![]() ![]() Shimomura’s best themes actually come in the form of the dark and ominous. Shimomura’s more relaxed themes are a great listen, but it is such a pity that she doesn’t develop them to the extents that they deserve. The album’s last natural theme is “The Bird Flies in the Sky, the Fish Swims in the River,” an eloquent theme that is short but sweet. Indeed, it is relatively short in comparison and once more it lacks development, but the experience that the listener gets is far more favourable. “Under the Fake” is a better track that makes a greater use of its melodic line and accompaniment. If Shimomura had developed this theme a little more, then I am sure that it would have been a hit. The track flows nicely and is certainly very picturesque, and although I am not a fan of the track on the whole, its style is intriguing to say in the least. “Wanderer” is another natural theme, but this time, a wild western style is brought about. When the flutes, steel drums, and tribal drums are combined to make a melody, the resultant effect is a great one. “Native life” takes a more nature centred role complete with bird sound effects, the setting of this theme is truly enhanced by its instrumentation. For example, the acoustic guitar based “Sancho de Los Panchos” creates a perfect image of a fresh Spanish town with cobblestone streets and white buildings by staying lively and cultural at the same time. The lively tracks on this album go hand in hand with the more natural and ‘organic’ themes, too. “Captain of the Shooting Stars” plays in the same area, and is a charming track with an inspirational melody frequent transitions and a creative bass line make this a good listen, and places it amongst some of the best on the album. It has some scientific synth that makes it stand out amongst the likes of “Nice Weather Ain’t It!”, and is a perfect example of how Shimomura needed to add something new at every turn. “Captain Square,” from the ‘CUBE’s quest’ chapter, is another fun theme to listen to. It develops nicely, and the flute melody intertwines perfectly with the chord centred accompaniment to create a very relaxed atmosphere overall. “Nice Weather Ain’t It!” is another light-hearted theme, but its overly dramatic nature doesn’t really do it any good on the album. “Sound of Shinobi” also falls victim to its instrumentation, but it manages to become a good listen through its catchy melody, though this hardly suffices as a great feature. This is the type of track that works in-game, but fails on an album such as this. The first of these is “Secret Mission,” which fails simply due to its poor instrumentation and its lack of a consistent harmony. There are a number of light-hearted themes in this Original Sound Version that really stand out, but these are sadly accompanied by some really poor themes, too. Both of these set a high standard for the rest of the Sound Version to follow, and with the album being set out in order of the different chapters of the game, the listener is subjected to something new at every turn. It flows elegantly and develops profoundly, both with its instrumentation and its dynamics, to create an ultimate atmosphere that sends chills down the listener’s spine. Even so, it pales in comparison to the next track, “Select-A-Live,” which sounds as if it was written for a film, since it seems to describe a certain story that only a moving picture could tell. The track provides a great opening to the album, and its atmosphere is impressively light-hearted, too. “Live A Live” starts off the album in a classic introductory style that involves a sweeping melody and rampant brass. So, read on for an insight of one her earlier works. The Live A Live Original Sound Version holds some really impressive themes that Shimomura must be proud of, and quite a few of you would like them, even now. The style of composition is very similar to her Kingdom Hearts scores, so pretty much every area of the game is given a different atmosphere through the music alone. This album holds the music to a classic Super Nintendo game called Live A Live, which was released around the same time as the highly successful Final Fantasy VI. Producing great scores throughout the ’90s for games such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Street Fighter II, and also throughout the modern era with Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, Yoko Shimomura’s rise to fame has been a somewhat long term one.
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