Perfectly condensed.

The full import OST for Atelier Meruru consisted of three discs. The first disc was the first five tracks of this disc (all the vocals), and then various karaoke/instrumental versions of each. Disc two had most of the "standard" OST. Disc three had some special tracks, including arrangements of themes from previous Atelier titles.

On this album, we get the vocals from disc one, most of the really good stuff from disc two, and some hand-picked tracks from disc three that simply can't be missed (like "Estrella" and "Gigantic Crimson"). The NISA team really did hand-pick this guy in such a way that it makes the import Japanese OST virtually obsolete. I've actually considered getting rid of my Meruru OST and replacing it with this version.

There is one thing they could have done to make this disc better: include some music from the Japanese bonus disc ~Die Musikkiste des atelier Drei~ that came with the Visual Art Book. The tracks on that album are ridiculously good. But I won't look a gift-horse in the mouth. This album is still a great collection of music.

Of course, even as I write this, this bonus album will be hard to come by. The Limited Edition of Atelier Meruru, direct from the NIS America store (for a great price of $64.99, it includes all sorts of beautiful extras including this soundtrack!), is already sold out. So, Atelier / Gust / NISA fans, count your lucky stars if you got in on the preorder. You'd be hard-pressed to get a better LE package for the price.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann