Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Just a Soundtrack for a Game Fan, October 22, 2007
I bought this CD after watching the trailer for Subarashiki Kono Sekai, a Japanese DS game made by the same team that worked on the Kingdom Hearts series. The first thing that grabbed me about the game was the audio, and after buying the CD, I was not disappointed!
Unlike some soundtracks, that either become repetitive or feature multitudes of background music boring to listen to by it's lonesome, this soundtrack is full of of great, catchy tunes. Almost all of it has vocals - and most of them, to my surprise, were in English. And the songs are great, rife with alliteration, wonderful scores, and the kind of lyrics that simply get stuck in one's head and won't leave. It feels more like a really great mix of street music than a game soundtrack.
Most of the songs lean towards a rock bent, with some pop mixed in, and there are a couple rap songs. There is also a 'remix' of the first song - Twister - and a bonus track. I don't even like rap, and I find myself listening to the entire CD on repeat since I received it in the mail. The songs are refreshing and upbeat for the most part, and the lyrics are incrediably intelligent - mostly alliteration and quirky rhyme. Some of the grammar is a little off, but it surprised me how well the English is compared some of the random words most Jrock or Jpop artists stick in their songs.
The soundtrack insert features a picture of the main characters on almost every page, and has the lyrics for the songs in both Japanese and English, so whether you are a native speaker, or a forgien one (like myself) it's easy to read.
I'd recommend this soundtrack to almost anyone that likes good rock music and maybe a little pop. It's definitely worth the price, and you'll be listening to it for ages.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Here it is, folks, the album of the year., October 2, 2008
The last CD that had this many outstanding pop songs was Demon Days by Gorillaz. In fact, Gorillaz' influence is all over this music -- a flamboyant fusion of hip-hop, rock and dance with multiple vocalists. And if Takeharu Ishimoto's beats aren't quite as inventive as those of Danger Mouse, he more than makes up for it in pop hooks. Nearly every vocal track here (and some instrumentals too) has an irresistible rhythm, or an anthemic chorus, or both.
"Calling" is the best dance song anyone has written in this entire decade. It starts with a harsh keyboard hook, which is softened somewhat in the middle by some new-wave-style keyboards, but everything comes back to the brilliant, explosive chorus. I suppose Bill Drummond was right back in the day when he said that a good pop song required simplistic repetition instead of literate eloquence -- the words, "wake up / leave your hesitation / wake up / time for us to realize" don't mean much (realize what?), but in this song, they sound like an intense, rousing call to arms. If this song were released as a single, it could storm the charts.
There's about a half-dozen other songs that are just as good. "Long Dream" steals the hook from "Flicking Your Switch" by Ladytron, but uses it for a song that is faster and livelier than anything Ladytron have ever written. It follows most of the precepts of house music: breathy female vocals (quite charming), thumping drums, and a sudden break in the beat right before the last chorus.
"Game Over" is a brilliant rap-rock fusion. There have been many attempts at such a pairing, but none as energetic and concise (the song is less than three minutes long). It follows the quiet/loud dynamic of alternative rock and has a suave, relaxed delivery in the verses, which breaks out into a forceful shout in the chorus, to the sound of a driving drone guitar. The beat isn't quite as fluid as in "Dirty Harry," but the vocals and lyrics are quite good, with suitably urgent imagery in the chorus.
Ishimoto writes great songs even when he's not trying very hard. "Ooparts" sounds like a joke that he scribbled down on a napkin at lunchtime, a very awkward groove with weird squeaky voices and bleeping synths. But the female rapper, when she comes on, gives it a joyous swagger that puts a lot of life into the song. "Hybrid" has a half-baked, stumbling rhythm section, but the chorus turns it into an unstoppable, fist-pumping anthem. "Give Me All Your Love" is the archetypical Eurodance single, with a faceless diva squealing blatant come-ons, the best of which is, "all I want is your love and soul," but it's got an unforgettable synth hook.
"Someday" is a perfect imitation of a certain type of rock song that was popular on the radio in the nineties -- the feel-good, summery alternative single about slacking off and hanging out, with distorted guitars playing a simple rhythmic riff, and a sunny sing-along chorus. It's got the basic rhythm played by both lead guitar and bass simultaneously, and it's even got the guitar solo that follows the vocal line. The vocals have that bratty pop-grunge snarl, and the chorus is infectious as usual. Maybe this isn't the best song on the album, but it's as good as any single of this type.
There are some tracks that probably wouldn't be single material, but are excellent songs nonetheless. "Detonation" sounds a lot like "November Has Come" from Demon Days, with the same uneasy tone. The lisping rapper even resembles MF Doom, and if he doesn't quite have the same knack for internal rhyming, the lyrics still hold one's attention. In the chorus, his voice is backed by moody, jagged keyboards, giving an ominous feeling to the words.
Even some of the short instrumentals are excellent. "Underground" is a great introduction, the acoustic guitar line is very memorable. "Fighting For Freedom" sounds exactly like a mid-nineties MOD, with the same sort of echoing "heroic" synths, all playing very hooky rhythms. "Shibuya" alternates a short section on piano with a funky scratching breakdown, and would have made a great ending track.
So if the CD is so good, how come I'm not giving it five stars? Unfortunately, it's structured like a soundtrack, not an album, and contains a lot of filler. There are three versions of "Twister," not the strongest song on the album to begin with, although the "Gang Mix" is a reasonably good rave-up, and the guitar in the end has a cool electric twang. (It also contains the line, "need some more candy cane," but hey, Roots Manuva rapped about spinach on the Gorillaz album and got away with it.) There are two versions of "Someday" and "Hybrid," one sung in English, the other in Japanese, with the music unchanged. There are also some throwaway instrumentals, like "Dancer In The Street," "It Is Fashionable" and so forth, which contribute nothing to the musical experience. Even a few of the vocal songs are unremarkable, for instance "No Name" has pretty much the same alt-rock sound as "Someday."
At the same time, the CD also misses one of Ishimoto's best works: "Deja Vu," a sublime, dreamy pop song with a gorgeous keyboard melody. It is included on the later The World Ends With You EP, along with the quite good, charismatic rap "Three Minutes Clapping." But that EP also has some filler, and not everybody is willing to buy two CDs and then cherry-pick the good parts from each. The best way to hear this music is to compile the best songs on a fifteen-track album. In the unlikely event that Imamura's corporate overlords are reading this, I strongly suggest repackaging them that way. And if Damon Albarn is reading this, let's just say the bar has been raised.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Soundtrack, September 26, 2007
This soundtrack from the Japanese game "Subarashiki Kono Sekai" or "It's a Wonderful World" is fun to listen to.
There's a great mixture of pop and techno songs on the CD, along with the to be expected "Engrish" lyrics once in a while. The track list is written in mostly english, but there are a few tracks that are in katakana, and they are:
09. Oopaatsu - Ooparts
12. Samudei - Someday
15. Tsuisutaa - Twister
21. Owarihajimari - End and Begin. Owari means End and hajimari means Begin or Start. I'm not sure on how the actual song title would translate.
25. Haiburiddo - Hybrid
There is also an extra track at the very end and I am unable to tell if it's a remix or not, but it sounds cool either way.
A great soundtrack to listen to if you're a fan of the game or just like pop and techno songs. There are a lot of songs with words in them, so it's just more than background music. I highly recommend this CD.
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