Sonic the Hedgehog 10th Anniversary Gold Disc

	Album Title: Sonic the Hedgehog 10th Anniversary Gold Disc
	Record Label: Sega
	Catalog No.: 673-02942
	Release Date: June 23, 2001
	Purchase: Buy Used Copy

Overview

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega decided to take some of the classics from the Sonic games in the past and present and create an album out of them. The majority of the tracks focus on Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic the Hedgehog CD, and Sonic R, many of which are poorly represented in album releases otherwise. In addition, there are two Sonic Adventure and a compilation of the Sonic Adventure 2 theme songs. So let’s have a look at what it offers.

Body

The first six tracks are originals from Masato Nakamura’s Sonic the Hedgehog on Mega Drive / Genesis. The “Green Hill Zone” is a classic at worst. A great piece, and the most recognized Sonic theme in the series. “Star Light Zone” is a peaceful theme. It’s not at all fast and sounds quite ethereal, so was well chosen given the stage design. The “Special Stage” theme is quite annoying, but once again, it matches the actual part in the game. The “Final Zone” is an awesome theme. Although made over 10 years ago now, it has a great tune. I can’t say much for the instruments, but it’s worth a listen. Before I continue, you may notice that I left out the “Title Music” and “All Clear” jingle. That’s mainly because they’re very short tunes and I have no idea why they’re included on the album, as with the others like them. Anyway…

There are only four Sonic the Hedgehog 2 themes by Masato Nakamura on the soundtrack, which is a little small considering the soundtrack consists of many great themes. “Emerald Hill Zone” is a very upbeat, happy little thing. It sets the scene as the first zone quite well, as the sequel’s fill-in for “Green Hill Zone”. I’m sure if “Casino Night Zone” were remade, it would be a trumpet based theme with heavy drums. It’s another happy little theme, I don’t know if it sends any scene for a Casino. Anyway, the “Special Stage” theme is quite well put together this time, using a lot of synthesised instruments — probably all of the ones available at the time — in unison.

Brad Buxer’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has two tracks on the album. The mentionable is “Angel Island Zone”, which has an tropical islandy feel to it. The first part of the theme is alright, but the second part, with the light organ playing a pretty good tune, is just great. However, I think that there are much better themes on the game. An “Ice Cap Zone “in there would not have hurt. Howard Drossin’s Sonic and Knuckles also has great music to it. Alas, there is only one speakable theme from this game in the album also. “Sky Sanctuary” is a peaceful yet stimulating track. It uses orchestral sounding notes and instruments, yet at a fast pace. It blends into the zone very well, as the zone itself revolves around a sanctuary, but involves a rushing feel as you have to hurry to the final zone. Excellent work.

“You Can Do Anything” and “Believe In Yourself” are the two Sonic the Hedgehog CD themes and are nicely made tracks from the game. Fans of the game will like and know these themes. The music blends in quite well with the beats and everything, making them worthy additions to the album. Richard Jacques’ Sonic R themes included are tracks 18-20. The music is alongside vocals which sounds quite terrible, but the music is always fast paced and has a strong beat. Though most of the melody is taken up by the vocals, the tunes in the themes themselves are quite well done. Although none are that recognised, they are worthy additions to the album.

The next two tracks are quite good vocally, both from Jun Senoue’s Sonic Adventure. “Open Your Heart” is probably the best theme on the album. It features awesome vocals by Johnny Gioeli and some great guitar playing. A great main theme for the game itself. The final track is basically a mix of all six character theme on Sonic Adventure 2. I’d recommend it only if you like at least four out of six of these themes otherwise it’s not very good. Sonic’s and Shadow’s theme are the best of the lot, but the female singing isn’t up to much. However, the highlight would be the great background music with the cool drum beats and guitar in places. The synth works quite well too merging each theme together.

Summary

Sonic the Hedgehog 10th Anniversary Gold Disc is quite a good album altogether. The disappointing parts would be the fact that they didn’t always put in the absolute best Sonic themes and included quite a few jingles or dodgy vocal tracks. Nonetheless, they have put in some of the greats, which made this a worthy celebration for ten years of Sonic.

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