# Talk:The Black Mages

If someone could add a list of performances, that would be great.
I've already added mention of the fanclub DVD release, but I don't
have much information passed that about other performances.

I added all of the concerts. I'm pretty sure that's it. Still need descriptions and prices for a couple.222.152.0.165 03:17, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

At least I know The Black Mages has nothing to do with power metal (no double bass drums, no high vocals, not fast enough, no shredding etc.). It doesn't feel very right to call it progressive metal either. But I'm sure it's instrumental rock at least. I'll replace the genre with that if no one has anything against it. Also has anyone ideas for some more specific genre?

why do you think that they are not progressive metal? they clearly fit the description
Idon't see how a band that does covers of video game music can be called progressive. At all.
they are not covers, they are remixed into metal songs. besides, most of them write and composed the music
Regardless of whether they are covers of video game music or not, it can still be progressive metal. "Video game music" is not a genre in itself, but most of the songs The Black Mages arrange are progressive. What is needed is a reliable source for any genre they play in.--TheEmulatorGuy 22:16, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
This band is quite obviously Progressive metal and some songs do indeed have a power metal feel to them, the skies above, for instance. I believe that genre could be a debate here though, as it doesn't follow some rules for those genre tags.
It's confirmed and obvious they are instrumental rock, but it's not certain about their progressive sound. That's why I wrote the following in the article: "The band arranges Uematsu's musical compositions in a rock style often similar to progressive metal, achieved with the additional use of synthesizers." - this compromise should be level ground for everyone. --TheEmulatorGuy 03:27, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
They ARE Progressive Metal, they fit the description of prog. metal perfectlly, i'm not so sure about power metal though, isn't power metal heavier? I mean a couple of their songs might be debated, but for the most part they're prog. metal.Emo777 (talk) 07:10, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 11:05, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

Yay! I've been hoping for a arrangement of Premonition. That's one more off of my wish list. All that's left is Kefka's Theme, the Theme of Final Fantasy, Decisive Battle (Final Fantasy V) and Legendary Beast (Final Fantasy VIII). Here's hoping.  —Preceding

Hey, I saw a while back that the article said that the Black Mages were going to add two new members but a few days later it disappeared. Was that true or vandlism or what?Emo777 (talk) 05:35, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

I've been looking into remix/cover/rearrangement bands recently, and I've noticed that many of them contain the fallowing:
See also

The Black Mages, a metal band founded by Nobuo Uematsu to play Final Fantasy arrangements.
The Advantage, another band which plays covers of Nintendo theme music.
The OneUps, another band which plays covers of video game music (although with a more jazz-inspired sound).
The NESkimos, another band which plays covers of Nintendo music, but adds a very heavy style to it.
MegaDriver, another band which plays covers of video game music, mostly of the Sega Genesis (or "Mega Drive" outside North America) but also plays Nintendo covers, with a heavy metal style.
PRESS PLAY ON TAPE, another band which plays covers of video game music (Commodore 64 tunes as rock).
The Megas, a band which covers Mega Man songs, adding lyrics to expand on the game's story.
(This was taken from The Minibosses, so of coarse, they aren't on there. Also, See also is supposed to be a header.)
I'm not suggesting that this be added, but rather the See also be replaced with something more apropriete, and that be added. I was thinking a page like "List of Popular Game-Music Cover Bands" could replace all the links in the See also, but I'm not very experienced with how Wiki works, so I didn't want to make that change to all of the articles without backing.
If anyone doesn't agree that the See also needs replacing, note that if something needs to change in the list, there are numerous articles the change would have to be made in. This also doesn't allow for very communal editing.
Posted by: SoC (talk) -- Posted at:: 03:24, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:The Black Mages/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Another excellent contribution by PresN; there are some concerns, however:

Lead
In the infobox, it says: Origin = Japan. Do you know where specifically in Japan the band was formed?
The second album, The Black Mages II: The Skies Above, was released in 2004 and featured a wider array of pieces including guest vocalists Tomoaki Watanabe (as "Mr. Goo") and Kazco Hamano (as "KAZCO"), as well as "Blue Blast ~Winning the Rainbow", an original track that was created for Japanese K-1 fighter Takehiro Murahama. – “and featured a wider array of pieces including guest vocalists Tomoaki Watanabe (as "Mr. Goo") and Kazco Hamano (as "KAZCO")” indicates that Mr. Goo and KAZCO are pieces. Can you reword this a little?
For their first album they performed in Shibuya and Kanagawa, Japan in 2003 and later released a live video of the first concert on DVD exclusively to Square Enix fanclub members. – I thought it was Uematsu fanclub members. The rest of the article states that, at least.
History
To celebrate the success, Uematsu decided to organize a concert in tribute to the album; Fukui served as the keyboardist, while Sekito was the guitarist. They needed more people to perform the arrangements live, however, and as such, several other members from Square Enix joined. Keiji Kawamori joined to play the bass guitar, Michio Okamiya to play the guitar, and Arata Hanyuda to play the drums. – What instrument did Uematsu play during the tribute concert?
Discography
Like the previous album, Darkness and Starlight features an original song, "Life ~ in memory of KEITEN ~", which was written by Uematsu for Yoshitaka Tagawa, a boy he had met who died of leukemia. – Does this piece have vocals? If not, then change original song to original piece, and written by to composed by.
The album, the music of which was originally composed by Tomohito Nishiura, was released on April 21, 2004 by Team Entertainment. – This reads awkward to me, with “The album, the music”. Is there any way you can reword that?
Consider decollapsing  (is that the right word?) the tracklists as they aren’t that long and the article is relatively short anyway. Here’s a test; I think it looks alright, but it’s your call if you want to change it or not. I’m saying this as it’s always brought up at FACs.
Concerts
The concert held at Shibuya-AX on April 26, 2003 and at Kanagawa on November 3, 2003 is mentioned twice in the body: in the history section and the promotional concerts section. I think once is enough.
They also played additional solos not seen in their first album. – What do you mean by “additional solos”?
As Uematsu graduated from Kanagawa University, The Black Mages all wore the student uniform colors of a white shirt and black pants. – I don’t understand what is meant by “student uniform colors of a white shirt and black pants”. Please clarify.
The band performed "The Rocking Grounds" and "Maybe I'm a Lion" from their second album, and joined with the orchestra for "Advent: One-Winged Angel" as an encore to the concert. – I don’t understand what is meant by “as an encore to the concert”. How can one piece be an encore to an entire concert?
A recorded album was released on February 15, 2006 by Square Enix, and included that pieces by The Black Mages. – That pieces?
External links
The first link appears dead to me.
Additional comment: I'd add a members section, as seen in e.g. Linkin Park#Band members.
I'll pass the article as soon as these issues have been taken care of. The Prince (talk) 15:48, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Alright, I think I've gotten it all. The external link is only temporarily dead; something's going on with the http://www.square-enix-usa.com/na/ site today, but it wasn't like that last week. I'm not sure what you mean about the encore line, however. An encore is always one piece. A band (or orchestra) plays the entire regular set, then they come back and play an encore piece, either due to audience demand or as a scripted encore.  In this case, the encore piece was "One Winged Angel", and both the orchestra and the black mages together performed it. --PresN 19:25, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
Ah, okay. I think I've misunderstood it a little. I thought an encore meant that they played a piece a second time. Anyway, great work fixing the issues. I'm passing the article now. The Prince (talk) 21:48, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Just that, I'll try and find one myself, naturally, but if I can't find one, I think it would greatly improve the article quality if we actually have a picture of the band. --Pstanton (talk) 20:23, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

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Should the band members list at the articles bottom, listing when they were a part of the band, be cited? It is like a mini gameography... Judgesurreal777 (talk) 00:08, 21 May 2020 (UTC)