The Legend of Heroes -Trails in the Sky- Theme Song Album
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Album Title: The Legend of Heroes -Trails in the Sky- Theme Song Album |
| Record Label: Nihon Falcom |
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| Catalog No.: N/A |
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| Release Date: April 25, 2009 |
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| Purchase: Buy Used Copy |
Overview
As the Trails in the Sky trilogy has progressed, vocal themes have become a more prominent component of the series. The Legend of Heroes -Trails in the Sky- Theme Song Album compiles each of the opening and ending themes from the trilogy into a single album. Bundled with a drama CD for the series, the album also provides a preview of what to expect from the drama with its cast commentary. Let’s take a closer look…
Body
The album opens with a vocal adaptation of the First Chapter’s ending theme, “Where the Stars Are”. u-mi proves a suitable vocalist for the theme and is able to emphasise the beautiful shape of the melody and the melancholic lyrics. The vocals remain the focus throughout and the instrumentals mainly just support them, though there are still some intricacies in the guitar. There perhaps isn’t enough timbral contrast to sustain the continual repetition of what is ultimately a rather simple melody. As a result, this theme song album shortens the song to a more manageable three minute duration. The result is highly enjoyable.
There are also two performances taken from the Second Chapter’s soundtrack. “Silver Will, Golden Wings” is actually an inspired vocal arrangement of the First Chapter classic “Silver Will” complete with pumping techno beats and gliding string overlays. The song doesn’t really offer much in terms of the game’s storyline, but it’s still an exciting composition during the opening sequences of the game and introduces some mainstream appeal to the album. The pop ballad “I Swear…” is written much in the tradition of other ending themes with slowly building vocal melodies and soft piano backing. Kanako Kotera’s vocals didn’t capture me like the other singer, but she is still a poignant performer. It’s also enjoyable how the song blooms from its gentle origins to its much more colourful chorus section. It’s a very standard song, but still well-produced.
Moving to the material from the third chapter, the opening version of “Cry for Me, Cry for You” attempts to repeat the success of “Silver Will, Golden Wings” with its frivolous vocal performance and upbeat technofied instrumentals. Somewhere down the line, however, it ends up sounding like a rather bland and generic J-Pop song. The melody isn’t particularly memorable, the English lyrics are sometimes mispronounced, and the electric guitar elements are quite unwelcome in the usually organic theme songs of the series. The game ends with another love ballad, “Looking at the Sky”, based on an instrumental theme from the Second Chapter. Though rather typical, it’s a solid finish to the soundtrack thanks to the touching performance by Kanako Kotera.
The only exclusive content of this theme song album is the final track. This is an audio recording of a cast get-together for the series’ drama albums that the theme song albums are packed with. During the 18 minute commentary, the cast introduce themselves, discuss the adapted and new scenarios, and discuss their memories of the project. Needless to say, this one is for Japanese speakers only.
Summary
The Legend of Heroes -Trails in the Sky- Theme Song Album is ideal for consumers just looking for the main themes for the trilogy. For the first time, it features all the opening and ending themes from the trilogy in one place, and for the most part they’re enjoyable listens. That said, this album was bundled with a drama album for the series, so is difficult to find other than second-hand and the exclusive cast commentary indicates it was mainly created for Japanese consumers. Nevertheless, a decent bonus for those who don’t own the original scores.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
3.5
Posted on August 1, 2012 by Chris Greening. Last modified on August 1, 2012.
About the Author
Chris Greening I've contributed to websites related to game audio since 2002. In this time, I've reviewed over a thousand albums and interviewed hundreds of musicians across the world. As the founder and webmaster of VGMO -Video Game Music Online-, I hope to create a cutting-edge, journalistic resource for all those soundtrack enthusiasts out there. In the process, I would love to further cultivate my passion for music, writing, and generally building things. Please enjoy the site and don't hesitate to say hello!
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