Salamander -Kukeiha Club Pro-Fusion-

	Album Title: Salamander -Kukeiha Club Pro-Fusion-
	Record Label: King Records
	Catalog No.: KICA-7702
	Release Date: May 22, 1996
	Purchase: Buy Used Copy

Overview

Fusion is generally a type of music that mixes jazz, synth work and rock into one formula that is very pleasant and pleasing to many music lovers in general. A wonderful team over at Konami labeled as the Konami Kukeiha Club set forth and redid the techno laced soundtrack of the Salamander games and the result is one that is the biggest surprises you’ll hear in a long while.

Body

“Dear Blue” is a great arrangement showcasing the elements of rock. The electric guitar plays the melody line with so much emotion and conviction as the bass line slaps and pops its way along. The piano line is also one to note, as it shows it’s head here and there, evoking a somewhat ethereal experience.

“Power of Anger” has a lot of synth sounds in the whole mix that makes up for the fluty sounds you might hear as well as the pipes. They also slapped some techno sounds on the drums to give it that echo sound as an jazz guitar strums and plucks a very smooth melody. Even the little hip hop/beat break in the middle is smooth without being overbearing.

“Fire Tripper” sounds a lot more dramatic than what I remembered back in the day, that’s for sure! It starts off with a small piano piece that then cuts into a drum break to lead the very sorrowful vibrato guitar piece into the piece. The chorus line is simply one of the best I’ve heard in a while, and continues to be more and more powerful as the piece increases. Here and there the guitar will drop back into obscurity as the piano takes lead with the bass to give the piece a more mellow dramatic sound.

“Speed” isn’t what you would think it to be. I thought it would be a fast moving, bass line racing, drum tiring arrangement of sorts, but it was made into a pretty smooth arrangement. It has sounds of triangles and other weird echo sounds moving the melody and played when the drums were sounded. Nothing’s too fast on this song, not even the keyboards. It sounds like you’re in a forest with little Ewoks running around, playing on their made up instruments. Oh. Um. Pardon me.

Pretty much all the tracks on here are good. They’re all smooth and the fastest things will be tame enough for your grandparents. That’s why I was so confused when I heard “Salamander”. It wasn’t the best, I’ll tell you that. The whole piece sounded like straight improvisation. I know some will like this kind of music, with synths ringing out here and there in a rather loud fashion, and the guitar sounding like it came straight out of an 80’s band. I, for one, skip it every time. This last arrangement isn’t in my track list at all.

Summary

If you come looking for rock, you won’t find it here. And if you come looking for jazz, you won’t really find it here either. You’ll find a nice medium of the two flavors that’ll satisfy your appetite for some time to come. Fusion is an aquired taste, indeed.

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