This album is one of the Kanno albums that I couldn’t say anything bad about. Each piece evokes the right emotion and fits the scenarios very well. Many songs start off with instrumentals and have chant-like or celtic vocals added towards the end of the piece, adding a childish or ethereal tone to the music.

My favorites would have to be Din Don Dan Dan, Hodo, Clap & Walk, 5 Years War, and Prontera Field.

 

Now here’s my song by song review of the album. The locations where the songs play is information I gathered over the internet, since I have not yet played the game.

Intro Theme – A celtic song sang by a Korean boy soprano named Yoon Hyeon Soo. The vocal version of the song plays in the character selection screen, and the instrumental plays in the Intro sequence of the game.

Din Don Dan Dan – One of the catchiest songs in the lot, this song’s scathing violins very well depicts enemy battles. But due to the grand tone of the song, it might have well been played only in major battles where you could feel lots of tension.

Hodo – a classic Gabriela song using fast lyrics with mild vocal harmony. The mood is festive and uses ethnic beats. This song is played in the playing environment, during the morning. Oddly, the vocal version is used instead of an instrumental one.

Beginners – A simple song with harmonized flutes over a moderate stomping rhythm.

Clap & Walk – Another festive song with an irregular shifting rhythm of 7/8 and 8/8. The song tempo mellows a bit near the end and then paces up again. The title of the song seems to hint on a dance step, and is very much felt in the song.

Yoru – A gentle ballad with smooth, light vocals as expected from Ilaria Graziano. This song is played in the playing environment at night.

Sailing – The start of this song is smoothly stitched with the end of Yoru. The song is played when your character is in sailing in a boat.

The Force Midgarts – A brass wind piece a light marching rhythm.

King’s Joy – This song evokes the image of a castle, starting off with a joyful fanfare. An orchestra follows, alternatively playing the melody with a tinkling celesta

5 Years War – A dark, tense background music, reminiscent of Escaflowne where battles have just ended and the location is in ruins.

Red Wolf – A dark toned song that builds on top of the Intro Theme melody.

Church – A very light-hearted follow up to Red Wolf using a tinkling piano with a chorus singing the melody. This song reminds me most of the Piano Medley that Kanno performed in the Ragnarok 2 Concert, since it got a lot of airtime and gimmicks!

Prontera Field – A very irregular experimental song, that is surprisingly coherent once the bass melody kicks in. Guitar phrases, percussions are spread out all over like a montage of many elements that would sound out of place without the whole picture. The chorus towards the end is a very welcome addition to this experimental piece and adds an ethereal feel to a very casual song. This must be the song that had the most impression on me at first listen. I must play this song again!

Swamper – If the names of the songs denote where they are played, then my guess is that this song is played when the character is in a swamp The song starts slowly with violins and an occasional guitar chord, then is joined by chant.

Poem – This song plays in the first town in the game. A low, mellow guitar plays behind a hovering, rich chorus.

Sara – A mild, tinkling piece, creating of the image of a little child.

Pub – This has to be Gabriela singing in a natural, impish voice, although I’m not 100% sure yet. How cute is this song? A pub with your drunk little avatar asking for drinks, haha.

Hold Your Life – This song sounds like success to me, but it plays when your character dies in the game. I guess only the intro sounds like success, the rest of it is pretty mellow and sad.

Everland – Another ethereal celtic piece, like a bubblier Intro Theme.

Play Chess in the Air – I wonder how this piece was used in the game. The music is dark, looming and misty, and has hardly any melody in it. It sounds like something that sets a mood and is not necessarily meant to be a noticeable background music piece.

 Thanks to Lonely_L for the locations where the songs are played

Related Articles:

• Ragnarok Intro Theme Lyrics
• Who Sang What in the Ragnarok 2 Concert?
• Ragnarok 2 OST Release (Concert Edition)
• Ragnarok 2 Concert Setlist
• Ragnarok 2 Open Beta:
  How was the music used?
• Yoko Kanno Mini-Concert in Korea: Intro Theme and Yoru

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 at 12:09 pm and is filed under Yoko Kanno Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.