This is the second of four “half-drama” soundtracks released for Lunar: Silver Star Story.
The album opens with “Fairy Rain”, the image song for Mia Ausa. This is a light and pretty song; not an “epic ballad”, but more of a sentimental reflection. The other vocal track doesn’t have lyrics; it is “Luna of the Spring”, and it is just Luna singing her beautiful song, along with an ocarina solo (presumably by Alex, the protagonist).
Well, there is *one* other vocal, the terribly obnoxious bonus track “Take a Shower!!” This song must’ve been written one night while Isao Mizoguchi (“Don McCow”) was bored out of his mind and wanted to do something silly. Many of the voice actors for the drama sing on this song, and it has a terribly annoying chorus that is nothing more than the repetition of the English phrase “Tuesday Midnight Silver Star Story” — which, of course, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. This song is so terrible that I refrained from making an audio sample. Trust me, you don’t want to hear it.
The drama tracks, as the title suggests, take the characters from Vane to the Red Dragon’s Trial. As I said in my previous review, these drama tracks *can* be enjoyable for non-Japanese-speaking-folk if they are familiar with the game’s plot. It isn’t at all hard to follow along the storyline, and it is good to remember what exactly happened during the game. Also, there’s plenty of music behind the voice acting, so that’s just one more reason to listen to them.
Now to the good part: there are four instrumental tracks (discounting “Luna of the Spring”), and they are solid. The Soldiers’ Elegy is, I believe, a battle theme. It is an exhilirating piece that features a whole lot of instruments going all over the place in a repetitive motion; it creates the aural effect of a whirlwind.
“Ramus” is another one of those silly songs that one is tempted to skip when listening to it, but really, it is still another great composition from Iwadare. Any self-respecting Lunar fan would appreciate this song, despite its silly-clown-style music. I believe the main instrument being used here is a soprano saxophone, perhaps a clarinet…whatever it is, it sounds good.
“Fighting Spirits No.1” is one of a number of unique battle themes by Noriyuki Iwadare. Lunar battle themes, in my opinion, are some of the best out there. Starting at 55 seconds, the song breaks down into a hot rhythmic melody with the hi-hat doin’ its own rhythm. Listen to this audio sample, and relive the good times. Isn’t it a great song? Just in the first few seconds, that opening riff is moving enough to make you want to dig up your old Silver Star Story Complete box and play through the game again. I love this song so much; I’m declaring it the best track on the CD.
Finally, there’s that enigmatic Dragon song on track 9. This song is in both Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue, probably because it’s such a good song. Listen near the end of the sample provided; do you remember those chords held by the brass, and then “deedoodoodoo deedoodoodoo” from a string ensemble? There, my friends, is a well-written song. Iwadare is a genius. I love this song.
So there’s Vol.2. It’s got some more classic songs, some not-as-classic vocal tracks, and some story to re-tell through Japanese radio drama. Like all the other Lunar CDs, it’s hard-to-find, so if you get a chance to own it for $30 or less, I’d say to strike while the iron is hot.
