artist : VA
title : Play! A Video Game Symphony LIVE!
label : TMC Entertainment
cat# :
genre : Game
street date : 2009-01-09
tracks : 12
bitrate : 203 kbps avg. 44.1/Joint Stereo
size : 107.76mb
source : CD
type : Retail
url : http://www.play-symphony.com
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Didn't really know what to put as artist, but decided to go with the
composers.
Recorded in Rudolfinum, Dvorßk Hall in Prague, Czech Republic - 22 and 23
April 2008.
Performed by Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, leader Pavel Prantl and
Kuehn's Mixed Choir, leader Marek Vorlicek.
Track 2 (C64 Medley):
"In the Commodore 64 Medley we feature themes from games as: International
Karate by Rob Hubbard, Great Giana Sisters by Chris Huelsbeck, The Last
Ninja by Ben Daglish, Wizball by Martin Galway, Forbidden Forest by Paul
Norman and Ancestors (Zoids Dessert Battle) by Larry Fast."
Track 3 (Castlevania):
"A unique medley from this game is put together for our concert series
featuring the title "A Toccata Into Blood Soaked Darkness" from
"Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" and pieces from the first
"Castlevania" adventure". Arranged by Adam Klemens.
Track 4 (Sonic The Hedgehog):
"On the track you will hear titles such as "Green Hill Zone", "Star Light
Zone" and "Marble Zone" today, arranged in a special suite by Yuzo
Koshiro". Arranged by Yuzo Koshiro and Adam Klemens.
Track 6 (Silent Hill 2) is arranged by Adam Klemens.
Track 7 (Halo) is arranged by Arnie Roth and is a medley put together from
Halo 1 through 3.
Track 8 (Kingdom Hearts):
"Our recording features a suite based on the main vocal theme "Simple and
Clean" from Kingdom Hearts and "Sanctuary" from Kingdom Hearts II written
by japanese pop music star Hikaru Utada as well as "Fantasia alla marcia
for piano, chorus and orchestra", composed by Yoko Shimomura".
Track 9 (Battlefield):
"Our recording features a suite based on the main theme from Battlefield
1942 as well as the "Arabic Theme" from Battlefield 2 composed by Joel
Eriksson and members of the band A Fine Piece of Machinery". Arranged by
Nic Raine.
Track 10 (World of Warcraft):
"From the soundtrack you can hear a live suite consisting of the titles
"Stormwind", "Song of Elune", "Legacy" and "Legends of Azeroth". Arranged
by Adam Klemens.
Track 11 (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) is arranged by Larry Kenton.
Track 12 (Guild Wars):
"Jeremy Soule has, as always, skillfully composed music for Guild Wars. On
this recording you will find several themes from the game in one medley
that takes you through the themes in the game and ends with an adrenalin
filled finale".
Review from rpgfan.com:
In the past half-decade, there have been two different VGM concert series
that compete for "top spot" in the niche market. One is "Video Games
Live," led by game music veterans Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The
other, led by conductor Arnie Roth, is "PLAY! A Video Game Symphony." The
latter takes the more traditional, orchestral approach, whereas VGL is
happy to include rock band ensembles and synth instrumentation alongside a
choir and orchestra. Which is the greater venue? With the release of this
CD, it will now be far easier for people to make this decision for
themselves.
You see, the CD "Video Games Live Volume 1" was released awhile back, but
Roth and crew had not followed suit with a recorded release of their own.
But now, finally, the PLAY! CD is here. And I'll make no bones about it:
this album is quite good.
Like all its live performances, the CD opens with the PLAY! Opening
Fanfare, an original piece of music composed by Nobuo Uematsu himself.
After this piece is finished, and the applause dies down, the orchestra
begins its 11-part descent into the history of game music. Indeed, if you
look at the track order, it is fairly chronological in nature, starting
with the true classics (Commodore 64 medley), going through the
Sony-dominance era (PS1 and PS2), and right on to the MMORPGs that are
still wildly popular today.
If you know your C64 tunes, you'll love this 8 minute medley. If not, you
may not see what's so great about it. Regardless, the arrangements and
performances on this track are excellent. Moving forward into the 8-bit
era, we hear some classic Castlevania themes, decidedly distinct in
performance when contrasted against VGL's guitar-centric arrangements.
Then, after a decent Sonic medley (featuring Spring Hill and Marble Zone
themes, among others), we reach what is, sadly, the biggest letdown on the
album. This Chrono Cross "medley" consists of two pieces, hurriedly
transitioned, and lacking in rhythmic accuracy. They took the easiest and
hardest songs from Chrono Cross and decided to perform them in succession
(why Chrono Trigger wasn't included in this recording is beyond my
comprehension). The former is "Opassa Beach," a piano piece where the
orchestra serves as a simple, measure-by-measure harmonic background
element. As soon as this performance is over, they rush into "Scars of
Time," the incredible (and incredibly difficult) opening song from Chrono
Cross. They attempt to accurately perform one of Mitsuda's most rhythmic
pieces. And, sadly, they fail. It seems no one can get this right. A
number of months ago I reviewed Michael "Piano Squall" Gluck's album GAME,
and he attempted a piano solo arrangement of Scars of Time. He, too,
failed to accurately perform the piece in accordance with the rhythm
Mitsuda designated for the piece. Here, I think the arrangement might be
right, but the performers themselves continually trip on the difficult and
frantic syncopation, even though it's a simple common-time piece. A little
more rehearsal would've gone a long way. This is the one great blemish
I've found on an otherwise excellent recording.
Redemption comes quickly with the Silent Hill 2 music. Interestingly
enough, the harmonic structure for this piece has some things in common
with Scars of Time. But the performance is now veering towards that of
Tallarico's group, since they add an incredible electric guitar part
(which has been performed live by Akira Yamaoka at many PLAY! Concerts) as
well as a trap set and other non-traditional instruments to play alongside
the orchestra. In terms of performance quality, this may be the best track
on the CD. It's not my favorite, but it's a very strong track. Silent Hill
fans will definitely fall in love with this performance.
I'm going to refrain from commenting on Halo. It's Halo, you know what it
sounds like: the choir, the guitar part...you get it. The performance is
great, if you liked the music in the game you'll be sure to love this
performance, etc. Let's jump over this track and talk about what is,
surprisingly, my favorite track on the album. The Kingdom Hearts "medley,"
if you can call it that, skips over some excellent potentials (most of
which were covered on Shimomura's "drammatica" CD release). But what we
find here is still beautiful. Specifically, the orchestral performance of
Passion (Sanctuary), which dominates the medley in terms of track time, is
truly stunning. The orchestral version found on the Kingdom Hearts II OST
doesn't hold a candle to this recording. Having a live recording seems to
make all the difference. Kudos to Roth and the performers for doing this
one right!
The "Battlefield" performance is memorable, but mostly due to the guest
performer. Rony Barrak exhibits some incredible talents by adding tons of
powerful auxiliary percussion to this performance. I don't know much about
the series or its melodies, being an FPS (and me being an RPG kind of
guy), but the performance is quite good.
The album ends with a three-part Western RPG experience that, for most PC
gamers, should resonate strongly in their hearts. Ten million strong, the
player-base for World of Warcraft would certainly enjoy a performance such
as the one recorded and published on this CD. The 7 minute medley makes
full use of the orchestra and the choir; it is one of the few medleys on
the album that manages to capture a full range of melodies and themes. It
is truly "epic," and would serve well as an end credits theme (if such a
thing could exist for an MMO...). The female vocal soloist delivers one of
the most shocking performances found on the CD. You have to hear it for
yourself to understand.
Coming in at just over 9 minutes, the longest track on the album is the
Oblivion medley. Though I personally prefer Soule's work in Morrowind to
Oblivion, I was not at all let down by this performance. There's no
question in my mind that the arrangement and orchestration that went into
this was painstakingly developed. The result is a sound so mature, and so
right, that it makes the Castlevania and Sonic tracks feel like circus
music in comparison. However, I will note that on this track, the
recording picks up some unwanted noise; I heard someone cough, as well as
some page-turning, at different points in the track. Whoops!
To end the album, we get even more Jeremy Soule. The free-to-play MMORPG
that bears many of Soule's best compositions, Guild Wars, takes center
stage for the album's ending. And quite frankly, I couldn't have been
happier with the choice. Not just to have Guild Wars at the end, mind you,
but the melodies chosen for this 7 minute medley were perfect. Again, I
find myself wanting to use the word "mature." The music seems more
powerful, more important, than most game music (or even film score). The
music truly exists for its own sake, and the performance brings something
in me to life. Much of this is probably due to the excellent use of
pentatonics. There's a distinct Oriental flair amidst an otherwise
"Western" orchestral performance. Great, great work on this piece.
So, what's the verdict? Is PLAY! better than VGL? That's up for you to
decide. Being a man who loves his RPGs, I dare say PLAY! wins just for
having more music from RPGs...but then, the Chrono Cross performance
leaves me with no choice but to mark a point against Roth and the crew.
For now, in my own mind, I leave it at a tie, and I hope that a potential
VGL Volume 2 prompts a sequel to the PLAY! album as well. Certainly, there
is more than enough source material to bring these possibilities to
fruition.
________________________________________________________________________________
01 Nobuo Uematsu - PLAY! Opening Fanfare 2:10
02 Hubbard, Huelsbeck, Daglish, Galway, Norman, Fast - Commodore 64 8:23
Medley
03 Michiru Yamane & Jun Irie - Castlevania 6:50
04 Masato Nakamura - Sonic The Hedgehog 6:39
05 Yasunori Mitsuda - Chrono Cross 4:44
06 Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill 2 2:56
07 Martin O'Donnell - Halo 7:26
08 Yoko Shimomura - Kingdom Hearts 4:39
09 Joel Eriksson - Battlefield 6:41
10 Jason Hayes - World of Warcraft 7:39
11 Jeremy Soule - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 9:15
12 Jeremy Soule - Guild Wars 6:56
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