Seiken Densetsu Arrange Album -Re:Birth-
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Album Title: Seiken Densetsu Arrange Album -Re:Birth- |
| Record Label: Square Enix |
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| Catalog No.: SQEX-10272 |
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| Release Date: October 19, 2011 |
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| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
While the Mana series has been silent as a games franchise since the departure of creator Koichi Ishii, its music continues to be fondly remembered by fans and producers alike. To celebrate Mana’s twentieth anniversary, Square Enix released a giant box set compiling the series’ music and announced plans to produce a trio of arranged albums penned by its main composers. The first of these, Re:Birth, was produced by Kenji Ito and features music from Final Fantasy Adventure, Sword of Mana, Children of Mana, and Dawn of Mana. While Ito did not produce scores of the quality of his contemporaries, he was the series’ original composer and defined its spiritual yet personal sound. It therefore seems fitting that he opens this arranged commemoration of the franchise.
Body
The album begins in a predictable but enjoyable manner with a chamber arrangement of the series’ main theme “Rising Sun”. The arrangement is quite similar to the Dawn of Mana version, but adds some new age backing and a mellow secondary section from the 1:31 mark. But despite being created for an album rather than soundtrack, this particular version is less well-produced — almost entirely relying on sampled instruments rather than orchestra. Ito’s beautiful piano solo provides some saviour at the recapitulation. Talking of retreading ground, “Mana’s Mission” couples an operatic solo to romantic harmonisation like on Put Your Thoughts to Music. But with an average worldess vocal performance and functional piano-dominated accompaniment, it can’t possibly compare to the majesty of Takayuki Hattori. Any remaining hope of finding a classical masterpiece is lost when the tacky drum beat enters for the ‘climax’.
The most enjoyable two tracks on the album are dedicated to Ito’s most celebrated asset: his battle themes. The rock stylings on these tracks certainly show Ito grew up in the 80s. Following an extravagant introduction typical of that era, Infant of Mana adopts a gothic rock approach. It’s quite a novelty to hear the exuberant guitar and keyboard performances here, after the four restrained tracks preceded. The odd solo or harpsichord passage further rejuvenate a once vanilla piece. It’s completely cheesy, but very fun nevertheless. Ito goes for the Falcom-inspired approach of combining radiant violin solos to classic rock backing. A strong melody, in conjunction with standout performances from Reiko Tsuchiya and Kentaro Kaneko, ensure the approach is completely enjoyable. It’s just a pity that the recorded acoustic and sampled electronic components weren’t mixed cohesively.
Ito supplements spiritual tracks such as these with explorations of other styles. In a guest arrangement from quad, “In Search of the Sacred Sword” is transformed from an adventurous opening theme to an anthemic trance piece. The stylistic shift is rather jarring following the opening theme and the stylings themselves are authentic but extremely derivative. Worse still, the melody sounds forced above the electronic beats and is rarely an integral part of the remix. Revisiting his Latin sound, Ito integrates passionate vocals and flamenco guitar solos in “The Fool’s Dance”. This track isn’t as enjoyable as tracks such as “Passionate Rhythm” and “Phoenikion” written in the same style. And sandwiched between two rock performances, it comes across as yet another tangent unrelated to the main subject. Nevertheless, Kyoko Kishikawa provides a very expressive performance and manages to single-handedly rescue a linear arrangement.
After so many deviations, the album closes with three pieces more typical of Ito’s style. Rather than go for more glam rock, Ito strips Final Fantasy Adventure‘s “Final Battle” down to a lounge-influenced improvisation for flute, piano, and drums. It’s unremarkable in arrangement and performance, but pleasant nonetheless. “The Endless Dream” thereafter gives a voice to Dawn of Mana‘s spiritual ending theme. Given Ito’s experience as a ballad writer, listeners can be assured this track is effective if, once again, stereotypical. Ito closes the album with another staple: one of his soft and sentimental piano solos. But being based on Final Fantasy Adventure‘s ending theme, it gives Ito a chance to reminisce about the series through his performance and brings the album round full circle. Could such an album have ended any other way?
Summary
Re:Birth has a lot of problems. The individual items often suffer from generic arrangements, immature stylings, and subpar implementation, while the album doesn’t come together as a fluid whole. There will be some highlights here for those that enjoy Ito’s characteristic stylings, with piano solos, rock extravaganzas, and flamenco performances among the offerings. But the overall experience won’t be solid enough to warrant spending 2500 JPY for most. The most encouraging aspect of Re:Birth is that the original composer was given complete freedom to produce and arrange a tribute album. This ensured that his commemoration was fitting and personal, and gives plenty of reason to look forward to the upcoming arranged albums by Hiroki Kikuta and Yoko Shimomura.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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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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