Comment:

120 minutes long. The 3rd installment of the series was a melancholy affair for me. Hearing recently that the great game design company Working Designs has gone bankrupt, I knew I had to put an album together, consisting mainly of their work. Working Designs is responsible for the great platform spanning Lunar series. An immensly enjoyable RPG, with lush characters, adventure, and of course music. This album takes the best tracks from Lunar 1 (Silver Star Stories) and Lunar 2 (Eternal Blue) and meshes them together with other suitable material, which I think actually creates a sort of dream like album. Noriyuki Iwadare the brains behind the Lunar sound has crafted fine material here, the relentlessly upbeat Holding On, the forboding Ghaleon's Theme, lunatic madness that is the Grindery (with a full on tribal chorus), Gypsy Heart a beautiful piece done with violins, the very fun Bill Conti-esque Reach for the Front, and the heartbreaking Sad Piano Theme. This series will be missed. The picture of the boy and the girl below are from the back of the game case for Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. Along with all these great tracks are 4 Lunar vocal works, all in English. Lunar Sega CD Opening, Eternal Blue [Rondo-Light and Shadow], Luna's Boat Song, and the wondeful Lucia's Theme. Along with these I've included 3 more vocal works, the ending vocal themes from Chrono Cross and Kingdom Hearts (in Japanese), 2 of the best vocal works to be found in video games, and the high octane techno attack and perennial favorite that is Butterfly from Dance Dance Revolution. Along with this are 4 tracks from the Gamecube hit The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Lastly 8 tracks from the PC game, American McGees Alice have been included. The game takes Alice's adventures in Wonderland and puts them in a blender and then folds in a jigger of acid for fun. Wild wild music created by NIN member Chris Vrenna. The sounds are created with toys, female voices (notably Jack Off Jill singer Jessicka), doors, music boxes, clocks and much more. Village of the Doomed is an increbible vocal work, easily a standout of the album and unforgettable after you've heard it, along with Flying On the Wings of Steam (a fan favorite). Time to Die is another incredible piece, my pick off the album for best track. VIDEO GAME MASTERPIECES Vol. 3 is another testament to the great music to be found in video games, and a tribute to two fallen soilders, Working Designs and Lunar. R.I.P.

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