Crush 40 is a Japanese-American
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band. The group consists of guitarist and composer
Jun Senoue
is a Japanese composer and guitarist who works for Sega, known for his various contributions in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series. He is also the songwriter for the band Crush 40, which has also contributed to many ''Sonic'' games.
B ...
and vocalist
Johnny Gioeli
Johnny Gioeli ( ; born October 5, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter and composer, known as the vocalist of the hard rock band Crush 40. He is also the original lead singer of the band Hardline and a member of German guitarist Axel Rudi Pel ...
, although Senoue has featured other lead vocalists on a Crush 40 album. Crush 40 is best known for their contributions to the ''
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
'' video game series.
Senoue is employed by
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
as a composer and sound director, and has worked with Sega as a composer since 1993. While preparing music for ''
Sonic Adventure
is a 1998 platform game for Sega's Dreamcast and the first main '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature 3D gameplay. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Big the Cat, and E-102 Gamma in their ...
'', he contacted Gioeli to record the game's main track, "Open Your Heart". They also recorded the soundtrack for ''
NASCAR Arcade'' under the name "Sons of Angels" and released it in 2000 in Japan as the album ''Thrill of the Feel''. Afterward, Senoue and Gioeli stayed in contact and continued to record new music for further ''Sonic'' games, as well as their own original music, and performed live concerts.
Crush 40 has released a total of two studio albums, two live albums, two compilations, an EP, and individual tracks, mostly under Sega's
Wave Master
is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
label. The band's musical style of hard rock, considered by some to be a continuation of
glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...
, has created a legacy with fans of the ''Sonic'' video game series.
History
Formation, ''Thrill of the Feel'', and ''Crush 40''
After graduating from college,
Jun Senoue
is a Japanese composer and guitarist who works for Sega, known for his various contributions in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series. He is also the songwriter for the band Crush 40, which has also contributed to many ''Sonic'' games.
B ...
was hired by
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
in 1993 to compose music for video games. His first project in the ''
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
'' series was ''
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis, Genesis. Like previous ''Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic'' games, players traverse side-scrolling levels while collecting Rings (Sonic the Hedgehog), rings and defeating en ...
'' (1994)'',''
and he also contributed to ''
Dark Wizard
''Dark Wizard'', known in Japan as , is a role-playing video game developed and published by Sega for the Sega CD.
Gameplay
The gameplay takes place on a hex-map, and features turn-based tactical battle scenes. The player controls one of fo ...
'', ''
Sonic 3D Blast
known in Europe and Japan as is a 1996 platform game in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series for the Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn. As Sonic the Hedgehog, the player embarks on a journey to save the Flickies, birds enslaved by Doctor Robotnik. ...
'', and ''
Sega Rally 2
''Sega Rally 2'' is an arcade racing game developed by Sega AM Annex for the Model 3 arcade hardware. It is the sequel to 1994's ''Sega Rally Championship''. The game was first released in arcades in February 1998, and was later ported by Smilebi ...
.''
During recording for ''
Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition'', Senoue worked with
Eric Martin of
Mr. Big to record the main theme, "Sons of Angels".
Senoue said he brought a rock music feel to the games he worked on, including the ''
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
'' series, because he is a "rock guy".
In 1998, Senoue contacted vocalist
Johnny Gioeli
Johnny Gioeli ( ; born October 5, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter and composer, known as the vocalist of the hard rock band Crush 40. He is also the original lead singer of the band Hardline and a member of German guitarist Axel Rudi Pel ...
during the recording process for ''
Sonic Adventure
is a 1998 platform game for Sega's Dreamcast and the first main '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature 3D gameplay. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Big the Cat, and E-102 Gamma in their ...
'' and recorded their first song, "Open Your Heart". Senoue had previously recorded a demo of the song with
Eizo Sakamoto
is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter who was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is most famous for being the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Anthem. In the 1990s he started up the band Animetal which performed heavy metal co ...
on vocals,
but Senoue has stated that he wrote the song assuming Gioeli would sing it.
According to Gioeli, Senoue was a fan of Gioeli's band
Hardline
In politics, hardline (or hard-line) is an adjective describing a stance on an issue that is inflexible and not subject to compromise. A hardliner is a person holding such views. The stance is usually far from the centrist view. People, policies, ...
and connected with him via
Doug Aldrich
Doug Aldrich (born February 19, 1964) is an American hard rock guitarist. He founded the band Burning Rain with Keith St. John in 1998 and has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Lion, Hurricane, House of Lords, Bad Moon Rising and Revolution Saints ...
, the guitarist for
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...
. After making the track, the two stayed in contact,
having enjoyed working together and wanting to do more.
Senoue and Gioeli worked together again on songs for ''
NASCAR Arcade.''
In addition to Senoue and Gioeli, Naoto Shibata and Hirotsugu Homma of
Loudness
In acoustics, loudness is the subjectivity, subjective perception of sound pressure. More formally, it is defined as, "That attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud". The rel ...
played the bass and drums, respectively, for the songs,
and the group took the name Sons of Angels, from the title of the song Senoue recorded with Eric Martin.
In 2000, the band released ''Thrill of the Feel'' in Japan, published by
Victor Entertainment
, also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ent ...
. The album contained the tracks they had written for ''NASCAR Arcade'', along with "Open Your Heart".
During the development of ''
Sonic Adventure 2
is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega. It was the final ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game for the Dreamcast after Sega left the home console market. It features two Conflict between good and evil, good-vs-evil stor ...
'', Senoue and Gioeli reunited to record the title track, "Live & Learn". As Shibata and Homma were busy performing with Loudness and later
Anthem
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
, was brought in to play bass, and Katsuji Kirita from
Gargoyle
In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...
and
The Cro-Magnons
is a Japanese rock band founded in July 2006 by Hiroto Kōmoto (vocals) and Masatoshi Mashima (guitar), both previously of The Blue Hearts and The High-Lows, with Masaru Kobayashi (bass) and Katsuji Kirita (drums).
History
After The High-Lo ...
played drums.
According to
''Vice'', "Live & Learn" is one of Gioeli's favorite songs.
Senoue recorded the intro to the song for the game's trial edition; he worked on the rest of the arrangement later and completed it within one day. He then sent a
demo
Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to:
Music and film
*Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release
* ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes
* ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
to Gioeli to record his vocals.
Gioeli was given the task of writing the lyrics for "Live & Learn". He initially was nervous and asked Senoue if his lyrics were okay on multiple occasions, but despite this, "Live & Learn" became one of the most memorable songs on the ''Sonic Adventure 2'' soundtrack according to Sean Aitchison of ''Fanbyte''.
Around this time, the band was renamed Crush 40, after discovering that there was a Norwegian rock band already named Sons of Angels.
When asked why he chose "Crush 40", Senoue said, "When we had to pick one, we chose the word we like... 'Crush' is one of them, and Johnny added the number. Crush is the name of
the soda too... that's my favorite!"
Gioeli added that his inspiration for the title was a desire to "crush" his forties, which he was approaching at the time.
Two years after the 2001 release of ''Sonic Adventure 2'', the album ''Crush 40'' was released by
Frontiers Records
Frontiers Music – formerly Frontiers Records – is an Italian record label, predominantly producing hard rock. It was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples.
History
In 1996, Serafino Perugino started working in the m ...
.
The album contained the vocal tracks from ''NASCAR Arcade'' and ''Sonic Adventure 2''.
According to Senoue, Crush 40 is specifically the band of himself and Gioeli, though tracks "It Doesn't Matter" and "Escape from the City" (sung by
Tony Harnell
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
and
Ted Poley
Ted Poley (born January 5, 1964) is an American singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Danger Danger.
Biography
Poley joined New Jersey progressive rock band Prophet as a drummer. They released their first album ...
, respectively) were included on the album. Senoue explained this was done to exhibit these songs to fans.
Recordings for Sega and ''The Best of Crush 40: Super Sonic Songs''
In 2003, Crush 40 composed two new songs entitled "Sonic Heroes" and "What I'm Made Of..." for Sega's ''
Sonic Heroes
is a 2003 3D platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega as part of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Chaos ...
'', the first
multiplatform
In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software r ...
''Sonic'' game.
Both Senoue and Gioeli have called "What I'm Made Of..." their favorite song to perform.
For ''
Shadow the Hedgehog
is a fictional character appearing in Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Shadow was created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa, and first made his debut in ''Sonic Adventure 2'' (2001). Although this was intended to be his only appearan ...
'' in 2005, Crush 40 recorded "I Am... All of Me", as well as "Never Turn Back".
The drums for both songs were recorded by Toru Kawamura.
[''The Best of Crush 40: Super Sonic Songs'' booklet. ]Wave Master
is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
. 2009. Additionally, Crush 40 recorded covers of songs used in 2006's
''Sonic the Hedgehog'', ''
Sonic and the Secret Rings
is a 2007 platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Wii. A Spin-off (media), spin-off from the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it is the first title in the franchise for the system, and follows Sonic the Hedgehog ( ...
'', ''
Sonic Riders
is a 2006 racing video game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in which the player controls characters from the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series on hoverboards. In the game's 16 tracks, the player competes against characters—either control ...
'' and
''Zero Gravity'', and ''
Sonic CD
is a 1993 platform game for the Sega CD developed and published by Sega. The story follows Sonic the Hedgehog as he attempts to save an extraterrestrial body, Little Planet, from Doctor Robotnik. Like other '' Sonic'' games, Sonic runs and ...
''. The band also recorded five original songs and a cover for ''
Sonic and the Black Knight.''
For their first 10 years, Crush 40 never performed live.
In 2008, Crush 40 performed live at the
Tokyo Game Show
, commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. The ...
, with Senoue and Gioeli performing with
backing track
A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live music ...
s. A year later, Senoue revealed to ''
Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' that Crush 40 had two album releases in the works, one of which was a "Best Of" album, due for release in September 2009. He also announced the release of future songs that were not written for video games. ''The Best of Crush 40 – Super Sonic Songs'' was released on November 18, 2009. In addition to compiling various Crush 40 songs from previous games, the album featured a new song, "Is It You,"
and a cover of "
Fire Woman
"Fire Woman" is a song by British rock band the Cult, written by singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy. It was the first single released from their fourth studio album, ''Sonic Temple'', and was subsequently featured on all of the Cult' ...
", a song released by
The Cult
The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's ...
in 1989.
Senoue was also credited as a soloist on the 2009 Hardline album ''
Leaving the End Open
''Leaving the End Open'' is the third studio album by the American rock group Hardline. This is their first album since 2002's '' II''.
The new line up for the album features two new band members, Jamie Brown on bass guitar and Atma Anur on drums ...
''.
''Rise Again'', ''Live!'', ''2 Nights 2 Remember'', and ''Driving Through Forever''
![Crush40LiveTokyo2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Crush40LiveTokyo2012.jpg)
After the 2010 release of ''
Sonic Free Riders
is a motion controlled racing video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game requires the use of Microsoft's Kinect peripheral and was a Kinect launch title in November 2010.
''Sonic Free Riders'' ...
'', Crush 40's contributions to ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' decreased.
Senoue was no longer lead composer on games in the ''Sonic'' series after 2011's ''
Sonic Generations
''Sonic Generations'' is a 2011 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, and Nintendo 3DS. Produced in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, the ...
''.
During the next few years, Crush 40 made more live performances and recordings.
In 2010, Crush 40 performed live at the
Summer of Sonic
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
convention. The next year, Crush 40 recorded a single, "Song of Hope", as inspiration for hope for victims of the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
.
According to Senoue, the song was written for charity, specifically for the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
.
Subsequently, "Song of Hope" and three new songs were released as an
EP called ''Rise Again''. One of the included songs, "Sonic Youth",
pays tribute to Crush 40's fans with numerous references to the band's past songs.
On March 29 and 30, 2012, Crush 40 performed live at Shibuya GUILTY in Tokyo, with
Sonic Team
is a video game developer owned by the Japanese video game company Sega as part of its Sega CS Research and Development No. 2 division. Sonic Team is best known for the long-running '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights ...
producer
Takashi Iizuka
, better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his 33-year career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. He has also worked for Pro Wrestling Noa ...
in the audience. From this concert, performed with Taneda and Kawamura, Crush 40's album ''Live!'' was recorded, and was released on October 3, 2012.
The band also performed at the St. Louis Sonic Boom Festival in August 2013,
and performed additional shows at the
Summer of Sonic
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
convention in 2012 and 2016,
and
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
conventions in 2016 and 2017.
After more live performances at the Tokyo Game Show and Japan Game Music Festival 2013, in 2014 Crush 40 was announced for another two-night performance at Shibuya GUILTY. For the concert, Senoue and Gioeli were joined by Taneda and Katsuji. The concert featured two new songs, as well as a performance of Hardline's "
Love Leads the Way".
Recorded from that performance, ''2 Nights 2 Remember'', Crush 40's second live album, was released on May 13, 2015. It features four additional studio-recorded songs.
In 2018, Senoue was named lead composer for the soundtrack for ''
Team Sonic Racing
''Team Sonic Racing'' is a 2019 kart racing game and a Spin-off (media), spin-off from Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. Controlling one of 15 characters from List of Sonic the Hedgehog characters, the series' cast, players compete in races ...
''.
He was requested to make the game's theme a song by Crush 40. This led to Senoue and Gioeli recording "Green Light Ride" for the game,
Crush 40's first ''Sonic'' game theme in several years.
The song was premiered at
E3 2018, to a stronger reaction than Senoue expected. A short version of the song was made available in December 2018, before the 2019 release of the game itself.
Senoue expressed his joy at being able to record another game theme with Crush 40,
twenty years after Crush 40 began.
Subsequently, Crush 40 released another compilation album, ''Driving Through Forever'', in 2019.
In 2020, Gioeli re-recorded "Song of Hope" with Bulgarian vocalist
Sevi, as a way of reconnecting with fans during the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
.
On June 23, 2021, Sega held a digital concert to honor 30 years of the ''Sonic'' franchise, with Crush 40 as one of the participating acts, alongside the
Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 1995, under the German conductor Friedemann Riehle. The orchestra has since produced many classical and film music recordings, working with labels such as Decca, EMI, Sony BMG and various in ...
and the
Tomoya Ohtani
is a Japanese composer and bassist. He has been playing music with a band since high school, and has also been involved in music and sound activities for theater companies before joining Sega in 1999. He is mainly in charge of music for the '' ...
Band. A live album of the concert was released to digital streaming services in September of the same year.
Musical style and legacy
According to Allegra Frank and Philip Kollar of
''Polygon'', Crush 40 and Senoue have made "some of the most memorable
butt rock tracks from Sonic history (and the history of video games in general)". Writing for
''Vice'', Andy McDonald stated that Crush 40 helped to keep
glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...
alive after
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
had supplanted it as a more popular style of rock music.
Reviewing the album ''Crush 40'', Chris Greening of ''Video Game Music Online'' highlights the hard rock sound and showing of Gioeli's experience in the vocals, stating that "Live & Learn" is "an ecstatic Americana rock anthem featuring Johnny at his best", while also stating the instrumentals are inspired by early 1990s
heavy metal. He calls the album "among the best of the genre in
game music
Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...
".
Gioeli, who is not a
gamer
A gamer is a proactive hobbyist who plays interactive games, especially video games, tabletop role-playing games, and skill-based card games, and who plays for usually long periods of time. Some gamers are competitive, meaning they routinely ...
, described his songwriting process with Senoue for games as being akin to writing a soundtrack for a movie, watching scenes from the game or looking at
storyboard
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...
s. According to Gioeli, "Jun and I have our system—he starts with a musical feeling and sometimes a melody idea and then I go nuts with it! The lyrics do have to be approved for content, but that's it. We have the freedom to write what we feel is the right song for the scene."
He has stated that among his three main projects—Crush 40, Hardline, and performing with
Axel Rudi Pell
Axel Rudi Pell (born 27 June 1960) is a German heavy metal guitarist.
Career
Pell commenced his musical career with Steeler (1984–88) before leaving in 1988 for a solo career. During this time, he has played with such drummers as Jörg Micha ...
—all three are different styles of rock music and he has to set himself in the "right emotions" to perform.
When interviewed about his style and that of the band, Jun Senoue said, "I know what my style is, and I know what my favourite genres of music are. I listen to a lot of metal music, as well as other genres of music, and my inspiration is always there. The style of the music in the game does change, and it gives a great sense of progression... When we got together to write stuff for ''Shadow''
'the Hedgehog'' we found that our fresh ideas were a lot different to the songs we'd written back in 2002 – our sound had changed."
Senoue has stated that the tempo of each song written for a game is based on how it is planned to be used and what would be suitable, but those songs not for a game are what the duo want to perform.
Writing for ''Fanbyte'', Sean Aitchison stated that Crush 40 provided a signature musical style for the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and expanded the musical tastes of ''Sonic'' fans. According to Aitchison, "The band embedded themselves in the memories and hearts of an entire generation of ''Sonic'' fans. Though their contributions to the ''Sonic'' franchise may be small in number, they are massive in impact."
Kofi-Charu Nat Turner's 2008 study of media usage in an American urban middle school listed the band as a common interest within the group studied.
[
]
Discography
Games
Notes
References
{{Authority control
1998 establishments in Japan
Japanese glam metal musical groups
Japanese hard rock musical groups
Musical groups established in 1998
Sonic the Hedgehog
Video game composers
Video game musicians