It's true. The Japanese versions of Nintendo soundtracks are better than the American versions, and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Original Soundtrack is no exception. If you thought the American release was above average, go for this album! It's got all, I mean, *all* the music from the game - dungeons, towns, character themes, titles, and all. What a delight!
There is only one word to describe this music on this soundtrack album, and that is *spectacular*. It takes advantage of classic Zelda themes, as well as introducing new ones. A few examples of classic themes reused: the "Title Theme" takes advantage of the famous whistle motif heard in Zelda I. The "Hyrule Field Main Theme" has the first couple of notes from the classic Overworld theme (something that lets us all know that this is Zelda), but the rest of it is all brand new, and different, and moody. (It changes to furious and exciting about halfway between the song. It's a fudgy, but unique, transition.) "Zelda's Theme", "Great Fairy's Fountain", "Kakariko Village", "Master Sword", and "Ganondorf's Theme" all were introduced in The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past. Well, here they are again, upgraded by the Nintendo 64's sound system.
The other music is all new and equally impressive. Although the dungeon theme tracks (especially "Dodongo's Cavern") are ambient and not necesarily the most comforting tracks, they suit the tone of the dungeons very well, whether you're going through the Forest Temple, the Fire Temple, the Water Temple, or so on. My personal favorite of these dungeon themes is "Inside Ganon's Castle", which is basically three variations of "Ganondorf's Theme" performed by an organ! It's such a spooky, scary track, that you'll probably get the chills whenever you listen to it.
There are also some new catchy themes for the game's new places, such as the carefree, childish "Kokiri Forest", the western song "Lon Lon Ranch", the celtic "Market", and the beautiful "Zora's Domain". Many game music fans consider "Gerudo Valley" the best out of these new themes. From listening to it, I can see why. It's got a great beat, as well as a strong melody - as if you're galloping on a horse.
But arguably the most impressive tracks on the soundtrack (in my opinion, that is) are the choral tracks. Okay, so they're not actual singers, as in "One Winged Angel" in Final Fantasy VII, but hey, they sound awfully darn good for being synthesized. The "Temple Of Time" sounds like a Gregorian chant performed by a men's chorus, while "Chamber of the Sages" and "Legend Of Hyrule" call out the sopranos to do what sounds like a heavenly, angelic requiem, as if to symbolize the creation of Hyrule (in the manner of a film score). These tracks, my favorites, are all beautiful, haunting, and occasionally mysterious.
Now it's time to talk about the battle themes. At first I felt a little unsure with "Battle"; it didn't seem all that exciting or dangerous from when I first listened to it on the American CD release. I also felt unsure about "Boss Battle", which is a loud and bombastically noisy cacophony. However, when I played the game, and heard these two cues whenever I went into battle, I realized that they fit perfectly with these scenes in spite of themselves. The other boss battle themes are more melodic and less noisy, with the best of these being the "Last Battle" theme. It's really a cool track - a male chorus moaning along with a dreary yet dangerous ode while a snare drum rolls on furiously. It's a frightening and truly dazzling battle track.
This is truly a modern impressive musical achievement for the Nintendo 64, especially since not all the game scores have been that groundbreaking. While some tracks may not be the most comforting, they contrast with the game perfectly (those who bash this music should play the game - it works really well with it).
As for comparisons with the American release, there are a larger number of tracks on this album - 82 to be exact (the American release had 35 tracks). The Japanese release runs for a staggering 78:01 while the clock on the US one ticks to 72:10. I didn't think it was possible to put all the music from the game onto one disc (there is quite a bit of it in the game), but I was proven wrong. This means that each song is only played once. On the American version, the songs were played twice. One track that is a victim of this act is "Lon Lon Ranch". On the American version, the first time through, it was "sung" by a synthesized voice, the second time, a harmonica. Here, you only get the synthesized voice rendition of "Lon Lon Ranch", not the harmonica version. If you're that ticked off about it, you can get the American version as well, but then, you won't get any liner information (message from the composer, Koji Kondo, as well as the staff credits). Another apparant trim is in the "Fire Temple" music. After the first 45 seconds (in the game), a Japanese male chorus begins chanting and continues for quite a while. Why did they have to exclude it? That was my favorite favorite part! This makes it a bit disappointing that they didn't do a two-CD soundtrack release (and not have the songs play twice), but that's the one weakness with the Japanese release. Do *not* pass this CD up. You won't find the complete music from the game anywhere else.
Lastly, and not that this is a necessity or anything, if you happen to be one of the lucky ones who snagged one of the first 5000 copies of the soundtrack, you'll receive a miniature, toy-like replica of the Ocarina of Time. But whether you're that lucky or not, this CD is a true gem all the same.