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Biohazard 0 Sound Chronicle Track Collection :: Review by Zane
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Album Title: | Biohazard 0 Sound Chronicle Track Collection |
| Record Label: | Suleputer | |
| Catalog No.: | CPCA-10108 | |
| Release Date: | March 9, 2005 | |
| Purchase: | Buy at eBay |
Overview
Hmm. See, this is interesting. Some dude that I met at a bagel shop once told me that good things come in small packages, but he must have heard some incorrect info. What I have here is the soundtrack to Resident Evil 0, which is comprised of seventy-one small packages, yet not all of these are good things. In fact, a bunch of these are bad things. I am confused and need someone to rub my back and tell me that everything's going to be OK once this is all over. My entire belief system has been stood on its head and all the blood is rushing to places where it shouldn't be rushed. Help.
Body
Weighing it at just about 63 minutes, Resident Evil 0's soundtrack, the fifth disc of the Biohazard Sound Chronicle Best Track Box, is completely jam-packed with a bunch of tracks that really aren't that great. There's no doubt that this disc is the weakest of the bunch, based on two main reasons. Numero uno is that the composers of the album tried to mimic previous Biohazard styles but did not exactly succeed in the ways that one would have hoped. Tense, generic boss music? Check. Peaceful, generic save theme? Check. Creepy, generic exploratory ambiance? Check. It all sounds thrown together in the way that a shoddy knockoff of a ugly designer handbag looks. And to add to that, the list of unknown composers is longer than my weekly grocery list and the pieces start to come together a little more clearly. The lack of coherence throughout the disc is no doubt attributed to the amount of copycat cooks in the kitchen. Seriously, you're all burning the casserole.
The second main issue with the disc (numero dos, if you will) is that these tracks. Are. Too. Damn. Short. As I listen to the 23 second long "Nightmare" and the various jingles sprinkled throughout this disc I am scratching my head while one of my eyebrows is raised. If I had a monocle and a tight brown suit on I would look like a scholar from the 1920's. Even the really good themes, like "Chapel Main Theme", don't have enough time to make their mark because by the time the track develops and starts to stick with you, it fades away. What could have been a seriously cool throwback to the style of Resident Evil 2's police station theme is a kind-of cool song that maybe reminds you of something you've possibly heard before but by the time you start to think about it the CD has already progressed through a bunch of other short tracks, two of which are named "LEECHMAN-1". And then you are confused, just like me.
Now, don't get me wrong. This album is not awful. I have heard much worse, and if you have ever heard any music that I've composed you would most likely tell me that I have absolutely no right even thinking about critiquing other people's music because I must be deaf and have a broken keyboard. But there are some good themes on here, even if they're extremely short. The sorrowful piano and string duet in "Marcus's Memories" really resonates with me, providing an emotional hook to hold on to as the album spins on. The short "Lullaby" tracks are splendidly unsettling, and the opener, "advertize", is super energetic (yeah, crazy violins!) but is over way too soon. What is not over way too soon is the massive "END-ROLL", which recapitulates some themes from the album and compiles them all together into a great credits medley that is, without a doubt, the cornerstone of the entire disc. I'd recommend listening to this single track instead of the whole album because it captures a few great melodies and themes from the soundtrack and presents them as something that actually lasts longer than a minute and a half.
Summary
But, really — going on at length and complaining about what the Resident Evil 0 soundtrack is not any more than I already have is like forsaking a box of cereal because the toy inside sucks. You can't purchase this album separately outside of the Biohazard Sound Chronicle Best Track Box, so you're basically paying for five great CDs and are getting one not-so-great one for free. And given the quality of the other discs, the price is oh, so right for this album. What's here is short-lived and often generic, especially when compared to the classic Biohazard 2, 3, and Code Veronica discs in the set, but it's not without merit. Just be prepared to dig through seventy-one short, obtuse and disorienting tracks to find that merit. Godspeed. Now, I am off to find that dude from the bagel shop. Wish me luck.
