About Shmups soundtracks, mainstream, not so mainstream,Etc.

O. Van Bruce · Post by **O. Van Bruce** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:56 pm

Some days ago, as I was looking for the Espgaluda II BLack Label OST I stumbled upon this article:

http://www.squareenixmusic.com/reviews/ ... lack.shtml

The ESPGaluda II Black Label Original Soundtrack will divide opinions. On one hand, there will be those who enjoyed the more dense, experimental, and elaborate soundtrack for the original ESPGaluda II, finding Ryu Umemoto's interpretation comparatively generic and simplistic. On the other hand, many will appreciate how this soundtrack provides a beautiful backdrop to the game's visuals and find the piano-infused trance approach more satisfying and accessible. Regardless, it is an interesting interpretation of the ESPGaluda II with a number of definitive highlights.

Inevitably, I started comparing both soundtracks caring to analize both structure and compatibility with the game. What do you think? Both scores are great but Namiki's is far more developed than Unemoto's... on the other hand, Unemoto seems to give a more epic feeling in some parts and is far more relaxing and favours concentration on the changing pace of the Black Label Version.

Also, use this thread if you want to discuss more about SDOJ Soundtrack and dubstep, since it's more or less the same problem.

Mainstream or alternative on shmups?

kid aphex · Post by **kid aphex** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:12 pm

O. Van Bruce wrote: Namiki's is far more developed than Unemoto's... on the other hand, Unemoto seems to give a more epic feeling in some parts and is far more relaxing and favours concentration on the changing pace of the Black Label Version.

Couldn't have said it any better myself. Namiki is, as far as I'm concerned, the composer when it comes to modern shmups.

Also, as far as shmups soundtracks are concerned, piano voices simply do not belong

Eaglet · Post by **Eaglet** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:16 pm

Well.
Bargle Gargle, which has a pretty universally acclaimed soundtrack, is VGMy Detroit Techno.
There you go.

The beats be thumpin' and the bitches be humpin'!

chum · Post by **chum** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:20 pm

I don't even know what constitutes as "mainstream" anymore.

Whatever fits the aesthetics of the game, tbh.

matrigs · Post by **matrigs** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:23 pm

it actually sadened me a little in the sdoj topic that people started complaining about the soundtrack after hearing a not-even-10-seconds sample containing "dubstep".

this whole "anti-dubstep-craze" pisses me off 10 times more than all those skrillexian douches who are riding the hype-wave right now. it just seems that whenever you hear a half-beat it's just better to say that it's shit just to be socially correct.

besides i would argue that speeding the tempo up twice to the simplest kick snare kick snare techno thump adds ani artistic value to the music.

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:31 pm

I love ESPGALUDA II BL ost, but the original is "meh" in comparison.

O. Van Bruce · Post by **O. Van Bruce** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:40 pm

emphatic wrote:I love ESPGALUDA II BL ost, but the original is "meh" in comparison.

Why? How it's meh when in some BGM's on BL there are parts with the same beat for 10 or 15 seconds...

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:48 pm

As I opined in here, the first game's soundtrack always sounded a bit sparse and anonymous to me, especially considering how distinctive its setting was - the second one filled in a lot of the original's musical "gaps" in my opinion, and did more to draw you (or, more accurately, me) in.

iconoclast · Post by **iconoclast** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:55 pm

emphatic wrote:I love ESPGALUDA II BL ost, but the original is "meh" in comparison.

Agreed. I don't care for the original soundtrack, but the BL one is great. Especially stage 3.

O. Van Bruce · Post by **O. Van Bruce** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:06 pm

gaps? which ones?

I'm very surprised since I thought that the first one was the favourite.

I won't extend my point too much since it's difficult to type on a psp, but Namiki's soundtrack does a better job portraying the feelings of the characters and the story.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:16 pm

O. Van Bruce wrote:gaps? which ones?

I guess it's a tad tough to put into words rather than sounds (especially since I'm not exactly an expert on the language of music), but off the cuff I'd compare the Stage 1 theme of the two games, as the latter is essentially a remix of the former: the basic beat/structure/whatever is much the same, but Galuda II adds a bunch of little vamps, chords, flourishes and other bits onto it that (again, IMO) make it a good deal more interesting to listen to. In the first game the soundtrack was "just kinda there" for me, but I keep the second's on my mp3 player - some others might find the additions superfluous or distracting or something like that, but for my ears it added just the right amount of spice.

I'm very surprised since I thought that the first one was the favourite.

Espgaluda's soundtrack is generally well-liked (at least it seems that way from here), though I personally was never all that taken with it, especially compared to the sequel. Not like it matters too much - variety is the spice of life and all that.

Vamos · Post by **Vamos** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:47 pm

Nothing has come close to milestone ost,s yet in shmups.

BareKnuckleRoo · Post by **BareKnuckleRoo** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 11:01 pm

From gameplay videos I've seen, I'm really liking Espgaluda's PS2 version Arrange Mode remixes. Series has probably my fave shmup music, shame it doesn't get as much attention as ZUN's stuff seems to.

Speaking of which, is this CD the one I'd need to buy in order to get a copy of 'em? Probably a stupid question, but it doesn't specifically say anything about Arrange mode ('for PS2 remix') so just doublechecking they're not like higher quality versions of the original songs or anything.

stryc9 · Post by **stryc9** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:58 am

Eschatos has a great soundtrack, and by the sound of it the Super Sweep arrange CD is even better.

matrigs · Post by **matrigs** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:03 am

i absolutely love this release :

http://zuntata.jp/lineup/zttl0012.html

it wouldn't fit a shmup i guess but those arrangements are absolutely fantastic.

O. Van Bruce · Post by **O. Van Bruce** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:47 am

Seems I've been confused by how you phrased your first post Bullet Magnet.

I was identifying "the first" as the original Espgaluda II soundtrack and "the second" as the Black Label Arrange

Of course I like lots more Espgaluda II soundtrack over Espgaluda's, it's a great power up in complexity and structure in comparison.

On topic again, it seems that there is people who actually think that Esp II BL soundtrack is better than the original Esp II soundtrack.

Why? Unemoto isn't remotely close to how fitting the original ESP II soundtrack is...

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:38 am

The arcade OST smokes the BL one. It's amazing how well synced it is to the action in the stages even with the slowdown thing and I think the trance style is a lot more fitting for what Cave was trying to do with the scoring. The BL OST just feels generic in comparison.

spineshark · Post by **spineshark** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:29 am

Yeah, BL's music is for the most part a little too delicate-sounding and uses the same sounds too much. (I do like the Seseri tracks quite a bit though.) And the first game was maybe a little too rigid and mechanical on the whole. II hits the right notes all the way, and I'm especially fond of the track on stage 4.

I feel similarly about DFK 1.5 vs BL, except in reverse. 1.5 is the limp one, while BL is darker and richer and just keeps things more exciting. I'm so glad the port lets you switch it up.

mesh control · Post by **mesh control** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:59 pm

Milestone soundtracks >>> everyother shmup soundtrack

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:55 pm

I hope Kou Hayashi and Daisuke Nagata aren't done composing for good now.

Age of Kings · Post by **Age of Kings** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:43 pm

^ I agree. k.h.d.n is pure musical bliss, especially the Karous OST. I'm very sad they've broken up....could also mean bad things for Milestone continuing to develop games.

Although I like Galuda II's soundtrack a lot.

RNGmaster · Post by **RNGmaster** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:17 am

mesh control wrote:Milestone soundtracks >>> everyother shmup soundtrack

What about Hellsinker?

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:44 am

O. Van Bruce wrote:Seems I've been confused by how you phrased your first post Bullet Magnet.

I was identifying "the first" as the original Espgaluda II soundtrack and "the second" as the Black Label Arrange

Ah, okay, so that's what you meant.

I need to play more of Black Label to be able to say much about how its music compares to "regular" Galuda II so I guess I'm out of this one, heh.

xbl0x180 · Post by **xbl0x180** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:04 am

Gate of Thunder has the best music score

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:33 am

Most of the shmup music of the last two decades or so years is either various flavors of rock/metal (less) or popular genres of electronic dance music (more). Zuntata were among the first who did something really unconventional—soft vocals, dreamy ambient and aggressive synth sounds bordering on noise in the same game is not something you hear a lot even today, and I bet it was completely out of nowhere in early 90s. Radiant Silvergun is also notable for its early faux symphonic sound, and Dangun Feveron for a surprising and clever (mis)use of popular disco hits. None of this, however, is new or unconventional outside of videogame music. In fact, other game genres have embraced the same kind of music much earlier than shmups. These days you can hear pretty much everything in videogames, from industrial to drone ambient to IDM.

Curiously enough, some of the most interesting shmup soundtracks I've heard more or less recently were drum'n'bass, a genre that generally bores me; talking about Milestone and Skonec here. Although still mainstream to a great extent, this is, for the most part, a listener's music.

(And yes, I find Galuda 2's original soundtrack boring as hell for the most part, while Umemoto's arrange very listenable.)

mesh control · Post by **mesh control** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:06 am

RNGmaster wrote:
mesh control wrote:Milestone soundtracks >>> everyother shmup soundtrack
What about Hellsinker?

Send me mp3s, I can't play the game because I don't know how config my arcadestick.

I forgot about Wasi303. Psyvariar soundtracks are cool.
Did zuntata do anything similar to the gdarius soundtrack? With samples and such...

stryc9 · Post by **stryc9** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:10 am

mesh control wrote:I forgot about Wasi303. Psyvariar soundtracks are cool.
Did zuntata do anything similar to the gdarius soundtrack? With samples and such...

Did he do the tracks for Homura as well?

I like the boss musics in particular with their foreboding orchestral sound. Not something that's real common in shmup OSTs.

And regarding Milestone stuff, from what I've heard of Bitches Blue or whatever it's called the Illvelo soundtrack is possibly their strongest.

ChainsawGuitarSP · Post by **ChainsawGuitarSP** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:43 pm

mesh control wrote:Did zuntata do anything similar to the gdarius soundtrack? With samples and such...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd_Hil9PtAs
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/nm17220442
?

TrevHead (TVR) · Post by **TrevHead (TVR)** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 2:02 am

DFK BL has gotta be one of my faves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMxY5m7R ... ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LerWQeMX ... ure=relmfu

Also I quite enjoy RebRank's (late 90s early 00s era) trance soundtracks they put in their STGs. (Seihou, Samidare and Refrain) Half the time I play RefRain I keep the bosses alive just to listen to the music

O. Van Bruce · Post by **O. Van Bruce** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:38 pm

Continuing With Ryu Unemoto:

Fuck, until now i only heard Espgaluda II BL and Akai Katana (Arcade) soundtracks. But Akai Katana Shin soundtrack is utter awesome. FUCK, WHY DID HE DIED!?

Fucking lungs of that guy

...

Just think in the possiblity that Unemoto may have composed SDOJ music... how different would have been.

shmups.system11.org

About Shmups soundtracks, mainstream, not so mainstream,Etc.

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