When I first played Gitaroo Man and beat it, I rushed out and purchased the
soundtrack the very next day; be aware that I have never, *ever* done this
before. Yes, the music is THAT good. Being an avid rhythm-action game
music fan means that I've heard it all, from Parappa The Rapper, to Bust a
Move, the entire Bemani series, and everything else in between... but nothing
touches Gitaroo Man in terms of sheer quality and instant accessibility.
With the exception of "Soft Machine" and "21 Century Boy", as well as the
Japanese eurobeat styling of "Flyin' To Your Heart," the score isn't very
big on vocals, so those who are adverse to such needn't worry too much
here. Most of the songs, in fact, are purely instrumental, and excellently
composed instrumentals at that. Produced and written by Tomohiro Harada
and Japanese rock band COIL, Gitaroo Man boasts a wide variety of
imaginative and appealing musical categories that are well-suited to the
guitar. If there's one thing that the Japanese (and the game music genre,
in particular) have proven to us, it is that they can take the best of
everything out there, put their own melodic spin on it, and *BOOM* crank out
some music magic. "Born To Be Bone," my personal favorite piece,
simply transcends adjectives. If I could try, I would describe it as Spanish
tango, set to a pounding jungle-tribal beat, all driven along by a dazzling
palette of battery percussion, xylophones, marimbas, and a Jew harp. Yes, a
Jew harp. Totally off-the-wall, yet wholly organic, it is, in short, a
brilliantly crafted piece.
This is but one of the many examples of the exorbitantly elaborate mixtures
that Gitaroo Man exhibits. "Bee Jam Blues," another favorite of mine, takes
a kickin' blues syncopation and hurls itself upon a disco-funk framework;
the result is a deliciously trippin' duet of trumpet and electric guitar.
"Tainted Lovers," meanwhile, dips into the realm of heavy metal, with
banshee-screaming axe licks and riffs, set to pipe and jazz organs.
The two versions of "The Legendary Theme," both acoustic and album, warrant
special mention. The theme they share serves as the focal theme for Gitaroo Man, and
although describing its in-game context would be a spoiler in and of
itself, I can say that it is one of the most memorable pieces I've heard in
a long time. It is a beautiful and tender-hearted melody as portrayed in the
acoustic version, which soars majestically in the album version with
rock-ballad vigor and amazing dual guitar work.
If there is but one qualm that I have with this soundtrack, it's that the
tracks, though faithfully re-mastered and replicated from the original
sounds, don't contain every riff and musical sequence that is found in the
game. Anyone who has the skill and the guts to go up against Master's Play
Mode knows that there are new musical sections and improvisational notes for
a number of songs. It is disappointing, then, to find that none of those
additions can be found here. Instead, we get four "Ropeland" mixes, which
essentially covers pieces that didn't even have major changes to begin with.
If it were up to me, I would have used the space for the full-length
versions (or maybe "deluxe" is a better term) of "Bee Jam Blues," "Born To Be
Bone," and "Tainted Lovers," because those new bars really added a
fresh and well-rounded sound to the pieces.
Aside from this small (and admittedly avaricious) gripe, what we've received
in this soundtrack is pure gold. So much heart and soul just seems to have been poured into this soundtrack; like the game itself, it represents a new
high mark of quality for an otherwise stale genre. Saying
anything more would be redundant; if you've played the game, you already
know how good the music is. But to those who would like to try out a new
type of guitar-laden music score, that is on par in quality with, say, the
Konami Battle CDs or Guilty Gear albums, then Gitaroo Man Original
Soundtrack comes highly recommended. One of the finest of its kind, and
indeed, of any game music score, it is an absolute pleasure to listen
to.