Thanks for This, Sorry for That
 

I stole this bit from Entertainment Weekly, and I think it will make a nice little game here.

The premise is simple. Choose a composer. Pick a soundtrack of his or her's that you really enjoy and explain why (Thanks for this). Conversely, pick a soundtrack of theirs that you didn't enjoy or you think is subpar and explain (Sorry for that).

I'll go first with my favorite, Yasunori Mitsuda:

Thanks for .... Sailing to the World: A forgotten little gem deserves recognition. In many ways it's a tidy 10-track snapshot of Mitsuda's many styles, but it also stands on its own. Highlights includes the acoustic flair of "Rhythm of Red" and the ubiquitious celtic style of "Melody of Aqua" and one of his best unknown battle tracks, "Point of No Return."

Sorry for ... Moonlit Shadow: I hoped that Mitsuda shook out his jazz kicks with the "Brink of Time" Chrono Trigger arrangement. Unfortunately, he wanted to do a full OST dedicated to the same stuff. Moonlit Shadow isn't particularly wretched, but it's jazz through and through, and not exactly genre-busting. A couple tracks (Cool Sky, An Illegal Messenger) fare better by shying away from full sax-screeching territory, but other tracks do not work as well when they embrace all the trappings of the genre. Ultimately, an experiment and a disappointing one at that. :mad:

Can't say I didn't try.

I'm normally too lazy for this, but I'll try one:

Masashi Hamauzu

Thanks for ... SaGa Frontier II
Actually, thanks for a lot of your soundtracks, but SF2 was my first VGM soundtrack purchase and the first Hamauzu soundtrack I ever heard. Nice, eclectic selection of instruments (even given the PS1-quality audio). Very interesting melodic style which brings out the best of classical music. Also, a kick-ass main theme with great variations, as well as further original compositions. The OST seems to have some mastering issues, but I'm not going to knock Hamauzu for that.

Sorry for ... Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
There are a few good tracks here, but most of the album is lifeless and forgettable. I really can't mention anything else because despite having listened to this multiple times, I don't recall anything from it. A decent overall sound, and yet nothing to show for it. Even Sigma Harmonics, a DS soundtrack, blows this out of the water. The Multiplayer Mode album wasn't much of an improvement over the DoC OST either.