Parasite Eve Remixes

Reading the more or less negative reviews about this remixes album, or seeing that this whole CD was labelled as "trance" made me want to write my own review about it.

Know that "Parasite Eve Remixes" may require a wide and knowledgeable taste of most electronic genres to be appreciated at its fullest. This album has many genres going on: Trance, Techno, Deep House, DnB, Trip-Hop and even IDM are part of this CD.

The opening track, Yoko Shimomura's DnB approach to "AYA's theme", is definitely a very nice work. Combining a very nice amount of piano lines, powerful drum work and carefully mixed ambience elements; this track proves to be a very interesting and catchy listen; and might possibly be one of your favorite tracks later on.

The "Plosive Attack" remix caught me off guard, since I usually am not a fan of such tracks. This track is basically a techno track with trance elements going on; it captures a few key elements of the original track but is pretty much a free remix. The very good production, and constant feel of "progression" going on in it, making every big transition extremely enjoyable, really makes that track stand out as both a clubber's and listener's choice.

About the "Primal Eyes" remix that seems to be the oddity that not many people can seem to enjoy; know that it was the IDM track I was talking about. The music plays a lot with dissonance, broken rhythms and drum lines, filtering and various sound effects. And actually it is not a bad IDM track at all, and should please the enjoyers of the genre. For some of you who are not aware of what IDM is: it is an acronym for "Intelligent Dance Music" (yes bad term) and basically is "electronic music you can't dance to". The genre is a lot into exploration and pushing "music" further by breaking one or many common rules of traditional music composition. Some artists often labelled as IDM makers would be: Autechre, Aphex Twin, M-m, Brothomstates and Plaid to name a few.

Let's now briefly talk about the other tracks that are worth checking out as well. "Missing Perspective" is a Deep House track that works as "chilling out" music but does not provide much in terms of musical complexity (and also it is really, extremely different from the original). "Somnia Memorias Platinum Remix" is a nice, spiced up trip hop version of the original with Engrish vocals from a pretty nice sounding singer. "Across the memories" will please you if you are into fat, distorted industrial basslines/synths and jungle percussion. "Under the Progress" is a great track and might remind you of some past FSOL tunes. Also, "Urban Noise" is an excellent trip hop track that you'll most likely play on loop for a long time. "Arise within you" and "Influence of Deep" are also worth checking out.

Parasite Eve Remixes is definitely a CD to have for game music fans who'd like to hear or discover more interesting approaches to various forms of electronic music. This collection of tracks is pretty refreshing and will definitely change you from all the orchestral/celtic/piano remixes albums that Squaresoft generally has to offer you. Open your mind!

Parasite Eve Remixes is a very difficult CD to explain, much less rate. The original soundtrack is a masterpiece, and much like the game itself, I don't think everyone really appreciates the brilliance behind it. Now I love techno and I love the PE soundtrack, so when Parasite Eve Remixes came out, it was a no-brainer. However, the CD is not techno, or rave, or really even house - it's trance. It doesn't have the minor chords and hard melodies of traditional techno, instead it gets one basic rhythm and tends to add and change elements to that one rhythm.

One of the best elements of the original soundtrack was its unique mood, thanks to piano and heavy percussion backgrounds. This CD has changed a lot in the translation, in ways of mood. However, you've got to remember, you're not listening to an orchestral soundtrack anymore. This is trance, and judged by the standards of the genre it now finds itself in, it is far superior to the truckloads of industry standard crap that are out there now.

The basic formula for many of the tracks is to get a familiar theme from the original, build upon it with a progression of drum beats and synthesized effects, and slowly mood towards a hardcore dance beat. It's not a bad effect, it's just very, very different from other game music.

The CD is probably worth the purchase price for the first track, "A.Y.A". This pure piano and percussion remix of the main theme from Parasite Eve is incredible in every way. Very much in the spirit on the original, there are so many different melodies and instrument variations; it is the exact opposite of the rest of the CD. It really is an incredible piece of work.

Track 5 is as close to hardcore dance techno as you'll get on this soundtrack. It is an excellent rhythm, and has hardcore melodies and effects. However, it has this incredibly annoying effect in the middle of it several times, where everything stops and we get the Playstation synthesized voice of Eve singing solo for a nearly 20 seconds. For big fans of the game, it's bearable, but your friends won't think so. "Obnoxious" was a phrase I've gotten, along with "What the hell is that?"

All in all, any CD derived from the masterpiece original is bound to be decent, and I can see what they're trying to accomplish here, but just remember this isn't PE OST 2, this is trance with PE themes.

I've never heard the original soundtrack of Parasite Eve (I should be receiving it within the next week or so), but apparently this remix album is absolutely nothing like the original. I don't care; the majority of this album is absolutely brilliant.

However, top billing definitely must go to track 9, "Urban Noise (112-80 Mix)", as being the absolute best tune on this album, and purely one of the best and most original tunes I've heard in ages. It's fairly simple, with what sounds like a semi-live, semi-synth drum beat, nice mellow chords, and the most heavenly vocals you'll ever hear. I don't even know what they are saying (I'm sure it's English) because they are so filtered, but they just make this tune sound very utopian, yet at the same time somehow earthly and urban. My only complaint about this tune is that it's too damn short. Oh sure, it's about five and a half minutes, every second of which is really good, but it seriously could survive for longer in my opinion.

Another great track is "Plosive Attack (Cultivate Mix)". Supposedly this is, as the name would suggest, a remix of the OST boss theme "Plosive Attack" (I know this because I have heard retracks by two different people), but it just purely isn't. It's absolutely nothing like it. At all. But it's still a really good track, even though I believe it goes on for just a little too long (as do quite a few of the tracks on this CD).

There's not much more than I can say about this album, except for the fact that there's what I'm guessing to be a very nice remix of the main theme (I haven't heard the original, but just from the sound of the track, it seems very faithful).

I'll also point out the bad tracks. Track 5, "Influence of Deep (DJ Hiraguri's Operattack)", is only average and doesn't suit the rest of the album. It's basically just a typical dance tune that goes on for too long, but what absolutely slaughters it are the random intervals when the tune cuts out and is replaced with an annoying, unsuitable selection of opera music. Now I'm all for experimental sections in music, but this is just awful, Hiraguri. Track 7, "Primal Eyes (We are all Parasites/Charlie Horse Remix)", is absolute crap. It's merely random sound, put together awfully. I imagine track 8, "Across the Memories (DB Remix)", would appeal to some people, but to me it's too much like track 7, with more structure. It destroys the utopian sound of the tracks I prefer to hear (all of them but these three and track 10, which is just a little too pop-orientated for me).

Hmm, I've just realized I'm recommending an album for which I only like six out of ten tracks. The saving grace of the album is definitely "Urban Noise". That, and the other five good tracks definitely warrant the purchase of this album. I only wish I could find more music in the style of "Urban Noise".

I must admit, even as a hard-core Square fan there are only a few soundtracks that actually make it into the glove box of my car. One is the FF6 OSV (for times of nostalgia and lone cruising), and the other is Parasite Eve Remixes; the rest sit carefully at home by the PC. PE Remixes has accomplished this by morphing a great original soundtrack with trance-style, heavy-bass rhythm and wonderful sound selection. Yoko Shimomura has created an album with a modern style of dance-like techno beats while still staying true to the PE style of dark themes.

The songs may be thought of as a tad long and repetitive, but this is the nature of the genre. The mixing and incorporation of different sound takes from the game was done with perfection. The album is visible as a PE remix to fans, while still keeping the album safe for listening with friends in the car. Each track has a definitive style and link to the original. "Primal Eyes (We are all Parasites / Charlie Horse Mix)" goes a bit too far into sound effects and digital noise but it is an interesting song none the less. "Arise Within You" is a great compilation of dance and techno, with a synthesized voice line and sweet digital piano. "Plosive attack (Cultivate Mix)" has an aura of raw bass and crisp treble that mix for the perfect jump in heartbeat on a loud system. All of these songs show off great bass mixing and power, which makes you turn that dial all the way up.

After listening to orchestrated versions and classical tones for a long time now, it is a good wake-up call listening to something new and fresh, based on something with great musical potential. If you go out late on Saturday nights, cruising around town with a few pals, this album allows you to radiate style while staying true to your RPG roots.