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| Patrick Gann |
Check out the news update for Pat's biggest soundtrack-explanation/rant to date.
09.01.09 - 8:35 PM
It's been nearly a month since our last soundtracks update. Shame on me. I know. I come bearing gifts of detailed reviews and audio samples (yes, still in RealAudio format...) in hopes that your anger might subside. Let's see how it goes down.
First up, Chrono Trigger is back in the spotlight. The DS incarnation of the game resurrected interest in the soundtrack, and now Square Enix has printed their own four disc (3 CD, 1 DVD) version of the soundtrack. It's more complete than any previous print. And it's also one of the best soundtracks in the history of VGM (that's not opinion: it's factual, in the same way that "Falcom dominates game audio" is an indisputable truth).
Another high-profile item is the bonus soundtrack that came with all copies of the recently-shipped Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy. Once again, we can thank NISA for sweet bonus soundtracks that consumers get freely with the game. We can also thank them for managing to take a two disc soundtrack, fit it into one disc, and not skip any of the prominent pieces from the full OST.
NEXT! Back in June, Atlus released Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor for the Nintendo DS. Of course, they butchered the game's name by improperly throwing on the SMT prefix for the sake of name-brand association. The original title, Megami Ibunroku Devil Survivor (that prefix being the same that the original Persona had) was released much earlier this year in Japan. And the music-publishing giant Lantis put out the soundtrack, which is by someone other than Shoji Meguro (gasp!). Don't worry, it's still hip music.
Probably the least expected of any of today's reviews, we have Tales of Legendia "Voice of Character Quest 2." Yes, it's a drama CD. But as a bonus, the publishers tacked on a second CD of previously-unreleased music from the game. Having played the game recently and quickly realizing that the game's only redeeming factor was its music, I decided to scrounge up all the music for the game I could find. And this is where the "unreleased" stuff was hiding. Now we know where it is. And you can get it too, my dear, friendly neighborhood soundtrack collector!
Hot off the heels of that Super Robot Taisen K plagiarism news, we have a review for what was the only Super Robot Taisen music CD that had someone not made it into our archives. Yes, I am talking about Koji Hayama's "I Won't Lose! Gunleon" EP from the EGG MUSIC record label. You want a hefty dose of silly music? You got it right here!
Alternately, you can find more silly music on the Touch Detective OST, reviewed by Neal Chandran. Man, this was one hard item to find. As a matter of fact, I had to beg Ms. Kahori Ezaki (of VGMWorld.com to order some copies just so RPGFan could get one. There are now a few available at her shop, so you might want to hop on it so you don't have to go through the painful process of ordering directly from publisher "Success" (via their Japanese website) to get the darn thing.
Neal also has a review for the "Infinity+Integral perfect Vocals" CD (music from Never7, Ever17, Remember11, and 12Riven). Neal's always been a KID fan, so of course he wouldn't pass up this fine collection of music. And there are plenty of new, original tunes on the disc, thanks to all of the PSP reissues requiring new theme songs.
And finally, I dug up some pieces of ancient history from the archives to bring soundtrack reviews for Chaos Seed and Energy Breaker. These two Taito games, both for Super Famicom (import-only), come from the same team that created the Lufia (Estpolis) franchise. Yasunori Shiono and a few other fine composers wrote great music for these games. Both albums reviewed here are extremely old, and you'll probably never even have the chance of owning them. Fortunately, more complete versions of these soundtracks were printed in Scitron's "Game Sound Legend Series." Those complete, multi-disc soundtracks have not yet been reviewed. They will come at a later point in time. DEAL WITH IT.
*breathes deeply*
Okay, so that's the entirety of today's update. Nine reviews in total, not too shabby. But we'd like to leave you with a sneak preview. And we're not going to beat around the bush here. There's a tight schedule we're holding to for the month of September.
The next update will be for this massive box set. It will be a standalone update. Give me some time to prepare all the goods on this. It will be a major ordeal.
After that, before the month of September ends, expect reviews for the Blood of Bahamut OST, the Dragon Quest IX OST, and (if I decide to crack the whip) a review of the Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou vs King Abaddon soundtrack. And that's just the big-name new stuff. Plenty of obscure little treats will be sprinkled in as well, primarily for your enjoyment.
So, uh... enjoy!
