The Ever17 vocal collection is a collection of songs from a bunch of vocal singles released in a two year span. LeMU ~Far Away Continent of Lemuria~ and Aqua Stripe are the two vocal numbers that are used in the game itself. A nice addition to this soundtrack is the instrumental versions of LeMU- Distant Continent of Lemuria and Aqua Stripe. The others are songs based on the events and characters of the game. My opinion on LeMU ~Far Away Continent of Lemuria~ and Aqua Stripe can be found in my review of the Ever 17 sound collection. In a nutshell, the former is good but the latter isn't that great.

The music on this soundtrack is catchy J-pop songs, with often cute vocals, sung by a bunch of different female vocalists. If you enjoy that kind of music as I do, you will like this soundtrack. But how well do these songs fit with Ever 17? Well, some fit better than others.

Lullaby of Tears is very peppy and upbeat, but I'm not sure how well that fits in with a game about a bunch of people trapped in an undersea theme park with only 119 hours to live before the place implodes. The song is good and there are upbeat characters in the game, but I just found the song a bit too upbeat for Ever 17. Shynny Boy is another song that I feel is a bit too saccharine for a "trapped under sea" game, what with its cute beat and adorably sung vocals. These songs are fine in their own right, but just don't jive with the context of Ever 17 in my opinion. I simply could not associate a character or event to any of these songs.

Fragments of Space and Time has cute vocals and a cute beat, and unlike the aforementioned songs, I immediately think of one of the characters when I hear it. I really liked the cute ghostly vocals in the beginning. That in itself screamed a particular character to me. However, I still found the song a bit to saccharine for my tastes, even though it surprisingly fits with the Every 17 vibe.

NEVER-NEVER Sky ~Imaginary Sky~ is a pretty ballad that I think fits the atmosphere of some of the events and one character immediately sprang to mind when I heard the song. It's a pretty song and all, but some of the transitions in the music are not very smooth. Just when you think the song is ending, it starts up again all of a sudden thus making it feel a bit longer and dragged out than it really is.

"squall rise above" is easily the best track on the disc. Even though the other songs are good, they're garbage compared to this one. The vocalist is excellent. She has a more adult voice than the helium vocalists in other songs and her vocal style is strong and authoritative. The music backing her is excellent with multiple layers of instrumentation and it has that catchy yet slightly dark vibe that is simply perfect for Ever 17. Why couldn't this have been the opening or ending theme in the game itself? This song grabbed my ear enough that I listened to it multiple times in a row.

So is this a good soundtrack? Well, it really depends on how saccharine you like your J-pop and how well you think the songs should fit the vibe of the game. To me, Squall Rise Above is the only song on this soundtrack I would deem a keeper for the reasons mentioned above, and more importantly that it is the song that best and most truly captures the essence of Ever 17.

Reviewed by: Neal Chandran