[REVIEW] Xenogears Original Soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda
Album Title: Xenogears Original Sound Track
Composed by: Yasunori Mitsuda Released: March 1, 1998
Published by: Digicube (Catalog number SSCX-10013)
The Xenogears' soundtrack has definitely had an impact on me. The melody of Gathering Stars in the Night Sky/Flight is simply one of the most beautiful refrains you will ever hear. Emotions and Star of Tears share the same melody, another wonderful one. I don't know, but to me, Yasunori Mitsuda creates the best melodies and character themes out of all the videogame composers, and perhaps even the classical composers, I have ever heard.
My first contact with Mitsuda was in Chrono Trigger, like most other video game players. His score brought a new life to the game after I finished it. His primary contributions, the soundtrack of the games in the Chrono scores, had shown the strength of his work. The main themes of each Chrono game: the unforgettable Chrono Trigger theme and the emotional Radical Dreamers/Chrono Cross theme (played to perfection in the track Life and superbly vocalised by Noriko Mitose in Radical Dreamers ~ Unstolen Gem) - all of them simply have some of the best manipulation of musical notes ever.
After a long while, I finally decided to get Xenogears' soundtrack. My high expectations for the soundtrack were completely shattered when Star of Tears came on. The second disc's Gathering Stars in the Night Sky/Flight tune gave me goosebumps - in a good way. Despite the short length of this soundtrack, Xenogears' OST packs quite a lot of must-listens in it. Poor tracks are few and far between in this score, and some of the themes are just so beautiful. One of my favourite videogame soundtracks of all time.
| Disc One | |||
| 1 | Light From The Netherworld | Xenogears' OST starts with an epic track that goes through several phases and tunes. The song begins in oppressive territory, and an ominous feel. There's even a choir at about 2:20 and at the end of the song. At about 4:00, it enters a more melodic phase, for a very short while. An excellent start to an excellent overall soundtrack. | 9/10 |
| 2 | Star of Tears | Very well done vocalised song with Irish singer Joanne Hoggs's beautiful voice as the star. The track feels Celtic, and has a typical verse-chorus-verse song structure. This song has grown on me over time and now receives a perfect score. This is a must-listen! | 10/10! |
| 3 | Bonds of Sea and Fire | Although others have said how impressive this track is, it really did not do anything much for me. It does not stand out too much, as well. | 6.5/10 |
| 4 | My Village Is Number One | Upbeat town theme, and the title of this track is the best "town" song title, ever! A cute, lighthearted wind instrument-led ditty. | 8/10 |
| 5 | The Valley Where Wind Is Born | Lighthearted song with some sweet rattle-like percussion in the background. | 7.5/10 |
| 6 | Faraway Promise | Soft music box melody that is rather common in Yasunori Mitsuda's soundtracks. Reminds me of Chrono Trigger's music box song, coincidentally called "Far Off Promise". Ran out of names? | 7/10 |
| 7 | Steel Giant | Fast-paced action music, the first "real" action music on the soundtrack. This track starts off heavy and turns into a high-pitched woodwind part for about 3 seconds before slamming the drums again. | 7.5/10 |
| 8 | Forest of the Black Moon | This track starts off very slowly, but do not let it deceive you. Its main melody is very good, and fits well as an ambient track. | 7.5/10 |
| 9 | Shattering Egg of Dreams | An absolutely beautiful melody is found in this track. A soft opening soon transitions into the main melody played by several wind instruments. Wonderful. | 9/10 |
| 10 | Back to Sleep | Typical sleep theme. | - |
| 11 | Dazil ~ City of Burning Sands | This track is exotic and makes you feel that you're in an Arabic desert city like the title states. Some very sweet ethnic instruments feature in this track. | 8.5/10 |
| 12 | Emotions | Easily one of my favourite tracks. This overworld theme carries an extremely lush melody that is shared with Star of Tears. This track should not be missed. | 9.5/10 |
| 13 | Grahf, Emperor of Darkness | A track that outright shouts "EVIL!". Theme of the main antagonist in Xenogears, Yasunori Mitsuda does well to carry the entire evil aura around this track. | 7.5/10 |
| 14 | Fuse | Action track that is a little too slow-paced for my liking. Not too special. | 6/10 |
| 15 | Leftovers of the Dreams of the Strong | This track starts off with a regal feel, and shifts to a more melodic woodwind-led section starting at around 1:40. Good. | 8/10 |
| 16 | The Treasure Which Cannot Be Stolen | A soft, soothing track. It starts with a harp, then moves to a piano solo, before having the strings work its way into the song. | 8.5/10 |
| 17 | Aveh, The Ancient Dance | This track has the same tune which is heard in Leftovers of the Dreams of the Strong (2nd section) and Bonds of Sea and Fire. A Scottish version of that theme. | 7/10 |
| 18 | Invasion | Not a stand-out, but good ambient music with some interesting sound effects in the background. | 6.5/10 |
| 19 | Stage of Death | From my 10-minute shot at Xenogears (I'll get to playing it...really soon), this track is the battle theme for the game. Percussion-heavy like most battle songs, but with string instruments to share the limelight. | 7.5/10 |
| 20 | In A Dark Sleep | The Game Over theme. A piano-accompanied string melody. | 7/10 |
| 21 | Singing Of The Gentle Wind | Soft, melodic track that does not really stand out as well. When you do listen to it though, it is very good. | 8.5/10 |
| 22 | The Wounded Shall Advance Into The Light | Church-like choral theme. Scratch that, this one completely reminds me of those holy songs. | 6.5/10 |
| 23 | Lost... Broken Shards | The same melody heard in Shattered Egg of Dreams. A slow piano solo with a violin accompanying it. Pretty good, short and sweet. | 8/10 |
| 24 | Thames, Man Of The Sea | Starts off sounding action-packed and royal, then goofs off at about 1:00, slowly changing to a soft woodwind section before the loop. Quite a nice track to listen to. | 7.5/10 |
| 25 | The Blue Traveler | The tune of this song sounds great. After an energetic start, this track's tune becomes string-led, but the loop does not fit too well. Other than that minor gripe, this is definitely one of the better songs on this soundtrack. | 8.5/10 |
Disc 2 has the more sombre tracks from the soundtrack, but includes one of the best stretches of music in the four back-to-back songs, "Gathering Stars in the Night Sky", "Tears of Stars, Hearts of People", "Flight" and "Wings". Despite this, disc 2 is a poorer disc overall, and the disc almost ends in an unimpressive way, before the vocal track Small Two of Pieces gives Xenogears' OST a marvellous conclusion.
| Disc Two | |||
| 1 | Ship of Regret and Sleep | This song is led by a harpischord with a choir. Not too much to my liking. | 6.5/10 |
| 2 | The Jaws of Ice | An ambient track, not interesting at all. | 4/10 |
| 3 | Knight of Fire | This track reminds me of the battle theme. Very similar, except with a part with a voice muttering something several times. Of course, this would be the boss battle music of Xenogears. | 7/10 |
| 4 | June Mermaid | A melodic song, soft and probably what would generally be thought of as a "sad" song. Quite draggy though. | 7.5/10 |
| 5 | Shevat - The Wind Is Calling | This is very, very similar to Chrono Trigger's Corridor of Time. Melodic, very nice choice of instruments and overall a very good track. | 9/10 |
| 6 | The Sky, Clouds and You | Cute little song, reminds me a little of a waltz. | 7/10 |
| 7 | Gathering Stars in the Night Sky | Very sweet song. There's a very nice string section which I especially like from 0:13 to 0:58. A wind instrument then takes over for a while, before going back to the strings. One of the best on the soundtrack. | 9.5/10 |
| 8 | Tears of the Stars, Hearts of the People | A strings-based song. This track keeps in tune with disc two's generally more sombre tone and is very good. | 9/10 |
| 9 | Flight | Wow. This track starts with some fast string play, then moves on to the tune heard in Gathering Stars in the Night Sky, with orchestral instrumentation. Amazing, amazing song, taking a very sweet tune and transforming it into one god-awesome track. | 10/10! |
| 10 | Wings | Another majestic track in the vein of Flight, another wonderful song. This song has the same tune as Disc 1, tracks 3, 15 and 17. The best out of them all. | 9/10 |
| 11 | Solaris - Eden of Heaven | Goofy track that reminds me of Optimism from the Chrono Cross OST in terms of "feel". Silly little song. | 8/10 |
| 12 | Back to Sleep | Another sleep track. | - |
| 13 | The One Who Is Torn Apart | This track reminds me of Lavos' Theme from Chrono Trigger. Basically, bland and boring repeating tunes by that high pitched thing the entire track. Some other variations and accompaniment are introduced later on, but this track is still boring as hell. | 4/10 |
| 14 | Pray for the People's Joy | A harpischord or organ solo of The Wounded Shall Advance Into The Light, without the vocals. The melody of that theme can be heard more clearly in this version. | 7/10 |
| 15 | Omen | This track uses the same tune as The One Who Is Torn Apart, except much better. Foreboding and oppressive, this track does a good job at conveying the feel of an omen. | 7/10 |
| 16 | Awakening | Action track, does not go down too well with me. Again, a bit too slowly paced. | 6/10 |
| 17 | The One Who Bares Fangs at God | Some eclectic instrumentation opens up this track that will repeat throughout the entire track. There's a choir in the second half of the track. Although a weird combination, it's actually pretty inventive as a whole. | 7.5/10 |
| 18 | The Beginning and The End | It's a choir! Pure voices, sounds OK, but might not be to the taste of others. Personally, I didn't like this track a lot although it is arranged well. I wonder how those singers can hold their voice so damn long. | 6/10 |
| 19 | Small Two of Pieces - Restored Shards | A very good vocal song, again sung by Joanne Hoggs. An electric guitar kicks in at the second half providing some nice instrumentation. Wonderful way to end the score. | 9/10 |
And with Small Two of Pieces, the entire soundtrack ends. Was it a good experience listening to the soundtrack? Definitely. Should you get this? Definitely.
Final Score: 92/100
posted by serados @ 9:22:00 pm
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