Happy New Year!

Hello friends! I hope all your holidays went well. Since it's the last day of the year I figured I had better do this now or never. So, I present a bit of a wrap up of my December purchases in VGM. I doubt anyone's family got them game music (and if they did, you're pretty lucky!), so like me you may have had to take it upon yourself. I ended up with 2 orders in December; a careful observer can probably pick them out actually.... So in no particular order here we go.

Rockman 7 and 8 soundtracks - I suppose I should thank Team Entertainment for finally releasing these, even though it would have been better if Suleputer had made another box where they were included... or made the set Rockman 1~8 to begin with. Despite any issues I'm still satisfied and happy to have 7, and while there are some themes from 8 that remain memorable it's not nearly as many or as much as 7. One thing that definitely irked me about 8 was with all the extra space on the CD that they couldn't bother to include the Sega Saturn version of Tenguman's stage nor the Aquaman's arrange (I haven't actually heard this one, so I'm not sure if it's just different synth or a true arrange). While throwing around some blame, why in the world wouldn't they have released the Rockman & Forte soundtrack along with these two? I shouldn't hold my breath but it would be even nicer for Capcom to release the Rockman 1~6 PSX arranges. Despite all gripes they are classic Megaman and any fan will have to own these (unless Capcom takes suggestions and puts out a new box ;P ).

Then we get to Team Entertainment's other Rockman releases: the Rock and Techno arranges. Highly anticipated by every Megaman fan I should think, but were they worth it? Yes and no. Even though some of the initial appeal has dwindled since getting them I still enjoy most of the songs. They really did select a lot of picks I made before tracklists were revealed, which is good, but the latter 3 games are particularly looked over. Diveman, Dustman, Skullman, Napalmman, Darkman for Rock arrange anyone? Flashman, Sparkman, Brightman, Knightman for Techno? Apparently not, and it wouldn't be such a big deal another song I wanted wasn't included except for the fact that there was so much room to include more. That the even padded the run time with the original songs is even more of an affront; as if the fans didn't already have those! At $30 a cd they pretty much exploited our fandom, they could have made it a two disc set for the same price. So my suggestion, try to get it secondhand and save money if you can... you can buy it new if you want it bad but there'll probably be a bad aftertaste from the price and quantity (not the quality, though your opinions could differ from mine).

Next we have Kira★Kira, the single to the game of the same name; the newest Lantis offering. Chudah had turned me onto some songs from Green Green and I enjoyed milktub's music for that (girl's pop rock as opposed to the usual jpop in bishojo and hentai), so when I found they did this I picked it up. Short and sweet I would recommend getting it, especially if you like their previous stuff. Actually, Dai2BungeibuBand have a new album, Love, out today, more bang for your buck I would assume, but if you want these songs then you need to get the single as they aren't listed on the album's tracklist.

Detective Saburo Jinguji DS is the 11th console version of the series and I hesitant going into this purchase. Before ordering I looked all over and couldn't find any indication of why it spanned 4 discs, but I figured there would be an original version disc like Portrait of Ruin. Well I was wrong, 2 discs for the new game and 2 discs for the soundtracks to the first 4 games from Famicom. Gone is the laid back club jazz of the PS2 offerings served up by Katsuhiko Nakamichi and Hasemi Daichi... now whether or not they were involved with any of these I wouldn't know since it's only credited as WorkJam so I'm just assuming they're not. Granted there are jazzy tracks, but right now I'm not getting past the synth. I think it's something you just need to have played and have in your memory, so perhaps I'm not giving it a fair shake... I really haven't digested it yet. I'll just warn not to buy this expecting Innocent Black or Kind of Blue. Oh, and as a note I edited End of Dreams a little when I did the translation for this.

Pop'n music 15 was a purchase I kept putting off for whatever reason but I finally picked it up and again I really haven't sat down and digested it all. Like 13 and 14 I think some tracks that don't stand out now will become staples when I actually play the game but right overall it's seeming a bit weak and lazy. Disc 2 is almost all remixes and returning songs from other games (why do nothing but have Tomoka Hino be the third and worst vocalist for Prince on a Star without arranging the song a bit? Why change the name from "Get the Funk Out Mix" to SKACORE MIX?) Even some new songs sound intentionally or not like old ones, but at least songs like "A Swinging Hawaii One!" and "World Spider Web" have captured my interest. Unless you're a pop'n music freak like me avoid this; a casual pop'n music fan or first time buyer would do much better to start with 8, 9 and/or 10.

Outside of VGM both Genesis of Aquarion soundtracks were in an order. I can't believe I missed out of getting them sooner, but they are definitely worth it!

Closing out the year it seems 2007 was a good year for techno as some of my favorites this past year were all techno: beatmania IIDX 14, Granado Espada, milestone, and Wangan Midnight 3. So, here's wishing you all a happy new year 2008! Look forward to more new translations and fixed old ones, and much more from all the staff here at Chudah's Corner!

Reviews update. Also, meow.

After an entire weekend of playing Guitar Hero III, Zane can barely lift his arms up, never mind type a blog post about the new reviews that Chudah's Corner just posted. He is currently laying on the ground, telling me what to type in between spats of whimpering and imitating the click from the strum bar on his GH controller, so don't be surprised if some of the post gets lost in translation.

I'm pleased to say that our staff here at CC is bringing in the new year with a hefty buffet of new reviews. Our newest staff member, Ashley Winchester, digs deep into the two new Rockman soundtrack releases with his Rockman 7 Fateful Showdown and Rockman 8 Metal Heroes reviews, shedding some light on the quality and the justice (or lack thereof) that these two releases have given the franchise. Ashley has been a frequent contributor to the site for the past several months now, and I'm really happy to welcome him on board as a permanent staff member.

inthesto dusts off Symphonic Suite Shining Force II, spreads some Naganuma love with his write-up of the DS's Sonic Rush soundtrack, and delivers an excellent review for Masashi Hamauzu's half-original, half-pseudo-arrange album, Vielen Dank. Great work, inthesto - or should I say, gute arbeit, mein freund.

I managed to scrounge up a little inspiration and spout off a bit about the short but really bizarre Trash 004 and the disappointing Gyakuten Saiban 3 OST. So, enjoy those.

Last, but surely not least, is Jormungand's in-depth overview of the massive Breath of Fire Soundtrack Box. Be sure to check out Jorm's other BoF reviews that are on-site while you're at it - he has written reviews for each individual BoF release as well. The links to the albums are at the bottom of his review.

So, I hope everyone enjoys reading the new reviews as much as I did. I want to thank everyone for stopping by and supporting the site, and for continuing to read the reviews that we've all worked really hard on.

Happy new year! Also, click clickclickclick click click.

- Zane's cat

Reviews:

Breath of Fire OST Special Box
Gyakuten Saiban 3
Rockman 7 The Fateful Showdown!
Rockman 8 Metal Heroes
SONIC RUSH Original Groove Rush.
Symphonic Suite Shining Force II
Trash 004
Vielen Dank

I was exercising earlier today. It's crazy, I know, but all those physical education classes keep telling me it's for my own good in the long run. Honestly, I think all it's good for is a reminder of how painful smoking is even when you're not doing it. Regardless, I was on the treadmill, and when you're on one you really need a TV program going to keep your mind off of how much everything hurts. Now keep in mind here, I haven't really watched TV since in about eight years.

The reason why I bring this up is because I saw a pair of commercials I recall seeing back when I was in elementary school, around six or seven years old. I'm well into college now, so this means it's been over a decade, and some company somewhere is still selling videos (scratch that, they're DVDs now) about trains and magazines about animals. Don't get me wrong, I had Zoobooks as a kid and I thought they were awesome, but these guys are still offering the bonus tiger poster for free, and they're still making money off of it. I even checked Wikipedia and Zoobooks hasn't had a new publication since 1990. The advertisements themselves are so blatantly a decade out of place, it's a wonder that anyone is beguiled into ordering these things. But hey, I guess kids are easy to dupe, huh?

Okay, let's shift gears entirely, seeing as this is a blog about video game music and all.

Over the X number of years that I've been listening to video game music, there's a trend that's been bugging me an awful lot. I imagine it makes sense in the realm of video game music than in any other kind of music, and I'll admit that I used to fall victim to it frequently. Hell, I probably still do it to some extent, though I actively try to curb it. What I'm talking about is the general inability for a VGM fan to separate the music itself from their memories of the game with the music attached.

Case in point: Dancing Mad. Some FFVI spoilers will follow, though they'll be spotty as it's been years since I've played the game.

I'm sure I'm gonna catch all kinds of flak for this, but I absolutely hate Dancing Mad. It's honestly one of the worst compositions I've heard, falling just short of the King of Fighters 2001 soundtrack. And believe me, if you've ever played that game, you know that's a long way to fall. Put briefly, Dancing Mad is a confused mess. It has no sense of pacing or flow, it's drawn out well beyond its welcome, and it's just plain ugly. If you even think about mentioning the Black Mages version at this point, I will beat you to death with this copy of Three Kingdoms sitting right next to me.

But you say in response, "It was the perfect music for fighting Kefka!"

For a moment, I'm going to put aside the fact that you're talking about fighting a freaking Godzilla-sized clown (that people only love because of Ted Wooseley's liberal translations, no less), and make this my point. Final Fantasy VI is a popular game, and I don't blame anybody for that. The problem comes about when people recall how the game as a whole affected them, and then mistakenly attribute that feeling to the music. Granted, good music will make a good moment in a video game better and bad music can dullen a similar moment, and that's what makes talking about video game music in this particular context so tricky. Since people generally feel that defeating Kefka was an epic ending to an epic game, they will thus believe that Dancing Mad is an epic track in all its seventeen minutes. It makes sense on paper, but it just doesn't make sense in my head.

But hey, I'm the guy who buys soundtracks for games he's never played or even heard of.

I'm an oddball like that. And when you really think about it, my approach - that is, considering video game music in terms of the music in and of itself and outside of its effect in the game entirely - would objectively be the "more wrong" one, as video game music is written to be experienced inside of the game to begin with. Or at least, that's what I figure, though aspiring video game composers have told me otherwise. I'm sure that most of you reading this will just write me off as crazy, but a handful of you will read this and actually think I make sense. Either way, bringing about awareness of the metaphysical state (for a lack of a better term) of video game music is the real goal here, so if you've learned something, my job is done.

If you haven't learned anything yet, then learn this: The Dynasty Warriors series, and by extension Three Kingdoms, is a lie. Out of all those characters, the only two who are really revered as heroes in Chinese culture are Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang, Everyone else ranges from "meh" to "conniving rat-bastard", and Liu Bei is amazingly at the latter end of that scale. Man, do parents make a hobby out of deconstructing things or what?

How to fall in love with an imaginary girl you've never met

If you want me to like a track off of any video game soundtrack, just title it as somebody's theme. I don't need to know who the character is, nor do I need to have played the game. I probably don't need to know the game even exists, but if it's somebody's theme, I'll eat it up. Point in case: give a listen to track six from the album Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba. I've played Final Fantasy VII for all of two hours, never even MET Yuffie, and yet that's my favorite arrangement on the album. There's no logic behind it, so don't ask me to explain it. I just know that it is.

The reason why I bring this up is because of a certain character theme from Final Fantasy XII, namely Penelo's. Honestly, I've only played the game for five or so hours - sorry, Street Fighter is just much more engaging/controller-smashing - but the music captured me in an instant. FFXII actually captures the feel of a unique world that I didn't get from any previous Final Fantasy, and I'm going to bet the music is the keystone. But I digress.

Penelo's Theme is very tame and demure to the ear, but at the same time it has a notion of subtlety about it. I imagine it has something to do with the instrumentation; it starts with wind instruments (not that I could possibly identify them by ear) while string instruments slowly work their way into the harmony. Maybe I just don't listen to enough music, but the sound certainly was novel to my ears.

Now enter the Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (notice the clever omission of the word "advance" on Square's part) soundtrack. Also composed by Sakimoto, so it's another soundtrack with his finger-, foot-, and faceprints all over it (I'll note here that Ayako Saso does a single track in this game, and its integration is superb) . Lo and behold, however, a surprise track: disc two, track number nine: The Sky Pirate From The East. Title seems innocuous enough, but I've played enough of FFXII to know that Vaan has some kiddy dream about being an outlaw with wings or something. Give it a listen and it's Penelo's Theme turned on its head.

Rather than having winds at the front and strings at the back, the FFTA2 arrangement turns that around. It's a sound much more typical of what you'll find in video games, but I find I like it more in the end. So when I previously had a track I almost could not stop listening to, now I have a version of it that's going on single loop for several days.

And you know what? I don't know jack about Penelo other than that girl who follows Vaan around for a little bit. Know what else? I don't really feel like knowing any more. I enjoy the music, and that's good enough for me. But of course, this is coming from the guy who will buy a game because he liked the soundtrack. Take it (whatever "it" may be) with a grain of salt, and use it to flavor your dinner.

No, I don't know what that means either.