SaGa Frontier 2

• Featured, Game Music, Reviews

  Amber Goggles: Beer SQ (Review)

  September 21, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this Amber Goggles: Beer SQ (Review)

  

  Purchase Beer SQ (LE): CDJapan | Play-Asia
  Purchase Beer SQ (Standard): CDJapan | Play-Asia

  One of Square Enix’s most creative albums in years, “Beer SQ” takes the kind of music you might expect to hear at a local pub, or “bar,” at different locales around the world, and merge it with classic Square tunes.

  Ever wanted to hear the FF series main theme performed by a gypsy-punk klezmer band? How about all of the FFVI character themes, in succession, by a jazz ensemble?

  All this and more is found in Beer SQ. And for those who purchased the limited edition set, there’s even more (in the form of a second disc). We’ll talk about both discs in detail after the jump. (more…)

• Game Music, Reviews

  More BETTER or More of the Same? More SQ (Review)

  March 9, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this More BETTER or More of the Same? More SQ (Review)

  

  The SQ series from Square Enix has admittedly been pretty hit or miss. The first album, Love SQ featured an eclectic mix of 10 arrangements from a pretty varied list of Squaresoft titles, while Chill SQ tackled the chillout genre to great results. While the “X’mas album” wasn’t an SQ album in name, it was in spirit, and we’re now getting the third official installment of the SQ album, More SQ.

  Have they perfected the formula by now, or is this album just more of the same? With 13 arrangements and the longest run-time of any of previous SQ albums, there’s certainly more to consider.

  Hit the jump for our review of More SQ. (more…)

• Game Music

  Piano Pieces SF2 Contest Winner Determined! TWICE!

  August 21, 2010 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this Piano Pieces SF2 Contest Winner Determined! TWICE!

  

  Hey all! Just wanted to let you know who won the Piano Pieces SF2 Version Difference contest/giveaway. If you’re reading this, hoping it’s you; well, sorry, it’s not you.

  On Thursday (August 19th) we selected “Mike D” using the awesome powers of MS Excel’s /random function. His “winning comment” was as follows:

  OMG THIS ALBUM IS AWESOME

  Turns out he knew what he was talking about. When OSV contacted Mike to see which version he wanted, he admitted that he probably shouldn’t have commented, as he didn’t want to inadvertently enter the contest. You see, Mike already owned one version of the album (the original) and, like me, saw no point in owning both prints. So Mike gracefully declined, and we picked another winner.

  Said new winner was Kaleb Grace, who left this comment:

  SaGa Frontier II was the first OST I ever purchased. Loads of nostalgia for me. However, I never got around to buying this album. It would be nice to have.

  For more SF2 arranges, check out the doujin albums Noise Mutation and Tone Quell.

  So, congratulations to Kaleb, who decided to take the original DigiCube print (pictured above). Thanks also for the recommendations on the doujin albums! The battle medley including “Todfeind” off of Tone Quell is quite good!

  To all the rest who left comments: thanks, and sorry we don’t have enough for everyone! We’ll try more giveaways like these in the future, so stop back often!

• Game Music

  Piano Pieces SF2 Version Difference Video & Contest!

  August 12, 2010 | Patrick Gann | 26 Comments Share this Piano Pieces SF2 Version Difference Video & Contest!

  The above video demonstrates the differences in packaging and actual audio contents between the original print (SSCX-10033) and reprint (SQEX-10197) of “Piano Pieces SF2 ~ Rhapsody on a Theme of SaGa Frontier 2.”

  Yesterday’s review of the album demonstrates that we (or, at least, I) hold this arranged album from Masashi Hamauzu in extremely high esteem.

  In the above video, I mention that I will be giving away one of my two copies of the album (winner gets to pick old or new album). How do you enter the contest? It’s very simple! Leave a comment on this post. That’s it. Seriously. What should you say in your comment? You can talk about the album. Or about Hamauzu. Or about my face. Whatever. Just don’t be mean (though technically I cannot disqualify you for rudeness).

  Just leave the comment, make sure the email address you give is valid so we can reach you in case you win, and wait. We will announce the winner of our contest 7 days after this post, and then the winner will get to decide: the rare, original print that is well-worn but stylish? Or the plastic jewel case reprint with the bonus track?

  Good luck to all of you!

• Game Music, Reviews

  The Impressionism That I Get: Piano Pieces SF2 (Review)

  August 11, 2010 | Patrick Gann | 4 Comments Share this The Impressionism That I Get: Piano Pieces SF2 (Review)

  

  Before delving into this review, if you don’t know anything about the impressionist music movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, I’d recommend doing some research first. Not understanding impressionism, and not knowing the names and works of Debussy and Ravel (the most well-known impressionist composers, both French), you will likely not grasp the full review.

  The reason we’re talking about this decade-old album? It took some time, but Square Enix finally did a reprint of “Piano Pieces SF2 ~ Rhapsody on a Theme of SaGa Frontier 2.” This is an arranged album for SaGa Frontier 2 that features 18 piano tracks (some solo, some duet), followed by 6 tracks of chamber/ensemble music working under one title (the second half of the album title). With the reprint finally released (and with a bonus track in tow!), we thought this was as good a time as any to talk about it.

  After the jump, our full review of this excellent arranged album from Masashi Hamauzu. (more…)

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