Shin Megami Tensei -Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers- Hyper Rearrange

	Album Title: Shin Megami Tensei -Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers- Hyper Rearrange
	Record Label: King Records
	Catalog No.: KICA-5010
	Release Date: May 22, 1998
	Purchase: Buy Used Copy

Overview

I’ll start this off by saying Devil Summoner Soul Hackers Hyper Rearrange is probably not what you’d expect. Yes, it says “hyper rearrange” but I bet you wouldn’t expect rap remixes, would you? Or would you expect straight out screaming for six minutes? Though “hyper” may not be the best word to imply what this album has to offer, I think most fans can expect this album to be a completely new experience from Shoji Meguro, but the question is if it is enjoyable.

Body

The Devil Summoner Soul Hackers Hyper Rearrange album is notably experimental right from the star. As we all know, some experiments lead us to new and amazing things, while some end up being disastrous. We’ll start with the number one example of how this album went wrong. The third track, “Shoot, I Should Have Dear ED”, is barely a rearrange for starters. It strays from the original style and core of the source material, which a lot of the album tends to do. I don’t think it strayed for the best reasons, as it’s just a guy screaming the whole time. Maybe they wanted to try out this concept, but why did they have to try it out for six minutes? And why did Meguro have to try it out on a rearrange album instead of on his own personal time. Luckily there’s more to the album then just this.

I find that when rap isn’t actually done by a professional rap artist, it ends up being very cheesy (look at the Sonic Adventure games!). Cheesy doesn’t mean “don’t listen to this one” of course. I can’t say “Soul Runnaz” isn’t a tad bit enjoyable, but those who enjoy rap will probably look down on it for being a bit amateur while those who aren’t as into rap might enjoy it a bit, but I don’t think it’ll keep you coming back. I personally love the “hahaha”s in the “chorus” of Soul Runnaz. A lot of the rap tracks are super chill, especially “EL115”, and they actually stay a bit closer to the source material but they still stray. “EL115” actually had a hint of rap in it anyways. Some may just find these to be worthy tracks, but if you’d have doubts then you probably won’t like it.

“Le Monde a Glace”, a remix of “Algon Headquarter”, turned out to be the best of the tracks on this album. It really evokes a great solemn feeling especially with the continual piano line and soft, female, French vocals. It is still experimental but it stays true to the source and at the same time makes it something new. It is a true rearrange and it will please fans. “Transvestite” goes along with he same sort of style, but it’s more upbeat. I’d prefer something like “Le Monde a Glace” over it. I think these two tracks aren’t what you’d expect for a more conventional remix but are still more conventional. It’s better to have variety on the album, but I would take an album with just style over what this album is.

Finally there are tracks like “Mad Poco” and “Amami-City” that go along with the ‘hyper’ in the album title a bit stronger. They are basically hyper versions of the original tracks. “Mad Poco”, which is a remix of “Tenkai Bypass”, really just takes away any joy and charm of the atmospheric “Tenkai Bypass” and adds ‘hyper’ fast paced drums. It is what it is, but most will probably not like it. The same thing goes for “Amami-City” as a remix of “Ruins”.

Summary

Just because I’m not a fan of this album doesn’t mean I don’t support experimentation and what Shoji Meguro may have been trying to do here. This is a short album that most will have a fun time listening to it, whether they actually like the music or not. A lot of the music from the game was really good for games at the time and a rearrange album doesn’t get the privilege of reflecting that. Nevertheless, it’s a worthy experimentat as long as fans are careful to know what they’ll be getting.

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