album ''Far'', released 23 June 2009.

In a March 2010 interview with the ''Daily Express'' newspaper, Lynne confirmed he is working on a new album with Joe Walsh and simultaneously "writing a couple of albums under his own name, though he won't tell us in which musical direction he's heading."

Lynne has recently contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" for the upcoming tribute album, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly to be released on 6 September 2011.

Albums Lynne participated on

The Idle Race

''The Birthday Party'' (October 1968)

''Idle Race'' (November 1969)

The Move

''Looking On'' (December 1970)

''Message from the Country'' (8 October 1971)

Electric Light Orchestra

''The Electric Light Orchestra'' (1971)

''ELO 2'' (1973)

''On the Third Day'' (1973)

''Eldorado, A Symphony'' (1974)

''Face the Music'' (1975)

''A New World Record'' (1976)

''Out of the Blue'' (1977)

''Discovery'' (1979)

''Xanadu'' (1980)

''Time'' (1981)

''Secret Messages'' (1983)

''Balance of Power'' (1986)

''Zoom'' (2001)

Traveling Wilburys

''Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1'' (1988)

''Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3'' (1990)

''The Traveling Wilburys Collection'' (2007)

Others

He sang "With a Little Help from My Friends" for the movie ''All This and World War II'', sang on the Beatles single "Free as a Bird", and performed at the Concert for George.

He sang Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" for the album Listen To Me: Buddy Holly, to be released in September 2011.

Solo discography

Albums

:''Armchair Theatre''

:Released: 12 June 1990 :Peak Chart Positions: #7 Norway, #8 Sweden, #22 Canada, #24 UK,

:"Lift Me Up" / "Sirens"

:Released: September 1990 :Peak Chart Positions: # 37 Canada

See also

Jeff Lynne and The Beatles

References

External links

elo.biz Official Website

Jeff Lynne Song Database

Discovery - welcome to the show ELO & Jeff Lynne information page

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Electric Light Orchestra members Category:English male singers Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:English record producers Category:English rock guitarists Category:English songwriters Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:The Move members Category:People from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:People associated with The Beatles Category:Traveling Wilburys members Category:Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands

ca:Jeff Lynne cs:Jeff Lynne da:Jeff Lynne de:Jeff Lynne es:Jeff Lynne fr:Jeff Lynne ko:제프 린 it:Jeff Lynne he:ג'ף לין ka:ჯეფ ლინი nl:Jeff Lynne ja:ジェフ・リン no:Jeff Lynne pl:Jeff Lynne pt:Jeff Lynne ro:Jeff Lynne ru:Линн, Джефф simple:Jeff Lynne fi:Jeff Lynne sv:Jeff Lynne th:เจฟฟ์ ลินน์

Title	Sonic Adventure
Developer	Sonic TeamSonic Team USA (international)NOW Production (additional DX staff) Sega Studios Shanghai (360/PS3 ports)
Publisher	Sega
Designer	Takashi Iizuka (Director/Level Designer)
Writer	Akinori Nishiyama
Artist	Kazuyuki Hoshino (Art Director)Yuji Uekawa (Character Design)
Composer	Jun Senoue (Sound Director)Kenichi Tokoi Fumie Kumatani
Released	}}

PlayStation Network: }} |genre = Platformer |modes = Single-player, multiplayer |ratings = |platforms = Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Windows, Zeebo, PlayStation 3 (PSN), Xbox 360 (XBLA) |media = Optical disc, Download |requirements = Windows XP or better, 800 MHz Pentium III, 32 MB Geforce 2 or Radeon SDR, 1.2 GB hard drive space }}

is a video game developed by Sonic Team and released on December 23, 1998, in Japan by Sega for the Dreamcast. One of its development titles was ''Sonic RPG'' (although the final product was an adventure game, not a standard RPG). The final updated edition, known as ''Sonic Adventure International'', was released on September 9, 1999, in North America, October 14, 1999, in Japan and Europe, October 18, 1999, in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and December 1, 1999, in Australia. It has sold over 2.5 million copies, making it the best-selling Dreamcast game. It was the first ''Sonic'' game on a sixth generation console.

An enhanced port was released in 2003 as ''Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut'' (see below) for the Nintendo GameCube and in 2004 for Microsoft Windows. The game was ported to Xbox Live Arcade on September 15, 2010 and PlayStation Network on September 20, 2010. The game was featured on ''Dreamcast Collection'', a four-game bundle released in 2011.

Gameplay

This game is the first in ''Sonic'' series to feature free-roaming 3D gameplay. The game is divided into three types of stages: Action Stages, Adventure Fields and Subgames. The division of Action Stages and Adventure Fields was a serious departure from previous ''Sonic'' games. In addition, unlike the previous game in the series, ''Sonic Adventure'' has six different characters to choose from: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big and E-102 Gamma; each with their own style of gameplay. Only Sonic is playable at first, but other characters are made available after encountering them in his story. When all stories have been completed, a final story is unlocked.

Sonic's stages involve high speed gameplay, whilst Tails' stages require him to reach the end of the level before Sonic (and in one case, Robotnik) does and Knuckles' stages see him searching the area for shards of the Master Emerald. All three of these returning characters retain a lot of their trademark moves from previous Sonic games. Amy's stages require her to escape from the E-100 Zero robot chasing after her, Gamma's stages involve shooting through levels to reach a target and Big's stages involve fishing for his friend, Froggy.

Action Stages are the main playable levels for each character, where the player must face various enemies in order to complete their respective goals. Adventure Fields split up the action, where players can explore the surroundings to advance the plot, discover new levels or search for items which enhance a character's ability (for example, the Light Speed Shoes allow Sonic to run across a path of rings). Subgames deviate from the main gameplay of the character, which include minigames such as kart racing and snowboarding. Players may also find hidden Chao Gardens, which allow them to raise Chao, a sort of virtual pet. Chao can be taken with the player by downloading the minigame ''Chao Adventure'' to their VMU, or in the GameCube version, a Game Boy Advance with ''Sonic Advance''. The player can also raise their stats by giving them small animals that they found by defeating the robots, which improves their performance in Chao Races. There are also eggs hidden throughout the Adventure Fields which can produce special types of Chao.

By playing through Action Stages and Subgames, searching through the Adventure Fields or winning Chao Races, players can earn Emblems. In the case of Action Stages, each one has three Emblems, which can be earned by replaying the stages and fulfilling certain objectives, such as beating the level within a time limit. In ''Sonic Adventure DX'', these can unlock hidden extras such as Game Gear games.

Synopsis

Characters

Much of ''Sonic Adventure'' centers on Sonic, a hedgehog who has the ability to run at supersonic speeds, and Miles "Tails" Prower, a two-tailed fox who often accompanies Sonic on his adventures; they are the main characters of the game who are in pursuit of Robotnik /DR.Eggman. Supporting characters include Knuckles, an echidna who guards the Master Emerald on Angel Island, Amy Rose, a pink hedgehog who has a crush on Sonic, and newcomers Big the Cat and E-102 Gamma. Big is a purple, noticeably overweight cat who must rescue his best friend Froggy who became possessed by Chaos' tail, and swallows Big's "lucky charm", a Chaos Emerald, which causes him to mutate. Gamma is one among a series of robots designed by Eggman to take orders without question. After an encounter with Amy, he suffers a malfunction and gains a "conscience". He then turns his aim to destroying his robotic brothers and freeing the animals trapped inside them.

The main antagonist of the game is Dr. Robotnik, also known as Dr. Eggman because of his round body shape, who has formulated a new plan to conquer the planet, this time not relying on his robots alone, but employing a strange liquid creature known only as Chaos. Chaos also serves an antagonistic role in the game, and is the guardian of the Chao. He is apparently water or a plasma-like material and changes form after consuming a Chaos Emerald. After consuming all seven Chaos Emeralds, he turns into Perfect Chaos, which Eggman aims to use in order to conquer the planet. The main antagonist of Amy's story is E-100 Alpha (better known as Zero), the first E-100 series robot who is a large green robot and is considered the prototype. Zero is one of Dr. Eggman's Robots sent to find Amy's friend Birdie. He follows Amy wherever she goes hoping to capture her and the bird. At one point he succeeds but Amy is rescued by E-102 Gamma. Eventually Zero is defeated by Amy on the Egg Carrier.

Dr. Eggman's E-Series of robots play a large role in Gamma's story, as he is one of them, and is out to destroy or "save" the others. All of them have letters of the Greek alphabet as part of their name. E-101 Beta is a black robot with two gun arms. He is the first boss in E-102 Gamma's side of the story, and is later upgraded into E-101 Beta Mk II, who is Gamma's fifth and final boss. E-103 Delta is a blue robot who is Gamma's second boss, waiting at the end of Windy Valley. E-104 Epsilon is an orange robot who is the third boss of Gamma's side of the story and is fought at the end of Red Mountain. E-105 Zeta is a purple robot who is Gamma's fourth boss and is located at the end of Hot Shelter. While at first humanoid, Zeta is altered into a cylinder-like form with several turrets made up of a few Dreamcast machines.

Friendly characters who are non-playable include Tikal, a mysterious female echidna who appears whenever Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, E-102 Gamma and Big are sent back in time. She is trying to stop her father, Pachacamac, from stealing the Chaos Emeralds from the Master Emerald shrine. She appears mostly in the form of a pink ball of light called a Hint Orb. A major feature of the game are Chao, small creatures who can be raised in the Chao Gardens and play a supporting role in the story.

Plot

Centuries ago, the planet was bestowed the seven Chaos Emeralds. These mystical gems were infused with ancient unlimited power, and consequently it did not take long before wars erupted over who would control them. Amongst the seven Chaos Emeralds was the Master Emerald, the controller of the seven Chaos Emeralds with the power to either amplify or negate the power within them. Whilst the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald rested peacefully, a Chao inhabiting the land nearby the Shrine of the Emeralds accidentally made contact with the holy water surrounding it. The water transcended the Chao into a peaceful creature known as Chaos, who with the ability to control water henceforth became the guardian of the Shrine. Some time after, a tribe of Echidnas, led by Pachacamac, angered Chaos by attempting to steal the Chaos Emeralds, ruining the sanctuary it was protecting and destroying the many Chao living there. Chaos, in his fury, summoned the negative powers of the seven Chaos Emeralds to transform into Perfect Chaos and proceeded to slaughter the Echidna race. Pachacamac's daughter, Tikal, had pleaded with Pachacamac not to disturb the Shrine of the Emeralds but her efforts were futile. After Perfect Chaos left the shrine to enact revenge on the entire world, Tikal prayed to the Master Emerald to seal her and Chaos within in.

In the present day, Dr. Eggman learns of the legend surrounding Chaos through a mural in the lost world. Believing it to be true, he creates his flying fortress, the Egg Carrier, seeks out the Master Emerald and shatters it, freeing Chaos in the process while interrupting Knuckles's job of protecting it and forcing him to collect the shattered pieces. Eggman's goal was to control Chaos, and use its destructive powers to collect the Chaos Emeralds and conquer the entire world, turning it into Robotnikland. To help him, he has created the E-Series robots, a group of powerful robots powered by animals placed inside them and programmed to obey him. Soon after, Chaos makes his way into the Mystic Ruins where Big is sleeping. Big's friend, Froggy, ends up swallowing Big's lucky charm, the yellow Chaos Emerald, and bitting off Chaos's tail which causes him to grow his own tail. Big then begins chasing down Froggy. As Sonic returns from an adventure, he sees the police trying to attack Chaos who has arrived into Station Square. He fights and defeats him, but Chaos escapes. Later at night, Eggman creates E-102 Gamma, the second of his E-100 robots. Eggman tests Gamma's skills by having him do target practice and battling E-101 Beta in order to join the team of the Egg Carrier. The next morning, Tails is out testing a new prototype plane but malfunctions and crashes. Sonic rescues him, and Tails shows him a Chaos Emerald he found which gets stolen after a battle with Dr. Eggman upon arriving at the Mystic Ruins. Amy's story begins in mid-story of all the characters. Remembering old times with Sonic, the Egg Carrier flies over Station Square, and a bird smacks into Amy. As soon as the bird drops, a robot named ZERO chases Amy. After they learn of Eggman's plans, Sonic and his friends spring in to action to stop Eggman and they all start their own separate, but intertwined, journeys for the Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic has defeated Eggman and Chaos, Tails has stopped Eggman from bombing Station Square with a missile, Knuckles has restored the Master Emerald, Amy has rescued a small bird and his family from the clutches of Eggman and his robotic minion Zero, Big has rescued his best friend Froggy, and Gamma has rescued his robotic brothers from Eggman's clutches, destroyed by a last resort point blank blast from his elder "brother" E-101 Beta MK-II and releasing the bird during the process.

However, shortly afterward, Angel Island falls once again, and Eggman is attacked by a surviving Chaos. Meanwhile, noticing that Angel Island has fallen once again, Knuckles decides to go to Sonic with the Chaos Emeralds for advice, when suddenly he finds Eggman on the island, bitter and defeated. Knuckles asks him what happened, to which Eggman responds "This is terrible! C-Chaos is...", before being attacked once more alongside Knuckles by Chaos, who steals the latter's six Chaos Emeralds.

Elsewhere, Sonic and Tails take notice that Angel Island has fallen once again, and hurry to the scene, where they find Eggman and Knuckles lying on the ground. Knuckles then reveals to Sonic and Tails that Chaos stole and absorbed the six Chaos Emeralds he was in possession of. Eggman flies off in a hurry, going to his secret hangar to use the Egg Carrier 2. Sonic and Tails then decide that they must retrieve the final Emerald before Chaos, when suddenly, Sonic is teleported to the past where he witnesses former echidna chief Pachacamac and his warriors attacking the Master Emerald shrine, with the chief's daughter Tikal pleading to them not to attack the shrine before they are all killed by Chaos, who absorbs the seven Emeralds and attempts to destroy the world. Sonic then returns to Angel Island, where he and Tails return to Tails's plane the Tornado 2, which uses the seventh emerald as a power source. However, they arrive too late and Chaos retrieves the seventh Emerald before they do.

Meanwhile, in Station Square, Chaos transforms into his final form, Perfect Chaos, and floods the entire city. Sonic arrives, where he witnesses Eggman trying to attack Chaos in the Egg Carrier 2. However, Chaos immediately destroys it. Tikal then appears, explaining that Chaos's heart is filled with anger and sadness and the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds flows through him. Chaos drains the Emeralds' power completely, leaving all power of the Emeralds useless. Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Big arrive with all 7 Emeralds and their collective positive energies along with Sonic's good heart enables him to re-ignite the Emeralds' positive powers. Sonic transforms into Super Sonic and neutralizes Perfect Chaos. Chaos is not destroyed completely, but his heart is filled with joy, happiness and forgiveness. Tikal takes Chaos back with her, but leaves the Chao to live peacefully with humans. Sonic runs off into Station Square and Angel Island is put back to its original state high in the heavens.

Development

Development of ''Sonic Adventure'' began around April 1997 with a development team of 30 members. Then Sega employee Yuji Naka had been unhappy with prior treatment of Sonic, especially in the Sega Saturn racing game ''Sonic R''. After several titles for the Mega Drive, he worked mainly on the game ''Nights into Dreams...''. However, learning of the Dreamcast brought him a renewed interest in creating ''Sonic'' games. The development team focused on graphics and high resolution for this game, with Naka reflecting that "[w]e have pushed the Dreamcast as far as we can at present".

Naka aimed to create levels that would take the player at least five minutes to complete, yet retain similar gameplay to the Mega Drive titles. Following the creation of the basic level maps, Naka wondered "why don't we use this map for other characters?" This led to the introduction of Big and E-102. The development team conducted surveys of fans to ensure that the final product—especially the characters—would please them. Sega made it a top priority to keep the game hidden until shortly before its release. Despite these efforts, screenshots were leaked onto the Internet in mid-1998. Naka presented the game to ''Edge'' in mid-August, and official announcement fell on August 22 in Japan.

Sonic Adventure also introduced a drastic shift in the overall art style of the games that continued to be used over the next few years. The more detailed, modernized redesigns of Amy Rose and Dr. Eggman probably best reflect this. The characters resemble graffiti art in their official artwork, striking more dynamic and extreme poses. In the game, there were some unused items, such as the Sky Dragon from the level Sky Chase, the so-called unused levels, Final Egg and Lost World. The level Emmerald Coast is going to be included in the upcoming Sonic Generations.

Music

Head composer Jun Senoue brought a new sound to the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series with this game, and as such it features many different styles of music such as jazz, rock, techno, pop and country. Each heroic player character (aside from Gamma) also has an instrumental motif that later translates into a vocal theme song that plays during the end credits of their story. The game contains vocal performances from Tony Harnell, Karen Brake, Marlon Saunders, Dread Fox, Ted Poley, Nikki Gregoroff and Johnny Gioeli, whom the latter would later join Senoue to form the band Crush 40. The development team preferred the use of "hot, funky, and rock 'n' roll" music over the traditional techno-based music present in earlier ''Sonic'' games.

Ports

In 2003 an enhanced port was released for the GameCube and Windows titled . The Windows version was at first released only in Japan and Europe, but later saw a limited North American release. ''Sonic Adventure DX'' includes a Mission Mode, which included 60 missions to complete throughout the Adventure Fields and Action Stages. It also contains an unlockable compilation, which comprises twelve Game Gear games featuring Sonic and friends. Also, if all Emblems are collected, then the player can play as Metal Sonic. Also, Cream the Rabbit makes a cameo appearance in certain parts of the game. Reviews were generally less positive than those of its Dreamcast predecessor, scoring more than 20% lower than the original release.

On June 10, 2010, Sega officially announced ''Sonic Adventure'' would be released on both the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in Fall 2010. ''Sonic Adventure DX'' was released on Steam, as the first in a series of Dreamcast titles to be released as digital downloads. Additional features will include enhanced graphics, surround sound, online leaderboards, achievement/trophy support and unlockable Avatar Awards, consisting of a ''Sonic Adventure'' T-Shirt and Sonic's "Speed Shoes".

''Sonic Adventure'' was released on Xbox Live Arcade on September 15, 2010, while the PlayStation Network version was released on September 20, 2010. The initial release is based on the PC version of ''Sonic Adventure DX'' despite the game simply being called "''Sonic Adventure''". The DLC package, simply titled "Sonic Adventure DX Upgrade", has launched alongside the game on XBLA, for 400 Microsoft Points, and $4.99 on PSN, effectively making the entire ''Sonic Adventure DX'' 1200 Microsoft points ($15). It upgrades the game to include all of the features from the GameCube and PC versions with the exception of the Game Gear games and Dreamcast DLC.

Reception

The reception at the time of original Dreamcast version was overwhelmingly positive, including reviews from GameSpot and GameSpy being above 90%. The current Game Rankings average ranking is 88%. It became one of the few Sega All Stars games. In Japan, it received an excellent 38 out of 40 from ''Famitsu''. Although criticized for its camera system, framerate issues, and fishing stages with Big, the game was still highly praised for retaining the fast and enjoyable gameplay that Sonic was known for in 2D as well as the game's graphics, multiple character storylines, and soundtrack. Brandon Justice of IGN rated the game an 8.6/10, criticizing various glitches and voice acting while praising the game's visuals and gameplay. On the other hand, ''GamePro'' gave it a 5/5 saying, "Sonic is fun, fast, and a great reason to purchase a Dreamcast". The game has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Dreamcast game. This includes one million sold in the United States.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports received less favorable reviews. While some critics viewed it as a good piece of nostalgia, others criticized the lack of improvements and the game's more noticeable age, with IGN giving it a score of 3.5 out of 10, calling it "so fundamentally flawed that it borders on unplayable", making it the lowest scored Sonic game on the site since ''Sonic and the Black Knight''. 1UP.com gave it a D rank, criticizing its lack of improvements and touchy controls. ''Retro Gamer'' gave the Xbox 360 port 63%.

References

External links

Sonic Retro page on this game

Official website

Category:1998 video games Category:3D platform games Category:Cancelled Sega Saturn games Category:Dreamcast games Category:Nintendo GameCube games Category:Nintendo GameCube platform games Category:PlayStation 3 games Category:PlayStation Network games Category:Sega Studio USA games Category:Sonic Team games Category:Sonic the Hedgehog games Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games developed in the People's Republic of China Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Windows games Category:Xbox 360 games Category:Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Category:Open world video games Category:Zeebo games ar:سونيك أدفانشر de:Sonic Adventure es:Sonic Adventure fr:Sonic Adventure ko:소닉 어드벤처 it:Sonic Adventure nl:Sonic Adventure ja:ソニックアドベンチャー pl:Sonic Adventure pt:Sonic Adventure ru:Sonic Adventure simple:Sonic Adventure fi:Sonic Adventure sv:Sonic Adventure