One of the first questions one may ask about Memories Off Orgel Collection is “what is an orgel?” I believe orgel is the German word for organ; but in the context of Japanese music, it refers to higher pitched percussive instruments such as a music box, or a xylophone. I could not peg the sonic signature of the songs, but my ears were saying things music box, with the upper register of an electric organ in the background.
The songs here are arrangements of songs from the first few Memories Off games and the OVA series. Once again, various vocal songs I may not have liked in their original form shine in instrumental arrangements. “MEMORIE I.N.G,” and “With Orgel and Piano” are two examples of this; I greatly disliked the original vocal versions of those songs, but as instrumentals they shine. These two also sounded great on Memories Off: Piano Collection Volume 2. However, “For Tomorrow’s Weather” had a rather lackluster orgel arrangement. The tempo was slowed down and it lacked the drama and punch in its original and Piano Collection arrangements. The other songs on the CD all sounded pretty, but unremarkable and nothing really stood out to me.
The songs are short, with the longest one clocking in at 2 minutes and 11 seconds. This actually works in the CD’s favor because although this is a pretty sounding soundtrack, it’s one I could only take in small doses. Listening to too much pretty sounding music can be tiresome. In addition, although there is a complex sonic texture to the orgel, all the songs have the exact same sonic signature and made the soundtrack as a whole sound somewhat monotonous. It does not help that almost all of the songs are in a very similar relaxed tempo, so the soundtrack gets rather boring. If this was a single CD soundtrack with ten or so tracks, it would have been more streamlined and in my opinion better. I feel two CDs of this is just too much orgel. Admittedly, the soundtrack does work as soothing, calming bedtime music to relax you to sleep.
This is another soundtrack that I would recommend to hard core Memories Off fans only. Like most Memories Off arranged soundtracks, this one has adorable, quirky, and unique qualities, but it’s best appreciated by series fans who ardently collect Memories Off soundtracks.
