吉他社

ラストレムナント オリジナル・サウンドトラック

2 吉他谱  0 求谱  0 拨片 

语种:日语

唱片公司:SMD jutaku(SME)(M)

发行时间:2008-12-10

类别:原声带、影视音乐

ラストレムナント オリジナル・サウンドトラック专辑介绍 SQUARE ENIX 次世代RPGプロジェクト第二弾!

日本、北米、欧州で今冬に発売されるXbox360ソフト『ラスト レムナント』のゲーム内BGMを完全収録したオリジナル・サウンドトラックCD。本作はゲームソフトメーカー「SQUARE ENIX」の放つ新ブランドとして本格始動する次世代RPGプロジェクトの第二弾作品となる。ゲームは発売前から全世界のRPGファンから注目を浴び続け、国内では、ゲーム専門誌「週刊ファミ通」紙面で行われる期待の新作ランキングでは常に上位にランクインし続けている。(8/8~8/21集計 期待のルーキー部門第 1位獲得)楽曲は12cmCD3枚組、全90曲を超える収録内容。映像とともに記憶に刻まれる楽曲は、メロディアスで優美な旋律から、モンスターとバトルするシーンでの強烈なインパクトを与える楽曲まで、多種多様に渡りハイクオリティで緻密な音楽設計が施されている。


Overview

Gamers have been divided about the quality of Square
Enix's Xbox 360 RPG The Last Remnant, but even the
most harsh reviewers have noted the spectacular
quality of the soundtrack. Tsuyoshi Sekito seemed a
surprising choice to lead such a score — having
continually shined as a rock arranger but produced
mostly simplistic and derivative compositions on
Brave Fencer Musashi and Dawn of Mana. A lot was
expected from him in The Last Remnant though. In
terms of quantity, he was asked to produce 97
compositions to be used during gameplay and
cinematic events with the assistance of synthesizer
operator Yasuhiro Yamanaka. In a series of firsts
for him, he also needed to represent vast cities and
landscapes, enhance the interactivity of battle, and
produce epic orchestral and vocal pieces. Sekito
clearly explored and refined his musicality during
The Last Remnant's long development time in order to
bring the goods. He demonstrates an enormous
stylistic range on the project — using orchestral,
rock, electronic, new age, and vocal music — while
maintaining some familiar aspects of his musicality
and providing numerous memorable melodies and
compelling rhythms. Let's take a closer look at his
magnum opus.

Body

The first item on the soundtrack, "The First
Awakening", introduces the main theme of The Last
Remnant. This anthem features commanding brass
fanfares, brisk percussion, and a choral climax.
While inspired by action movies, it nonetheless
proves moderately original if hardly mature with its
over-the-top percussion and unconventional use of
brass mordents. Enjoyable and compelling, though a
little more quirky than intended. It is arranged at
several critical points during the soundtrack, but
probably makes its biggest impact with its
surprising lyrical interpretation in "The Young
Marquis". Another important composition is the
background music for Athlum, "The City of Heroes",
which juxtaposes racing percussion with jagged
strings and firm brass to epic effect. The theme
takes an emotional turn in the middle with the
addition of celestial organ and choir passages to
the continuous riffs. Most of the other city themes
tend to exert a feeling of grandeur and divinity but
in varied ways. The light elevating timbres of
"Glittering Gold", for instance, contrast with the
nationalistic pomp of Elysion's "The Heavens'
Majesty". However, no theme can really be described
in simplistic terms since all gain a lot of colour
through their multifaceted development and
underlying elements. Sekito's bombastic and edgy
approach to using orchestra can create unbalanced
timbres in some of the bolder themes. However, they
create the appropriate mood and are compelling in a
unique way, so many will be able to overlook the
heavy-handed musicality.

The settings of The Last Remnant are portrayed by
diverse compositions. A superb theme to accompany
globe-trotting, "Rolling Hills, Sprawling Plains"
mainly focuses on an upbeat piano riff with an
uncanny resemblance to Chrono Trigger's "Primitive
Mountain". However, it also demonstrates the various
colours of the world with its western-influenced
introduction, new age overtones, bombastic buildups,
and serene interludes. The outstanding "Limberlost"
creates so much excitement and dynamism while
portraying vast landscapes with passionate guitar
lines and infusing flute melodies. "Swirling Sands"
is also instantly inviting with its Morricone
influences and soon offers a giant scope. Moving on
to more abstract entries, "Arcane Mysteries" creates
a sublime but mystifying soundscape within sacred
lands by blending new age elements, ominous
electronic pulsations, and celestial elements. "The
Crumbling Fortress" and "Breakers on the Shore" also
inspire powerful imagery through the contrasts of
their ever-changing treble instrumentation with
their eerily repeating underlying motifs. Sekito
also surprisingly shines creating various lighter
themes. Tracks such as "A Friendly Ear" and "Gateway
to the West" seem to channel Sakimoto's whimsy
lyricism with Sekito's booming bass. "Free and Easy"
and "Old Traditions, New Methods" are especially
enjoyable for their gorgeously implemented guitar
work and buoyant rhythms. They all make a
contribution to The Last Remnant's enormous range of
soundscapes.

As expected, the action themes are among the
highlights of The Last Remnant. "Clash of Opposites"
demonstrates that Sekito has developed his approach
to composing battle themes from Dawn of Mana. He
creates a compelling wall of sound involving rapid
drum kit beats, dissonant string crisis motifs, and
aggressive rhythm guitar riffs to represent the
giant battle scenes and blistering deadlock combat.
Though the battle themes are less interactive in
context than originally promoted, their hard and
dynamic nature nevertheless makes action much more
exciting. Few demonstrate this better than the
regular battle theme "Sword Sparks" where driving
rock riffs spectacularly combine with blistering
guitar solos and haunting chorus doubling. In
"Flamedrop", Sekito reflects the dynamics of a close
combat by intersynching pulsating beats with his
usual tense motifs. The boss themes "Struggle
Eternal" and "Reversal!" prove to be some of the
most enjoyable additions to the soundtrack since
they are dominated by melodic electric guitar work
performed by Tsuyoshi Sekito. In contrast, "Sliver
of Hope" emphasises the gruelling nature of
continual battling with slow-building orchestral and
choral elements, but is unexciting on its own. "The
Gates of Hell" accompanies a battle during a
spectacular turning point in the game. Its
head-banging instrumental rock at some of its best
and has a particularly dark edge. Though the battle
themes can be formulaic en masse, each is effective
in the game and enjoyable in the context of the
soundtrack.

Moving on to the event themes, the opening suite is
composed of four short but distinct themes written
in orchestral and rock styles. Jagged in and out of
context, the suite would have been far more
effective if it were continuous cinematic
underscore. Nevertheless, it embellishes an
emotional theme of the game introduced in the fully
orchestrated "Cherished Memories"; used to explore
the protagonist Rush's feelings about his lost
sister, it appears in several short incarnations
until the end of the soundtrack to reflect their
continued separation. The other major events are
effectively underscored throughout the game. The
majority are derivative cues written in the style of
Dawn of Mana, but they are still sufficiently few to
not be particularly interruptive out of context.
However, occasionally there are outstanding themes
even outside the game. "Home", for instance,
develops from a refreshing jazzy piano tune into a
rich contemplative passage to reflect Rush's
childhood memories. Also notable are string-led cues
such as "The Bonds of Friendship" and "Family" that
demonstrate Sekito's capacity to enhance intimate
and personal scenes. "Slipping Through Your Fingers"
is an effective accompaniment to the encounter with
an antagonist — transitioning from a chilling
combination of electronic beats and vocal work to an
emotional cello and piano passage. There are also
utterly imposing themes like "Unrelenting Advance",
"The Conquerer's Message", or "Assembling the
Puzzle" used to reflect the might of the
antagonists.

Meticulous synthesizer operator Yasuhiro Yamanaka
also composed a handful of tracks, mostly used in
the dungeons in the game. "Into the Depths"
excellently captures the atmosphere of being in a
gloomy cave at the start of the game. It is also
fulfilling to listen to on a stand-alone basis with
its blend of exotic Raithwell-like percussion and
sinister jazz-influenced string lines. "Creeping
Shadows" produces a similar atmosphere in a ruined
environment through blending horror-influenced
sporadic sounds with increasingly complex percussion
and underlying rhythmical grooves. Other pieces such
as "Echoing Hallways" more subtly immerse players
into the game and stimulate their senses. It is
clear from all of Yamanaka's contributions that his
layering is influenced by techno music techniques
even though he mostly uses acoustic instrumentation.
Even in his one relaxed offering, "Ante Back", he
repeats and elaborates upon a series of grooves to
meditative effect. There tends to be enough
variation in his compositional approach to maintain
variety, whether the novel sound effects of "Dark
Secrets", the electronic pulsations of "Everflow",
or the deeper intricacies in other pieces. He also
adds to the pace and atmosphere at the end of the
game with his dark orchestral contribution "Whispers
of the Ancients" and an intimidating electronic and
rock fusion "One Step". Evidently Yamanaka's major
compositional debut demonstrates he can create
strong atmospheres while elegantly blending
influences from numerous musical styles.

Sekito sets the ball rolling towards the climax with
a chain of four battle themes. While they many
elaborate on the style set by previous action
themes, "Turn the Tide" and "Out of Control" are
some of the best rock compositions Sekito has
created. Things accelerate with the well-developed
event themes "Wheat From Chaff" and "Final Decision"
that contrast villains and heroes respectively. In
the subtly intimidating final dungeon theme
"Labyrinth", Sekito elaborates on Yamanaka's
approach by juxtaposing stern string crisis motifs
with rapid electronic polyrhythms. Moving to the
final battle themes, "Nisus" is a momentous track
blending modernist orchestral passages, some
thematic reprises, and late emerging rock riffs. Its
successor "Schismogenesis" blends formidable choral
chants and heavy metal riffs at an astonishing
tempo, but isn't quite as all-encompassing or epic.
After a cinematic full orchestral track wraps up the
loose ends, Sekito offers another first in his
career — the alternative rock vocal theme "Journey's
End". Though lyrically dubious and rather short, the
theme nicely builds up from its reflective opening
towards a dramatic climax featuring Donna Burke's
commanding vocals and of course Sekito's electric
guitar. The staff roll is accompanied by a
fulfilling medley of several of the most memorable
themes from the soundtrack — "The First Awakening",
"Assembling the Puzzle", "Home", "Unrelenting
Advance", and of course, "Cherished Memories" —
featuring epic, dark, and emotional moments.

Summary

Overall, The Last Remnant Original Soundtrack is an
impressive achievement. Sekito's music complements
the enormous yet personal feel of the game; few
soundtracks add as much character to the settings,
energy to the battles, and drama to the events as
this one from start to finish. Thanks to Yasuhiro
Yamanaka's meticulous and versatile synthesizer
operation, the samples are high-quality and the
multifaceted tracks are elegantly mixed. It's
therefore unsurprising so many gamers praised the
soundtrack, some even calling it a rocked and pumped
up Final Fantasy XII. On a stand-alone basis, the
music is also very enjoyable. There is an enormous
variety of themes — imposing brassy overtures,
boundless setting themes, hard-edged rock tracks,
percussive dungeon themes, lyrical ditties, and some
sensitive moments. Even most individual themes blend
multiple influences together and this is especially
effective when depicting the vast cities and
landscapes of the game. As well as compelling
rhythms and soundscapes, the soundtrack features
Sekito's best melodies to date.

While Sekito has clearly matured while composing The
Last Remnant, his heavy-handed approach to creating
orchestral music will be unpleasant to some people
and he would definitely benefit from a year of
classically-oriented training. Another problem with
the score are the fairly numerous derivative event
themes, but they are hardly as interruptive as those
of Dawn of Mana and still work fine in context. For
those compatible with Sekito's bold fusion
approaches, this soundtrack is a must-have and will
provide many hours of entertaining listening. This
soundtrack is available as a three disc album from
retailers like CDJapan and as individual tracks via
iTunes; the iTunes version actually has additional
loops for some of the setting, dungeon, and battle
themes, but omits the final battle theme in favour
of an orchestral arranged version of "The First
Awakening". It's probably more economical and
worthwhile to buy the physical album and consider
buying the bonus track separately. A highly
recommended soundtrack to listen to in and out of
context, especially at high volume.

from:

http://www.squareenixmusic.com/reviews/chris/lastremnant.shtml

http://www.squareenixmusic.com/albums/l/lastremnant.shtml

CD Link:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SQEX-10127