Well, from my regular sources, I managed to obtain the music two days from its official release. I played the music in one setting and to be honest I’m not that all impressed by it. (Note that I am listening to the music again as I type this, hoping for a change in opinion.)

Overall it’s a pretty album but nothing really stands out for me. It’s new-age styled music that just goes on and on. The image song with the Scandinavian-like chorals (theme of ‘fatal fight’, etc) is probably the only decently memorable song, but I feel it’s far too repetitive.

Essentially, the album sounds like a continuation of Hack//Sign, with only a few minor themes of Xenosaga I in the background providing some sort of continuity with the previous game. It has nothing of the spiritual-depth of the Xenogears and Xenosaga I OSTS. Honestly, the Nietzsche-inspired title (trans: “Beyond Good and Evil”) sounds a lot menancing than the music is.

Namco, please persuade Mitsuda-sensei to return for the next installment (which will be uh…2006? 2007? :() He really is the link to the series’ continuity.

Subjects: Music 音楽

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: CD, Mitsuda Yasunori 光田康典, Nietzsche, soundtrack, Xenogears, Xenosaga

This is fantastic. After a painful search, I finally found my 2 lost CDs: Jeff Beck’s Blow by Blow and The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter CD. The irony was they were in the most obvious of places, which I should have looked at before inspecting each and every CD case in my collection.

Subjects: Music 音楽

Mood: Discoveries & Relevations

Tags: CD, found, Jeff Beck, lost, Rolling Stones

This picture I made for the CD cover of one of my Led Zeppelin concert bootlegs. I used a picture of the Graf Zeppelin (if I recall correctly) and merged it with a photograph of the sky. I altered the colours, and used some difference effects to get the result shown in the right.

Subjects: Music 音楽

Tags: bootleg, CD, Led Zeppelin

Just today, I was feeling bored while taking a long trip to town in a public bus. So I plugged into my Discman, and played one of my all-time favourite cds: Led Zeppelin’s Presence. As the introductions to the first song Achilles Last Stand delivered through the miniature earpieces, several thoughts came into my mind. Although this was not the first time I felt this way, for some reason or another, this time, I felt the need to put down my thoughts into words:

Achilles Last Stand, is in my opinion, the archetypical rock song. It combines layers of magnificent guitar-playing, evocative lyrics, together with hard-hitting vocals and a rock-solid rhythm track. From the incandescent siren-like guitar solo, filled with Spanish-styled arpeggios, accompanied by subtle (yet brutal) harmonics and octaves… to the extraordinary paramilitary drumming - enhanced by the pounding bass line… to the haunting echo-filled vocals… It was the first real hard rock song I heard, the first song that really got me into the music of Led Zeppelin, and the first song that truly blew my mind.

Subjects: Music 音楽

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: Achilles Last Stand, CD, guitar, hard rock, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Presence