Monster Hunter 10th Anniversary Compilation Album [Self-Cover]
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Album Title: Monster Hunter 10th Anniversary Compilation Album [Self-Cover] |
| Record Label: Suleputer |
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| Catalog No.: CPCA-10344 |
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| Release Date: October 1, 2014 |
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| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Capcom’s popular Monster Hunter series, two arrange albums were released. Both albums feature arrangements by acclaimed artists with one being a tribute album featuring arrangements by artists who have not worked on the series’ music and the other being a self-cover album featuring arrangements by the original composers themselves of some of their own iconic tunes. How does Monster Hunter 10th Anniversary Compilation Album [Self-Cover], featuring arrangements by the original composers, such as Tetsuya Shibata, TECHNOuchi, Yuko Komiyama, and Masato Kouda turn out?
Body
The album opens up with Miwako Chinone’s “Fangs Lurking on the Surface of Ice.” This take on the original is a much softer, electronic approach with piano. I really like the lightheartedness of the arrangement, compared to the darker tone of the original. It captures the icy essence extremely well and manages to open the album on an excellent note. Reo Uratani’s “Life Burning in the Storm” transforms into a wonderful rock piece that would fit well on Masahiro Aoki’s Godspeed related albums. There are some nice softer rock moments as well that complement the more energetic sections of the piece. Speaking of rock, Tadayoshi Makino contributes two pieces to the album, both with a rock style in mind. The first, “The Subzero White Knight ~ Barioth” has a more j-rock style sound with its punchy riffs and lead guitar. It isn’t one of my favorites on the album with some strange progression choices, particularly with the soft instrumental bridge that feels extremely out of place, but I do appreciate the nod to the main theme of the series and the more heroic aspects of the arrangement at times. His other arrangement, “Absolute Zero ~ Ukanlos,” is definitely the more entertaining of the two. The introduction features some beautiful vocal work, acoustic guitar, and violin before moving into a very sinister orchestral rock tune with epic choir and some fantastic electric guitar work before ending as it started.
Hideyuki Fukasawa’s “Legend of an Unexplored Land” is probably the least successful on the album. It keeps the orchestral nature of the original intact and adds some electronic accompaniment such as wobbles and drum n’ bass later in the arrangement. It’s not particularly creative and although it is listenable, it definitely fails to live up to the efforts of a lot of the other arrangers on the album. Fortunately, the track that follows, “Theme of Pokke Village” by Akihito Narita, spruces up the original into a fun dance track with some orchestral tones, crystalline synth, and an infectious beat. It’s another one of my favorites on the album. TECHNOuchi’s “Theme of the Village, Theme of the Farm” is another strong highlight on the album. It’s a bubbly and bright electronic interpretation of the original featuring some beautifully warm synths and some simplistic vocal work. However, the true stars of the arrangement come near the end. Out of nowhere, a stunning violin solo that really manages to shine comes into play followed by some wonderful guitar work from Video Game Orchestra’s Shota Nakama that really helps add to the energy of the piece that closes out the arrangement. TECHNOuchi’s arrangement is a series of intricate layers and this piece is definitely one of his best arrangements to date.
Unique Note’s Yuko Komiyama and Tetsuya Shibata’s contributions are some of the best on the album and really highlight the originals with their Celtic interpretations. Komiyama’s “To One with Life,” the highlight of the album for me, chooses to focus on a flute lead, played by Unique Note’s Yasuyuki Yamazaki. This brings a great sound to the original, particularly in the latter half of the track where the orchestral nature of the original is brought to the fore and the woodwind section becomes truly awe-inspiring with its passionate free-form playing. Shibata’s arrangement of “Awakening” is also one of the highlights on the album and also features Yamazaki on woodwinds. In addition, all the guitar portions are played by Shibata. It even features vocals by Yoshino Aoki. It’s truly a Unique Note affair. There is a beautiful softness to the piece that really highlights the original style quite nicely, but greatly expands upon its evocativeness. The album ends with Masato Kouda’s interpretation of “Proof of a Hero.” His interpretation is quite beautiful, transforming the heroic original into a soft vocal ballad. The vocal performance is absolutely stunning and the piano and strings accompaniment definitely helps to evoke lots of poignant memories of the series’ musical history.
Summary
On the whole, the Monster Hunter 10th Anniversary Compilation Album [Self-Cover] is another well-produced and enjoyable album. However, some of the tracks feel more phoned-in compared to some of them and the range of styles isn’t quite there compared to the tribute album. However, the stellar tracks definitely rank among the best between the two arrange albums and are definitely worth listening to. The end result is something quite enjoyable, although not quite to the same level as its counterpart, but still with plenty going for it.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
3.5
Posted on December 3, 2014 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on December 13, 2014.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
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