Jodo Kast Sep 17, 2007
I should've written this a while back, and I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for, Ramza, but this is Madara as I feel like describing it. I decided to post it publicly, rather than send it to you privately.
It has been requested that I write something, such as a review, about the music from Madara, a game series native to the Famicom and Super Famicom. My familiarity with Madara 2 is not on even terms with the first Madara, although one might suspect otherwise. The first Madara was released on the Famicom, so the sound quality was not quite up to par (nowhere near) that of real instrumentation. However, sound quality and composition are not necessarily concomitant towards invoking emotion. Before I discuss the music and what it has done for me, I want to point out I do not have reading ability in Japanese, nor have I ever played Madara.
My first exposure to the music from Madara almost didn’t happen. Before the days of bulk file sharing and torrents, one had to go to ebay, trade physical cd-r copies, or know someone that knows someone that lives in Japan, in order to get certain game music albums. Legal issues aside, the music sounds the same regardless of how it is acquired. My purpose is not to be an advocate of strict compliance of the law (obviously); I am neither investigator nor judge. I am merely pointing out that the human ear does not know the difference between legally and illegally acquired music, unless it has been compressed, shoddily. Just for the record, every Madara album I obtained was paid for, not because I care about the law, but because I wanted the originals.
My initial attraction to Madara was the fact it was a game developed by Konami, a company well known for producing good games - and good soundtracks. I was 25 years old when the seller coco74 listed Madara Special (KICA-7504) on ebay, and, being a bit crazy at the time, ‘won’ the auction for over $70. I outbid a guy named Carl Larson, which means Carl didn’t have that CD. And Carl was (and is) well known for having nearly every game music album. Meaning, Madara Special was special indeed. But that was 6 years ago and Madara Special is likely well known, considering a Madara medley was even produced by a fan site, Dwelling of Duels. I stated above that I almost didn’t get that first exposure to Madara music. I always sent coco74 cash through the mail. Something happened to my payment and she didn’t get it for nearly 6 weeks, so I was prepared to take a loss (and move on).
She finally got the payment and sent out Madara Special. I instantly loved that CD. Over the past 6 years I have listened to it many times, from start to finish. I sent a copy of it to one of my online friends at the time, phoenixgenesis, and she called it ‘eclectic’.
Madara Special could not have been known by the following name, although one could logically surmise it would be the case - Perfect Selection Madara. I don’t have much knowledge of musical terms, having never formally studied the subject, but according to my ears it is not a Perfect Selection album. As phoenixgenesis pointed out, it is eclectic, and in some sense, a loner. It has no peers within the assortment of arrange albums produced by Konami, if CDs could have peers. I don’t know why Konami chose to call it ‘Special’ and I don’t feel its eclectic exclusivity is the reason. In fact, Madara is the only Konami game to get an arrange album called ‘Special’, at a time when Perfect Selections were coming out at a steady pace. I feel the answer is that it is a follow up to Madara Mouryousenki (KICA-1008) and as such, is a special release. My reasoning is logical, but it could be wrong. The original Madara Famicom soundtrack (KICA-1024~25), was released between Madara Special and its predecessor. The Madara soundtrack is peculiar in the sense it came with a second disc of arranged music, although markedly different in style from that of the other Madara arrange albums, leaning more towards new age.
I have noticed that the track titles for the first 3 Madara albums, KICA-1008, KICA-1024~25, and KICA-7504 are now translated into English and displayed at gmronline.com. Much like a blind person does not need to know what a chair looks like to enjoy sitting in it, one does not need to know the track names of the songs in Madara in order to enjoy listening to them. It’s fine that someone spent time with creative writing (translations), but it will not help my appreciation of the music; it will satisfy intellectual curiosity only.
Madara, from the Famicom originals to the arrange versions, is important music to me. Madara 2 isn’t quite as interesting, so I won’t discuss it, much like I wouldn’t discuss Street Fighter 2010. In terms of emotional wallop, the arrange versions of Madara are not superior to the originals. This is direct proof that the human brain does not need real instruments, nor even similarities to real instruments, to release endorphins in response to melody. The original 8 bit music sounds like trash when compared to real instruments, but the melody is what counts. My point is that the brain is more concerned with emotion than quality. So, in some sense, music from real instruments and 8 bit music coming from the Famicom are identical.