Much like the other bonus track, it's rather repetitive, though this one has more compositional quality thrown into it. I can't figure out what original track it's supposed to be a remix of, however. Bonus track 2 is called "Dungeon Robot Mix", and it's an odd little piece of Electronica. It closes with a little jazz ditty that sounds like it's being played on an old turntable. It's fairly cool while the first major theme is playing, but all the mixing in between the melodic passages sounds static to me. The first is a self-proclaimed "Fight Mix" of the opening movie, which is sort of a repetitive funk track with lots of weird effects thrown in. I guess I should take a bit of time and explain the two bonus tracks at the end of the soundtrack. I'd say it's a pretty fair representative of the soundtrack as a whole. Seriously, what more could you ask for in a piece? This one has it all: great composition, gorgeous instrumentation, and many different levels to appreciate it on. The last minute of the piece slows down considerably, and plays a wonderful harmonious version of the first theme. As this part begins to flesh out, we realize it's none other than the second major theme. At this point, we're about 8 minutes into the track. Eventually, the percussion starts to form a more regular rhythm, and turns into a battle-like symphonic segment. At just under 5 minutes, these creepy sounds (I can only describe them as "jittery voices") start punctuating the slow stretched string passages.
Then things start to slow down, and the strings sort of play around with the percussion for awhile. At about 3 minutes into the piece, though, the drums get much fiercer, and the rhythms more elaborate. The orchestra then fades away, and the clicking percussion instruments lull you into a sort of tranquil mood.
After some brief interluding, one of the other major themes breaks through in a grand symphonic style, and the percussion starts to take off. It reminds me in some ways of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," a piece so dissonant and bizarre that even modern listeners today often have a hard time seeing its inner beauty.Īnyway, let's take a closer look at "Climax," shall we? As I mentioned before, it opens with major theme number 3, the most heroic-sounding of the themes, in my opinion, and also my favorite. Funny how a work like the Vagrant Story Original Soundtrack can be so ambient and so thematic at the same time. You can find examples of each musical style Sakimoto uses, which is the reason this twelve-minute monster is one of my favorite tracks. This piece is, actually, a great cross-section of the entire soundtrack. The third theme is found at the beginning of "Climax of the Graylands Incident" (which is, appropriately, track 3). The first track on Disc One opens with one of these themes, and the second track with another. Some are more dominant than others, and I consider there to be three major ones that are the "driving force" behind the symphonic elements of the music.
You'll notice as you listen to the soundtrack that there are quite a few recurring themes. At the same time, there is a strong Industrial and Tribal influences you've got to love those percussion instruments and synthesized chants. These tracks, and others, would be best described as symphonic, nearly Classical in nature. My favorite tracks on the album, "Climax of the Graylands Incident" and "Staff Roll" are far from your traditional ambient music. While describing it as "ambient" would be mostly correct, it doesn't tell the whole story. I'll do my best to describe Hitoshi Sakimoto's unique style to you. Bodyīut of course, dear reader, you require more than just a thumbs-up in order to justify investing your money in this album. At the same time, all the good things about the soundtrack are so subtle that I find that I don't have much to say except the soundtrack is one of the best collections of game music ever to grace my ears. The pieces are so similar, and they're all pretty ambient, making a track-by-track review difficult.
Without a doubt, reviewing the Vagrant Story Original Soundtrack has been the toughest job I have faced while writing reviews on a regular basis. Vagrant Story Original Soundtrack :: Review by Kero HazelĭigiCube (1st Edition) Square Enix (Reprint)
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