I always approach remixes with cautious optimism, although said policy has often led to disappointment in the past. Remixes often are bittersweet affairs for me; some of my favorite pieces of music having excellent complements to their existing composition, but more often than not, beloved songs are mutilated by poor focus, turned into a cacophony of mismatched instruments or vocals. I expected Persona Music Live Band to be the same, but was pleasantly surprised.
The remixes in Persona Music Live Band are remixed incredibly well, with focus on their strengths. The tracks that have vocals, such as Mass Destruction or Soul Phrase, focus equally on bringing out the vocals as well as the instrumentals. What results are incredible remixes of old favorites. The original songs were already a joy to listen to, but with the new remixes I’m not entirely sure I can go back to listening to the originals. I’m a little disappointed at the exclusion of P3 FES, but I suppose that would have been too redundant considering the inclusion of Kimi no Kioku/Your Memories.
It’s not just the vocal tracks that have been improved, either. The Battle for Everyone’s Souls starts off the playlist, and for good reason; it’s probably one of the best JRPG battle themes I’ve ever heard, and I never thought it’d be capable of improvement I am proven wrong. The excellent remix of Battle for Everyone’s Souls is followed by Burn My Dread and Mass Destruction, and while their remixes are nowhere near as good as the first track, they are still incredibly well done. The collection ends with Party for Everyone’s Souls, which starts off with the Velvet Room theme, but then breaks into a large amount of completely redone music from Persona 3 – it almost feels like a send off to one of the best games of the last generation.
I could only pick five samples here, but I spent over an hour agonizing about which five deserved the privilege, as I thought very track on this disc was worth sampling. It’s that good. I could write for five or six paragraphs why this collection is so amazing, but it’d end up being a pain to read, so instead I’ll just say that this is the best remix collection I’ve ever heard, and anyone who enjoys music from Persona 3 and 4 should – nay, must! – pick up this CD. You will not regret it.