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Album Information Reviewer Rank
Alundra OST
Published by: Antinos Records
Release Date: May 21st 1997

Composed by: Kouhei Tanaka

1 Disc, 28 Tracks
Catalog: ARCJ-66
98

Reviewed by: Kilu

The Adventures of Alundra, which was released for Playstation on it's early days, borrowed much from SNES Zelda, but still managed to bring a lot of enjoyment for those who had played Zelda already. Good deal of this treat was amplified by great musics, which lifted this average game above the masses. The composer, Kohei Tanaka, was hard to track down, and I managed find only two other games he has scored. Musics for Lennus 1(Paladin's Quest) and Lennus 2 for SNES were also Tanakas mindwork, but didn't really stand out. So, very unknown composer, atleast for average listener.

Closer look to this OST gives listener a lot to chew on. There is so many different styles, and they are all composed with some major skill. This man knew what he was doing. From The Village of Inoas happy and troubleless feeling, the sudden change to pressure of Nightmare, to goofy Dungeon, Murgg Village and Miming themes, fateful themes of Desert, Kline's Dream and The Use of Meia, mysterious Lizardman's Lair, Underwater and The Fire Mountain Torla musics. And as a cherry on top, The Shrine of the Lake. I have never heard a music with so much despair in it. The mood is so thick you can almost cut it with a knife. And of course, there are still all the battle themes. Actually, not special in any way, but not bad in any way.

There are couple pieces that are sadly missing from OST. Of course fanfares and stuff like that, but one very good music, and very close to my heart, is The Bar music. Yes, it's jazz. And it kicks ass. Has the same kind of feeling than Murgg Village and Dungeon, a bit goofy, but good jazzy music. Sadly it obviously didn't fit in. That's the only significant missing track.

In a nutshell... To my experience, most RPG musics are too short and keep repeating the same melody too much. Well, the whole Alundra OST is happy surprise regarding that matter, as most of the musics evolve quite long. And as the styles go from one end to another, the listener simply can not get bored at any moment. So, if you haven't got this yet, I can highly recommend this. For everyone. It's a must get. Topnotch compositions. One of the greatest OST that has been and will ever be made.

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