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What are the most Bionicle non-Bionicle songs?


PlasmaJaller

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Hero, Caught in a Dream, Crashed, Move Along, Face Me,  Gravity Hurts, Closer to the Truth, Bye Bye Babylon...

There was always something so distinct about these songs. Maybe it's simply their association to Bionicle, but I feel like you can't can't take any song, put it on top of Bionicle content and call it a day. I went through a lot of rock songs on Youtube typing key words like "heroic", "inspirational" and it's seriously quite hard to find something you can imagine LEGO using to promote a wave.

The best I've found is this, which I think could work for a commercial in the second half of the franchise, but it's not even a song, so...

What about you? You know a song or two that remind you of bands like All Insane Kids or Cryoshell?

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Well, that’s a good question. Well, usually, the songs from Cryoshell and others that you mentioned are one thing, but I have some songs in my mind. Usually songs from Z100, some ones from 102.7 FM and 103.5 FM, in 2001-2010 and 2015-2016 remind me of Bionicle’s respective storylines nostalgically. Plus, songs from these radio stations in 2010-2014 remind me of Hero Factory’s respective storylines nostalgically. Well, I can say specific stuff: 

1. Breathin by Ariana Grande - the 2007 storyline. 
2. Breaking Free by Ariana Grande - the 2007 storyline. Plus, HF’s Breakout. 
3. Monster by Skillet - Piraka, Barraki, 2008 Makuta, Skull Creatures, and Umarak. Plus, HF’s Brain monsters and Jumpers. 
4. Hero by Skillet - the Toa and HF’s heroes. 
5. Drifting in 2014 - Toa of Water and HF Furno going underwater. 
6. E. T. by Katy Perry - Mata Nui having adventures in Bara Magna and Teridax coming to and attacking Bara Magna. Plus, HF. 
7. Va Va Voom by Nicki Minaj - The 2008 and 2009 vehicles. Plus, HF’s vehicles. 
8. Can’t Hold Us by Mackelmore in 2013 - the 2007 storyline and HF’s Breakout. 
9. Demons by Imagine Dragons - The Makuta species and Teridax in general. 
10. Need You Now in 2009 - Bionicle’s and HF’s cancellations and Bionicle’s 2010 storyline. It’s painful.

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I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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1 hour ago, Lenny7092 said:

Well, that’s a good question. Well, usually, the songs from Cryoshell and others that you mentioned are one thing, but I have some songs in my mind. Usually songs from Z100, some ones from 102.7 FM and 103.5 FM, in 2001-2010 and 2015-2016 remind me of Bionicle’s respective storylines nostalgically. Plus, songs from these radio stations in 2010-2014 remind me of Hero Factory’s respective storylines nostalgically. Well, I can say specific stuff: 

1. Breathin by Ariana Grande - the 2007 storyline. 
2. Breaking Free by Ariana Grande - the 2007 storyline. Plus, HF’s Breakout. 
3. Monster by Skillet - Piraka, Barraki, 2008 Makuta, Skull Creatures, and Umarak. Plus, HF’s Brain monsters and Jumpers. 
4. Hero by Skillet - the Toa and HF’s heroes. 
5. Drifting in 2014 - Toa of Water and HF Furno going underwater. 
6. E. T. by Katy Perry - Mata Nui having adventures in Bara Magna and Teridax coming to and attacking Bara Magna. Plus, HF. 
7. Va Va Voom by Nicki Minaj - The 2008 and 2009 vehicles. Plus, HF’s vehicles. 
8. Can’t Hold Us by Mackelmore in 2013 - the 2007 storyline and HF’s Breakout. 
9. Demons by Imagine Dragons - The Makuta species and Teridax in general. 
10. Need You Now in 2009 - Bionicle’s and HF’s cancellations and Bionicle’s 2010 storyline. It’s painful.

A lot of them strike me more as AMV material and others, I can hardly imagine them being associated with Bionicle. I also doubt Lego would validate song that contain swearing or direct mention of "contact" like kissing for their toys for kids. Not to mention reaching popular singers or bands like Nicki Minaj would be a great money investment I'm not sure they would even consider it.

I do like 5 (reminds me of Move Along), 9 and 10 though. Imagine Dragons is the one group in all these artists I think would work best with Bionicle, with songs like Demons and Warriors. And I can see Need You Now as part of the credits for a movie that would wrap up the Bionicle storyline.

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46 minutes ago, PlasmaJaller said:

A lot of them strike me more as AMV material and others, I can hardly imagine them being associated with Bionicle. I also doubt Lego would validate song that contain swearing or direct mention of "contact" like kissing for their toys for kids. Not to mention reaching popular singers or bands like Nicki Minaj would be a great money investment I'm not sure they would even consider it.

I do like 5 (reminds me of Move Along), 9 and 10 though. Imagine Dragons is the one group in all these artists I think would work best with Bionicle, with songs like Demons and Warriors. And I can see Need You Now as part of the credits for a movie that would wrap up the Bionicle storyline.

Well, I only prefer the clean versions. Sorry if you are thinking about swearing and whatever else you said. I’m just emotional with songs that I like. It’s hard when Bionicle is not here. The songs just provide good memories of Bionicle. I do agree with Imagine Dragons would be a good band for Bionicle besides Cryoshell, and Need You Now would make a good end credit song for the Bionicle storyline (thinking about Mata Nui missing the Matoran Universe and Mata Nui going to sleep after restore Spherus Magna).

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I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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1 minute ago, Lenny7092 said:

Well, I only prefer the clean versions. Sorry if you are thinking about swearing and whatever else you said. I’m just emotional with songs that I like. It’s hard when Bionicle is not here. The songs just provide good memories of Bionicle. I do agree with Imagine Dragons would be a good band for Bionicle besides Cryoshell, and Need You Now would make a good end credit song for the Bionicle storyline (thinking about Mata Nui missing the Matoran Universe and Mata Nui going to sleep after restore Spherus Magna).

Sorry for missing what those songs meant to you. I hope I didn't come off as harsh.

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1 hour ago, PlasmaJaller said:

Sorry for missing what those songs meant to you. I hope I didn't come off as harsh.

No, no. It’s okay. You asked a question in the topic post, and I answered it. Nothing wrong. You’re good. I always spend time listening to the radio to hear the songs. :) 

 

Anyway, Cryoshell is a good band. If I could think about what singer or song that reminds me of the pens who played for Bionicle, it’s that the fact that Imagine Dragons kind of remind me of Dauntry.

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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Its kind of hard to pick since for me Bionicle had a very eclectic music style already, the electronic music of Paul Hardcastle such as Killing Machines which became "The Bionicle Music" and was used throughout 2001-2004 marketing; the very compressed combination of original scores, stock music and classic opera in MNOG, the orchestral scores of the films from Nathan Furst, to the later Cryoshell type alt-rock songs. For me the music that generally feels the most Bionicle to me is all the stuff from those first five years, so the electronic music and the movie scores. In that case digging through Hardcastle's catalog pulls up a few more songs that would have fit in with his music contributions to the franchise:
 

Or likewise digging through Nathan Furst's other works:
 

But as for an artist that had no association with Bionicle at all that manages to capture a similar mood? Marty O'Donnel and Michael Salvatori with their scores for the early Halo games. Yes both franchises being from 2001 probably helps with them kind of having a similar sonic soundscape in those early years. Basically it manages to hit the same notes of both an electronic score, backed up with orchestral styling and occasionally tribal beats. Halo's music is sooo good overall, but I think the later games began to shift course in music to something more like Star Wars as the budget to afford bigger orchestra groups pushed it away from the synths and simple pieces to more "lush" arrangements, so less Bionicle and more big budget Hollywood sounds. A good comparison is the difference between Halo CE and Halo CE: Anniversary's soundtracks, or even the stuff being made for the upcoming Halo Infinite. But if these songs weren't so famously associated with Halo, I can easily imagine these kinds of songs fitting into a Bionicle game or movie. Just take A Walk in the Woods and reimagine it not on a Halo ring but instead on the Ta-Koro beach and you get the idea.

 

Although from about a decade later, Daft Punk's work on Tron Legacy is another great example of blending a synth style with an orchestral style, this could have very easily worked for a Metru-Nui type setting. 

 

 

As for pop songs? Well that gets harder, I don't think now that stuff like Cryoshell or All American Rejects was the best fit for Bionicle, but the alt-rock sound is very strongly associated with the later half of G1 now so while my nostalgia leans to the Hardcastle/Furst music, I can see why a lot of fans would want to go to the alt-rock sound. Sure I have a lot of nostalgia for the Inika commercial with Move Along and get a chuckle at the Piraka Rap commercials, but I feel they have a strong tonal dissonance with the Bionicle style beforehand.I think of some of my favorite bands from the genre that were active at the time (The Killers, My Chemical Romance, etc) and nothing really jumps out at me for being "Bionicle-like." Oddly if Lego wanted a rock sound for Bionicle... maybe some 70's prog or 90's industrial would have been a better fit thematically (imagine a Rush concept album or a Queen power ballad type thing). I just kind of feel the alt-rock and nu-metal songs of later Bionicle were less about Bionicle and more about trying to attach Bionicle to what was popular music of the era for commercial reasons. So if anyone has suggestions that fit Bionicle from the alt-music genre's I am all ears since I am pulling a blank here. Sure, I l listened to an entire Killers album today, but just because I love the music I really don't have an association with Bionicle from it other than the memory that The Killers got popular the same time Bionicle was still around (maybe "All These Things I Have Done" could work, but its because its the only Killers song from the era I can think of that is not quite a romance song, a religious song, an ode to Las Vegas or part of a three part trilogy about violent murders). I laugh like an idiot whenever I watch Reviving Bionicle 1 and see Tahu and Onua's video with Linkin Park's "Crawling in my Skin" playing in the background, because it generally is a good reminder of why I sort of feel that the whole Bionicle and alt-rock combination always was more cringe than it was successful. Just because both are from the 2000's doesn't mean they are natural fits for each other... 

Edited by Xboxtravis
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All aboard the hype train!

 

 

 

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19 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

3. Monster by Skillet - Piraka, Barraki, 2008 Makuta, Skull Creatures, and Umarak. Plus, HF’s Brain monsters and Jumpers. 

Agree, but I usually pair it with the inner Hordika turmoil from '05. 

11 hours ago, Xboxtravis said:

I laugh like an idiot whenever I watch Reviving Bionicle 1 and see Tahu and Onua's video with Linkin Park's "Crawling in my Skin" playing in the background, because it generally is a good reminder of why I sort of feel that the whole Bionicle and alt-rock combination always was more cringe than it was successful.

Yes, I also associate Linkin Park with Bionicle for the same reason, I think. Also why I associate Roodaka with Evanescence (I'm pretty sure there was an old AMV with Cloud Nine and Web of Shadow clips, but can't find it now). I think I'd choose What You Want or Everybody's Fool, though. But I still like the combination. 



Dark Horses by Switchfoot for Voya Nui, although I don't entirely remember how the whole thing went down with the Piraka versus the Toa Nuva/Toa Inika. 

I can picture Takua wandering around Mata Nui with On My Way, playing in the background (you know, that happy adventure song from Brother Bear because Phil Collins is amazing). 


There's a lot that could like potentially kinda fit, but not exactly, you know? Cool to see everyone's music tastes, definitely. It's turned out to be quite a trip down memory lane, listening through the songs I liked (and still do) when I was getting into Bionicle for the first time. Didn't realize how strong the association was, wow. 

Edited by Aderia
re-read Xboxtravis' comment more closely, found stuff I agreed with XD
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  • 4 weeks later...

As memey as it is these days, Bring Me To Life by Evanescence for the 2008 era.

“Alive” by Sia describes 2006 pretty well.

“What the Water Gave Me” by Florence and the Machine for 2007 as a whole and “Last Day on Earth”  by Kate Miller-Heidke for Matoro’s sacrifice.

”Earth Intruders” by Bjork for the Bohrok... or should that be Bjohrok?

“King and Lionheart” by Of Monsters and Men for the plot of Mask of Light.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 12/27/2020 at 8:54 PM, Alyska said:

As memey as it is these days, Bring Me To Life by Evanescence for the 2008 era.

“Alive” by Sia describes 2006 pretty well.

“What the Water Gave Me” by Florence and the Machine for 2007 as a whole and “Last Day on Earth”  by Kate Miller-Heidke for Matoro’s sacrifice.

”Earth Intruders” by Bjork for the Bohrok... or should that be Bjohrok?

“King and Lionheart” by Of Monsters and Men for the plot of Mask of Light.

Wow, I've always loved Of Monsters and Men but I've never made a Bionicle connection before. That's perfect! Kinda want to make a video now..

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hah, I made a topic like this over on the Bionicle subreddit a while back. Was gonna make a topic about it here but looks like you beat me to it.

Lots of punky rock type things floating around by the looks of it. Not very surprising, since that how LEGO outwardly advertised it. But to me the music that really fit with Bionicle were the tracks that were created whenever something canon lore was presented, and those tracks were VERY different from the rock LEGO presented Bionicle to the world with.

On that note, let me present to you "Datura" by the band "Dirtwire", the most Bionicle 2001 - 2003 sounding music that doesn't come from Bionicle:

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

As far as music that sounds like Bionicle music ...
 

This track sounds like a remix of the Ga-Koro theme from MNOG 2. Actually, a lot of music from Unreal Tournament feels like Bionicle music.

There's also these two tracks of music from Descent 3. Kinda mix of tribal and euro dance beats.

If we're talking about more rock/pop focused stuff, I always thought Incubus could do a really solid over-the-credits or advertisement music for Bionicle. Especially since they like surfing and using various mixes of instruments.

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  • 2 months later...

yo yo piraka yo yo piraka the gang on the loose nothing you can do the beast on the move bully comin through trigger tracer drifter comin too add the snake that makes piraka crew yo yo piraka the gang on the loose nothing you can do you can try but why youre know you gonna lose yo yo piraka yeah piraka on the street its time tick tocka the gang in on the loose in your school locker at your home too in your friends room nothing you can do the gang is on the loose yo yo piraka yo i rap to the beat the gang is on the loose piraka on the street, thats a lot of heat the trigger tracer drifter the snake the beast the bully singh yo yo piraka piraka go piraka piraka go piraka piraka go piraka ey yo go piraka lets go go piraka ey yo go piraka go piraka go piraka let's go go piraka ey yo piraka

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On 5/16/2021 at 8:00 AM, Bioniclefan7782 said:

yo yo piraka yo yo piraka the gang on the loose nothing you can do the beast on the move bully comin through trigger tracer drifter comin too add the snake that makes piraka crew yo yo piraka the gang on the loose nothing you can do you can try but why youre know you gonna lose yo yo piraka yeah piraka on the street its time tick tocka the gang in on the loose in your school locker at your home too in your friends room nothing you can do the gang is on the loose yo yo piraka yo i rap to the beat the gang is on the loose piraka on the street, thats a lot of heat the trigger tracer drifter the snake the beast the bully singh yo yo piraka piraka go piraka piraka go piraka piraka go piraka ey yo go piraka lets go go piraka ey yo go piraka go piraka go piraka let's go go piraka ey yo piraka

I appreciate the effort, but that's an actual Bionicle song.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/28/2020 at 11:43 AM, Lenny7092 said:

6. E. T. by Katy Perry - Mata Nui having adventures in Bara Magna and Teridax coming to and attacking Bara Magna. Plus, HF. 

When does Mata Nui fantasize about his alien boyfriend "filling him with his poison"

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  • 10 months later...

I'm really late to this thread but there's this band I love called Lacuna Coil that have some songs I associate with Bionicle quite a bit. I think part of the reason is they sound like a heavier Cryoshell but with 2 vocalists. The 2 songs from them below have some association with the franchise for me, with various reasons.

Sword of Anger, to me, symbolizes the entire end of Bionicle. The story ends on a feeling of hope for the future, the Matoran, Toa, Glatorian and Agori live peacefully on Bara Magna, and strive for harmony. The lyrics talking about a mythical sword kinda remind me of the masks and their powers in the franchise. The song could just be called Mask of Life instead and it would feel like a Bionicle song 100%.

 

This next song, Hostage to the Light, reminds me of Takanuva (for obvious reasons), and how he went from rejecting his destiny as the Toa of Light to embracing it. I feel like the chorus to the song summarizes what's going through his head as he sees Jaller die in his arms during the '03 storyline, and then decides to put on the mask. 

 

Besides Lacuna Coil, I know this is technically cheating, but Cryoshell's other songs on their self-titled album give me a Bionicle feel anyway. Specifically Murky and Falling. The association is there for me because I saw a few Bionicle MVs that had these songs on them.

Murky gives me that same "end-of-story" feeling as the first LC song I posted above gives me, but on a sadder note, whereas Sword of Anger is more hopeful and "yay, we did it!". I'll admit that some of this comes from a youtube comment I read years ago, but I can't find it. The rest is my own interpretation of events. Mata Nui was only awake for a short time before falling back into his coma, and the Toa start to have their doubts about what they did wrong "Did we choose the right side? Did we pick the right fight?". The rest of the song is mainly for me, concerned with the overall themes of Bionicle and what it's messages were, e.g. "When you're drowning in shadow, look for the light in your heart".

 

Falling reminds me of Lhikan asking the Toa Metru for help saving the city "I'm counting on you to push on through", and the Metru having doubts about their abilities "Is this the end of the line and can we make it in time?" TIME also referring to the Mask of Time. Another commenter said it sounds like it's about Matoro, and how he saved the universe by sacrificing himself.

 

Anyway, yeah I hope you guys like these songs. What do you think about them? Is there a Bionicle association? I feel like I'm mostly over-analyzing things but when it comes to Bionicle I love doing stuff like this.

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  • 1 month later...
On 5/19/2022 at 8:44 AM, Tuuli said:

Has anyone mentioned "Bring Me To Life" by Evanesence yet? Pretty much the most bionicle song out there and so classic!!

How

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How could I forget "Bring Me to Life"? Great choice.

Also, pretty much anything by Linkin Park, but especially Meteora. I felt vindicated when "By Myself" got used in Bionicle, even if it was just for that test animation video for Antroz.

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It's funny, I just pulled up BZP for the first time in years because I was listening to a song I thought was very Bionicle, and what do I see but this thread.

The song in question is "Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliot. Especially towards the end when you can hear the instrumental clearly.

There are definitely some other songs I heavily associated with Bionicle when I was younger, mostly as a result of listening to them a lot around that time-

Atmosphere (Remix) by TobyMac was associated with the 2005-6 era of Bionicle, shifting from the return to Metru Nui to Voya Nui. I believe this is around the time Hero came out.

Burn for You (Shortwave Radio Mix) by TobyMac was associated with the 2007 era of Bionicle. Particularly the Barraki.

I also listen to a good bit of Jungle/Breakcore, and the folks at LEGO in the late 90's-early 00's really loved themselves some Jungle/Breakcore. Pro>Tech is a big one for me, but any sort of Jungle or Breakcore will give me heavy Bionicle vibes. A good specific track is 666 MPH by Bong-Ra - track slaps, but furthermore I'm pretty sure it uses a synth used in the Inika Island Assault soundtrack.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a few songs on a playlist

Not much for years 2001-03-or 2004...i might add the Mask of Light main theme
The Plagues (A song theme from Prince of Egypt cartoon film)
2005: Monster by Skillet and Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
2006: This Means War by Nickelback and Castle of Glass by Linkin Park.
2007: Savin Me by Nickelback (symbolizes Matoro caught by Hydraxonn)
Set me Free by Casting Crown (Matoro saying goodbye to his life)
Get Out Alive by Three Days Grace (Toa Mahri escaping from the sea)
2008: Higher by Alchemia (I also use Gravity Hurts right afterwards so it makes sense)
Awake and Alive and Live Free or Let Me Die both by Skillet (These songs represent Mata Nui's resurrection and banishment)

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