Fixeight
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Album Title: Fixeight |
| Record Label: Pony Canyon |
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| Catalog No.: PCCB-00100 |
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| Release Date: October 21, 1992 |
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| Purchase: Buy Used Copy |
Overview
The Fixeight album contains music from Toaplan’s run and gun title, composed by Toshiaki Tomizawa. The soundtrack features a very dark, militaristic tone overall, but the features tunes all fail to captivate on a melodic level. The soundtrack was exclusively released by Pony Canyon.
Body
“Fixer” manages to give off a great sense of tension, despite this. “O.T.” features a very dark atmosphere, giving off a sense of a bleak future, while still incorporating some militaristic percussion. It has a heroic sounding melody at times, but is still one that ultimately fails to captivate, particularly in the A section. “Nm=S.A.” features some very bombastic percussion, giving it a bit of a tribal sound. There are some jazzy components to the piece, particularly in the melody line, but overall, the track fails to captivate as a whole.
“Super Existence” and “S.I.S.” are very sinister, industrial pieces that convey a powerful atmosphere, but that’s about it. Similarly, “N.T.C.K. in the Backyard” is an intense percussion based piece that continues that militaristic tone, but definitely fails to capture the listener’s attention.
Despite all this, “Sanctuary” manages to impress on the whole. It is reminiscent, in ways, of Koji Hayama’s style by incorporating random vocal effects into the track. It has the most inviting rhythm and is probably the most successful of all the themes on the album, even if the melody is a bit lacking. “Happy Birthday Mr. Help” is a a music box and synthesizer rendition of Chopin’s Étude Op. 10, No. 3. It fails to really captivate in the music box portions, but does manage to salvage itself a bit when the synthesizers are added into the mix.
In addition to the original soundtrack, there is also an orchestral medley titled “Fixeightia” featuring many themes on the album. The fuller instrumentation definitely manages to provide a new life into the themes, but at the same time, due to their weak original counterparts, the overall track manages to only sugarcoat the lackluster compositions.
Summary
In the end, the Fixeight soundtrack should definitely be skipped. It features only a few decent themes and the medley does improve the originals slightly. But in the end, these features don’t manage to save a lacklustre album.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
1.5
Posted on August 1, 2012 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on August 1, 2012.
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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