What an absolutely interesting album this one is! Of all the Dragon Quest music out there, it is rare to find a vocal pop/ballad album to match up with the music! As far as I know, there is a vocal single for Dragon Quest III, and maybe one for IV and V. Other than that, these are the only vocal tracks you'll find for the Dragon Quest series. It's a "best-of" of DQs I-III and V.

These songs, performed by "Loula" (Masumi Shimura and Mayumi Ito, the girls on the front cover), have that early-90s feel that no one can forget, hard as one might try. The instrumental tracks behind the vocalists are pretty decent (especially track 4...wow, good stuff there). The lyrics are all in Japanese, so for all of us who don't speak the language, we need not worry about what ridiculously stupid things they might be singing about.

At first, I wanted to complain about the length of this album: only 30 minutes! However, after giving this album a couple listens through, I decided that I didn't want any more songs...that would've been too much cheese. I will say that I saw no purpose for having those two instrumental tracks at the beginning and end. There could've been more than seven vocals, I suppose. But, keeping in Dragon Quest tradition, the Overture MUST come first. Oy oy oy, do I ever hate that song.

I would not especially recommend this to anybody. If you are collecting Dragon Quest albums, this is definitely a hard one to come by. In all my years as a soundtrack collector (about 5 years now), I've seen it twice on eBay, and thrice on Yahoo! Japan Auctions. Though it is obscure, most people won't pay more than $25 for it, so if you get the chance to pick it up, and you really want it, go for it. Personally, I don't like this album very much, but it does have its merits. The harmonies between the two singers do sound pretty good from time to time.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann