Dragon Quest VI Symphonic Suite was first recorded by the London Philharmonic, as Sugiyama had stopped recording with the NHK by the time of its release. Thus, there are only two recordings for this SS: London Philharmonic, and Tokyo Metropolitan.
However, in 2000, the London print got reissued. However, unlike the original Sony Records print, this album came only with one disc (no OST for disc 2). Also, it had a slight change in tracklist, splitting track 14 “Monsters ~ Demon Combat” into two separate tracks. The final change is the “Super Bit Mapping” remastering that all the year 2000 prints received.
This recording is excellent, as I’ve said in a previous review. If you can’t find the original print from 1996, and/or you don’t care about having the OST from disc two, this is a fine album to pick up. The Tokyo Metropolitan recording is also strong, but some people prefer the London Phil recordings to any other. So it’s just a matter of preference, really. What matters is that, in some form or another, you get the DQVI Symphonic Suite. This is one of Sugiyama’s best: in my opinion, far better than I, III, V, or VII.
