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The Legend of Zelda Sound & Drama :: Review by Ersatz
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Album Title: | The Legend of Zelda Sound & Drama | Record Label: | Sony Records |
| Catalog No.: | SRCL-2940/1 | |
| Release Date: | June 22, 1994 | |
| Purchase: | Buy at eBay |
Overview
Now this is something a Nintendo fan can be happy about. Nintendo gives you two CDs. On the first CD, there are selected arranged tracks from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. On the second CD, there is the soundtracks from The Legend of Zelda and The Legend of Zelda: A Link of the Past, the two best Zelda scores out there. A very nice treat Nintendo gave us.
Body
Unlike the Metroid Sound in Action album, I actually enjoyed the original soundtrack of The Legend of Zelda. I actually enjoyed listening to "Death Mountain" and the "Overworld" theme in all their four channel glory. It reminded me of better days.
Hearing the melodies that came out of the SNES was such a treat at the time, though. Hearing "Kakariko Village" was something that I wasn't expecting. The melody was there and the feeling of serenity. Everything was perfect with that song. "The Goddess Appears" is a nice little melody that plays around on the harp. Very nice and soothing. Finally a harp piece that doesn't remind me of Final Fantasy. "Hyrule Castle" is also a piece that showed what the SNES was capable of. Koji Kondo's team simulated the horn sound pretty well and the melody and the background brass section is pretty nice as well.
The arranged version on the first disc is where the real meat of the whole album comes from. The arrangers re-did the Overworld theme, not surprisingly. It's very powerful, with proper drum hits here and there. "Hyrule Castle" is also done well with a nice string ensemble and a nice brass section, though it sounds a bit weaker than normal. Probably the stand-out arrangement is the newly re-done "Theme of the Guessing Game House". It's a theme I wouldn't have thought would be done over. I love the violins throughout the arrangement all the way to the climatic violin solo which builds to new heights. A nice way to end the theme.
The last track on the album is a 17 minute piece of music and acting. It dramatises the battle Link has in getting Zelda back. Since I kind of don't know Japanese, I don't know what is going on at all. I do know Link talks to himself a lot and that Ganon took Zelda after a fight. There's a lot of heavy breathing and gasps of air as if they're going to die at any moment when they talk. I don't know what that's all about. It does sounds familiar, like in the animes, but it was way too much panting going on here.
Summary
The Legend of Zelda Sound & Drama a solid album. If you never happened to add a Zelda album into your collection, I couldn't think of a better one to introduce yourself to. This one is a classic with all the classic themes to keep you interested.
