A Masterpiece
Yasunori Mitsuda's brilliance really shines wonderfully on this album. It's great to hear more of his pieces with vocals, and moving somewhat away from the structure of game music (which is nice also, but I like to hear different sides of artists when possible). Many of the tracks have a heavy Irish or Celtic influence, as is typical of Mitsuda.
I felt awe-ed by the range of emotions the music went through when I first heard the album, and am continually reminded of it as I relisten. From the emotional June Mermaid (Kannazuki no Ningyo), to the upbeat and ecstatic Lahan. But it's hard to choose one track to write about to describe this CD, as each one is so fantastic and different from the others.
Some of the tracks were done more slowly or with different tones than they were in the original Xenogears soundtrack, so if you are looking for that, then this isn't it. However, if you are a fan of Yasunori Mitsuda, this is a must-have.
In my opinion, this is probably one of the greatest albums ever; and it's certainly better than anything Nobuo Uematsu has ever done! :P
