Dunno if anyone caught this on the TEAM Entertainment website, but we ran a news item listing a few details about the upcoming solo album, "Forest of glass" by Sakuraba:

http://www.music4games.net/News_Display.aspx?id=780

I guess it's not overly surprising to me considering the mild tone of Trusty Bell.  I'm really looking forward to it though.  Why hasn't anyone caught this before now?  It's been a whole 3 days since the announcement on TEAM!

If I were you, I'd at least interpolate 'in STC', or replace 'catch' by 'post'.

I assume his one hundred thousand dollars piano is one of the reasons why this is a piano album.

Oh shit...Piano album? I was slightly interested in this before I knew that.

Sorry to say, but Sakuraba releases albums with such a maddening frequency nowadays, it's hardly what I'd consider newsworthy at this point.

Well, it's obviously not anyone's obligation, but I would expect somebody to jump on that right when they saw it, as it's cool news.  I often find out things here first, so I've come to have that expectation.  Anyway, I figured with the recent Rockman 7 and 8 albums being released, people would be visiting the TEAM site, and somebody would have noticed the Sakuraba album.

And yeah, Sakuraba has composed a lot over these last couple years.  I was noticing the other day though that Sakimoto has been extremely busy lately.  Odin Sphere, FFTA2, ASH, Opoona, Grim Grimoire, FFXII Revenant Wings, and his upcoming Senjou no Valkyrie.  I guess he has a team behind him, but still, that's a lot.

As far as CD count though, I think Sakuraba had a higher CD count with Tales of Symphonia, Star Ocean 3, and Baten Kaitos (I think those were all the same year) which had 4 CDs each.  I imagine these guys must be feeling pretty burnt out.

I don't actively follow either one, so I lost count of both awhile back, but it has been a lot. Sort of like a massive sidenote. I think the output of Basicscape borders on ridiculous though, especially recently. I can usually predict which projects Sakuraba involves himself on and be proven correct, but those guys are everywhere.

I'm surprised Zane didn't post yet. <_<
Anyway the type of responses so far is exactly why I don't post about Sakuraba here anymore. Just visit the official English Sakuraba site for the latest stuff and you're set.

Edit: Arcubalis, Gikyokuonsou is from 1991 (Made in Japan Records), the 1999 version is a re-release by the French Musea Records label.

Thanks for singling me out, even though I'm not the only person who is vocal about both Sakuraba releasing the same soundtrack every four months.

That being said, I'm probably going to stay away from Forest of Glass, although I am still a big fan of Gikyokuonsou.

Going on with GX's sidenote, I'm completely floored by how many albums and compilations Basicscape have been involved with recently. It's pretty ridiculous.

Yeah, I could go back and change the dates, but 1999 is okay because it was the last time it was printed and released to the public.

Anyway, yeah, I wasn't aware so many people disliked Sakuraba.  I was a huge fan of his back when he did Shining the Holy Ark and Tales of Destiny, but I imagine the sheer quantity of material he's been producing keeps all of it from sounding fresh.  That's why I hope this release offers something new.

Zane, sorry if you felt hurt but you should well know yourself that your not seldomly direct approach to stating your opinion derailed quite a few otherwise perfectly fine threads.

Arcubalis, well, if you like it that way. It's still Sakuraba's first solo work in nearly 16 years, and I see plenty people can appreciate that without going off topic in spades...

In my opinion people repeating the mantra Sakuraba would sound too same-y or do too much music are being ridiculous. If they cared enough they'd know Sakuraba always composes this much music since when he started doing music for games, only the fewest care to notice if there's no "official CD" shit of it. And considering this and the fact that he handles everything (composing, arranging, synth programming, sample editing, mixing) on his own nearly all the time while still progressing his style far enough to make people constantly bitch about changing too much, it's quite a feat too few people recognise. Also please stop the talk about him burning out, his approach to composing is clearly more that of an improvising piano player than someone who never learned to play any instrument needing to carefully force every single note out of his head.

People are being inane if they one the one hand state the usual "Sakuraba does too much, makes the his music bad" stuff while avoiding most of it, and then pick tracks they "surprisingly" like (I'll never forget how GoldfishX stated his joy about TotA's halfassed Tales battle theme medley "Everlasting Fight" which he thought to be new just because he conveniently enough skipped all the previous Tales soundtracks). It's obvious most people can't handle the mass of Sakuraba's output, but this is no reason to become incapable of just backing off from spouting negative opinions After.Every.f---ing.Single.Mention of Sakuraba.

----

I'm currently preparing making recordings of game soundtracks Sakuraba did for the Roland MT-32/CM-64 series of synthesisers which sound like having been the works he put the most effort in in 1990-95. None of that was ever released on CD (if one ignores Sol-Feace for Sega Mega CD which used a slightly remastered one of those), but I'm reluctant of "releasing" such recordings as I prefer not to get into Hobson's choice situation of the music only being ignore or being badmouthed again. I hate writing and don't want to force myself to write something like this post instead just closing the window again since it's futile anyway. =P

I want old Sakuraba back.  There hasn't been a good album from him since his 2003 live album.  Hopefully this solo album will change that.

<_<

Oh, relax already.

Unrelated, but related at the same time

This thread is right on time...

I just scratched the shit out of my Star Ocean: The Second Story Arranged Album... dropped it behind my entertainment center, had to move it to get behind it and it all ended with a nasty scratch that effects playback.  If any of you Sakuraba fans can help a guy in need... please do so.

Seriously, Datschge, you need to learn that there are people out there with different opinions than yours.
I know you like Sakuraba best of all, and there's nothing wrong with that, but there's also a lot of people who think a lot of his work sounds the same. I'm kinda in the middle, and I ain't picking sides, but at least try to understand that not everyone agrees with you and that your opinion is just that, an opinion (please no comments about opinions and assholes, I've had enough of those)

Aww, fudge!

Sakuraba pretty much sounds like Sakuraba. I personally haven't been able to get through one of his soundtrack releases since Valkyrie Profile. They're too long and completely predictable, mostly sounding like something that he improvised (which they probably are). He has his niche and there isn't really that much he does to go outside his comfort zone. That's fair. Some people like to know what to expect. But I prefer my composers to develop over time.

(Which is probably why I'm unimpressed with the majority of Sakimoto's 2007 output. After his interesting and thematic work on FFXII, he's gone back to doing smaller projects that don't require him to stretch... that and his Basiscape cronies do far too much of the work these days)

Amazingu, I don't think it was a matter of opinion of how Forest of Glass sounds like (nobody here knows that right now, most people likely missed the one sample which was on Sakuraba's Motion site last year or so) which brought the thread the way it went. Which was exactly my point. Also I don't think I'm overstating it when I say threads here since about half a decade now usually consist of negative reactions (if any) mostly unrelated to the actual works in question once Sakuraba is mentioned. And I'm pretty sure it's the first time I complain about this like that. There is a reason I don't post about Sakuraba anymore up to now. But if people like Amber and now Arcubalis get the same cynical circle jerking after posting something is seriously wrong (and no, it's not some opinion that is).

Kenology, if it's the label side it's unfixable, if it's the silver side you could try a disc doctor (or whatever those disc grinders are called, handle with care), hair spray can help as well if the scratch isn't too deep.

Dunno about this one, man.  It's scratched pretty deep... I think it's a wrap.  I guess it's marketplace for me then to see if another pops up.  I'm just upset because I don't have this album backed up on my external harddrive.  >_<

Well, I've come to know that people here have pretty diverse tastes.  Every composer has his/her share of haters here, so I don't really mind if people blast Sakuraba or whatever.  It's still interesting news, and I'm sure people are interested in hearing about it even if they're not going to buy it.  Hell, I probably won't buy it. 

That's nice. >_>

Looking back at the thread, there was a comment about an expensive piano (Cedille), a statement about how Sakuraba puts out a lot of albums and because of this it's not newsworthy (GX), and then Arcubalis commented on how he has composted a lot over the past couple of years. Then you post, mention me by name, and say that "the type of responses so far" are why you don't post about Sakuraba. Am I missing something here? Going by those few posts, it just seems like you are just looking for a reason to go into defense-mode over hardly anything Sakuraba-related because you're so used to people not agreeing with you. Hell, if you didn't mention me I wouldn't have even posted in this thread.

What is "seriously wrong"? That other people have a different opinion than yours and make comments about how Sakuraba writes a shitload of music? Oh well, big deal. It's not like those comments are unfounded, and you shouldn't take them so personally. Why let other people's opinions get in the way if your enjoyment? If you like Sakuraba, good. Like him. Like him a lot. If someone told me that they think Yu Miyake is a talentless hack that does nothing more than loop annoying off-time sound effects over crappy drum loops I wouldn't post three paragraphs about how everyone is wrong and, dammit, I'm taking my posts somewhere else because everyone is a meanie. Sakuraba writes music like how Stephen King writes books: nonstop. For the average listener/reader, that means there's a lot of filler to dig through, whereas for a serious fan of either who is more than willing to see past each writer's faults, it's just more stuff to enjoy.

Either way, who seriously gives a shit? Enjoy Sakuraba while others choose not too. Big whoop, let's fight over it.

All right, I step out for the day and everyone throws a party...

Hey, if you're going to get this defensive over a f---ing COMPLIMENT I gave one of his tracks over a year ago, why not give me a hand dealing with people who think all of his battle themes are the same thing the instant they smell a hint of his progressive rock style and constantly do it everytime someone's dumb enough to nominate one into a situation where people seemingly with an agenda are asked to comment on it? I get tired of flying solo when telling people they need to get their hearing checked. Since, you know, Sakuraba actually writes SOME music I like, unlike the other example I used.

However...He releases a ton of music, far more than any single artist I know, I'm not shy about saying I don't think any of it is anywhere near Valkyrie Profile 1 (or Star Ocean 2, to a lesser extent) and I feel a lot of it is very rushed, poorly planned and ultimately disappointing (for extreme examples, see: the Valkyrie Profile 2 OST+arranges and Baten Kaitos 2). On a more basic level, I don't care that much for solo piano, regardless of who does it...Which is why I voiced my opinion of disinterest when I saw what this album consisted of and knowing my favorite Sakuraba material never involves solo piano.

Oh and by the way, I owned Tales of Phantasia (PSX remake + I've heard the the SPC set for the SNES game), Symphonia and Tales of Destiny 2 (I skipped Eternia...shoot me), moderately enjoyed them and I simply didn't notice the recurring melodies in Everlasting Fight. Boo-f---ing-hoo.

Considering the only music I've ever agreed with Arcubalis on is Velvet Revolver (and even then, mostly because of Slash and I'm still hoping they find another vocalist), I find it highly unlikely I'd have the ability to influence him...

Is that the emoticon for staring daggers at someone?

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Zane on this one.  Obviously from past incidents I'm not a fan of people coming into threads just to say one stupid negative comment to incite flame wars, but this thread had nothing of the sort until Zane was called out by name.  And Datschge, looking back on previous threads about Sakuraba where I've been involved, you seem totally unwilling to allow any discussion about him that doesn't agree with your own personal tastes.  God forbid I prefer the guy's orchestral stuff without having eyes rolled at me.

yay!

hey guys ever hear of barry leitch? now there's a dude who did a bunch of music

he did the music for the following versions of The Humans:

which is bizarre because I have no idea that The Humans came out for C64...or Spectrum...or Amstrad...or Game Gear.

then again, he said he did the music for the Genesis version of the bizarre adaptation of Savage Empire, and that got canned, so maybe a lot of games he worked on got canned?

Seems very likely as those are from the age ports seemed like quick 'n' easy cash ins.
I give up. I'm apparently unable to do anyone or anything justice. Would have been nice if this were just a little quiet thread announcing a game composer's first solo work in over a decade, but I messed it up, will bail out now and can only hope it gets further derailed. Excuses to everyone who wants one and sees this.

No need to apologize, Datschge. It's just talk in the end... And we all do it.

And yeah, Barry Leitch is pretty cool. The SNES version of EEK! The Cat is one of those timeless classics most VGM fans missed.

This could go either way.

I'm not typically found of piano solos, but then again, I've loved the work Sakuraba did for SO2 & 3, and Valkyrie Profile 2 for that matter; the piano solos from SO3, namely of "So Alone, Be Sorrow" were simply heavenly to my ears.

I might actually pick this one up.

I'd say Sakuraba's one of my all-time favorite composers; SO3 & VP2 are FREQUENT listens.

I figure this is an appropriate thread to ask this: has anyone heard Sakuraba's tune off of FM Sound Module Maniax? Holy shite... it's intense! It has old school charm, a lot of complex riff changes and an overall awesome feel to it.

Well, I didn't stay away from it, and I'm glad I didn't just write it off as "another" Sakuraba album. So far, this CD is really enjoyable and is far from your typical piano CD. Cheers to Sakuraba for finding some great inspiration and penning this CD. For those on the fence, I recommend checking out the samples over at Tower Records to see if it's something you would be into:

http://www.towerrecords.co.jp/sitemap/C … ORT_CD=101

There's a very interesting interview over at Cocoebiz about the development of the album:

http://sakuraba.cocoebiz.com/interviews/