re:Cut #3 - Three Strikes (back)

Intro:

"A song shouting about fighting back
Couldn't survive three cancellation acts"

Hi all, Jeff here with the third entry into our re:Cut, Cut Content series! If you couldn't tell from my atrociously written intro stanza, today's cut song (as the kids would say) is a banger and full of shounen energy-

Background:

I previously talked about how many early re:TYE uplaods were TYER Anniversary or full-version covers that were reworked either during the planning stages or mid-production. This song's planning can be traced back even further to 2014 and was originally planned not long after TYER started regularly doing full-song covers.

If it wasn't immediately obvious from TYER's upload history, TYER and re:TYE have a bunch of Fairy Tail fans who were always excited to jump at each and every new Fairy Tail song. I can even distinctly remember how hyped the fanbase was when Fairy Tail's new series kicked off in 2014 with the absolute bop of Masayume Chasing and the huge visual upgrade A-1 provided compared to the early series (though the original series technically had more flashy fight scenes). Any anime theme song following Masayume Chasing had enormous shoes to fill, yet somehow Back-On knocked it out of the park with the timeless and iconic-

re:Cut #3): Strike Back - Fairy Tail OP14 (Planned 2014)

Fairy Tail OP14 - Strike Back
Lyrics: Jefferz
Arrange: N/A (re:TYE rework TBD, likely Xandu or bear)
Mixing: Jefferz
Graphics: 愛梨。
Vocalist: *Fyre (re:TYE rework Aruvn)
Producer: 愛梨。(re:TYE rework Jefferz)

This song was originally added to TYER's to-do list back when TYER was a hot mess of everybody scrambling to work on everything new airing with very little oversight or quality control. Airi/Sorachu/愛梨。 originally requested to plan this cover as she really like Fairy Tail and wanted to do more staffing on future songs. I was on-board for most of the other staffing roles as I had been a huge Back-On fan for years. While a lot of their fans jumped on board when they released Departure/Strike Back or maybe even Flyaway featured in Tales of the World, Radiant Mythology 2, I was an O.G. fan from their first release of Chain from Air Gear (that theme song is truly an icon and debatably one of the coolest anime theme songs in the 2000's era). I even attempted and failed to write adapted lyrics for both A Day Dreaming... and Flower which were featured in Eyeshield 21 (we're going deep into old-school anime today lol). Flyaway was also one of my earliest adapted lyric hack jobs on my own personal YT channel back in 2009 and I would later write tv-size lyrics for TYER's cancelled cover of WIMP. Needless to say, you're looking at a huge Back-On fan.

I'm getting way too excited talking about Back-On and very much off-topic. Anyway, Airi recruited Fyre to be the vocalist for this song and was originally set to do both the singing and the rapping. Unfortunately this is where things start to go wrong-

What Was Finished:

As this was originally a TYER planned cover, a musical arrangement track was not commissioned. Once the song was set to be included as a re:TYE reworked project, a new music producer was set. However the re:TYE reworked version would be shelved not long after so new music track was actually finished.

The English adapted lyrics were written fully and completed along with a questionable (and very goofy non-serious hack job that was meant for only Fyre/Robby to hear lawl) Jeff demo for recording reference (the music track is also pitched down 'cause Jeff is NOT a tenor). The first half of the song's singing-only vocals were recorded during the original TYER version while no vocals were recorded for the re:TYE revamped version. Below is a short excerpt of the lyrics and a short clip of the demo track:

If all the odds are stacked against me
I swear that I won't cower in defeat
If there's a chance I'll stand my ground, resist every enemy

I hate, that fate, can restrict and bind you
So no, I won't, ever lose my fire too
Turn it all around, for I'll fight with you in everything you do

Bring it on! cuz I'm just
Gonna grow up in the battle, HEY!!
Set alight my courage that's still burning my fire
Thunder cracks as I enter the fray!!
I gotta fight this nightmare
Shouting loud over your despair

Fight it, again
All the way to the end
I ain't scared of my past
And now I'm gonna strike it back
Screaming out for my pride!!

Don't ever let your crying show
Stand tall and give another blow
Shout out!!
(I'm never falling down! Won't bow to any
Write my own Destiny!)

Don't ever lose that precious smile
I got your back through every trial
No doubt!!
(I gotta blast off your pain for you and me!
Surpass all so now, rest in peace!)
So don't back down!

Why It Was Cancelled:

Since there were two iterations of the cover, there were two different cancellations. The original TYER cover was put on hold indefinitely for quality control purposes. Although Airi picked Fyre to as the main vocalist and rapper for the song, we quickly realized that rapping was not one of Robby's strengths and would need a 2nd vocalist to fill-in on the intense raps (I tossed around the idea of Gray Fox doing the rapping).

Despite he being Airi's choice, I also felt strongly that Strike Back's intense and hard-hitting J-Rock genre was an awkward and poor fit for Robby's vocals and style which was mostly confirmed when he did a test recording of the first verse and chorus. I will spare him some dignity and not share that test recording here (hence why you have my horrendous demo reference track instead), but I made the decision to veto and shelve the cover indefinitely until it could be reworked. Strike Back was planned not long after TYER's cover of Abnormalize from Psycho-Pass S1 which received a lot of negative and harsh comments at the time. Admittedly Abnormalize was not one of TYER's better uploads, however I felt bad about the negative comments Dizzy received which could've been avoided with some fixes, and vowed to have more quality control oversight for future upload; hence Strike Back's first cancellation.

A second iteration of Strike Back was also considered for TYER, this time with Angela filling in for Kenji03's clean vocals and Ryan/Gray Fox rapping. However this version also didn't get very far due to Ryan going on indefinite hiatus soon after and Angela getting overwhelmed by TYER song picks as she was one of only two feminine-sounding rock vocalists in the group.

Fast forward to re:TYE's conception in 2015, Strike Back was still in indefinite limbo. Having a set of full song lyrics already completed, it was a perfect project to be easily reworked in a re:TYE upload, this time featuring either a Xandu or bear-produced rock track. Due to both Angela and Ryan being unavailable in 2015, the third iteration of this cover would featuring yet another new vocalist. This version had Aruvn assigned for Kenji03's vocals originally, with the assumption that a designated rapper would be brought in once we could find and scout an outside talent. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't find a rapper and the backup plan was for Aru to do both (because Aru can do everything, case and point his rapping in TYER's Gangsta OP Renegade cover that I also planned). Unfortunately similar to Flyers, this song project was also shelved when Aru when on an extended recording hiatus and was eventually cancelled in a similar fashion.

Closing Coffee Cup Thoughts:

As a huge fan of Back-On, it pains me how this project could never quite get off the ground due to a revolving door of vocalists who either were not consistently available or could not pull off the difficult style and range of the song. Despite being a decade old at this point, imo the adapted lyrics for this song are not bad at all and could probably pass re:TYE's current quality standards with a few small tweaks in places (mostly a few awkward lines in the rap sections). This cover is one that I've attempted to bring back every now and then, but we're still running into the same issue of not being able to find a rapper for this intense style (if you have any ideas, let us know!).

On the plus side, I personally have been planning more "Song Collection" projects and multi-track releases of older anime theme songs compared to some other members who mostly work on current airing songs. I can confirm that we've had multiple convos and ideas around a possible Fairy Tail Song Collection due to the show's lasting popularity (and the sheer number of full version request comments on TYER's original uploads). Strike Back is largely considered one of Fairy Tail's best theme songs and almost certainly would be considered in a Fairy Tail themed track list. *insert side eyes emoji at the upcoming Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest-

However, unfortunately re:TYE is not actively working on a cover of Strike Back at this time and it's currently still in the rather large cut/unfinished TYER planning doc. Despite having lyrics talking about rising up again and striking back, this cover will be nothing more than another entry in our re:Cut Patreon series, and that's an unfortunate fact.