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Old Jul 1, 2012, 11:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Argentis View Post
Hirota doesn't like his Akumajo Tribute remix? I remember the small piano bridge around the 2:50 mark but I wouldn't say the track is completely forgetful, though it is definitely not on par with Enormous Threat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7VzLXPubT8 (53:00)
Closer view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJjBlZUbwDw (51:30)

A person directs a question to all Earthbound Papa members asking which music they would personally like to arrange, using Hirota's arrange from one of the recent Akumajou Dracula Tribute albums as an example.

Shortly after the question is asked, it looks like Hirota said something (his exact words aren't audible for either video) making the other members laugh, and the interpreter tells the audience: "He said that doesn't exist... or so I was told".

If the translation was correct and "that" refers to the aforementioned arranged Akumajou Dracula track by Hirota, I can only assume that he isn't exactly proud of that contribution.




Anyway, I got around to listening to the "yorlga" album at least 5 times before making a decision on whether I like the album: Yes, I do. I had to do the same thing with Yuzo Koshiro's Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune 4 (and before that, 3). Sometimes you have to give an album a few goes before you can discover its intricacies (or lack of).

This album is more similar to Yasunori Mitsuda's Kirite than the later Kinema in the Hole. Compared to KitH, which is definitely Hirota's "voice"/style, yorlga has a slight Mitsuda influence, most of it coming from the very first track The World is a Movie Inside My Eyes (セカイは僕の睛の中の映画).

Having said that, Hirota fans coming from Shadow Hearts should be able to find something to like here. In fact, the riff from the first few seconds of What Lurks at The Bottom of Another World (異界の底に棲むモノは) sounds like it was played from the same guitar that played the first few seconds of Mauve, a battle theme from Shadow Hearts: From the New World. The strange-sounding voice from Kagura (Stage 4 1st Half) (Guwange Arrange) also finds it way here in the form of a short intermission instrumental track Circulation(inst.).

Aquagon's favourite track on this album, Blossom-falling Night (桜散ル夜~ハナチルヤ~), also ended up being one of mine too. I'm a fan of unconventional approaches to music like One-Winged Bird so my other favourite was Narcolepsy (眠り病). It also has the added quality of being slow and unassuming for more than 2 minutes before building up to a climax halfway.

Fortunately, Noriko Mitose's voice register in this album did not reach the highs heard in One-Wing Bird, though in one or two tracks (Track #1 and #4), they can still be potentially uncomfortably high. That's coming from a person used to Japanese female singing so your mileage and tolerance level may vary. Actually that's another reason I like the Narcolepsy track: the atmosphere/mood of the song does not allow her the opportunity to hit the high notes (for the first half at least).

Overall, for true Hirota fans, this album is essential listening. For casual Hirota fans, Shadow Hearts music fans (as opposed to the-musician-Hirota-himself-fan), and everyone else, proceed at your own risk.



I also gave the Earthbound Papas album "Octave Theory" a few goes. Since this isn't solely a Hirota work, I'll make just a few comments about it. This album has mixed reviews so far. This album also sounds similar to The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight, which also had mixed reviews. I liked THB3, therefore, I liked this too.

There's nothing wrong with the music in the first track Introduction ~Octopus Theory but the "singing"/gibberish or the voice samples sounds quite weird. In fact, the first thing that came to my mind was the Hanjuku Hero 3D OST of all places, in particular it reminded me of the voice samples from PICK DA RAP 4 GIRLZ, a similarly unusual song (then again, the entire album and the game itself is unusual).

The Japanese vocal version of Eternity has some novelty value but otherwise unremarkable, neither better nor worse than the English original. The rest of the arranged tracks are competently done and at least worth listening if you're bored with the originals, but again, nothing particularly earth-shatteringly new.

I came to this album for the arranges but I think it's reasonable to say that most people left this album with the same star track as I did: Metal Hypnotized, a non-arrange original composition.
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