Arranged and performed by Falcom’s resident new age master Michio Fujisawa, Ys Piano Collection was released significantly later than most Ys arranged CDs. Symphony, Perfect Collections, Vocals, JDK Bands, and more had already milked Ys music majorly at this point (of course, this CD marks about halfway through the chronology of all Ys CDs existing today). With this much time to get a hold of the melodies, I had hoped Fujisawa would be willing to stray from the melodies in this CD, adding new piano parts and making things a little more complex (like Final Fantasy VI Piano); such is not the case.
This piano collection is similar to the Dragon Quest on Piano CDs, but with a LITTLE more complexity added, as they are basically the same melodies and harmonies that you would hear in a “Music from” album. These tracks are from Ys and Ys II, the most familiar melodies in the world for a Falcom fan come from these albums.
Because of the original composition, these tracks shine for being good “relaxation” music (piano does that)…outside of that, it really doesn’t have that much merit to it. Also, tracks 2 and 6 have synth strings with them, so this isn’t entirely a solo piano CD.
But, I gotta give props to Ms. Fujisawa for her arrangement of Feena. It’s simple, it’s all the stuff you know, but she adds just the right sense of tone and inflection to make it great (same goes with Morning Grow, but moreso on Feena because there are a billion versions of this song and this version makes the top 3). It’s also my favorite track on the album. Good ol’ Feena, what else can I say?
It’s pretty hard to find an original of this anywhere, but the reprint is an easy find over at Falcom’s site (falcom.co.jp) for about $25 after S&H.
