This album is a note-for-note, second-for-second reprint of Falcom Special Box ’95, disc two. It was so good that, in 2001, Falcom realized that it deserved its own soundtrack release. Falcom made the right decision.
Legend of Heroes IV also had an “Electric Orchestra” release from Tamiya Terashima. It was a good arranged album, but I feel that this one is superior: if for nothing else, the first minute takes your breath away.
This first minute features this pure female voice that cries out through the dark and moody instruments, creating a sound that is shining: it is golden. The brass is like a wall of sound: I always had dreams of playing this on the football field in high school marching band. It would have been a VGM nerd’s dream come true.
Another interesting use of voice is found in “Queen Isabel”, where we are given the chance to hear chanting interspersed with an R&B pop star bellowing a note here or there. It’s a perfect use of interesting samples on Terashima’s part.
I could go on about how each of these ten tracks achieve greatness, even to the point of sometimes being better than “Symphonic Fantasy White Witch” (another ten-track arranged album for LoH III). But, I’ll keep things short and just remind you to listen to the samples. This CD is simply one more among many examples of Falcom’s musical greatness.
