I'd swear there's been about 4-5 different releases for the soundtrack for Ys I & II, but which do you suppose is the best?

Or, perhaps, you'd like to clue me into all of the different releases there have been, including arrange albums, versus original soundtracks?

I've played Ys Books I & II via the Wii Virtual Console, so I'm definitely familiar with the source material.

As far as I'm concerned, the best version for Ys I & II music remains the Ys I & II Perfect Collection : Complete Works of Ryo Yonemitsu. It's slightly diffrent from what you've heard on TG 16. Also keep in mind the material on these discs dates back to 1990, so it's loads of synths and some occasional guitar in the mix. Despite its age, it's very listenable and highly enjoyable.

http://vgmdb.net/album/1705

Ah, okay, see, I'm looking at:

Ys Eternal I & II (NW10102610): http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/ys-eternal/index.html

Ys I & II Perfect - Complete Works of Ryo Yonemitsu (NW10102460): http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/ys-ryo/index.html

Ys I & II Perfect Super Arrange (NW10102470): http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/ys-sav/index.html

Ys Origin (NW10102720): http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/yso-ost/index.html

And wasn't

Ys I & II Chronicles http://vgmdb.net/album/15684

just released? How well did that soundtrack go over?

...

Gotta tell ya, "First Step towards War," "Tears of Sylph," "Syonin," "Palace of Destruction" are some of the most catchiest tunes, so if the album has excellent renditions of those, that's what I'm looking for.

So far,

Ys I & II Perfect - Complete Works of Ryo Yonemitsu (NW10102460): http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/ys-ryo/index.html

seems like a safe bet, but I'm wondering if the rest of the albums are also any good, or otherwise offer good alternate takes...?

I'm also interested in knowing if Dragon God's opinion includes the new "Chronicles" release in the sampling. Because the arrangements I heard there are great. Eternal soundtrack is really good, but I'm not sure I'd give it highest ranking now that Chronicles is out.

Truth be told, I've only heard the Yonemitsu disc and the TG16 Redbooks. I'm sure the new Chronicles OST must be awesome, but I've already got all I hoped for on the Yonemitsu album, so I don't really have a reason to look into it.

Edit : Ys Origins is awesome. That is all.

Chronicles is pretty awesome, but it doesn't quite match the uhh... punch(?) that the TG-16 arrangements had.  I never really liked the Perfect Collections as much as the PC Engine versions, honestly.  That said, half of the music there is PCM, so it's kind of a mixed bag.  I need to Frankenstein together an ultimate Ys I and II ost sometime from all the released stuff (except for Renewal... I really hate those).

Ok, eating my own words here. Heard a few samples and I'm floored. I won't say it's better or worse than Yonemitsu's arrangements. They are simply... diffrent. But loaded with guitars and synths, so it's all good !