Crush 40

Crush 40 is a hard rock band made up of Japanese guitarist and composer Jun Senoue and American singer Johnny Gioeli. The band made most of the music for the Sonic the Hedgehog games in the 2000s.

Senoue has worked as a composer for Sega since 1993. While he was preparing music for Sonic Adventure (1998), he asked Gioeli to sing the theme song, "Open Your Heart". The two also made the music for NASCAR Arcade together, under the name Sons of Angels. That music came out in Japan as the album Thrill of the Feel (2000). Senoue and Gioeli went on to make music for Sonic games and their own projects.

Crush 40 has released two studio albums, two live albums, two compilations, an EP, and single songs. Most of these came out on Sega's Wave Master label. Their style of hard rock, which some people see as a continuation of glam rock, has earned a loyal group of fans among Sonic fans.

History

After finishing college, Jun Senoue was hired by Sega in 1993 to write music for video games. His first project for the Sonic the Hedgehog series was Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994). He also worked on Dark Wizard, Sonic 3D Blast, and Sega Rally 2. For Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition, he worked with Eric Martin of Mr. Big on the main theme, "Sons of Angels." In 1998, Senoue contacted singer Johnny Gioeli while working on Sonic Adventure. Together they recorded "Open Your Heart." Senoue liked Gioeli's band Hardline. He had connected with Gioeli through Doug Aldrich, the guitarist for Whitesnake. They later worked together again on songs for NASCAR Arcade. In 2000, the band released Thrill of the Feel in Japan, published by Victor Entertainment. For Sonic Adventure 2, they recorded "Live & Learn," and Gioeli wrote the lyrics. The band changed its name to Crush 40 after they found a Norwegian rock band already called Sons of Angels. Two years after Sonic Adventure 2 came out in 2001, the album Crush 40 was released by Frontiers Records.

In 2003, Crush 40 wrote "Sonic Heroes" and "What I'm Made Of..." for Sonic Heroes. It was the first multiplatform Sonic game, meaning it came out on more than one kind of system. In October 2008, the band performed live for the first time at the Tokyo Game Show. In 2010, Crush 40 performed at the Summer of Sonic convention. In 2011, they recorded "Song of Hope" to help people affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The song was made for charity, and the money went to the Red Cross. Senoue stopped being the lead composer for Sonic games after Sonic Generations in 2011. In 2018, he became the lead composer for Team Sonic Racing, and Crush 40 recorded its theme, "Green Light Ride." In February 2024, Gioeli confirmed that "Live & Learn" would be used in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In December 2024, he filed a lawsuit against Sega of America about the song's use. On August 28, 2025, the lawsuit was dismissed, and the court ruled in favor of Sega.

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 songs in Sonic history. In Vice, Andy McDonald wrote that the band helped keep glam rock alive after grunge became the more popular style of rock music. Chris Greening of Video Game Music Online praised the album Crush 40 for its hard rock sound and Gioeli's singing. He said the instruments were inspired by heavy metal from the early 1990s. He called the album one of the best of its kind in game music.

Gioeli is not a gamer. He said that writing songs for games with Senoue is like writing a movie soundtrack. They often watch game scenes or look at storyboards to get ideas. Senoue said his inspiration comes from many kinds of music, especially metal. He also said the band's sound changed over the years. Writing for Fanbyte, Sean Aitchison said that Crush 40 gave the Sonic series a signature style and made a lasting impression on fans. Gioeli also performs with Axel Rudi Pell. He says each of his main projects has a different style of rock.

Band members

Johnny Gioeli has sung with the band since 1998. Jun Senoue has played lead guitar since the same year. Takeshi Taneda has played bass since 2001, and Akht. has played drums since 2019. Other drummers who were part of the band over the years include Naoto Shibata, Hirotsugu Homma, Katsuji Kirita, Mark Schulman, Toru Kawamura, and Bobby Jarzombek. Gianni Pontillo is listed as a co-vocalist in 2026. The band has also worked with guest singers. Tony Harnell sang "It Doesn't Matter" from the Sonic Adventure era, and Ted Poley sang "Escape From The City."

Discography

Games