Contrary, it seems, to most people, I first discovered Daisuke Ishiwatari's works through the original Guilty Gear on the PlayStation 1. Contrary also, it seems, to most people, Guilty Gear 1 was also the first GG game I played. I believe most people first discovered GG and GG's music simultaneously via Guilty Gear X.
Back then, before I inserted the GG's game disc into my PS1 for the first time, I had a fair yet vague idea of what to expect: a 2D versus fighting game and a "poor man's version of Street Fighter" (according to magazines made from trees at the time; the Internet also wasn't mainstream yet). That short period in time brought about some decent childhood gaming memories (from least significant to most significant):
1) The game is pretty broken (infinite super moves at low health, infinite combos etc).
2) I thought Nobuo Uematsu (of Final Fantasy fame) had something to do with the soundtrack. If I remember correctly, the name "Uematsu" is shown on the sound test, on an unreleased track.
3) The unexpected appearance of Baiken, the one-eyed and one-armed Samurai Kenshin-clone (after finishing the game without continues) and accordingly, the miracle that is Baiken's theme (fusion of heavy rock and traditional Japanese instruments), leading to it being my favourite song of the game.
And finally, of course, 4) The heavy rock/metal soundtrack as composed by the man himself, Ishiwatari. I think it is thanks to him that I gained an appreciation for heavy rock/metal. Actually, I probably liked heavy rock before that point, like Rockman X's (SFC) synth guitars on the SNES sound chip, but I didn't identify it as HR/HM back then. In hindsight, it was obvious (the fact that Rockman X is a heavy metal soundtrack). Anyway, the first song from GG to catch my attention was Ky's theme Holy Orders (Be Just or Be Dead). The organ intro leading to the guitars and complemented by the stage (some sort of elegant palace) means the identification of myself as being a HR/HM fan was cemented.
Somehow, I missed the entire Guilty Gear X phase (Arcade, Sega Dreamcast and PS2). Perhaps the "franchise" (the single PS1 game at the time) slipped out my mind. When I re-discovered GG, the PS2 home port was already released. Soundtrack-wise, rather than going from GGX to GGXX, I went from GG to GGXX. That is a big difference. Needless to say, GGXX was God's (Ishiwatari) gift to me. Also, this is the period where I downloaded the Korean PS2 version of GGXX... on dialup (i.e. 4KB/s). It was worth it.
Back to the present. As referenced in my post
here, accusations could be made that the music of GG, BB, or both, is/are "generic". Speaking as a lover of GG music and a lover of BB music, it could be argued that the music of Hard Corps: Uprising is even more generic (or just plain generic if you don't believe GG/BB music is generic). Actually, I prefer to put it this way: the music of HCU are the ones that weren't good enough to go into BB. That was the though going through my head as I perused HCU's music. It's like Daisuke was examining his own creations: "This one's good, I'll throw it into the BB box. This one's a bit weak so it can go in some other franchise." My general GG and BB album repeats are more frequent than HCU, that can be said.
Having said that, I only say that because Daisuke has already set such a high standard for himself via GG and BB and it would take a third miracle for HCU to top them. If you are a HR/HM fan and especially if you are a Ishiwatari fan, then there shouldn't be any reason why you wouldn't enjoy the music of HCU. Just set your expectations accordingly. HCU is more "generic" so it's more old-fashioned, relatively lower risk, straight heavy rock. It lacks (or has a lesser degree of) the "sophistication" of BB and other instruments like pianos, organs, and violins are minimised. Here, the guitars really take center stage. If you're a Contra music fan, then there's also a top quality Contra Stage 1 theme arrange.
As far as the future is concerned, if given a mutually exclusive choice, I would prefer originality as opposed similar, but different. GGXrd is a sequel with much of the same characters so unfortunately (to me), the same tunes I heard a million times before, will probably return, albeit in a slightly different form. Better GG this time than BB I guess, since BB is almost starting to wear out its welcome. And like BB3, my ears will be focusing on the new original tunes. "Heavy Day", the vocal theme song for GGXrd, I am certainly digging.