Front Mission 1st Special BGM Selection

	Album Title: Front Mission 1st Special BGM Selection
	Record Label: N/A
	Catalog No.: N/A
	Release Date: October 23, 2003
	Purchase: Buy Used Copy

Overview

In 2003, Square remade Front Mission for the PlayStation in their last release for the console. Hidenori Iwasaki completely rearranged and resynthed Noriko Matsueda and Yoko Shimomura’s score for the title, in addition to creating a handful of original compositions himself. A promotional album was released for the album ahead of a full soundtrack release.

Body

There aren’t many other problems with the selection of tracks featured. Reprises of both Shimomura and Matsueda’s Front Mission works being paired up against an original composition from Iwasaki to yield a pretty diverse selection. One must be critical about the length of certain compositions though; with the majority of the themes barely exceeding the 2 minute mark, the whole experience only lasts twenty minutes. One theme, “Defeat,” for example, barely lasts eighteen seconds, and in my opinion, this is hardly a good representation of the main soundtrack.

Still, there is no doubt that you will be pleasantly greeted by Iwasaki’s reprises of Shimomura and Matsueda’s Front Mission score. With the sound quality receiving a revamp and many of the original melodies being expanded, it turns out to be a good listen. Not only this, but the album explores quite a number of styles, ranging from the jazzy “Shop” to the terrifying “Martial Ecologist,” and indeed, this is pretty much what is needed on a promotional album.

There are two standout tracks. One is the character theme “Kalen”; while a really simple composition, it is immediately effective though its development and unique atmosphere. One thing to look forward to on the Front Mission 4 Plus 1st Original Soundtrack is a full-blown arrangement of this theme in “Ending.” Iwasaki’s “Theme of BlackHounds” is even more stunning however, one of the five original compositions Iwasaki himself created for Front Mission 1st. Its energy and awesome development will really impress.

Summary

When the full soundtrack is already out, buying a promotional album like the Front Mission 1st Special BGM Selection is probably the least financially intelligent thing that you can do; not only do you have to pay for the promotional album, but if you like it, then the likelihood is that your money will also go towards paying for the main soundtrack too.

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