The JDK Band series is a marvelous thing: Hard rock, crazy sound effects, and more! Oh, wait, that changed a little with JDK Band 3...Oh, wait, the last JDK Band was actually just synthesized music...I guess JDK Band 4 just isn't good.

The above statement is the sort of thing I've heard from some Falcom fans. True, I haven't heard all of the earlier JDK Bands (but I have heard some), I believe there is no reason to throw this aside compared to the others. This may be different in design, but it is still very high-quality music. The drums are awesome, many of the synths sound real, and the original compositions for which these songs were arranged make it almost simple for this to be a great album.

The music that these songs are derived from are Ys IV and Legend of Xanadu. Both of these games never had OSTs published, but they did have JDK Specials. But, unlike their predecessor (the Ys III JDK Special), there were no JDK Band tracks. Well, I would suppose that this CD would make up for it.

Tracks 1, 3, 7, 8, 11, and 12 are from Ys IV; tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10 are from Legend of Xanadu. I personally prefer the Xanadu tracks to Ys IV, mainly because the composition for Legend of Xanadu is, in my opinion, simply amazing! For example, listen to "The Legend Begins". It's fast, furious, and fantastically fun (I had to go for the alliteration). Other little neat things are found on this CD, like how track 9 fades right into track 10. I'm really at a loss of words as to how to describe these tracks; if you have the Music From Legend of Xanadu II soundtrack, the last five tracks of disc 2 are the same type as these tracks. All I know is that I once listened to this CD on a one hour drive where I wasn't quite sure where I was going, but this music kept me bright and awake so I could find various road signs, bridges, and whatnot to arrive at my destination. Yes, it's all thanks to Falcom my friends.

This CD used to be found at Game Music Online, but they have since become permanently out-of-stock. I have yet to see this soundtrack appear on eBay, but one will have to show up eventually I suppose. Expect to pay at least $40 if you're trying to purchase this from someone. After all, it does have rare, trademark Ys music on it.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann