|
|
Biohazard 2 Drama Album: Sherry :: Review by Dave
Drama albums are always the worst thing in the video game music world when it comes to non-Japanese fans. Biohazard 2 Drama Album: Sherry is a drama based around events that happened to Sherry during Resident Evil 2, and sadly, there isn't that much music. I daresay that I would have been captivated by the script if I understood what was being said, but otherwise, I find the lack of music to hold the plot together quite annoying, since this is the only reason why I would hear the album. Of course, for those of you who can actually speak Japanese, you may think different, but this review is for those non-Japanese literate fans. Yasunori Mitsuda and Yoshitaka Hirota who are famed for their collaborations in the past, arranged the music from the Resident Evil 2 Original Soundtrack specifically for this drama album. Shun Nishigaki, Syusaku Uchiyama, and Masami Ueda's "Prologue" is the first theme to be arranged in the drama album when we are presented with "First Night "Two Girls"." Eerie strings, a pumping bass line, and an erratic snare motif all join together to accompany a soft piano line in this short track. Sadly, this soon gets cut off by an extremely loud train noise, and hence, the drama unfolds. A similar pattern occurs with the rest of the tracks on the album; none of them are allowed to reach their full potential before they are cut off by a poorly timed loud crash! At the 1:55 mark when Sherry jumps out of a hedge emotional (and highly pitched!), "Sherry's Theme" is a classic example of pure drama butchery in that it last for a bare minimum of 5 seconds. Similarly, the following "A" theme (originally called "T") also gets cut off, although it does seem to weave it's way into the drama very well. With four tracks on this album, there is surprisingly little variation as to what themes are used. Each drama starts off with "Prologue," and I wouldn't be wrong in saying that only half of the Resident Evil 2 Original Soundtrack gets used. Hence, one can make the deduction that this wasn't meant to be released for video game music fans across the globes, but for the Japanese fans that wanted to hear a bit more about the plot line. So, you ask, why did Hirota and Mitsuda agree to arrange the music for this score? Well, it seems like the only thing that the duo have done, is applied fading out effects to the music! I have to say that I was truly disappointed when I saw that the remaining drama tracks followed the same recipe as the first. Indeed, annoyingly high pitched women do get a bit annoying, and this, among many reasons, is why you shouldn't waste your money on this album. Get the Resident Evil 2 Original Soundtrack instead! Overall Score: 1/10 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
