no, i'm the same. good new OST and AST releases get me excited like back in the beginning stages. there have been quite a few re-released classic soundtracks lately, so it's hard to choose which one gets priority. it's easier to keep track of new quality releases if you game regularly. it's just harder when nobody talks about the niche stuff.

Oh...yeah, that would actually be pretty high for monthly. Still, I'll shut up till after the court date for my latest speeding ticket :x

My problem with the score wasn't its quality, but the fact it didn't seem to be Uematsu at all. It was arranged and sampled throughout by Yoshitaka Suzuki, who has endlessly ripped off Zimmer during his career (sometimes to the point I'd accuse plagiarism).

I felt Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were more authentically Uematsu -- the arrangers stayed more true to his sound and intentions. But Sakura Note is his most unarranged score of recent years and also, in my opinion, his most charming (along with the delightful, underrated 10 Short Stories).

True, but my point still stands...None of three come close to measuring up to classic Uematsu and Last Story is the worst of the lot by far (I haven't heard the others you mentioned). It would be scary for a new VGM fan to pick up one of these soundtracks and have it be his only Uematsu experience.

I guess I'm just interested in the end product. I mean, I love Ishiwatari's compositions, but the people that perform and produce his works need to be shot. Sounds like new school Uematsu is kind of in the same boat. And it's good to know Ishimoto fails as much as a synthesizer operator as much as he fails as a composer. Consistancy is good...

At Otakon 2 years ago, Kikuta was saying how it took him hours to find the right sound out of the SNES for Secret of Mana and it felt like a lot of his work was his own. I feel like nowadays, there's less and less of that hands-on approach. I guess the same can be applied to games and the large development teams.