RPGamers Network > Reviews > Game Music Reviews > Falcom Neo Classic: From Studios In London City
Reviewed by: Mithrandir
Simply great. Among the great symphonic albums out there. A rare gem. I invite you to listen to it, even if you never played Falcom games.
Ys and other Falcom games are very few known outside the Asiatic continent. Some are known because they were released in North America by other companies like Hudson Soft. Still, the JDK Sound Team is well known among gamers and video game music lovers. The JDK Sound Team has its own style and it is mostly electronic music, so a symphonic rendition of these compositions might sound weird or crazy but believe me, Takayuki Hattori, the arranger, did such a great job with the themes that I would be lying if I told you that this guy isn't a genius. This album is one of the rarest printed CD released by the company and it's worth what it's worth if you ever find one on e-bay. A little like the Orchestral Game Concerts, they're hard to find and they contain such great music. Among the themes, we can find music from Ys, Dragon Slayer, Sorcerian, and Xanadu. The first CD contains music performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (you know, one of the most famous orchestras in the world) and the second CD contains a mix of synth music and real instruments. Anyway let's start the review.
FIRST CD
The first CD contains tracks entirely performed by musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra. The first track is a medley of Lilia, Feena, and The Morning Grow. The track mixes a lot of styles, passing from a soothing melody to a more adventurous theme to end with a grandiose reprise of the theme of Lilia by the whole orchestra. This is the best track on the CD, believe me. Then comes Josephine. This track is kind of sad and not too driving. You may say it's boring but still it's beautiful. After all, this is Neo Classic music. But there's nothing that stands out of it and makes it an un-skippable track. If you thought Josephine was boring you haven't heard what the third track proposes to you. It consists mainly of a string quartet playing what I would call "chamber" music. Still, some of the themes in the track are beautiful. But overall, the third track is not a cheerful track...it reminds me of the Schindler's List Soundtrack.
Then comes Wanderers from Ys. Again, you will be deceived if you're looking for action music. Again, the track consists of a string quartet playing the theme. That kind of makes the track not full. I would have used percussion and the rest of the orchestra for this track. Cursed Earth calls back the orchestra to play a beautiful theme that reminds me of John Williams The Meadow Picnic from Star Wars Episode II. The track starts slowly and softly to move into the same theme but with a little more speed and more depth to it. This will remind you of some Sugiyama tracks found on the numerous Dragon Quest Symphonic Suites. This track is another one of my favourites on the album.
Then comes the great Legend of Heroes from Dragon Slayer. It starts with a soft melody accompanied by the xylophone then rises in intensity to make all the orchestra participate. I love the use of triplets in this track, they use them a lot! The track turns into a great march to take again the main theme but a little faster. This is such a beautiful melody. It stays in my head every time I listen to the track. It's really beautiful. I mean REALLY BEAUTIFUL. It turns again to a triumphant march with the same theme and has a solid ending. Wow. My favourite track on the CD. Really...
That concludes the first CD part. There are some memorable tracks on the CD and the symphonic rendering of the music is just so great.
THE SYNTH CD
I'm not really a fan of the remakes of the themes by the Sound Team but some are good. But for those who really like JDK Sound Team work, this might be for you. The tracks and the synth are similar to those on Ys Provincialism if it can give you an idea. And one of the reasons I listen to this album is the first CD. So I can't really comment on this CD... except that it has some interesting tracks. Ancient Sculpture really puts together an orchestra with synth sounds. It's really beautiful and it might be one of the most successful tracks in VGM where real orchestras are mixed with synth sounds. On this CD, this is my favourite track. The Voice is also an interesting track. Mysterious ambiance music, this is another one of my favourites.
And something rather unusual is found on this CD, a light-hearted version of Feena. Not those rather sad, soft arrangements you've been hearing on the other albums but a techno one! And the Oh no! From the title comes from the fact that at the last second you can hear an "Oh no!" that was used on MacIntosh's! Then comes Flare Lullaby. This is a melodic track mixing synth and real instruments. Another one of my favourites. It's actually beautiful in some way. The remake of Josephine in my opinion...sucks. It sounds like a lot of noises and instruments playing in random parts. The melody is hardly recognizable...and for ending, a familiar one: The Morning Grow. I like this arrangement with the plucked strings and all. It gives to the track a more lighthearted beat. Another one of my favourites.
That's all for the second CD, hardcore fans of the Sound Team JDK won't be deceived but those who where only looking for orchestral might be deceived...though some tracks are really interesting even for not hardcore fans.
THE BONUS DISC 8cm
This disc contains seven tracks where you can hear musicians rehearsing and talking. There is nothing spectacular on this, no real complete track but you can hear some tracks rehearsed and how it actually went during the recording. This is interesting but I doubt you'll want to listen to it every day.
OVERALL
In two words this album would be described as a rare gem. When it appears on eBay, the price starts from 100$. That's the starting price. And that's if you can find one on eBay! But don't worry some mirrors have a *cough* backup copy of it on their server *cough*...just like me.
If you liked Symphony Y’s, then you'll probably like this one and if you're a real JDK Sound Team Fan, you'll like this for sure. But I invite you to discover this rare gem even if you never played any Falcom games. I only played Ys III and The Legend of Faxandu but the music never got to me while playing. Then after listening to it in another way (orchestral) after all these years, it just made me discover this. Now, I'm a fan of the JDK Sound Team. This album deserves a 90 for all the good tracks it has on it.
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| Album Information | Reviewer Rank |
|---|---|
|
Falcom Neo Classic: From Studios In London City Published by: King Records Release Date: November 21st 1992 Composed by: Falcom Sound Team J.D.K. Arranged by: Takayuki Hattori, Jun Irie 2 Discs, 16 Tracks Catalog: KICA-1114~5 + 8SSX-10001 |
90 |
Reviewed by: Mithrandir
Simply great. Among the great symphonic albums out there. A rare gem. I invite you to listen to it, even if you never played Falcom games.
Ys and other Falcom games are very few known outside the Asiatic continent. Some are known because they were released in North America by other companies like Hudson Soft. Still, the JDK Sound Team is well known among gamers and video game music lovers. The JDK Sound Team has its own style and it is mostly electronic music, so a symphonic rendition of these compositions might sound weird or crazy but believe me, Takayuki Hattori, the arranger, did such a great job with the themes that I would be lying if I told you that this guy isn't a genius. This album is one of the rarest printed CD released by the company and it's worth what it's worth if you ever find one on e-bay. A little like the Orchestral Game Concerts, they're hard to find and they contain such great music. Among the themes, we can find music from Ys, Dragon Slayer, Sorcerian, and Xanadu. The first CD contains music performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (you know, one of the most famous orchestras in the world) and the second CD contains a mix of synth music and real instruments. Anyway let's start the review.
FIRST CD
The first CD contains tracks entirely performed by musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra. The first track is a medley of Lilia, Feena, and The Morning Grow. The track mixes a lot of styles, passing from a soothing melody to a more adventurous theme to end with a grandiose reprise of the theme of Lilia by the whole orchestra. This is the best track on the CD, believe me. Then comes Josephine. This track is kind of sad and not too driving. You may say it's boring but still it's beautiful. After all, this is Neo Classic music. But there's nothing that stands out of it and makes it an un-skippable track. If you thought Josephine was boring you haven't heard what the third track proposes to you. It consists mainly of a string quartet playing what I would call "chamber" music. Still, some of the themes in the track are beautiful. But overall, the third track is not a cheerful track...it reminds me of the Schindler's List Soundtrack.
Then comes Wanderers from Ys. Again, you will be deceived if you're looking for action music. Again, the track consists of a string quartet playing the theme. That kind of makes the track not full. I would have used percussion and the rest of the orchestra for this track. Cursed Earth calls back the orchestra to play a beautiful theme that reminds me of John Williams The Meadow Picnic from Star Wars Episode II. The track starts slowly and softly to move into the same theme but with a little more speed and more depth to it. This will remind you of some Sugiyama tracks found on the numerous Dragon Quest Symphonic Suites. This track is another one of my favourites on the album.
Then comes the great Legend of Heroes from Dragon Slayer. It starts with a soft melody accompanied by the xylophone then rises in intensity to make all the orchestra participate. I love the use of triplets in this track, they use them a lot! The track turns into a great march to take again the main theme but a little faster. This is such a beautiful melody. It stays in my head every time I listen to the track. It's really beautiful. I mean REALLY BEAUTIFUL. It turns again to a triumphant march with the same theme and has a solid ending. Wow. My favourite track on the CD. Really...
That concludes the first CD part. There are some memorable tracks on the CD and the symphonic rendering of the music is just so great.
THE SYNTH CD
I'm not really a fan of the remakes of the themes by the Sound Team but some are good. But for those who really like JDK Sound Team work, this might be for you. The tracks and the synth are similar to those on Ys Provincialism if it can give you an idea. And one of the reasons I listen to this album is the first CD. So I can't really comment on this CD... except that it has some interesting tracks. Ancient Sculpture really puts together an orchestra with synth sounds. It's really beautiful and it might be one of the most successful tracks in VGM where real orchestras are mixed with synth sounds. On this CD, this is my favourite track. The Voice is also an interesting track. Mysterious ambiance music, this is another one of my favourites.
And something rather unusual is found on this CD, a light-hearted version of Feena. Not those rather sad, soft arrangements you've been hearing on the other albums but a techno one! And the Oh no! From the title comes from the fact that at the last second you can hear an "Oh no!" that was used on MacIntosh's! Then comes Flare Lullaby. This is a melodic track mixing synth and real instruments. Another one of my favourites. It's actually beautiful in some way. The remake of Josephine in my opinion...sucks. It sounds like a lot of noises and instruments playing in random parts. The melody is hardly recognizable...and for ending, a familiar one: The Morning Grow. I like this arrangement with the plucked strings and all. It gives to the track a more lighthearted beat. Another one of my favourites.
That's all for the second CD, hardcore fans of the Sound Team JDK won't be deceived but those who where only looking for orchestral might be deceived...though some tracks are really interesting even for not hardcore fans.
THE BONUS DISC 8cm
This disc contains seven tracks where you can hear musicians rehearsing and talking. There is nothing spectacular on this, no real complete track but you can hear some tracks rehearsed and how it actually went during the recording. This is interesting but I doubt you'll want to listen to it every day.
OVERALL
In two words this album would be described as a rare gem. When it appears on eBay, the price starts from 100$. That's the starting price. And that's if you can find one on eBay! But don't worry some mirrors have a *cough* backup copy of it on their server *cough*...just like me.
If you liked Symphony Y’s, then you'll probably like this one and if you're a real JDK Sound Team Fan, you'll like this for sure. But I invite you to discover this rare gem even if you never played any Falcom games. I only played Ys III and The Legend of Faxandu but the music never got to me while playing. Then after listening to it in another way (orchestral) after all these years, it just made me discover this. Now, I'm a fan of the JDK Sound Team. This album deserves a 90 for all the good tracks it has on it.
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