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Soundtracks & JMusic
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Friday, 28 January 2005 12:22 |
 Here's a little something for fans of the various .hack series... See-Saw, which pairs singer Chiaki Ishikawa with composer Yuki Kajiura, first appeared (to me at least) in the OP/ED themes for .hack//SIGN, before going on to do a number of songs for other .hack spin-offs and other shows. Dream Field takes their .hack songs, adds a few original pieces, and mixes well...
As
usual, title translations courtesy of Babelfish. If your
Japanese
is halfway decent & you can provide accurate translations, please
send them my way...
君がいた物語 ～Dream Field
Mix～ (Kimi ga Ita Monogatari - The Story
Where you Are)
This is a remix of the OP theme to the third
episode
of .hack//Liminality
(an OVA series that accompanied the .hack
Playstation games). Take the original song, remove most of
the accompaniment & add an annoying drum beat & guitar riff,
and you have... something of a mess. Still catchy,
admittedly, but a surfire example that if something isn't broken, you
shouldn't fix it.
黄昏の海 (Tasogare
no Umi - Sea of Twilight)
Another
.hack//Liminality
theme, this time the series ED,
and it's been left untouched. You can almost feel the waves
in
this song - mellow verses give ay to a powerful chorus in an excellent
combination.
Love
The first Noir tune
on the disc, where an acoustic guitar &
violin provide a simple accompaniment to a mellow, veg-out track.
Emerald Green
More .hack music,
this time from .hack//Legend of the
Twilight (ED theme), and what many seem to
consider to be the worst of See-Saw's
contributions to the various
.hack
series. While it's true that it does lack that certain hook,
it's
still an enjoyable, mellow tune. Seems to try for
the same
feel as the
.hack//SIGN ED, but
doesn't quite get there.
あんなに一緒だったのに (Annani
Issho Dattanoni - Although they were Always Together)
A change in tone & a change in show - this is the ED theme to
Gundam SEED, and is
one of my favourite See-Saw
tunes. The various drum rythms in the background of this tune
work wonders for me, and the feel of the song overall has been known to
give me the shivers. Very upbeat in tone, and very
good...
千夜一夜 (Chiya Ichiya -
A Thousand and One Nights)
Back to .hack//Liminality (2nd OP theme), with a quirky tune that's
hard to describe -
a piano sequence that will stick in your head for hours is the
highlight of an already very catchy tune.
月ひとつ (Tsuki Hitotsu -
Month One)
Another slow, almost melancholic track, taken from
Gundam
SEED. The best of the album's
mellow offerings.
夏の手紙 (Natsu no Tegami
- Letter of Summer)
Clocking in at over 7 minutes. this is by far the longest track on the
album, but doesn't really reward you for the listening time.
Another veg-out track, but without enough of a hook to make it
worthwhile...
Obsession
An extended remix of the
.hack//SIGN OP theme,
but
without the TV versions manic pace - the upeat rythm is replaced with a
lifeless beat and long sections of song where nothing really
happens. Not on my list of favourite songs, especially given
how
good the TV version was.
記憶 (Kioku -
Memory)
More
.hack//Liminality
music (4th OP), and one of the darkest
feeling songs on the track - verses with simple accompaniment carry a
real sense of foreboding. Simple but effective.
Jumping Fish
Another simple piano track, although to my ears the vocals sound a bit
strained here, which spoils the appeal slightly. Nice tune,
though.
優しい夜明け (Yasashii
Yoake - Gentle Dawn)
Finishing off the .hack collection here, with the
.hack//SIGN ED theme,
and another of my favourite
See-Saw
songs. The chorus in particular gets me every time.
Indio
The final track on the album, lifted from
Noir, has an almost
religious, choral feel to
it, especially at the beginning. Picks up about half-way
through
and develops quite a powerful feel - it's quite long at just short of
seven minutes, and needs to listed through completely to really be
appreciated.
.hack fans will love this - Yuki
Kajiura's soundtrack was one of the highlights of .hack//SIGN, while
the OP/ED themes done by See-Saw were all excellent songs in their own
right. The other 'soundtrack' songs, while taken from shows I
have seen, hadn't made enough of an impression on me at the time to be
memorable (with the exception of Annani Issho Dattanoni,
which remains a firm favourite of mine) - they're appealing enough, but
lack that 'something' that would make them great. The weakest
track is Jumping Fish, which sadly doesn't show the real potential of the Ishikawa / Kajiura combination.
Overall, though, an album that's well worth checking out. While
most anime fans will have heard most of it before, it's good to have it
all presented in one convenient collection. Recommended.
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