I really enjoyed this arrange album. Phantom Kingdom is probably the most unique soundtracks of 2005, and I didn’t think Super Sweep would be able to top it. I was wrong. For the most part, this arrange album is extremely well done.
First off, this album is the poster child for diversity. There are more styles here than you can imagine, and it’s not uncommon for one song to have two or three different styles going at the same time (like “Alexander, God of Destruction,” which uses Salsa and Techno styles simultaneously). Another example of this is “Another Ending” (aka “One More Conclusion”), which starts off as a ballad, but escalates into a rock piece. If you’re looking for something new and exciting, look no further.
There are some great arrangements on this album. My favorite is “Transition of the Soul.” The original version is the coolest song ever, and the arrangement does it fair justice. Another good song is “Demons party,” which is a piano and violin duet that reminds me of “Enigmatic Scheme” from UNLIMITED:SaGa. It doesn’t win any awards for originality, but it’s a good listen. “JOKER” is another interesting piece that has a late-night lounge feel; the jazzy vibraphone solos are well done, and the scat-singing in the middle of the song sounds like it could have been pulled from a Louis Armstrong record. Other good songs include “Alexander, God of Destruction” and “Madness of the moment,” which are the two strangest songs on the album. The former is an infectious techno tune, and the latter is abstract rock.
Now, let’s talk about Tamiya Terashima’s arrangements for a second. I absolutely despised his contributions to the OST, but, for some reason, his arrangements are a bit more tolerable here. I’m definitely going to give him credit for his arranging skills—he took his old songs and spiced them up, a lot. While they’re still not to my fancy, I can at least see why Patrick Gann appreciates them so much. They’re definitely fitting enough to be in an anime score.
The good tracks aside, there are some pretty mediocre arrangements here as well. The first one that comes to mind is “Phantom Kingdom,” which succeeds in being unique, but fails miserably at being enjoyable. The fast beat and the overbearing horns are just too much for my elephant-sized ears to bear. Another song that is less appealing is “First Campaign,” which is a boring march. It gets better near the end due to some great chord changes, but other than that, it’s not impressive. Finally, the most appalling arrangement here is “Another Ending,” which disgraces the original song in almost every way. From the notorious synth instruments to the rock section near the end, it’s just bad.
I only have one problem with these arrangements: they could have been a lot more experimental. For example, the saxophone solo and the scatting in “JOKER” are so short that by the time you notice them, they’re gone. Also, the break down sections in “Alexander” could have been a lot longer. This bothers me because the composers threw so many unique concepts into their songs but they didn’t do anything with most of them. This is just a nitpick that doesn’t detract from the overall score, since most of the arrangements turned out just fine, but I do hope they step outside of the box a little more next time.
I wholly recommend this album if you’re willing to shell out the money. If you aren’t nitpicky when it comes to VGM arrangements, then none of the things I complained about will even make sense to you. If you liked Phantom Kingdom, you should try to import this album immediately. I’m giving it an 8 out of 10.
