According to Mitsuda's own tweets, he is now working with Square Enix on an upcoming Xenogears arranged album that will be all orchestra.  You can even vote on which tracks will be selected by going here.  Note that you have to sign up (it's free) and you can only vote for three tracks.  Thoughts?

I'm super excited as Xenogears is my favorite Mitsuda soundtrack.  I doubt this album will surpass CREID for me but maybe it will for you guys who are crazy about live orchestra.  Either way, I can't wait for this, glad to see Xenogears getting some love!!

Also I haven't decided on my three votes yet but all I know for sure is that I want Joanne Hogg to return for a live orchestra version of "SMALL TWO OF PIECES" and for it to be the last track on this disc. <3

It's amazing how indifferent I am to anything 'Xeno' related that doesn't have 'gears' immediately following it.  I had to do a double-take on this thread's title before I allowed my eyes to light up. :)

What I'd love is a battle suite containing Steel Giant, Stage of Death, Crimson Knight, and Awakening -- as well as a medley for A Gathering of Stars in the Night Sky / Flight and Wings.  And yes, Small Two of Pieces in some capacity is a given.  (I love Techie's Mebius, but if there's going to be vocal accompaniment, Hogg's voice would probably be better suited for an orchestral backing.)

If it's only gotta be three, then it'd be:

1) Wings 
2) Awakening 
3) Small Two of Pieces

great news, xenogears is my favorite mitsuda OST

so many good tracks, i don't know which will suit a full orchestra the most, this will be a tough one.

Xenogears is my favorite Mitsuda album, too, so it's definitely a good news. Really amazing to see them manage to dig up something that already became nostalgia. Hopefully SQEX does pressure Mitsuda so moderately that this guy won't be as lazy as he's been for a CC arrange album. No need to rush, but at least they must give him a deadline or such.

My very favorites are  "In a Prison of Peace and Regret", "Faraway Promise", "Unstealable Jewel", "In a Prison of Peace and Regret" and "SMALL TWO OF PIECES". Not sure how they could transform well to orchestral pieces of music.

Three pieces, eh?

1) Flight (it's not even worth doing without this one)
2) The Blue Traveler
3) Wings

Though if we're talking medleys,  The Sky, the Clouds, and You with  Solaris - Eden of Heaven would make sense.

If you took the word "orchestra" out of there I might be interested.

Wow great news! (though I'm still 'waiting' for the Chrono Cross Arrange album...).

Anyway it depends on the style(s) Mitsuda is going to aim for but one track came to mind inmediately: 'Thames, The Man Of The Sea' (or is it 'Thames, Spirit of the Men of the Sea'?).

Swoon. Too hard to choose....
1) Singing of the Gentle Wind
2) Flight
3) Small Two of Pieces

I think many of the up-tempo pieces would work well with orchestra, like "The Blue Traveler" and "Awakening." I'd also like to hear a rendition of "Pray for the People's Joy/The Wounded Shall Advance into the Light," starting with pipe organ and transitioning to choir.

As for me, my initial thoughts were:

1. The Treasure Which Cannot Be Stolen (this is a MUST)
2. Gathering Stars in the Night Sky (I prefer this version of the melody to that featured in "Flight")
3. Awakening (one of my favorite battle themes).

As much as I love Small Two of Pieces, I think that an orchestral version would cause it to lose some of its charm to me. The whole Celtic vibe of the song is what I really love about it, not to mention the whole electric guitar solo later on. If it is on the album though, as others have said, I'd petition for Joanne Hogg to reprise her role.

Another that I'm sure other people would really like to hear:

-The Beginning of the End sans the "sounds like it was recorded in a cave" effect I've heard people talk about.

Ya this is incredible news.

My number one pick is "One Who Bares Fangs At God" -- the final battle music. YES PLEASE.

Voted for:
1-07. Steel Giant
1-13. Graaf, Emperor of Darkness
1-14. Fuse

They could be delicious rendered by an orchestra!
An iTunes only release would completely blow, though.

Is there anything from the information so far that clarifies this is a full arranged album in the works and not just a [mediocre] orchestral medley or two a la Chrono Trigger DS?

I never played Xenogears but all the positive comments and a user-contributed sample of "Ave, the Ancient Dance" convinced me to get the OST.  Never could get into it.  Creid made a stronger impression but still felt a bit empty to me.  Will have to give them another chance one of these days.

Ok, I'll give this one... "Fuse" could be pretty cool since it's sound/direction would lend itself well to an orchestra. Still, it's already ahead of the curve, it stands out of the danger/battle theme crowd IMO.

The Chrono Trigger DS medleys were created for the purpose of the game, not so much stand-alone listening, whereas this Xenogears production is intended exclusively for album purposes. The fact they're opening voting indicates it's going to be a fully-fleshed effort. Although I'd agree that Mitsuda's past orchestral productions have leaved something to be desired and Xenogears is not one of my favourite scores from him either.

Orchestrated, eh?

I always said "Flight" would sound excellent with Western-classical-styled orchestration...

I wouldn't mind hearing "Where the Wind Calls You" (Shevat's theme) done in a traditional Japanese-classical/folk ensemble style, with the main melody played by shakuhachi (bamboo flute), though, and add in other Japanese traditional instruments for good touch! Obviously, I wouldn't intend for the tempo/pacing of such an orchestration to be as quick as the original; I want it to be slower and more meditative in nature.

I wonder what they could do with "One Who Is Torn Apart" (Id's theme)?

The synth brass WAS pretty good quality, but imagine if they used live brass? Ohhhh...

i think i'll vote for flight, and..... i can't decide.

http://web.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/ … orchestra/

Official site

Translation needed! ^_^;
http://www.square-enix.com/jp/members/m … ges/h2.jpg

--

Results are in; here's what the SQEX members voted for (not necessarily what the CD will feature! although some of them are very likely) :

- Flight (CD2 track 09)
- SMALL TWO OF PIECES ~Broken Shards~ (CD2 track 19)
- The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky (CD2 track 05)
- Crimson Knight (CD2 track 03)
- Faraway Promise (CD1 track 06)
- Awakening (CD2 track 16)
- Stage of Death (CD1 track 19)
- Unstealable Jewel (CD1 Track 16)
- October Mermaid (CD2 Track 04)
- Dark Daybreak (CD1 Track 01)

None of my selection is in there :sad:

I'm happy Awakening made it. That could turn out good.

Frustrated that October Mermaid is on there. The CREID recording is good enough, I don't need another one.

REALLY disappointed that Bonds of Sea and Fire isn't on there - that's always been one of my favorite tracks from Xenogears and I HATE the melody changes they made to it on Creid.

Seconded on October Mermaid. I'd like to see another track get a chance. It's like with FFVII orchestrations; I love Aerith's Theme as much as anyone else, but instead of hearing that or A One-Winged Angel every time, I'd rather hear a rendition of Cid's Theme.

Faraway Promise and Small Two of Pieces are essentially one and the same, so it's puzzling how they managed to earn separate votes.  Also, they've clipped my "Wings" of hope.

While we're on the subject, can anyone explain the title discrepancy in October Mermaid?  I don't have the Japanese track listing in front of me, but I've seen several places, STC included, that dubbed it "June Mermaid."  Which is correct?

And what is the relevance of the song title itself?  It was Emeralda's theme in the game, that much I remember.  But I'm pretty sure they didn't reference her birthday at any point in the game.  And I'm dead certain that she wasn't a mermaid.

I can't really say which one is right or wrong, but "October Mermaid" is the more recent rendition. I was also pretty shocked when this started appearing in tracklists, and wonder how such and oversight (if it be) persisted for so long.

However, even if it is wrong, the track will always be "June Mermaid" to me. It's just too engrained in my brain as such to be called anything else.

Yes, I was familiar with "June" as well, but I'm seeing it listed as October now. Remember the jukebox in the game that played a selection of tracks? Maybe it was called June Mermaid there, I dunno.

As far as what relevance "mermaid" has, I remember some items in the game bearing that name (mermaid tear, mermaid ring, mermaid mail) but I don't recall if they were exclusively related to Emeralda. She did spend the first stage of her life submerged, but that's all I can come up with.

The Japanese on both the OST and Creid is 「神無月」(kannazuki), which is ye olde Japanese name for October.  I believe the origin of "June Mermaid" might be from the U.S. game's sound test - and we all know how well translated early Playstation era Square games were...

Hahaha... yeah. Same can be said about SNES RPGs as well though *cough* Breath of Fire 1/2 *cough*

Still, Xenogears had a sound test?

It had (I remember hearing those awesome music in the sound test and even recorded them in a tape), but the track name was just place holders.

new video with some insight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=350qXLzCUBM

So the release date is Feb 2011.

That's good news. I'm quite excited for this. Xenogears is one of my all-time favourite classic soundtracks. Really hope I end up liking the tracklist.

Oh man, February 2011 is gonna be an expensive month for me. Tactics Ogre (PSP) comes out then, too and I'm not missing this one. Love the Xenogears soundtrack and the CREID arranged OST. I hope to God that 'Awakening' and 'Flight' are on the tracklist.

Well, judging by the video, it seems that Bonds of Sea and Fire made it in.  And if that choir session is any indication, "Dark Dawning" is looking like a strong possibility as well.

"Dark Dawning?" Is that another translation for "Awakening"?

Dark Dawning, Dark Dawn, Dark Daybreak, Light from the Netherworlds..... however you'd like to call it, it's the first track from disc 1.

oh, ok... Light from the Netherworlds, gotcha.