RPGamers Network > Reviews > Game Music Reviews > Ogre Battle Image Album: The Entrance
Reviewed by: Zeugma 440
Ogre Battle - The Entrance: the title of this album sounds mysterious and attractive when you've never heard about it before. Composed by Hayato Matsuo and Hitoshi Sakimoto, it exclusively contains synthetic arrangements, and strangely enough, has very little in common with the original Ogre Battle music. Here is my detailed review of its seven tracks:
Constellatus
The first track of the album starts in an uncommon way, with a ridiculous synth brass section playing the Overture theme. Meanwhile, a clear male voice starts narrating "The Legend of Ogre Battle". You might think that this would sound decent... In fact, right after the introduction, a messy background music pops up and loops while the voice continues to talk. One minute later, some other guy starts singing, and thus strikes the last blow to this track, turning it from strange to ludicrous. Constellatus is definitely a bad start for this album...
Spectrum
This instrumental track could have been the "world map" theme of Ogre Battle. The leading theme, caught somewhere between an epic and a happy atmosphere, is performed by an electric piano. An important reverb effect is applied on the background instruments, which gives an impression of space and freedom. I consider Spectrum as an original and pleasant piece of music; a kind of surprise inside this album.
Shade Over
Another vocal track, performed in Japanese and English by Moto Hara. I cannot see the purpose of this track, apart from highlighting the terrible English accent of the singer. The melody is not particularly appealing, and the arrangement behind the voice is quite poor. To put it in a nutshell: nothing worth on track 3.
Textures
The word "experiment" would better fit this piece of music. While a bass goes wild all the track long, a synth lead, an organ and a fiddle relay each other and improvise a melody. The overall atmosphere is, well, strange and quite close to the funk genre. I personally don't like it because of this, but the whole is still listenable.
Megalo Syntaxis Tes Astronomias
In case you were wondering where has the Ogre Battle spirit gone, this 21-minutes-long medley is for you. It is not only a simple "copy & paste" medley, but a real remix of many of the Ogre Battle tunes. Starting with a slow-paced melody which quickly gains intensity, the first theme bursts suddenly into an astonishing synth lead improvisation. The following sequence is far calmer, and fades progressively into the well-known Revolt (aka Thunder) theme, which is then performed with a funky and surprising style, until it fades out to give place to a second serene sequence. The real Battle only starts in the middle of the track, after a suspenseful snare roll. Unfortunately, the major part of this action music sequence consists of unpleasant piano and brass roars. After a while, the Revolt theme comes back, but the atmosphere keeps being the same: quite chaotic and uneasy to listen. The second theme (Go Go March), however, marks the return of real and rousing battle music. It is all the more so pleasant as it is preceded by a somehow disturbing passage. The fadeout to the next sequence is slowly operated, so that one can hear another, darker theme emerging step by step. This "boss-like" music has some points in common with the first part of the battle sequence, while being more cleverly arranged (some new instruments join the melody to contribute to a more dramatic sound). Finally, after a last burst of action, the Overture theme closes this track in an epic... and funky way
Innocence is another vocal track. But don't panic, this one features no less than Risa Ohki, the singer starring both Final Fantasy Vocal Collections. Once again, the tune doesn't remind me of any Ogre Battle theme, but the whole sounds very nice. Even if you're used to listening to Risa Ohki's voice over real instruments, this synthetic arrangement won't disturb you at all.
Neo ~ A Planet's Death
The final track of the album is a new, dramatic tune, which sounds sometimes too much like the central part of track 5. The main melody is led by flutes and strings, with tribal drums and piano in the background. "A Planet's Death" probably refers to the atmosphere of despair and destruction that is supposed to come out of this track: it can be somehow felt, but the arrangement is not convincing. You have probably understood it: the first and biggest flaw of this album is the obvious lack of original Ogre Battle tunes (featured on only 2 out of 7 tracks). The second one is the low quality of the two male vocal performances. In my opinion, this album has too many average tracks to be considered as a must-have. The exception here is the medley (Megalo Syntaxis Tes Astronomias), which is really interesting if you like synth-only arrangements (and even more if you already know the original Ogre Battle soundtrack).
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| Album Information | Reviewer Rank |
|---|---|
|
Ogre Battle Image Album: The Entrance Published by: DATAM Polystar Release Date: November 26th 1993 Composed by: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Hayato Matsuo Arranged by: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Hayato Matsuo, Koji Sakuyama 1 Disc, 7 Tracks Catalog: DPCX-5019 |
63 |
Reviewed by: Zeugma 440
Ogre Battle - The Entrance: the title of this album sounds mysterious and attractive when you've never heard about it before. Composed by Hayato Matsuo and Hitoshi Sakimoto, it exclusively contains synthetic arrangements, and strangely enough, has very little in common with the original Ogre Battle music. Here is my detailed review of its seven tracks:
Constellatus
The first track of the album starts in an uncommon way, with a ridiculous synth brass section playing the Overture theme. Meanwhile, a clear male voice starts narrating "The Legend of Ogre Battle". You might think that this would sound decent... In fact, right after the introduction, a messy background music pops up and loops while the voice continues to talk. One minute later, some other guy starts singing, and thus strikes the last blow to this track, turning it from strange to ludicrous. Constellatus is definitely a bad start for this album...
Spectrum
This instrumental track could have been the "world map" theme of Ogre Battle. The leading theme, caught somewhere between an epic and a happy atmosphere, is performed by an electric piano. An important reverb effect is applied on the background instruments, which gives an impression of space and freedom. I consider Spectrum as an original and pleasant piece of music; a kind of surprise inside this album.
Shade Over
Another vocal track, performed in Japanese and English by Moto Hara. I cannot see the purpose of this track, apart from highlighting the terrible English accent of the singer. The melody is not particularly appealing, and the arrangement behind the voice is quite poor. To put it in a nutshell: nothing worth on track 3.
Textures
The word "experiment" would better fit this piece of music. While a bass goes wild all the track long, a synth lead, an organ and a fiddle relay each other and improvise a melody. The overall atmosphere is, well, strange and quite close to the funk genre. I personally don't like it because of this, but the whole is still listenable.
Megalo Syntaxis Tes Astronomias
In case you were wondering where has the Ogre Battle spirit gone, this 21-minutes-long medley is for you. It is not only a simple "copy & paste" medley, but a real remix of many of the Ogre Battle tunes. Starting with a slow-paced melody which quickly gains intensity, the first theme bursts suddenly into an astonishing synth lead improvisation. The following sequence is far calmer, and fades progressively into the well-known Revolt (aka Thunder) theme, which is then performed with a funky and surprising style, until it fades out to give place to a second serene sequence. The real Battle only starts in the middle of the track, after a suspenseful snare roll. Unfortunately, the major part of this action music sequence consists of unpleasant piano and brass roars. After a while, the Revolt theme comes back, but the atmosphere keeps being the same: quite chaotic and uneasy to listen. The second theme (Go Go March), however, marks the return of real and rousing battle music. It is all the more so pleasant as it is preceded by a somehow disturbing passage. The fadeout to the next sequence is slowly operated, so that one can hear another, darker theme emerging step by step. This "boss-like" music has some points in common with the first part of the battle sequence, while being more cleverly arranged (some new instruments join the melody to contribute to a more dramatic sound). Finally, after a last burst of action, the Overture theme closes this track in an epic... and funky way
Innocence is another vocal track. But don't panic, this one features no less than Risa Ohki, the singer starring both Final Fantasy Vocal Collections. Once again, the tune doesn't remind me of any Ogre Battle theme, but the whole sounds very nice. Even if you're used to listening to Risa Ohki's voice over real instruments, this synthetic arrangement won't disturb you at all.
Neo ~ A Planet's Death
The final track of the album is a new, dramatic tune, which sounds sometimes too much like the central part of track 5. The main melody is led by flutes and strings, with tribal drums and piano in the background. "A Planet's Death" probably refers to the atmosphere of despair and destruction that is supposed to come out of this track: it can be somehow felt, but the arrangement is not convincing. You have probably understood it: the first and biggest flaw of this album is the obvious lack of original Ogre Battle tunes (featured on only 2 out of 7 tracks). The second one is the low quality of the two male vocal performances. In my opinion, this album has too many average tracks to be considered as a must-have. The exception here is the medley (Megalo Syntaxis Tes Astronomias), which is really interesting if you like synth-only arrangements (and even more if you already know the original Ogre Battle soundtrack).
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