Tracklist:
Disc One: All Day Long (Hi.ne.mo.su)
01 - Looking Out at the Sea
02 - Madder, Far-away
03 - The Manual for Developing a Perfect Village
04 - A Squall
05 - Baum Kuchen
06 - Great Invention!
07 - Number One Daughter of Carrot Village
08 - The Town of Wine
09 - Gothic
10 - Shy Village
11 - Sue the Magic Broom
12 - Cicadas
13 - 7-Call Danish
14 - Märchen Culotte Village
15 - A Town With Nothing But Cupola
16 - Great Discovery!
17 - The Earth, Far-away
18 - Fortone of the Wind, for Viorate
19 - Travel the Violet Sky
20 - Towards the Hill of Ash Trees
21 - Culotte Village Ruins
22 - Tree Spirits of the Forest
23 - Wassermelone
24 - Phantom Corridor
25 - Trotting Through the Darkness
26 - Harbor of the Great God King
27 - Dance of the Sunset Fairy Firo
28 - Kumu Honua
29 - Secret Passage
30 - Izareya
31 - Footsteps
32 - The Milky Way
33 - A Gale
34 - Great Victory!
35 - Teasing Not Allowed
36 - Girl Who Authors Time (Vio Version)
37 - Memory of Lapis Lazuli
Total Time:
45'34"
Disc Two: The Power of Voice (Ko.to.da.ma)
01 - Older Brother
02 - Knight of Carrot Village
03 - That's Why You're a Country Bumpkin
04 - The Daughter Who Was Wagered for the Prize
05 - The Alchemist From Foreign Lands
06 - Master
07 - Sake Girl
08 - The Cheerful Blacksmith
09 - With Pride, and Honor
10 - The Female Knight from Foreign Lands
11 - Ghost Girl, for Viorate
12 - A Small Hero
13 - Goodnight!
14 - The Rainbow Snake
15 - The Strolling Sailboat
16 - Water Spirit
17 - It's Your Turn, Teacher
18 - The Afternoon of the Supersonic Hydro Catfish
19 - Welcome!
20 - March "Brilliance"
21 - Start!
22 - Knock Down the Price!
23 - Complete!
24 - Unexpected Fanfare
25 - Secret Recipe
26 - The Situation of Things
27 - Thud!
28 - Shock!
29 - Vio and Her Merry Companions
30 - Memory
31 - A Monster!
32 - Panic!
33 - Depression
34 - The Mudship Sinks at Culotte Village
35 - Madder, Far-away (Orgel)
36 - Each Person's Road
37 - Gentle Times
38 - An Alchemist Is...
39 - Beneath This Blue Sky
40 - Wind-Up Happy Clock
41 - celestial ark
Total Time:
70'37"
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This is it, the Atelier that changed it all. At least, musically.
Up to this point, Tsuchiya-san (who eventually went on to become a senior producer with Gust) was the lead composer. And he had not one, but two Kobayashis as his musical henchmen. It was with Viorate that both Ken Nakagawa and Daisuke Achiwa led the charge. And these two composers continued to lead the charge for more than half of the entire Atelier series.
That Viorate's soundtrack was a rare artifact, available only through Gust's online store (and quickly out of print), was a travesty. Now, with the PSP remake and Team Entertainment's reprint of the soundtrack (with a total of 5 new tracks), everyone is in luck. Before you even finish reading this review, I advise you go purchase it for yourself. If you thought Iris was good, or Totori was good ... you need to go back to the soundtrack that really kicked this series up in the sound department.
Let's start with those bonus tracks. On disc one, the last three tracks are new. "Teasing Not Allowed" is a silly track; "Girl Who Authors Time" is a redo of a track from Atelier Judie; "Memory of Lapis Lazuli" stands out as a very good provincial/romantic town/event/scene theme. I suspect this one comes from "the new guy," Yanagawa -- it has a very Totori feel to it.
On the second disc, we have two new vocal tracks at the end. "Wind-Up Happy Clock" is a fun, catchy, cutesy sort of song. I found it surprisingly addictive despite its lighthearted nature. The chorus will stick with you. The latter track, "celestial ark," is simply fantastic. It's one of Gust's many great vocals; to me, it ranks right up there with fantastic vocals like "Lorelei" from Iris 3 (Grand Fantasm) or the end credits from Rorona. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
The rest of the album is retained from the original release. The PSP version isn't newly-arranged with any sort of upgraded synth. But for crying out loud, it's not like this music needed any upgrading. It was amazing then, and it's still amazing now. The opening vocal "Looking Out at the Sea," the moody "Earth, Far-away," the wildly catchy "Harbor of the Great God King," ... you do not want to miss out on these. And there's the amazing "Izareya," which previous reviewer Mike Wilson (see original print's review) declared as, on its own, "worth the price of admission." I still think Mike is right.
Also impressive to me are tracks like "The Rainbow Snake" (Celtic pipes and whistles on steroids) and "Water Spirit" on the second disc. Again, just great stuff. If you followed NISA's Atelier releases, you'll quickly fall in love with this, the fifth in the Atelier series. Now if only we could get the game itself in English!
Reviewed by: Patrick Gann
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