Nobunaga's Ambition Online - Tranquility

Today's track is another one I've been listening to non-stop lately.  When I first posted a song by Kenji Kawai (the track from the movie Gantz), I mentioned that I had been introduced to Kenji Kawai's music via the soundtrack of Nobunaga's Ambition Online.  The online game of the series was first released in 2003 and has seen a number of expansions, or "chapters", since then.  The online game continues the series' tradition of great music, starting with Yoko Kanno and then continuing with Kousuke Yamashita.  Although Kawai is probably my least favorite composer of the three, he is still a great one, and his compositions are way higher in quality than those of your average video game composer.

The music to Nobunaga's Ambition Online got its first release in 2005 with a soundtrack to the first chapters.  There ave been two more soundtrack releases since then, all featuring music by Kawai.  Unfortunately, just like the games, the soundtracks are not available in the United States and are incredible hard to find.  I still have not located the third soundtrack, but will continue to try.

Although Kawai's music is often dark and brooding (like his soundtracks to the movies Gantz and Death Note), or fast and action-oriented (like his music for the Ip Man films), I personally prefer the tracks of his that are lighter and more cheerful.  Most of his soundtracks will feature at least one of those, and Nobunaga's Ambition Online has a few.  This is one of them, appropriately titled "Tranquility".  Having not played the game, I can't be certain under what context the music plays.  The song begins with a charming flute solo (an instrument I'm a sucker for) before transitioning into Kawai's signature over-produced sounding strings, which I have grown fond of over time.  It is a very short track, but another good example of Kawai's style and ability to craft a memorable theme.  Enjoy!



Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/939

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - End Credits

Today's song is one I've been obsessively listening to recently.  I still have yet to play either of the Super Mario Galaxy games, despite loving both of their soundtracks.  I posted one track from the first Super Mario Galaxy already, a song named "Wind Garden", which was the main theme to that game.  That motif appears again here, acting as a theme to the entire series  The soundtrack for Super Mario Galaxy 2 is once again composed by Mahito Yokota, with some main themes contributed by Koji Kondo.  There are also a few songs by the new composer Ryo Nagamatsu, who also worked on the New Super Mario Bros. Wii soundtrack.  These end credits, however, are indeed another composition of Mahito Yokota, whom I hope continues to score many more game soundtracks in the future.

As the end credits suite, this track reprises three songs from Super Mario Galaxy 2.  The first is of course the main theme: "Sky Station Galaxy" on the official soundtrack.  The end credits offer a slightly altered version of the theme before moving into the truly stirring transition to "The Starship Sails" at 1:56 - a transition that might mark my favorite part of the entire soundtrack.  The song then reprises part of "Sky Station Galaxy" again at 2:27 before ending with the original "Wind Garden" theme at 2:57.  All together, the song is an excellent introduction to the musical beauty of the Super Mario Galaxy series, and one of the best end credit themes to a game that I know.  Enjoy!

 

Album info:  http://vgmdb.net/album/19454