Mitsuda to Rearrange & Orchestrate Xenogears

[Kodokami]

Just learned from the Facebook page that Yasunori Mitsuda will be making a new Xenogears CD that "will feature full-orchestra tracks + alpha tracks." A Google translation of his real site confirms this. As of now, those with a Japanese Square Enix Members account can vote for which songs to be rearranged. I may have to do so to make sure Bond of Sea and Fire gets voted for! Here are the links for those interested:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yasunori-Mitsuda/34644784396
http://www.procyon-studio.com

[FaustWolf]

Oh, what are "alpha" tracks exactly? Like, earlier states of the compositions and Mitsuda kept his notes and any recordings of the unreleased arrangements all these years?

Jeez, I've gotta catch up on his discography.

[Kodokami]

Could be; that would be really interesting. Or maybe they are new songs entirely. I would love to hear them either way.

If it's his discography you want, check this out. There are some songs here I never even knew of. Again, I'm just using Google Translate.
http://www.procyon-studio.com/profile/resume.html

[Lord J Esq]

I love the Xenogears soundtrack. Stylistically, I think it's the closest cousin to his Chrono Cross soundtrack.

[Jormungand]

I love the Xenogears soundtrack. Stylistically, I think it's the closest cousin to his Chrono Cross soundtrack.

Have you heard Tsugunai, Seventh Seal, or Kirite?

[Lord J Esq]

I was rusty on the first two, and hadn't heard of Kirite at all (which is unfortunate for me because apparently Mitsuda thinks very highly of it), so I brushed up on all three. They're all from the same composer, that's for sure, but you can still sense the "high epic" quality from Mitsuda's work in the late 1990s, and I just don't hear that in the later stuff. I'll give you that Tsugunai, though, is another close cousin of that Cross/Gears "sound," albeit farther away from works like that of Chrono Trigger.

Thanks for the recs, though, because now I have enjoyed good musics.

[gatotsu911]

On the subject of under-appreciated Mitsuda soundtracks, one of my favorite works of his (apart from the Chrono saga, of course) is his soundtrack to the obscure (and mediocre) DS RPG Deep Labyrinth (for which Kato also wrote the story - it's decent, and liberally sprinkled with just enough of his trademark metaphysical ponderousness, not to mention an excellent localization by Atlus, to elevate it slightly above your everyday fantasy story). I'd highly recommend listening to it, if you can manage to track it down. Some of the best tracks available on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp6NjZ0cGiI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5sUE4mrtVM

Though my personal favorites, mournful piano solo "The Altar of Reincarnation", and rousing Celtic piece "Roaring Dance", are nowhere to be found.

Also noteworthy are two other DS games to which Mitsuda contributed music that far outclassed the games themselves. The composition to the highly-forgettable SRPG Luminous Arc was mostly done by Procyon rather than Mitsuda himself, but he personally composed the music for the title screen, which - surprise - stands out as not merely the best of its soundtrack, but one of Mitsuda's best pieces in the last decade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y12gcRMKmcA
Also noteworthy is his work on Sands of Destruction (a.k.a. World Destruction in Japan). As another collaboration with Kato, as well as several former Xenogears devs (ones who aren't at Square or Monolith now, I guess), I and many others understandably had pretty high hopes for the game. Turns out it was one of the biggest disappointments this gen, with boring gameplay and a plot that was nothing short of embarrassing (although, to Kato's credit, apparently the producers had it dumbed down considerably from his original draft in an effort to market the game to tweens). Even Mitsuda's work was mostly below average (for him, that is), but nevertheless there are a couple of certified gems in the soundtrack, above all the game's gorgeous vocal theme, "Time's Arm": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc7z88ABlzs

Check 'em out!!

[Kodokami]

I've always wanted kiRite; however, the CD (with the book) runs around $50 on eBay, and I feel the book is a necessary part of the experience.

And while the story of Sands of Destruction has so much more potential, the characters are enjoyable, and I still feel Mitsuda did well on the music. "World Map" is probably my favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkInfinitySlayer#p/c/EC591E253271EB08/31/gxhXMjjE_xA
(I didn't even know that first one on the list was in the game!)

[gatotsu911]

Yeah, I loved the World Map theme too, but I coudn't find it on Youtube. Thanks for that!

I actually thought the characters were the worst thing about SoD. They were irritating, prattling anime stereotypes and they certainly didn't benefit from the (sometimes good, but more often bad) voice acting. Morte in particular could have been a dark, unique and morally complex character, but instead she just gets written off as "adorably crazy" and spends the rest of the game shrieking about destroying the world like she was in friggin' Sailor Moon. Not to mention the Ferals were too cartoonishly evil to be taken seriously.  It was also incredibly linear in the fashion of Final Fantasy X, which might not have been so bad if, like Final Fantasy X, it had actually been fine-tuned and fun. To be honest, I couldn't make it past the first 10 hours or so.

Also, the first track was the Japanese opening for the game. Following the example of the Tales series, Sega replaced it with an original Mitsuda composition for the North American version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhWWu18Ilaw
Definitely for the better.

[Jormungand]

Remember that World Destruction/Sands of Destruction was co-composed by Mitsuda, Shunsuke Tsuchiya, and Kazumi Mitome. So if there's a track you don't like, it might not even be Mitsuda's.

Also, the first track was the Japanese opening for the game. Following the example of the Tales series, Sega replaced it with an original Mitsuda composition for the North American version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhWWu18Ilaw
Definitely for the better.

I think that's actually a Shunsuke Tsuchiya track. The first part is an arrangement of the boss theme, which I'm positive Tsuchiya composed. The last part of the opening is an arrangement of Mitsuda's main theme "Time's Arm". Either way, I believe Tsuchiya was responsible for the track.

[Kodokami]

I actually thought the characters were the worst thing about SoD.

I admit, there is a lot that I dislike about the characters (personality, voice acting, you name it). But somewhere in-between I find something enjoyable. To be honest though, I favor Taupy and Agan ten-fold to any other.

Remember that World Destruction/Sands of Destruction was co-composed by Mitsuda, Shunsuke Tsuchiya, and Kazumi Mitome. So if there's a track you don't like, it might not even be Mitsuda's.

Interesting. Well, I prefer song #1 to #2, but that's just me. I should look into Tsuchiya's work.

[Lord J Esq]

"World Map" is probably my favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkInfinitySlayer#p/c/EC591E253271EB08/31/gxhXMjjE_xA
(I didn't even know that first one on the list was in the game!)

That is a damn good song. Reminds me a little of "Theme of the Advancing Army" from Suikoden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw7BozXUtmc

[gatotsu911]

@Jormungand: I had read the producers saying that the US version would feature an original composition by Mitsuda, so I'm assuming this was it. It's usually pretty easy to pick a Mitsuda track apart from those of his colleagues, both because of his distinctive style and because he's so much more talented than most other video game composers.

@Kodokami: I'll admit that some of the casual banter between characters was amusing, and even made me laugh. More often, though, the character's personalities were so gratingly loud, unsubtle and cliched, and so violently at odds with what should have been the tone of the plot, that it was almost impossible to get into the story. Quite honestly, the characterization was terrible - characters' motives didn't match their personalities, and they responded to emotional stimuli in completely nonsensical ways. Combined with a poorly-designed and poorly-implemented battle system in endlessly repetitive battles, there just wasn't much reason to keep pushing against the game for me.

[Kodokami]

And the results are in! http://member.square-enix.com/jp/special/music/xenogears/

Using my famous translating skills (i.e. Google), these are the top 10 songs chosen to be rearranged:

1. Soaring the Skies
2. Small Two of Pieces
3. The Wind is Calling, Shevat of the Azure Sky
4. Crimson Knight
5. Distant Promise
6. Awakening
7. Dance of Death
8. Gem Which Cannot Be Stolen
9. October Mermaid
10. Dark Dawn

Damnit! No "Bond of Sea and Fire."

[ZeaLitY]

Seems like he'll never finish that Cross arrange