Inzaghi's record reviews

[Inzaghi]

Since Etrian Odyssey is so near to my heart, I collect soundtracks for the game. Official releases, preorder bonuses, doujin CDs--if it has Etrian music on it, I own it (or I want it). I probably have more Etrian Odyssey albums than Final Fantasy ones at this point. So I figured I'd start writing them up here, beginning with...

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_etrian1-preorder.jpg
Sekaiju no Meikyuu Soundtrack Prototype
performed by: Yuzo Koshiro

For the first review, let's go all the way back to early 2007 and the Japanese release of Sekaiju no Meikyuu/Etrian Odyssey. As is de rigeur for major Japanese game releases, there was a gift offered as an incentive to preorder--in this case, a 7-track CD of "prototype" tracks created by Yuzo Koshiro while composing Etrian Odyssey's score. None of them appeared in the game in this form, and not many of the CDs were produced, which makes this disc a pretty rare collector's item for EO fans.

The prototype soundtrack showed why Koshiro was the perfect musician to score a game that deliberately evoked gameplay concepts most other creators had thrown to the wayside. Though Koshiro was one of the first to bring an orchestral style to game music with his seminal Actraiser score, his preferences in actual instrumentation and samples remain lo-fi. In the prototype soundtrack, you can hear the songs as he was working with his favored PCM and FM-88 samples, a method that would ensure faithful reproductions of his songs on the equally lo-fi DS sound hardware.

The clearest difference, and the most fun to compare against the final product, is track 3, Dungeon Prototype II. Using a combination of PCM and FM samples, Koshiro had clearly already worked out the basic melody for the Emerald Grove's theme, and you can hear it here in a stripped-down version without the percussion and bells that would be added later. While the PCM/FM sketch is nice, it's more of a curiosity for fans--who probably already have the actual soundtrack with the fuller sound.

Apart from that, the disc has two other dungeon prototype songs. The first (PCM) is a jauntier and livelier than anything used in the game; it's as if the director asked Koshiro to go in a more somber, atmospheric direction after hearing it. The other (FM) sounds like it may have been an alternate for the Sandy Barrens--it has a dry, twangy beat behind the the melody that would have made it a good fit for a desert environment.

The other three songs on the disc are all battle themes. Battle Prototype (PCM) has a loftier sound than the harsh, driving battle theme used in the game. It feels less urgent, and might have been good in most other RPGs where every battle wasn't such a big deal. The other two battle themes (both FM) aren't listed as Prototypes but rather as Outtakes. The first one sounds like an "emergency" type battle theme, where you're fighting under desperate circumstances... it may have been meant to kick in at critical moments, or may have been meant for battles that were also cut from the game. The second one is a more normal-sounding theme that might have been meant as a third track, whereas the final game has only two "normal" battle themes.

As I said earlier, this disc is best appreciated by someone who's a big fan of the game. The music isn't bad, but it's more fun to speculate about where and how it might have been used than to listen to over and over again on its own. (Though that might just be my own preference--personally, I'm not big on the lo-fi PCM sound, and I'd rather listen to any of my other EO discs. They're just not as harsh-sounding.)

Next: the official OST.

[Arjuna]

Doujin's.. I knew it.

[Sayckeone]

To be honest, Inzaghi, as much as I like EO's soundtrack, I like the music on this disc much more. Overall it feels much more nostalgic to me. Some tracks even directly remind me of past music he's done.

[Inzaghi]

To be honest, Inzaghi, as much as I like EO's soundtrack, I like the music on this disc much more. Overall it feels much more nostalgic to me. Some tracks even directly remind me of past music he's done.

I'd agree with that, but to be honest, if I wanted music that reminded me of his past work, I'd listen to his past work. I like the main soundtrack better because it's new. (And for the reasons stated above.) But it's all good, really.

Doujin's.. I knew it.

"Doujin" doesn't mean "porn." It just means it's an unlicensed work by amateur creators.

[Tari]

Are any of the doujin CDs actually worthwhile?

And I find both the music here and in the official OST worth listening to, but the OST definitely has better staying power in an actual playlist (though the second pre-order bonus disc is the best, as far as I'm concerned, since I'm a fan of piano tracks).

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_etrian-soundtrack.jpg
Etrian Odyssey Original Soundtrack
performed by: Yuzo Koshiro

So here it is, the real base of everything else that'll come afterward. Not a lot of reviewers of the game bothered to mention the score, unless it was to snark on Koshiro's deliberately retro sample choice--pretty much all of them ignored the actual quality of the composition and songs.

What I like about the score is the tension between the dungeon exploration and the battle themes. The themes for the different strata are varied, but all quiet and subdued. Even the menace in the "secret" stratum's theme is slow-paced and relaxed. The organ blare does eventually take over the theme, but never in a sharp, anxious way.

And it's the exception. The other dungeon themes are, by turns, welcoming and hopeful, soothing and mysterious, slightly mournful, and exotic. They make the Yggdrasil Labyrinth seem like someplace it's interesting to be, arousing the player's curiosity to keep exploring. Until the sixth stratum, none of the dungeon themes make it feel like a dangerous place, just a strange one. The most interesting piece to me is the fifth stratum, because it does begin with a more anxious passage, but that parallels what's actually going on in the game. The initial shock of the "alien" gives way to a more homey, even celebratory mood.

Then there's the battle music, which is the exact opposite. Even the default battle theme of the first half of the game begins with very sharp bursts, like a warning siren, and doesn't change in mood throughout the piece. When a battle starts in Etrian Odyssey, the music is letting you know you're in real danger. Interestingly, the FOE battles--which are the real threats in the game--don't start that way. There, Koshiro lets the menace build, as if in the presence of a threat powerful enough to afford to be able to toy with the party before moving in for the kill.

And of course on top of that you have the boss themes, which are uniformly excellent. The main boss battle and "final" boss both start with a passage emphasizing their majesty and power before getting down to the business of gettin the player's blood pumped for an epic battle. The regular boss theme is much more stirring, with its great middle section, as compared to the "final" boss theme's emphasis on just how powerful the enemy is and how boned your party's about to be. (Then there are the two "secret" boss themes, which are both more heavy on the synths than the organ, emphasizing the strangeness of the final stratum and the enemies you fight there.)

The dungeon and battle themes make up the bulk of the soundtrack, with a couple of dreamy town themes and one or two "event" themes rarely used in the dungeon. (There are also a pair of ending themes. One is okay... the other is not.) Overall, I think it's a testament to Koshiro's skill that the game gave him basically two situations to work with--"exploration" and "in combat"--and he managed to create so many fine variations on those themes. Whether or not EO suits one's taste in RPGs, there's no denying that it has one of the better scores on the DS.

Next: F! O! E!

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_iosys-toybox.jpg

Sekaiju no Omocha-hako (Yggdrasil's Toybox)
performed by: Iosys (http://www.iosysos.com)

Through the power of Internet memes, Iosys and the video for their rendition of the FOE theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM5MMqNgUzM) may be more well-known than the game itself. (True story: at Anime Expo 2007, held a month after the game's English release, I bumped into a guy dressed as an orange FOE ball. "Oh, an Etrian Odyssey fan!" I exclaimed. "What's Etrian Odyssey?" he asked.) But if only half of the people who've seen that video know that it's related to a video game, probably fewer than half of those know that it was meant to promote their doujin arrange CD of the game's music. So it was kind of a failure in that regard.

You can't say the same for the actual double-disc (!) album, though. Though its size and scope are ambitious--25 tracks across both discs, compared to most fan albums that clock in at around 7-10 tracks--and its musical inspiration is all over the place, it all holds together surprisingly well. The "Toybox" part of the title is apt; without any overriding theme or style, each new song is a fun experiment in arranging Etrian's music.

Indeed, the orthodox arrangements are less common on this album than you'd think. It starts off conventionally with straightforward arrangements of the title music and Explorers Guild theme, then starts to get strange with a laid-back, Caribbean take on the nighttime town theme, complete with "woh-wohhh" backing vocals. From there, it goes into a version of the main battle theme driven by wailing guitars, leading into the ever-popular FOE song. After a couple of battle themes, it makes sense to go into the victory theme, but what you might not expect is a simple chiptune arrangement--even simpler than Koshiro's originals--that morphs into a funk piece.

There's plenty more in that vein across the two discs, like a drum 'n' bass rendition of the "danger" theme, a (pretty credible!) J-pop vocal cover of the secondary battle music, a weird attempt at a rap over the town theme, and more. It plays to the strengths of an album created by a circle of doujin artists: first, it draws on a large, creative talent pool, and second, it's willing to explore directions that an official arranged album wouldn't.

But if I've given the impression so far that that Yggdrasil's Toybox is a gimmicky collection of novelty arrangements through and through, let me back up. Even when an arrangement goes in a strange or unexpected direction, it's skillfully thought-out and executed... apart from that awkward rap, but they can't all be winners. And about half the themes have well-done, traditional symphonic arrangements that often still manage to surprise.

To use one example, the regular boss theme has the same basic form but switches up some of the instrumentation to good effect. It's less heavy on the organ, which is immediately noticeable with the stringed intro, but the real surprise is the lone trumpet representing the melody. It recontextualizes the song, with the trumpet representing the outmatched adventurers pitted against the foreboding mass of cymbals, strings, and organ in the role of the boss. That's the kind of thought and attention Iosys put into (nearly) every song on the album; even the jokier pieces are still well-crafted.

Due to its variety and craftsmanship, this is up there with the best Etrian Odyssey soundtracks for me. It's a shame most of those people who saw the FOE video didn't dig a little deeper, because they don't know what they're missing.

Next: The official "super arrange" album

[Sayckeone]

So would it be safe to say that this is a sort of remix album of EO's music?

[Inzaghi]

It's split about evenly between remixes and rearrangements, yeah. I'm only making the distinction because later on, I'll get to a doujin album that's entirely remixes.

[Tari]

It's a shame most of those people who saw the FOE video didn't dig a little deeper, because they don't know what they're missing.

Guilty. Would've bought the album if I'd known about it, but I've no idea where to go, and I certainly don't want to drop a bundle for it on eBay, if it's even there.

[Kakizaki]

Is there anything particularly special about the cases? Any neat art or anything else?

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_etrian-arranged.jpg
Etrian Odyssey Super Arrange Version
performed by: Norihiko Hibino w/Takahide Ayuzawa, Yo####aka Suzuki, Takahiro Izutani, Michio Okamiya, Hiroshi Miyauchi, Rebecca Evans

Now the parade of EO arranged albums is truly on, with the officially licensed "Super Arrange" CD as today's subject. Although... it's curious to examine what "officially licensed" means with respect to this album. The preorder CD and official soundtrack had new art created specifically for them by character designer Yuji Himukai--while this one reuses existing game assets for its cover. The other two discs had previously unheard versions of Yuzo Koshiro's music, in the form of outtakes and original PCM/FM versions--this one has no involvement from Koshiro, who's known for his dislike of arrange CDs. The other two discs were featured on the Japanese EO blog--not this one. Even the font in the "Super Arrange" portion of the logo looks kind of half-baked and chintzy.

In Koshiro's absence, the arrangement supervisor for the album is Norihiko Hibino, best known for composing the score for Metal Gear Solid and the parts of its sequels that Harry Gregson-Williams didn't handle. Each track sees him paired with a collaborator (I think so, anyway--I'm a little fuzzy on this point) from an assortment of musicians and composers almost famous enough for you to have heard of. There's Hiroshi Miyauchi, the less-well-known counterpart to Takenobu Mitsuyoshi from Sega's old sound team; Michio Okamiya, one of the Black Mages that isn't Nobuo Uematsu; and so on.

All of the above is to drive home the point that this album is almost really good, but when all is said and done, can't escape the shadow of Koshiro's originals. With a pair of notable exceptions I'll get to later, the arrangements just don't have the originality or flair of Iosys's takes. Certainly none of the tracks is an embarassment--you won't find any painfully botched raps here--but as much as anything, that's because it's hard to go wrong when you stick this closely to excellent source material.

With a fuller sound, though, that tension I mentioned in the earlier review gets lost. As an example, the first stratum theme piles on the woodblocks, strings, acoustic guitar, and saxophone until the serenity and calm that marked the original is lost in a miasma of vaguely stirring strains. The Super Arrange rendition of the main battle theme is fine, but once they reach the alternate battle theme heard in the second half of the game, the intensity and threat are lost--it practically sounds like a more uptempo dungeon theme. The stark bells of the fifth stratum theme give way to a tinkly piano, downplaying the contrast between the intro and the main portion of the song.

Fortunately, all is not lost. Rebecca Evans, a vocalist who apparently wrote her own lyrics for the CD, contributes a pair of gorgeous vocal takes on two of the town themes. (Both of which, it should be noted, stray far enough away from the originals as far as tempo and instrumentation that it's not immediately obvious which song she's covering. It pretty much says it all that these are among the best on the album. All cover artists live or die by their ability to make the song their own.) And Michio Okamiya, perhaps unfairly maligned by yours truly above, does a lot to redeem the somewhat lackluster ending theme from the original, while Takahiro Izutani assists on a fine, jittery version of the secret boss theme. There's certainly material here to appreciate.

In the end, though, there are enough drab tracks that one could see why Atlus didn't make a bigger production of this one. If it's all you can get your hands on--and it may well be, given the general ephemerality of doujin albums--it'll do. But only just.

Next: It's on now.

[Futanari]

Good reviews, but why all the suspense about Etrian Odyssey's release in the US? :(

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_gcfactory-sekaijufight.jpg
Sekaiju FIGHT - Ready Go!
performed by Golden City Factory (http://www.gcfactory.sakura.ne.jp/)

After the sprawling Yggdrasil's Toybox, doujin circles began to limit themselves to particular themes for their takes on Etrian Odyssey's music. As the title for Golden City Factory's release implies, this is all battle music, all the time.

It doesn't cover all of the game's battle themes, mind you, and it strays a little from the topic by including an arrangement of the title theme as the first track, but otherwise this is a smart strategy: do one thing and do it well. After getting their pleasant, string-heavy title arrangement out of the way, they get right down to business.

Without the budget or clout to get a real live orchestra to play their arrangements, it sounds like Golden City Factory turned to their home music trackers, and the result sounds like what might have happened if Koshiro had written Etrian Odyssey's music shortly after his Actraiser score. The samples have that ineffable SNES quality to them, heard most clearly in the main battle theme, which comes complete with endearingly lo-fi "chorus" voices in the background.

Within those limitations, they really make the battle themes shine. Their take on the FOE theme may be my favorite in the way that it plays up the tension between flute, horns, and synth as far as it'll go, until it's almost Jaws-like in the sheer animal panic it evokes. It's very off-putting at first, but really grows on you.

From there, they go directly to the main boss theme, another standout amongst the various versions of this song. They aren't as daring with their instrument choices as Iosys, but their rendition perfectly replicates the majesty and serious threat of the bosses as heard in the original theme, with a particularly thoughtful use of bells alongside the main melody.

It's after this that the soundtrack starts to falter a little bit--not in its execution, which remains solid, but in its song choice. From here, this CD of nothing but battle themes skips right past the fun possibilities in the alternate battle theme, right past the last boss battle theme (!?), straight to a little-heard theme from the fifth Stratum and the two boss battles of the sixth Stratum. They're certainly unique choices, but for someone coming to the CD specifically to hear rearranged Etrian battle music, it's strange to leave out two of the best tracks. It's possible they thought the pieces had been adequately covered by other groups, but it still seems like a strange decision.

As mentioned, the actual execution of these last three songs is still good. These are much more heavily electronic than the other, more traditional pieces, but they're still fuller-sounding than the OST versions without completely losing the point.

And... that's that. Short review, but then, it's a short album. I like it, though, and I come back to it often. I recommend it... although, as with most of the other doujin albums I'll be covering here, it's hard to find now.

Next: Mood music.

[Arjuna]

I actually love this album's Emerald Grove better compared to the finished one in the game.

[Inzaghi]

Which album's? The prototype one?

[Arjuna]

Yes the prototype, it sounds like it came straight from a Sega Genesis port of EO, I just love it.

[MiNo]

Thanks for your posts, Inzaghi.
When I first heard it, I fell in love with EO OST. I possess the original one and the Super Arrange Version.
By any chance do you know where I can find the rest ?

[Tari]

You can find some of the doujin soundtracks on auction sites. I'm not sure they're available for purchase normally anymore.

The limited pre-release soundtracks go to people who pre-ordered the game in Japan. You can probably find those on auction sites, too, but the prices are jacked way up and you run the risk of buying damaged goods. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure the discs say "Not for sale" (or something) on their backs.

[Matman]

Insightful input, Inzaghi. Listening to this type of music just really get the creative juices flowing!

I actually have couple doujin CDs of the series. I'm surprised there are many as there are, tbh!
One is Kurenai no Jukai ("club style") and Jukai no Senritsu (metal tracks).

I was thinking of getting Sekaiju FIGHT, along with Yggdrasill Leaf and Yggdrasika/Aether, but I wasn't even sure that the last one was part of the series.

If you knew about any of those two it'd be very helpful!

[Inzaghi]

I have all those, and I'll get to reviewing them eventually. (Yggdrasika is up next.) The only two I know of that I don't have in my possession are the Silly Walker EPs, and those are en route.

[DarkShear]

I have all those, and I'll get to reviewing them eventually. (Yggdrasika is up next.) The only two I know of that I don't have in my possession are the Silly Walker EPs, and those are en route.

You sir/maddam, are an addict. Keep it up.

[Maxine MagicFox]

<_< I wanna be an addict, too!! I probably love the game ten times more than him. But some of us don't have the money or the knowledge where to buy these sort of things (and how to find out they are in existance, lol).

[Arjuna]

I doubt you are, he is the one who actually worked on it. >.>

[Maxine MagicFox]

but... if I had the knowledge! haha, no, you are probably right. *Sigh* Then I'll just claim the position of second biggest fan?

[Sayckeone]

Nope. Hitoshura gets that.

[Maxine MagicFox]

*Sigh* Can I at least be in the top ten? :( I am making your guys' first official fan site!!

[Kakizaki]

^Step on down the line. I had to deal with Shifen on multiple boards regarding EO. I win.....at least over you.

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_aether-yggdrasika.jpg
Yggdrasika
performed by Aether (http://www.lkjp.net/)

In a couple of reviews so far, I've spoken of the "tension" between the two basic types of song in Etrian Odyssey. Without any character themes or introspective moments, nearly every song boils down to a serene exploration piece or an intense battle theme, and the sometimes jarring discrepancy of the two is what accounts for a lot of the game's atmosphere. Some of the albums I've reviewed have get it, and some don't. Yggdrasika gets it.

Like Yggdrasil's Toybox, Yggdrasika is another grab-bag of a doujin album, although limited to one disc instead of two. There's no overarching theme to its song selection or treatment; the members of the Aether circle simply pick their favorite EO music and go to town. (Also like Iosys's effort, it has a nice cover. Most of the amateur art gracing the packaging of these doujin albums pales in comparison to the super-clean linework of Yuji Himukai--see, for example, the unfortunate rendition on the cover of Sekaiju FIGHT! Only Iosys's artists manage a reasonable approximation, while Aether takes the safer tack of not including any character art at all.)

But after the strings-heavy title screen theme, which is included on all EO albums by some unwritten law, they launch directly into a wailing version of the main battle theme, a hard rock version that has the crunch necessary to pull off an arrangement like this. The Super Arrange's similarly rock-tinged arrangement, by comparison, had a lot more synthesizer than was really necessary. The drums, in particular, sound meatier on this version, and it's overall one of the better such interpretations of the battle theme.

The first part of the album veers back and forth this way, returning to the strings for a pleasant rendition of the Azure Rainforest theme before sucker-punching the listener with another hard-hitting version of the alternate battle theme, this one managing to sound more swaggering than most. After that, they get into some more unusual song selections, including a minute-long explication of the save-game jingle.

The main weakness with Yggdrasika, and it's not necessarily a major concern if you don't have a lot of EO CDs, is that although all of the songs are well-done, none of them are especially original in terms of ideas. The execution is strong enough that I'd rather listen to this in terms of the similarly staid Super Arrange album, but really, the original soundtrack would work just as well. That's why this review is so short compared to the others--there's really nothing much to discuss.

If you really like EO's music, but don't like the fairly lo-fi sound Koshiro prefers to use, Yggdrasika comes recommended as a good alternative. But as an all-purpose arrange album, I'd still suggest Yggdrasil's Toybox over it.

Next: Frolicking in the leaves

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_carrotwine-yggdrasilleaf.jpg
Yggdrasil Leaf
performed by Hobby Atelier Carrot Wine (http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~anpanman/)

As I've said before, and will say now for the last time (promise!), Etrian Odyssey's music has two basic moods: battle and exploration. We've already covered a doujin album based solely on the battle themes, and now it's time to look at that CD's opposite number: Yggdrasil Leaf, an album of nothing but dungeon theme arrangements by Hobby Atelier Carrot Wine. (That is their actual name.)

In keeping with this theme, they've chosen to go a very soothing route with the arrangements. I listen to this a lot at work, because the absence of the more intense songs and the lack of (understandable) lyrics helps me focus on whatever I'm doing, rather than being distracted by more intrusive music or songs with clever lyrics that demand the listener's attention.

Of course, by that description you can infer that this is a very low-key album, and if you don't like music that can blend into the background, you won't like Yggdrasil Leaf. The most aggressive track is a vocal rendition of the first Stratum's theme; though it has a backbeat, it's a far cry from the J-Pop found on Yggdrasil's Toybox, since the singer's dynamics are more restrained and her tone is more demure than Iosys's Miko.

Other than that, everything is as you might expect from the above description: focused on piano, strings, and woodwinds. Credit is still due to, erm, Hobby Atelier Carrot Wine for their intelligent arrangements of the songs that play to the strengths of their instrument choices. It's always interesting to see how various groups approach the fifth Stratum theme, and the rendition on Yggdrasil Leaf plays the opening bell passage as a muted piano part, then switches the order of the music around a little so that what little tension is left is diffused before heading into the main part of the song.

It's another short album, practically an EP, since it only covers the opening theme, the first five Strata, and one of the town themes before winding down. One neat touch at the end, though, is a tribute to Koshiro's original conception of the score--the last track is an FM-style version of the previous song, and doesn't sound half bad.

Like the Sekaiju FIGHT! album, this is the kind of thing the doujin groups excel at: finding a role unmet by official releases and doing a yeoman job of fulfilling it. It's not exactly required listening, but it serves its purpose quite well.

Next: \m/

[Tari]

Argh. That one actually sounds like one that I want. Any way of purchasing it now, or is it gone already?

[Inzaghi]

The problem isn't that they're gone already, because I think this one is still available from sites like Akiba Oukoku (http://www.akibaoo.com/02/main/). The problem is that most sites that sell doujin works do not, presumably for copyright reasons, ship outside of Japan. So you have to know someone who lives there and is generous enough to order and ship for you.

[Tari]

Argh.

I guess I'll have to see if my sister's friend'll order it for me. Well, thanks for the info, anyway.

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_darkcastle-metalmusic.jpg
Forest Melody
performed by Dark Castle (http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/dcweb/)

The last couple doujin albums on my plate to review share a common trait: they're both attempts at fitting Etrian Odyssey's music into a particular musical genre. In the case of this album, Dark Castle's "Forest Melody", that genre is thrash metal.

And it works okay. Usually Dark Castle takes only the loosest melody from the original song, but it's still generally recgonizable which themes are getting the rawked-out treatment. The somewhat synthy sound indicates that this might be the work of a couple of people with GarageBand or something rather than actual live instruments, but that's okay--they capture the flavor of the genre pretty well anyhow. (Oddly, this is one of the few doujin albums with multiple versions of some themes. Apparently, a few of the circle's members couldn't agree on which one of them got to rearrange which songs.)

The caveat is that their general technique for fitting EO's music into the genre mold is to pound it into mush. A lot of the songs are samey-sounding, and nowhere near as diverse as the actual music they're adapting. The background percussion and guitar are practically the same on every track, with only the wailing lead guitar's melody giving any indication that this was once a song from Etrian Odyssey.

What's most frustrating about their approach is that there are hints here and there that Dark Castle was capable of doing so much more with this music. Most tracks are preceded by a short intro snippet that serve as much as anything to identify the theme in question, and almost invariably they're more interesting takes on the song than the actual speed-metal rendition that follows. The very first Stratum theme is an egregious example of this phenomenon, with a 40-second alternate take on the theme appended to the end as an afterthought. Not only is it preferable to the rest of the 5-minute track, it manages to distinguish itself from all the other takes on that theme floating around out there and sound good in the process.

Not every song suffers from Dark Castle's rather ham-handed treatment, though. As one might expect, the battle themes don't do too badly, especially the alternate battle theme found in the latter half of the game... though it's by far the least metal-sounding track on the album. Hmm.

Although it's certainly a unique take on the source material, Forest Melody has to go down as a bit of a misfire in the end. It's a strong concept for an album, but Dark Castle don't seem to have thought it through much beyond that concept. It's not necessarily a bad album, but it is one that's nowhere near as compelling as it might have been.

Next: Dance dance dance

[Arjuna]

Jesus, how many EO albums are even necessary?

[Hitoshura]

As many as there can be, this is the awesomeness that is Yuzo Koshiro. <3

[Tari]

Out of vague curiosity (after seeing all these soundtracks), Inz, did you buy the anthology comics for EO?

[Inzaghi]

No. I love comics and manga, but I'm not interested in untranslated stuff. I like the music because I don't need to know another language to enjoy it.

[Tari]

Haha, that's true. Too bad we'll never see the EO comics in English. xD

[Matman]

Anthology comics for EO? Was that part of what was posted at the official site?

I just bought Piano Sketch, which was supposed to come with the second game if you made a preorder. It's only 7 tracks, but hey - if someone didn't want it I'll gladly take it off their hands. Pretty cheap, too!

Forest Melody was decent, but way to short. Metal mixed in with the medieval theme is always awesome, but it was sort of lacking here. Heck, I might try doing a spin on it with my Strat. Light-gauge to the max.

[Jazzy]

Haha, that's true. Too bad we'll never see the EO comics in English. xD

Not officially, anyway. If I get my hands on them I'll see what I can do about scanlating them, I've been picking away at my 15+ Ragnarok Online 4-koma/anthology books for awhile now and could use something different.

/end offtopic

On-topic, I was able to track down IOSYS and Sekaiju Fight and like them bot alot (Iosys' take on the 5th stratum is amazing and probably my favorite rendition of it thus-far). Been thinking about ordering some of the other albums that Inz has reviewed, but alas that'll have to wait.

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_redalice-forestofcrimson.jpg
Forest of Crimson
performed by REDALiCE (http://redalice.hmc6.net/)

So far I've reviewed eight albums of varying quality, which are therefore in variously heavy rotation on my MP3 player. Yggdrasil's Toybox and Sekaiju Fight get played a lot; Forest Melody and Yggdrasika get played left often. But there's only one album I couldn't bear to listen to more than once before I subjected myself to it for purposes of this review, and that's Forest of Crimson, the doujin album of club remixes by REDALiCE.

Most fan albums use the original material as inspiration; Forest of Crimson uses it as fodder. Yuzo Koshiro's magnificent soundtrack is torn up, ground to shreds, and used as fertilizer for the dance tracks the DJs here are interested in creating. It's the aural equivalent of that congoer in the FOE outfit I mentioned before; it's possible that REDALiCE don't know what Etrian Odyssey is, and wouldn't care if you told them.

I'm being a little unfair here, though. This isn't a genre of music that's best appreciated at one's office desk through headphones; if you're not dancing, you might as well not be listening. And I'm judging the music on factors that are pretty far removed from the creator's intentions--like clucking one's tongue at a child because the robot he built out of a Lego set isn't very close to the speedboat depicted on the box.

The fact remains, though, that this music is not for me. When I hear the fifth Stratum music being butchered as it is here, I don't have the generosity of spirit to think, "My, what a clever base for this dance track." I'm too busy diving for the album menu to find something, anything, that'll drive the noise from my ears. I could, in theory, see someone liking this album. And the minute I do, I promise to ask what they see in it so I can report back here. In the meantime, this is taking a permanent position out of rotation; the only EO CD I own purely for completeness' sake.

Next: Etrian Odyssey II

[Pixel]

Next: Etrian Odyssey II
Nice transition into an announcement!

[Inzaghi]

Haha, no, I'm just being a jerk. It's the preorder disc.

[PFV]

Haha, no, I'm just being a jerk. It's the preorder disc.

Preorder disc we'll be getting, right? <3

[Tari]

Darn you, Inz.

Is the REALiCE soundtrack techno/remix? That's all I've ever heard from them, so I'm just a bit curious.

[Inzaghi]

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff67/inzaghi_atlus/th_etrian2-preorder.jpg
Sekaiju no Meikyuu II: Shoou no Sehai Piano
performed by ???

This isn't an easy review to write. I like the music on the Sekaiju no Meikyuu II preorder disc well enough, but it feels strange to talk about it without a firmer grasp of the original music, which I'm not very familiar with at all. (My copy of the OST should be arriving soon.)

But one thing that's good about piano albums--for that's what the preorder disc contains, nothing but solo piano arrangements of SQII tunes--is that the stripped-down instrumentation allows the listener to hear the core of the song. With no clever directions or gimmicky arrangements to fall back on, albums like this live or die on the strength of the original composition. The fact that I like the piano album so much bodes well for the actual music in the game.

The seven tracks on the album seem to cover a variety of situations in the game, from town errands to battles to exploration. All of them sound recognizably like Etrian Odyssey music, even in this form: the battle theme has a similar intro before going in a new, but equally energetic direction.

Of course, the battle music has a hard time sounding that dramatic as a simple piano piece. And that's the slight flaw in the soundtrack, one that most piano albums share: if you're not specifically paying close attention to every second of each piece, the songs tend to blend into a pleasant-sounding blur in the background. Again, this probably wouldn't be as much of a problem if I knew the source material better, and could pick out more easily which track corresponds to which song.

As I said earlier, I like this album, and it makes me eager to hear the full soundtrack. I think I'll probably appreciate this one even more as I get better acquainted with Koshiro's score for SQII. But the nature of things like this means I'll have to reserve judgement until then.

Next: More Etrian Odyssey II

[Tari]

You didn't mention the awesome sheet music that's included on the disc.

I guess it's not part of the soundtrack, but still, it's a nice addition.

[Jazzy]

That review makes me sad; Inz is either really good at creative writing and covering up details, or it shows he hasn't been working on/with EOII yet, as I'm sure it'd be difficult to localize a game without hearing its music in the process.

Although, I suppose that also depends on what exactly Inz does as part of the localizing efforts and how far along they are if they're in progress. (Gotta keep the hope alive somehow!).

Though, I'm glad to hear that the songs are recognizably like Etrian music (and I like what I've heard in the PVs and such); I might have to pick up the EOII ost myself soon to see if it'll be worth chasing after any doujin albums that will undoubtedly be made.

[Pixel]

That review makes me sad; Inz is either really good at creative writing and covering up details, or it shows he hasn't been working on/with EOII yet, as I'm sure it'd be difficult to localize a game without hearing its music in the process.Your interpretation depends on what he meant by "original music." He could've been referring to the soundtrack before it was programmed, a process he discussed earlier:
In the prototype soundtrack, you can hear the songs as he was working with his favored PCM and FM-88 samples, a method that would ensure faithful reproductions of his songs on the equally lo-fi DS sound hardware.

[Zachalmighty]

I'm digging the Jack frost earmuffs. Those would make some cool headphones.

[Pigzig]

I saw a real cool remix on youtube http://youtube.com/watch?v=cW4mNnnR7Ds
and I wish I could find some more music these CDs arent avaliable anywhere now

[Inzaghi]

I saw a real cool remix on youtube http://youtube.com/watch?v=cW4mNnnR7Ds
and I wish I could find some more music these CDs arent avaliable anywhere now

Oh, the Super Arrange soundtrack that song is from is one of the more easily available albums. You can get it from Play-Asia (http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-8l-77-5-49-en-15-etrian+odyssey-70-241t.html), and probably other online retailers too if you're tired of me spamming P-A links every time someone asks about a soundtrack.

[Sayckeone]

The chan in me <3's Play Asia.

[Foryth]

Sorry for bumping up this old topic, but I was wondering if you would do reviews for EO2 albums now that the game is out. ;)

[Inzaghi]

I've been meaning to. I have the OST and the arrange album. Just been busy lately, haven't gotten around to them yet.

Oddly, I haven't seen any doujin albums for the second game yet, even though it's been out for a few months in Japan.

[spineshark]

Hey, I just remembered this existed. I want more reviews! I'm sure you're busy, but I'm only doing this to bother you, so feel free to ignore it.

[Haruna]

At great expense, I finally got a hold of the proto-soundtrack for EO1. It's amusing that one of the tracks on that CD got used for real in EO2(the battle theme once you hit the 4th Stratum.)

Ow my wallet but I enjoyed it.

[dragonlife29]

Whoa! How'd I miss this thread?

Anyway, holy moly; that's a lot of EO soundtracks O_o I shall have to read the reviews, but I'm just amazed to see so many soundtracks.

Respect for Inzaghi +1 =)

*gets to reading*

[dragonlife29]

Very nice reviews, Inzaghi. After reading them, I finally understood why there were so many soundtracks--I assumed they were all somehow official, but they were mostly Doujin stuff, I see.

Inzaghi, you and I share a love for video game music, it seems. What resonated with me most is when you said (not verbatim) that you liked not having vocals [you understood] because of some effect...I can't quite remember, but that is why I personally love video game music--it helps me write because I'm not listening to another person's take on the song, and am free to let my imagination run wild (sometimes taking the context from where the song played in the game as inspiration).

Anyway, I would very much like to make a suggestion: search for the Drakengard 2/Drag-On Dragoon 2 OST. Please. Never in my life have I heard such an amazing soundtrack to the degree Drakengard 2's takes it...

I'm gonna rant here a bit, but the Drakengard series has always held a special place in my heart. When a sequel was announced, I was ecstatic...and more so when it was announced to be coming out here! While the original's music didn't do much for me, the sequel's blew me away because it was so different--and godly. The music far outstripped the game's somewhat lackluster story compared to the original's bizarre one, but it complemented some of the more epic scenes perfectly, be it a revelation in cut-scene form, or a battle...oh, God, the battles...so awesome. (Not hating on the story--I love it--but I liked the original's crazy #### better).

Anyway: music! The music is amazing, and I really want you to listen to it, Inzaghi.

Here's a nice review from RPGFan (10/10):

http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/drag-on-2/index.html


...there's no denying that it has one of the better scores on the DS.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia also wins in this regard and, personally, surpasses EO. You should give it a shot if you haven't already. They're very different styles, obviously, but great nonetheless.

[AdrianMorales]

It's really tricky with these game soundtracks. Most of them only work in the context of the game. There are only a few songs out there that are worth listening to on your PC or mp3 player.

[stalepie]

There's a classical CD of his music out now.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/ピアノと弦楽器の生演奏による「世界樹の迷宮」I-II-スーパー・アレンジ・バージョン-ゲーム・ミュージック/dp/B001D2IK0Q/ref=pd_sim_m_5
Sorry if it's already been mentioned/reviewed.

ASIN: B001D2IK0Q