Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album
Encyclopedia
Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album is an arranged
soundtrack
to Square Enix
's role-playing video game
Xenogears
. It is the third soundtrack to the game, after Xenogears Original Soundtrack
and Creid
, another arranged album, both released in 1998. Myth was composed by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda
and arranged by Mitsuda, Youki Yamamoto, Sachiko Miyano, and Natsumi Kameoka. The album contains 14 tracks, including a song performed by the Irish
singer Joanne Hogg
, and has a length of 51:33. The orchestration was performed by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yamamoto. The album was announced in October 2010, and was released on February 23, 2011 by Square Enix
. A vinyl record version of the album was released on April 1, 2011, consisting of six tracks from the full album.
Reviewers were consistent in their praises and criticism of the album. They noted the high production values and the quality of the original compositions and the performance of the orchestra. They also felt that the later tracks in the album were notably weaker than the early tracks, that the arrangements in general did not stray far from the source material, and that several of the track choices did not seem to fit as well as orchestral renditions as others.
composer Yasunori Mitsuda
announced plans to create an album of orchestral arrangements of music from that game on October 6, 2010, via his Twitter
account. Mitsuda had previously released two albums of music from the game, both in 1998, the year the game was released—Xenogears Original Soundtrack
, a soundtrack album for the game, and Creid
, an album of arranged music inspired by Celtic folk music
and Japanese rock. He has said that he decided to make the album due to the emotions that he and fans still felt about the game 13 years after its release, which led him to want to commemorate that. The music of Xenogears is particularly close to Mitsuda, as it was the last soundtrack that he worked on for Square Enix
—the first video game company he worked for—and he knew that he would be leaving when he composed the soundtrack for the game. He has said that he had been considering the idea of a Xenogears orchestral album for six or seven years prior to starting on it, but until then did not have both the opportunity to work on the project and the confidence in his own abilities as an orchestrator to make the album sound as he wished.
When the album was announced, Square Enix opened a poll for members of their fan club to vote on tracks that they would like to see in the album. The poll was closed on October 20 and in December the top ten results were published. Eight of these were eventually included in the final album—"Crimson Knight" and "Awakening" were excluded. Although Mitsuda tried to put as many of the suggestions into the album as he felt were appropriate, he only included the top three "without thinking". He was limited in his track selection due to many of the original tunes sharing common themes, while he wanted only one instance of a given theme to be present on Myth. The tracklist was initially set to feature ten tracks, but was later expanded to fourteen.
The album was recorded with the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria and was mixed in London in December, 2010. Of the fourteen tracks, Mitsuda only arranged one for orchestration; Youki Yamamoto, who also conducted the orchestra, arranged three, Sachiko Miyano arranged two, and Natsumi Kameoka of Mitsuda's Procyon Studio arranged seven. Joanne Hogg
reprised her role as the vocalist for "Small Two of Pieces"; however, the lyrics were not re-recorded. Instead, her original performance from the game's soundtrack was used. The title "Myth" was chosen by Mitsuda so that "this work may become everyone’s myth", as he wanted the music to remind listeners of "fond memories and thoughts of the world of" the original game and soundtrack.
The album was released on February 23, 2011. It contains 14 tracks with a total length of 51:33. The album was published by Square Enix and has a catalog number of SQEX-10230. The physical release of the album was only in Japan, though it was additionally released digitally on iTunes
outside of the country. Additionally, on April 1, 2011, Square Enix published a vinyl record version of the album. This version contains six tracks, corresponding to tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 12, and 13 from the full album. It has a length of 28:33 and the catalog number SE-M0004. Ringtones for "Village Pride", "A Distant Promise", "Dark Dawn" and "Small Two of Pieces" were released on January 28, 2011. Mitsuda noted that there might be a second orchestral album in the future if the first was successful; he described himself as "very keen on the idea of producing the second album".
Myth was reviewed by two separate critics from RPGFan. Eric Farand praised the album, saying that half of the songs were great and the other half were "pretty good"; he called out "Village Pride" as one of the best. Like Fagen he felt that the second half of the album contained several tracks that were "forgettable, phoned-in or a poor song selection for this album". He agreed with Schweitzer that the majority of the arrangements did not deviate much from the original compositions, but said that it was what he expected and wanted from an orchestral arrangement album. Stephen Meyerink, in his review, was less receptive to the album, saying that "It's good. It's not great." He praised the technical quality of the performances, especially those of the string section of the orchestra, but criticized the lack of originality in the arrangements. He noted "Soaring" and "Bonds of Sea and Flames" as some of the few tracks he felt brought something unique to the arrangement. He felt that while the original compositions were strong, that the album felt "rushed" and "phoned-in" with poor track selection, made more to tie in with the release of Xenogears on the PlayStation Network that year than for the love of the music.
. When the literal translation differs, it is marked after the Japanese name.
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
's role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
Xenogears
Xenogears
is a science-fiction console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation. It was released on February 11, 1998 in Japan and on October 20, 1998 in North America. The game was never released in PAL territories...
. It is the third soundtrack to the game, after Xenogears Original Soundtrack
Xenogears Original Soundtrack
The Xenogears Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack to Square's console role-playing game Xenogears. It was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and contains 44 tracks, including a Bulgarian choral song and two pieces performed by the Irish singer Joanne Hogg...
and Creid
CREID
Creid is the arranged soundtrack to Square's console role-playing game Xenogears. It was written by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by a musical ensemble dubbed Millennial Fair. It was released on April 22, 1998 in Japan by DigiCube, and re-released by Square Enix on June 29, 2005...
, another arranged album, both released in 1998. Myth was composed by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda
Yasunori Mitsuda
is a Japanese video game composer, sound programmer, and musician. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums...
and arranged by Mitsuda, Youki Yamamoto, Sachiko Miyano, and Natsumi Kameoka. The album contains 14 tracks, including a song performed by the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
singer Joanne Hogg
Joanne Hogg
Joanne Hogg is an Irish singer and songwriter for the band Iona.-Biography:Hogg was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and is best known as the lead singer and songwriter with the Christian progressive Celtic/pop/rock band Iona . Her father is a Presbyterian minister, her mother a nurse; her...
, and has a length of 51:33. The orchestration was performed by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yamamoto. The album was announced in October 2010, and was released on February 23, 2011 by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
. A vinyl record version of the album was released on April 1, 2011, consisting of six tracks from the full album.
Reviewers were consistent in their praises and criticism of the album. They noted the high production values and the quality of the original compositions and the performance of the orchestra. They also felt that the later tracks in the album were notably weaker than the early tracks, that the arrangements in general did not stray far from the source material, and that several of the track choices did not seem to fit as well as orchestral renditions as others.
Creation
XenogearsXenogears
is a science-fiction console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation. It was released on February 11, 1998 in Japan and on October 20, 1998 in North America. The game was never released in PAL territories...
composer Yasunori Mitsuda
Yasunori Mitsuda
is a Japanese video game composer, sound programmer, and musician. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums...
announced plans to create an album of orchestral arrangements of music from that game on October 6, 2010, via his Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account. Mitsuda had previously released two albums of music from the game, both in 1998, the year the game was released—Xenogears Original Soundtrack
Xenogears Original Soundtrack
The Xenogears Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack to Square's console role-playing game Xenogears. It was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and contains 44 tracks, including a Bulgarian choral song and two pieces performed by the Irish singer Joanne Hogg...
, a soundtrack album for the game, and Creid
CREID
Creid is the arranged soundtrack to Square's console role-playing game Xenogears. It was written by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by a musical ensemble dubbed Millennial Fair. It was released on April 22, 1998 in Japan by DigiCube, and re-released by Square Enix on June 29, 2005...
, an album of arranged music inspired by Celtic folk music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
and Japanese rock. He has said that he decided to make the album due to the emotions that he and fans still felt about the game 13 years after its release, which led him to want to commemorate that. The music of Xenogears is particularly close to Mitsuda, as it was the last soundtrack that he worked on for Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
—the first video game company he worked for—and he knew that he would be leaving when he composed the soundtrack for the game. He has said that he had been considering the idea of a Xenogears orchestral album for six or seven years prior to starting on it, but until then did not have both the opportunity to work on the project and the confidence in his own abilities as an orchestrator to make the album sound as he wished.
When the album was announced, Square Enix opened a poll for members of their fan club to vote on tracks that they would like to see in the album. The poll was closed on October 20 and in December the top ten results were published. Eight of these were eventually included in the final album—"Crimson Knight" and "Awakening" were excluded. Although Mitsuda tried to put as many of the suggestions into the album as he felt were appropriate, he only included the top three "without thinking". He was limited in his track selection due to many of the original tunes sharing common themes, while he wanted only one instance of a given theme to be present on Myth. The tracklist was initially set to feature ten tracks, but was later expanded to fourteen.
The album was recorded with the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria and was mixed in London in December, 2010. Of the fourteen tracks, Mitsuda only arranged one for orchestration; Youki Yamamoto, who also conducted the orchestra, arranged three, Sachiko Miyano arranged two, and Natsumi Kameoka of Mitsuda's Procyon Studio arranged seven. Joanne Hogg
Joanne Hogg
Joanne Hogg is an Irish singer and songwriter for the band Iona.-Biography:Hogg was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and is best known as the lead singer and songwriter with the Christian progressive Celtic/pop/rock band Iona . Her father is a Presbyterian minister, her mother a nurse; her...
reprised her role as the vocalist for "Small Two of Pieces"; however, the lyrics were not re-recorded. Instead, her original performance from the game's soundtrack was used. The title "Myth" was chosen by Mitsuda so that "this work may become everyone’s myth", as he wanted the music to remind listeners of "fond memories and thoughts of the world of" the original game and soundtrack.
The album was released on February 23, 2011. It contains 14 tracks with a total length of 51:33. The album was published by Square Enix and has a catalog number of SQEX-10230. The physical release of the album was only in Japan, though it was additionally released digitally on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
outside of the country. Additionally, on April 1, 2011, Square Enix published a vinyl record version of the album. This version contains six tracks, corresponding to tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 12, and 13 from the full album. It has a length of 28:33 and the catalog number SE-M0004. Ringtones for "Village Pride", "A Distant Promise", "Dark Dawn" and "Small Two of Pieces" were released on January 28, 2011. Mitsuda noted that there might be a second orchestral album in the future if the first was successful; he described himself as "very keen on the idea of producing the second album".
Reception
In his review of the album, Connary Fagen of Original Sound Version concluded that it was "part masterpiece, part phone-in." He felt that the majority of the album, especially the first two-thirds, was composed of strong, high-quality tracks. However, he felt that a few pieces, in particular the final three tracks, were "underwhelming". He described the overall effect as "a row of books with only one bookend" as the album in his opinion did not have a strong or defined ending. Ben Schweitzer of Square Enix Music Online said that while "the album as a whole is worthwhile", that it was "in some ways like a wasted opportunity." He felt that the majority of the tracks were short orchestrations that did not attempt to stray from the original material, which in his opinion meant that they were left to stand on the merits of the original compositions rather than their own merits. He did note that the quality of the orchestra was high, and called out "Cage of Remorse and Relief" and "Soaring" as especially well done.Myth was reviewed by two separate critics from RPGFan. Eric Farand praised the album, saying that half of the songs were great and the other half were "pretty good"; he called out "Village Pride" as one of the best. Like Fagen he felt that the second half of the album contained several tracks that were "forgettable, phoned-in or a poor song selection for this album". He agreed with Schweitzer that the majority of the arrangements did not deviate much from the original compositions, but said that it was what he expected and wanted from an orchestral arrangement album. Stephen Meyerink, in his review, was less receptive to the album, saying that "It's good. It's not great." He praised the technical quality of the performances, especially those of the string section of the orchestra, but criticized the lack of originality in the arrangements. He noted "Soaring" and "Bonds of Sea and Flames" as some of the few tracks he felt brought something unique to the arrangement. He felt that while the original compositions were strong, that the album felt "rushed" and "phoned-in" with poor track selection, made more to tie in with the release of Xenogears on the PlayStation Network that year than for the love of the music.
Track listing
For many of the tracks, the English names used in the iTunes release are different than the literal translation of the Japanese names, which were used for the original soundtrackXenogears Original Soundtrack
The Xenogears Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack to Square's console role-playing game Xenogears. It was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and contains 44 tracks, including a Bulgarian choral song and two pieces performed by the Irish singer Joanne Hogg...
. When the literal translation differs, it is marked after the Japanese name.
Personnel
- Yasunori MitsudaYasunori Mitsudais a Japanese video game composer, sound programmer, and musician. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums...
– composer, arranger, orchestrator, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Youki Yamamoto - arranger, orchestrator, conductor
- Sachiko Miyano - arranger, orchestrator
- Natsumi Kameoka - arranger, orchestrator
- The Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra – orchestra
- Joanne HoggJoanne HoggJoanne Hogg is an Irish singer and songwriter for the band Iona.-Biography:Hogg was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and is best known as the lead singer and songwriter with the Christian progressive Celtic/pop/rock band Iona . Her father is a Presbyterian minister, her mother a nurse; her...
– vocals on "Small Two of Pieces" - Tetsuya TakahashiTetsuya TakahashiTetsuya Takahashi is currently the head of game software company Monolith Soft, Inc. In the past, Takahashi has worked at Square and on such games as Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger...
- lyrics on "The Beginning and the End" - Masato KatoMasato Katois a Japanese video game artist, scenario writer and director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal".- Biography :...
- lyrics on "Small Two of Pieces"
External links
- Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Soundtrack official website