Xenosaga II Movie Scene Soundtrack

Artist: Yuki Kajiura
Label: Jvc Victor
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 2
EAN: 4988002462087
ASIN: B00024Z6HG

Release Date: 2004-07-15

Xenosaga II Movie Scene Soundtrack

Related Categories:

General

| Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Tracks:

In The Beginning, There Was...
First Meeting
Xenosaga Ii Opening Theme
Assault
Strain- Jin
Here He Comes
Fatal Fight
R And D Report
Chase
Surrounded
Lamentation
Albedo
Communication Breakdown
Sakura
Sakura # 2
Strained
Jr. # 2
Strained # 2
In The Beginning , There Was....# 2
Battle Of Elsa
Here She Comes
Battle Of Elsa #2
Gate Out
Here He Comes # 2
Creeping Fear
U-Do=Febronia
Final Crisis
Presentiment Jr.# 3
A Field O Battle -Bitter $# 2
Inside Sakura # 3
I Am Free
Sakura #4
Sweet Song
Jr
Jr. # 4
Fatal Fight # 2
Bitter
Nephilim
Image Theme Of Xenosaga Ii
Image Theme Of Xenosaga Ii

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Soundtrack
Xenosaga Episode I Original Soundtrack
Xenosaga Original Soundtrack
Xenogears Original Soundtrack
Xenosaga Episode III Original Sound Best Tracks

Album Description

Japan exclusive soundtrack to the Namco RPG game. Victor. 2004.

Customer Reviews:

This is an intresting way to do a soundtrack.......2006-09-12

I don't really like how this is only the music from the movie scenes in the game, I would like to give this 1 star but the music is ok enough to give it 2 I would have liked to get all of the games music, the movie scenes are not enough.

Where's all the rest?

A musician's review........2006-01-13

I have played both games and equally enjoy the music from both composers. Yuki Kajiura'a music, as I've seen from other reviewers, is either a hit or miss. You love it or hate it. I also feel that Yasunori Mitsuda did a fabulous job, in his own right, for what he was given to work with. However, I think that gamers and music lovers alike should not compare one artist to the other. They should be judged as separate entities, even though they composed for the same franchise. If you decide to play this game or purchase the soundtrack without truly listening to a sampling previously, try to keep an open mind and not let the mood and story line/music of the first Xenosaga give you preconceptions of how the music for the second "should" sound.

Without Mitsuda, Xenosaga couldn't do much better than this........2006-01-05

Let me state a couple things. I have three composers that give me inspiration. My first I encountered was Nobuo Uematsu. My second, Yasunori Mitsuda. My third, Yuki Kajiura. I love Mitsuda's work, and Episode I was good, but was NOT my favorite of his works. I personally believe that Chrono Cross and parts of the Xenogears soundtrack outshine it.

You can not compare their styles, except for the occasional similarity (none come to mind right now but I know there is at least one). Both composers have the ability to evoke emotional responses. Mitsuda's is generally orchestral, though if we look at Chrono Trigger and for example the track Schala's Theme, the style is very different--which I personally love. Chrono Cross has many great tracks. Of course, these are not his only works, but I have come to like Mitsuda's works better than a good deal of Uematsu's.

Kajiura relies on piano, strings, vocal, and electronic elements. Also, her manipulation of percussion is admirable. In Episode II, all of them are interwoven beautifully for the most part of the soundtrack. I can honestly say that I like 90% of the soundtrack, which I can not say for most any other soundtrack. The theme we hear for the last time in Sweet Song, the ending theme, was previously in several other tracks, but that shouldn't detract considering it's extremely beautiful. True, the lyrics aren't perfect in terms of comfortability on one or two counts, but it's not enough to really detract.

Part of it is personal preference. But I'd have to say that a majority of the audience would enjoy this soundtrack. It has an entirely different feel from Episode I, which you can tell even from the title screen. But I find it's my favorite of Kajiura's works and urge you to try it out.

Xenosaga, retold through Kajiura.......2005-04-28

First, let it be said that I think that no one could have outdone Mitsuda's score for the first game, except maybe himself. It sits among the best soundtracks in my collection along with John Williams and Howard Shore.

That over and done with, I also have to say that Yuki Kajiura wrote a completely differet sytle (and therefore mood) of music for Xenosaga Ep. 2 than Mitsuda created for Ep. 1. But the second part of the series deserved a retelling through music. Mitsuda took great advantage of a full orchestra, while Kajiura makes use of electronics, a small selection of strings, woodwinds, and especially pipes. A whole different world is introduced in the second part of the series, and Kajiura's difference in style helps to throw this transition into sharp relief.

Character themes are altered or changed. Albedo's once erratic and off-kilter operatic theme song (used to represent his less-than-sane state of mind) is changed at the hands of Kajiura to a soft, menacing half choral/half techno amalgam of terror (used effectively to show Albedo as a menacing character, not just a man suffering from mental instability).

Most of the tracks on the soundtrack are superb, showcasing Kajiura's expertise with themes and altering them, mixing them. There are a few tracks, however, that do not stand up to the test. For example, the first "Battle of the Elsa" track is a dissonant and indecipherable piece which I skip on every playing. Along with the uneventful track "R&D Report," which shows about just as much emotion that the voice actor for the main character chooses to display. But, other than the few blips on the radar of unworthyness, the score is one I would recommend for fans of the game, or fans of music in general, if they feel so compelled.

One suggestion: Amazon's prices are extremely high for this soundtrack. I bought mine on E-Bay for $14, a very reasonable price for 2 disks and about 1 hour and 45 mins of music. Happy shopping!

Yuki Kajiura?.......2005-03-30

The Xenosaga Ep. 2 soundtrack was the first I've heard of Yuki Kajiura, and I'm quite impressed. She has great range and talent from complex dance/electronica to very simple and beautiful melodies. Yasunori Mitsuda, talented composer of Xenogears and Xenosaga Ep. 1, has a very different style. His best skill is invoking a haunting or unsettling mood (think of Id's theme from Xenogears). Yuki Kajiura is not quite able to keep up with Yasunori here, but she more than makes up for it with a range of energetic and emotionally moving music.

Track 15, Sakura's theme, with the acoustic guitar and Japanese vocals is a wonderful example of Yuki's talent. Even though I can't understand the words, the song is very beautiful. Yuki uses the same melody in much of the music, and in the ending theme, Sweet Song, which was sung in English. While a few of the words seem a bit awkward and poorly chosen, the song still succeeds brilliantly in painting a clear mental picture, and in that, it is unlike any other song I've heard in a video game before. Yasunori's English songs are rather incoherent in comparison.

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