Xenosaga Original Soundtrack

I was not so interested in hearing Xenosaga at first, but out of a remaining respect for Yasunori Mitsuda from his Chrono Trigger days and a hope that such a big-name title might somewhat live up to at least some of its expectations, I gave it a try. Not only does the soundtrack live up to expectations, it raises expectations for all RPG soundtracks that follow.

Xenosaga is not unlike other RPG OSTs in its mix of live orchestral tracks with synth tracks. What separates it from certain others (must I name names?) is its success in merging the two into a cohesive whole. It helps that the synth tracks are high-quality synth. According the Mitsuda's Procyon Studio website, only a few of the tracks on Xenosaga OST are synthesized by the Playstation 2's sound chip. The rest were sequenced by Mitsuda on his studio equipment and recorded. There's still obviously a difference in sound quality between the orchestral and synth tracks, but it's not so pronounced that it causes jolts in the listening experience. The OST very smoothly moves between the two.

Xenosaga the game appears to lean very heavily in the space sci-fi - as opposed to the fantasy - direction, and the score certainly echoes that. Mitsuda tries so hard with the B-movie-sounding synth/orchestra "Opening" to make clear the sci-fi course of the soundtrack that the track almost suffers from being cliche. Fortunately a few slight melodical flourishes thrown in at just the right moments make the track a very worthwhile listen instead. A great number of the remaining tracks similarly hold true to the sci-fi feel and steer clear of being cliche.

Xenosaga is quite likely the most successful attempt I've heard yet at adding cinematic mood to the RPG adventure experience. One of the biggest surprises of the score for me is the track "Suspense", which is easily one of the most effectively subtle, spooky pieces ever in a standard RPG (I haven't played any of the "gothic" RPGs or adventures so I don't know how they compare). "U-TIC Council" and "Albedo" forego some of the subtlety but are still every bit as rife with mood, all while not alienating the listener with excessive ambience. It all fits very well in the scheme of the adventure; I have a feeling the music would work particularly well accompanying the cinematics of the game (and this is coming from someone who had very little interest in playing it).

Despite the quality of Mitsuda's synth work, the most striking tracks tend to be the ones that received an orchestral performance. The wonderfully moody, mysterious opening minutes in "Prologue" give indication from the very beginning of Xenosaga's potential. "Gnosis" is just as much a pleasure to behold, in this case radiating the standard RPG sense of epic adventure, although in a much more evolved way than your standard RPG score. The powerful brass and exotic tinge give it a feel akin to "Stargate" or "The Fifth Element". "Omega" may be the best of them all though - an extremely effective tension-building piece that supplements the ever-building orchestral presence with solo trumpet, electric guitar, and Gladiator-style classical guitar all at precisely the right intervals to add drama. It helps that the quality of the orchestral performance is very high. This is the first RPG OST to actually make me appreciate my home audio system while listening.

Several tracks utilize a chorus. Fortunately Mitsuda appreciates its strengths and weaknesses and instead of pushing the chorus beyond its limits with overly bombastic pieces, wisely utilizes it to add mood in ways the orchestra cannot. Thus "U-TIC", although simple, is rife with a sense of lurking menace thanks to the almost ghastly male vocals. The beautiful chanting in "Resurrection" indeed almost gives it a spiritual quality.

One of the most pleasing things about Xenosaga OST is that, although it takes great strides in progressing towards "the next level" in RPG music, you can still clearly make out Mitsuda's presence in the compositions and link it towards his earlier works (although Chrono Trigger is unfortunately the only one I am well familiar with). For example, the less subtle, more bombastic takes on the "impending doom and destruction" style story theme in "Fighting Kos-Mos" and "Proto Merkabah" are pleasingly reminiscent of CT's Lavos tracks, although you might not notice at first because of their increased complexity. Even with the score as a whole though, you definitely sense a progression in Mitsuda's style - it's the old Mitsuda, only better.

A few more tracks should be mentioned before rounding things up. The traditional battle tracks are present (mostly clearly "Battle" and "Last Battle"), and though they might not have the "rock-out" quality of some other RPG battle music, they are well-orchestrated, dramatic, and fit in with the rest of the score better than in other RPGs, actually incorporating themes heard elsewhere in the game. The soundtrack is fairly serious in tone overall, thankfully not including any overly quirky, inane "humor" tracks, but it does have a couple of more lighthearted sci-fi style respites, particularly the chilled-out, progressive ambient "U.M.N. Mode", which sounds like the environment music for some uber-cool space station. The classical melody "Green Sleeves" (aka "What Child is This") makes a surprise appearance, and though I have no idea what function it might serve in the game it is certainly welcome. The theme for Shion (whatever a "Shion" is) is prevalent throughout the score and is quite touching, especially in its piano renditions.

The Shion theme also serves as the base for the soundtrack's theme song "Kokoro". It and the other song, "Pain", aren't too bad if you can deal with the over-enunciation by the vocalist and the perplexing occasional emergence of a Celtic-style flute, which really has no place in this sci-fi score. But the songs definitely take a back seat to the instrumental score.

Xenosaga OST is simply outstanding. It's the first RPG score I've heard that tackles the goal of adding cinematic drama and succeeds in doing so in a consistent manner throughout. The fact that Mitsuda's original musical style from back to even his early works is not sacrificed in the process but instead evolves appropriately is added cause for appreciation of this score and anticipation of his future ones. Xenosaga may not have the hummable character and town themes or ultra-rocking battle themes that are staples of classic RPGs, but what it lacks it makes up for in new ways. For RPG music fans I consider it a required purchase.

Here's the basic lowdown on this soundtrack, so all you have to do is read this paragraph and you will get the basic image of this work. It's very cinematic sounding. It's also lush, emotional, experimental, and just down right great music.

For fans of Mitsuda's previous works it has the same dense melodies we've all come to love. This soundtrack also takes advantage of the larger medium of DVD and fills the soundtrack with many more orchestrated pieces and several vocal pieces. There are some without background music and some with voices as the background to the synthesized and orchestrated music.

But before fans of Xenogears rush out and buy this one, I provide this disclaimer. This soundtrack is not Xenogears all over again, it is much different in nature. (But that's not necessarily a bad thing, new is, almost always, better.)

Starting with the Prologue (Track 01, disc 1), the soundtrack sets the stage for some of the basic musical themes. The London Philarmonic Orchestra provides the music, with the Metro Voices and opens the back story for the game.

As for Battle music, track 3 doesn't disapoint. And Track 17, the last battle, is a really odd fusion of strings and gregorian chant that really works quite well. Also, the choral pieces on Disc 2 (Ormus, The Resurrection, The Miracle), just show how versatile a composer Mitsuda is.

If you are a fan and even if you are not, give this soundtrack a try.