Final Fantasy XI - Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel :: Review by Chris

	Album Title:	Final Fantasy XI - Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel
	Record Label:	Square Enix
	Catalog Number:	SQEX-10050
	Release Date:	August 24, 2005
	Content:	1 CD - 10 Tracks
	Purchase:	Buy at Play-Asia

Overview

Up until August 2005, every numbered Final Fantasy game had some sort of arranged album to its name, save for Final Fantasy XI. Final Fantasy XI - Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel changes all that, and, in theory, should provide Final Fantasy XI fans the album they have desired for a long time. The Star Onions, a group formulated to play for a concert on the Final Fantasy Chains of Promathia Special Night on 11 September, 2004, were responsible for the performances and have been modified considerably since their last appearance; the loss of Hidenori Iwasaki on keyboards, the gain of Hiroki Murakami on drums and Osamu Koike on saxophone, and the refinement of their style to be largely a jazz-based one are the most significant changes witnessed here. It's debatable as to whether The Star Onions could even be described as a band, as most of their arrangements are centred around a soloist and some arrangements don't even have live performances featured, but rather synth instead. Their arrangements indicate less of a collective involvement than groups such as The Black Mages and individual performance is often emphasised above anything else here, making it unique, though also revealing a hole that would have to be filled to provide the album with wholesomeness.

Save for performance, which is consistently good, all aspects of this album are a mixed bag. The track listings, for example, are extremely dubious, with many of Naoshi Mizuta's weaker contributions predominating when some of his own and Tanioka's more popular contributions from the three Final Fantasy XI original scores could have been put in their place. The choice of arrangements often seems illogical as well, as it sounds almost impossible that an album featuring radically different pieces such as "The Grand Duchy of Jeuno," "Awakening," "Kazham," and "Mog House" could form a cohesive whole. Frankly, it doesn't do this in the slightest, with Naoshi Mizuta's often saxophone-based or synth-based band arrangements providing jarring contrasts with Kumi Tanioka's solo piano performances and Masato Koda's more experimental and electronically-influenced arrangements. This means that even the arrangements that are of outstanding quality do not sound too good collectively, as the album seems to wander aimlessly and never has a clear sense of direction.

To make matters worse, there are several mediocre or poor arrangements on the album. Producer Mizuta is generally the weak link and too many of his contributions here bring back bad memories of some of his previous works, being long-winded, unmemorable, and uncreative; very few of Mizuta's arrangements incorporate any harmonically interesting material, making his additions often bland, and, quite often, it feels like one is listening to an amateur arrange — very few of his works testify to his 10 years of experience in the game music industry. To make matters worse, the fact the album lacks coherency can largely be pinpointed to Mizuta, as it is up to producers to ensure an album works well collectively. Tanioka's contributions are also overly simplistic in places, though she succeeds in creating warmth and emotion where needed and this makes both her arrangements and performances enjoyable to listen to, at least at first. Koda is the only one who really introduces an array of thought-provoking material to the score, however, and, with just three tracks, he makes a surprisingly positive contribution to the album, lifting it from mediocrity towards greatness as it reaches its conclusion.

Track-by-Track Reviews

1) Vana'diel March

The buoyant yet slightly repetitive "Vana'diel March" from the Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack gets a thorough reworking here and is transformed into an emotional solo piano arrangement. The impressive feature about this piece is how arranger and pianist Kumi Tanioka ensures it subtly intensifies, developing from a simple rendition of the main melody with some light and basic harmonies into a sumptuous and harmonically rich arrangement. The buildup immediately prior to the conclusion is particularly impressive, and the conclusion itself, which features an ascending arpeggio on a chord synonymous with the "Prelude," ensures an uplifting and appropriate end. Compared to most Final Fantasy Piano Collections arrangements, this is surprisingly simple, despite growing more sophisticated, but this doesn't necessarily let the piece down, as Tanioka's beautiful performance and the extraordinary nature of its development make it a truly gorgeous addition to the album nonetheless. (8/10)

2) Metalworks

Rather abruptly, the album moves away from the solo piano introduction here into a saxophone-led rendition of Tanioka's "Metalworks" from the Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack. Unlike the previous arrangement, which had harmonic deficiencies yet felt satisfying, this one often fails to captivate due to its simplicity. The soprano saxophone lines themselves are convincing and enjoyable, though this is mostly due to Osamu Koike's performance, which stylishly integrates many jazz techniques and sounds soloistic throughout. For contrast's sake, it would have been marvelous if there were some improvisation passages, as the continuing emphasis on the main melody quickly grows thin after 6:34 playing time, regardless of some decent secondary melodies also being briefly featured. The main reason it grows tedious, however, is that the harmonies are merely a quickly thought-out accompaniment that fail to stand out whatsoever and mostly just consist of endlessly repeating motifs and a few predictable chord progressions. Of course, there are a couple of intricacies and there is a decent buildup before the recapitulation of the main melody, but the harmonies are otherwise bland and functional, showing little inspiration on arranger Naoshi Mizuta's part. To make matters worse for the piece, a grating synth motif is featured for most of its duration, which simply grows irritating very quickly. Essentially, this piece is bittersweet, as the saxophone lines are sure to entice, though this is only temporarily, as the theme has a very limited lifespan and it is difficult to listen all the way through without feeling bored. (4/10)

3) Rolanberry Fields

Mizuta's most wholesome contribution on the album, "Rolanberry Fields," largely makes up for the failures of "Metalworks," even if the harmonies are still quite functional. It is more developed and a little more instrumentally balanced, integrates several well-done solos in the middle of the track, and, best of all, doesn't feature the repulsive synth instrument that made "Metalworks" so unbearable. Once again, it is soprano saxophone-led and Koike does a satisfying job emphasising the relaxing beauty of the original melodies. Some very nifty piano work is also featured, which is ironically far more intricate than of the passagework in the album's two solo piano tracks. The piano actually plays a well-done jazz solo at one point, which is loosely improvised and just makes the listener want to sit down with a cup of coffee and chill out. This solo leads to further improvisation from Koike who plays an even more poignant and intricate solo than the piano. Though the harmonies are as functional as ever, they don't stand out as a bad feature quite like they do in Mizuta's other tracks, as there are more than enough other good features to make up for this failure. Ultimately, while hardly a musical masterpiece, this successfully relaxes the listener and should be a favourite all-round due to its gorgeous timbres and unforgettable melodies. (8/10)

4) Kazham

"Kazham," perhaps the best original track on the Final Fantasy XI Rise of the Zilart Original Soundtrack, is transformed into a saxophone-led ska arrangement here, giving the album much more zest. Just like the original, it opens briskly with Tsuyoshi Sekito's overdriven electric guitar riff, which is gradually thickened as the beat gets going. As the piece moves away from this riff and the piano starts playing some offbeat rhythms, Osamu Koike's alto saxophone enters and the piece heightens greatly. Koike plays with great naturalness, giving the piece just the edge it needs, and his integration of more jazz techniques makes it even better. Quite simply, when the saxophone is featured, the track is a joy to listen to and it gives the whole arrangement a great addictive quality. Problems? There's plenty, but the main one is conciseness. There was absolutely no need for this arrangement to be dragged out for over six minutes and it would have been a much more satisfying addition if this track time were cut in half. This would allow the arrangement to focus on the saxophone melodies more, not the bass riff, which is repeated no less than sixteen successive times in the middle of the track, while very little else goes on. Another problem is that the melody sounds really unconvincing when it isn't being played on the saxophone and the piece loses all of its edge during the thankfully brief sections where the flute lead. Some of the transitions are also unconvincing, and the way the piece abruptly moves from a calypso style back to the bass riff at the 2:40 mark is particularly poor. Still, all in all, this is a very enjoyable track that should satisfy those used to the more positive aspects of Mizuta's style. (7.5/10)

5) The Forgotten City - Tavnazian Safehold

Tanioka's second solo piano performance on the album is an arrangement from Mizuta of one of his better themes from the Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia Original Soundtrack. It is rather similar to "Vana'diel March" in that it starts off with just a basic rendition of the main melody against some functional harmonies, eventually developing into something quite poignant and sophisticated. It has deep emotive qualities and just continually gets better, meaning its eventual conclusion is utterly gorgeous. Unfortunately, though, it doesn't quite succeed as well as "Vana'diel March," as it is twice as long, meaning the comparatively boring sections also last for much longer. Nothing remotely interesting occurs all the way until the 1:34 mark, with the piece comprising of nothing but repeated melodies before this, which is a significant hindrance since the arrangement becomes very tempting to skip. Furthermore, the harmonies never really become particularly complex, as there is barely any movement away from repeated diatonic chords in root position for the most part. Indeed, it's almost like Mizuta learnt nothing from Shiro Hamaguchi and Masashi Hamauzu from the PlayStation-era Final Fantasy Piano Collections, basing her works on Shiro Satou (except with less dissonance and a little more refinement). All in all, it is a pleasant piece that has some absolutely fantastic development, though it certainly doesn't rank as one of the most inspiring piano arrangements every created. (7/10)

6) Mog House

One of the more dubious additions to the album, "Mog House" is almost an effective relaxing track, but ends up sounding very cheesy due to its pop-influenced chord progressions and development. The first minute or so is the worst, as arranger Tanioka utilises a nasty combination of ever-repeating guitar progressions, a predictable piano descant, and some cringe-worthy drum beats to accompany an already simplistic and childish wind melody. The result is a piece that constantly sways side-to-side from sounding like an instrumental version of a nursery rhyme to being an opening from something you'd expect from Busted or another 'wannabe' band. The piece begins to develop after all the repetition at the 1:05 mark and grows into something decent, featuring a moderately enjoyable melody together with some effective piano decoration. It still doesn't quite work, however, and Hiroki Murakami's drum beats sound particularly inappropriate. The most convincing part of the piece is after the 2:00 mark, when the piano takes a lead and the accompaniment becomes much lighter, though the introductory passage soon recapitulates and proves to be as tiresome as ever. Overall, this isn't an awful arrangement, but it takes a while to get into it and many parts sound unfitting. The end result sounds somewhat amateurish, though Tanioka isn't entirely to blame, as Mizuta's original left little inspiration in the first place. (6/10)

7) The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah

The best feature of this largely flawed arranged album are the three fine arrangements from Masato Koda, which provide a superb conclusion to the album, even though they contrast quite a bit stylistically to the contributions of Tanioka and Mizuta. Koda and Mizuta became friends while working at the Capcom together, where Koda has been partly responsible for producing distinguished works such as Devil May Cry and Biohazard Outbreak, and his background from these works is obvious in his arrangements. "The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah" improves upon all the previous jazz-based tracks by a long way. There's one simple reason for this: it actually sounds sophisticated. Though synth opens the track and dominates a lot of it, it feels entirely pleasant and is dealt with in a skilful way, unlike "Selbina" or "Metalworks." The main melody itself, while occasionally seeming a little too simple for the complex work, is usually well-manipulated, sounding clean and light on the guitar. It provides an excellent basis for several solos from the keyboard and saxophone to build upon in the middle of the track. These solos, particularly the skilfully handled sax one, are very well-handled; though lengthy, the number of techniques integrated and their overall dominant nature mean they never grow boring and are a source of joy in an album that needs more jazzy solos to really establish a firm style. While the often electronic basis of this track and the next provide quite a contrast after the more acoustic tracks, it seems unfair to put the blame on Koda, seeing as though even Mizuta's own tracks often seem out-of-place on this awkward album. True enough, the track doesn't work as well collectively, though it provides just what Mizuta and Tanioka should have been created in their own often mediocre arrangements, which are all sadly outshone by this little gem. (9/10)

8) Awakening

"Awakening," possibly Kumi Tanioka's greatest ever composition, was a somewhat controversial addition to the album. Many thought it was the best addition to the track listings, while others thought it was too aggressive for a mostly relaxing album, and some even thought it was impossible to improve the original. Fortunately, any doubts people had about this addition have been disproved with Koda's arrangement — while intense and powerful, this merely adds to the diversity of the album, and it succeeds in being an improvement upon the already accomplished original composition in almost every way. While the melody and structure of the piece is largely left unchanged, save for a few welcome yet subtle changes, it is greatly intensified by its faster tempo, techno backbeats, and awe-inspiring instrumentation use. Employing use of synth vocals, the organ, pizzicato strings, aggressive tribal drum beats, a vast array of electronic effects, and more, the timbres in this arrangement are much richer than the mostly saxophone- and piano-led pieces otherwise featured and this really gives the album some substance. As for the techno beats and faster tempo, this makes it all the more captivating, even though it takes a little while to get used to. Criticisms? None, except it would have been better as the penultimate track, since "Selbina" almost makes the conclusion bitter. Still, Koda doesn't deserve to be persecuted for one of Mizuta's many mistakes and this arrangement, on a stand-alone basis at least, is outstanding. (10/10)

9) Selbina

After two masterpieces, the album plunges to a new low here with a poor rendition of perhaps the catchiest piece from the Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack. Gone are the vibrant fiddle passages that made the original so distinctive, replaced by slow-paced and sloppy piano and guitar renditions of the original melody. This was the first grave mistake Mizuta made here; the fiddle was the inherent feature of the original piece, and, as Greg Kennedy has shown on The OneUps' first album, a fiddle can work extremely well in a jazz-based VGM album to add quirkiness and character. Another dire mistake was using the jarring synth instrument featured in "Metalworks" again; a plodding bass line featuring the synth instrument dominates practically all the piece, and, not only does this cause irritation, it also sounds terrible in that it often drowns out the renditions of the main melody and the improvisation that features inbetween. Cheesy pop ballad comes to mind here with regards to the synth. The improvisation itself is decent and Tsuyoshi Sekito performs the guitar passages well, though they're nowhere near as intricate and impressive as his solos for Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- and on behalf of The Black Mages. Perhaps worst of all is that Mizuta actually appears to like this piece, as he uses part of the theme as the music to accompany the opening video on the Star Onions web site. There's no accounting for personal taste, one might say, though it seems impossible somebody could like an overdrawn, jarring, and repetitive arrangement like this. (2.5/10)

10) Blessed in Her Glorious Light -The Grand Duchy of Jeuno-

The album ends with a surprising rendition of "The Grand Duchy of Jeuno," originally a classically-oriented string quartet, now a jazz-based vocal arrangement, complete with backing singers, a sleek piano accompaniment, and some strong synthesizer solos. It requires a lot of skill to transform such a traditional piece into a jazz ballad and "The Grand Duchy of Jeuno" was possibly the worst track Masato Koda could have chosen if he wanted an easy job. With some time to accustom, it quickly sounds natural and the addition of a heartrending original section is one of the main reasons for this, as too much emphasis on the original melody could have easily been the bane of the piece. Aundrea Hopkins was certainly a good choice to lead the piece as well and her previous experience as a jazz musician in the video game music field does her credit. Michael-Christopher Koji Fox's lyrics are the most significant flaw of this piece — not only can they be quite laughable, but they are also completely unrelated to the rest of the album, meaning the thematic material seems shallow and pointless. Still, so long as one focuses on the music and typically enjoys a jazz style, there is no reason why this arrangement shouldn't be satisfying. Koda's arrangement is very well-done, as it always captivating, very creative, and, best of all, extremely convincing, creating an admirable conclusion to the album. (9/10)

Summary

Was this album worth the wait? Its inconsistency makes this question difficult to decisively answer; while Koda's arrangements are definitely recommended and there are a few other decent additions to the album ("Vana'diel March," "Rolanberry Fields," and "Kazham"), the others, particularly the unforgivably poor "Selbina," are hugely disappointing. The album is fundamentally flawed due to this and the fact that it fails to achieve coherency stylistically, meaning that feeling total satisfaction by it is near-impossible. Mizuta is the weakest link, being responsible for the dubious track listings and the album's lack of clear direction; furthermore, he also fails musically, drawing his pieces out, relying too much on repetition, introducing few interesting harmonies, and, worst of all, utilising some absolutely horrendous synth, which completely ruins two tracks. Still, though highlights are rare, Koda's contributions and the effective utilisation of the saxophone and piano in places results in this album having several momentous peaks of musical greatness. Ultimately, this arranged album should at least partly satisfy most people, though the feeling of disappointment will probably predominate, meaning it is only worth purchasing if one is a Final Fantasy XI music fan or truly enjoys Mizuta's style.