[Album] Burai Prototype (H30X-10008)

The 80's was a great decade. In that time period, we were given many great things such as the emergence of Nintendo as rulers of videogaming, countless memorable cartoon shows, the first Terminator, and...Oh yeah, me (give a shout-out for 1981)! However, one of my favorite things about the 80's is the type of music that is typically associated with it: The cheesy combination of pop/rock that works so hard to beat melodic hooks or lyric chains into your head and often succeeds. Flipping through your average "80's Rock" station, I find so many songs that I may have heard once or twice in my lifetime, but they bring about a sense of déjà vu that no other type of music quite manages to get. I almost don't know any by name, but I can tell if I've heard them or not almost immediately. It's not surprising that, growing up around this kind of music, my taste in videogame music heavily favors this kind of sound. From the guitars of the JDK Band (and Falcom rock in general) to the bleep, bloops and drum samples of the classic Megaman series to the all-out metal of Guilty Gear, it all reeks of 80's cheese/goodness. Well, I have one more to add to the list and a major one at that: Burai Prototype may very well be the best album I have come across yet to accurately represent the music of the 1980's.

I'm not quite sure about the history of the game series myself. I know there were Burai games for the NES, Game Boy and PC Engine CD (Japan-only), as well as a handful of other albums, but Burai Prototype is pretty much my first exposure to the series. Not that it matters...As a blind pick, it gives me enough of what I'm looking for to extend a glowing review its' way. Hopefully, this review will shed some light towards its' quest to go down in history as a classic (or at least be known by more than a handful of people who have fetishes for obscure Japanese soundtracks!).

The CD follows the general blueprint for an arranged album, offering 10 tracks and about 40 minutes of content. Rest assured though, those 10 tracks and 40 minutes are filled to the brim with everything you love (or hate) about 80's music: energetic pop-influenced rock, crisp guitar riffs, endearing synth sounds, melodic hooks, solos aplenty and even a pair of vocals. The instrumentation is pretty standard fare, in the form of electric guitars, drums and synths, with the occasional saxophone. The arrangement style is basically the same as the JDK Band, so if you're familiar with them, you'll be able to pick this up and feel right at home. If you're not, just imagine classic game music (you know, the catchy melodic-type...think Megaman music here) played with live instruments and expanding on the simplicity of the originals. Even without hearing Burai Prototype's original material, I can already imagine what it sounds like because the melodies in the arrangements are crystal clear. For an album recorded in the late 1980's, it sounds surprisingly good as well...It's much sharper and crisper than even the recent Black Mages 2 album, even if the recording isn't as loud. You can hear the accompanying instruments perfectly, even in the more complex tracks and the leads absolutely soar. You can tell the arrangers were having a lot of fun in the performances here.

The track that immediately caught my attention was track 1, "Prologue-Touch and Go!". In my mind, this is simply one of the best game music arrangements ever created. It's the one that basically said, "Okay, this new album you just got your hands on and don't know a thing about is some good shit and I'm going to show you why!" The first minute (the "Prologue" section) is a fine way to start any album, with some thunder effects, followed by a simple "pseudo-strings" section. As the strings build and build, they eventually fade out and then...BAM! The track gets kicked up a notch, as a pair of screaming guitars come flying out and really deliver the goods. The melody that follows is pure gold, overflowing with energy and sections that are so wildly unleashed, you wonder how the performers are expressing it so cleanly. They definitely sound like they're enjoying themselves in their playing as much as I'm enjoying listening. The second playthrough of the melody shows off some great improv skills (the lead guitar plays around with the chords at the end of each note), followed by an absolutely killer interlude that features a solo from each instrument in the performance (save the strings at the beginning). The closing is just as powerful and brings the track to a screaming end. This track was definitely a success at getting the CD's hooks into my brain. At first, I was worried the synthy strings at the beginning were telling me this was your average attempt at a dramatic/orchestral album, but that fear was quickly dashed once the guitars started up. I honestly can't think of a better rock arrangement off the top of my head, especially one where I went in without knowing the original melody.

The soaring guitar work continues in the tracks "Soldier Love", "Roar of Pain", "Distant Field" and "Facing up to Fate". While none of these can touch the brilliance of the first track, they do have the melodic pop/rock of the 80's down to a fine art. "Roar of Pain" opens with some killer opening rhythmic riffs, followed by a screaming guitar on the main lead. As the piece continues through the melody, the opening riffs return. This is noteworthy, because at one point the lead guitar seems to go off on its' own and the opening riffs are there to get it and the listener back on course. Appropriately enough, these same riffs make for a fitting end as well. "Facing up to Fate" opens with more strong riffs, only this time the lead is done on a synthesizer and the melody that plays is exceptionally perky (compared to the fairly dark tone of the rest of the album). I find it quite inspirational...It literally sounds as if someone is coming up with a great idea and a lightbulb is going off over their head. "Distant Field" opens with a really dramatic feel on the synths, before easing into the guitars. This one carries more of an adventurous theme overall, as the piece revolves around one key melody line at the climax and finds several ways to get to those few key notes. It's a bit on the soft side, but still rocks nonetheless. "Soldier Love" is different from these, as it is primarily a guitar-driven rock ballad. The melody that plays is extremely slow-paced and quite beautiful, with a solemn synth interlude that continues the main melody and a guitar solo that keeps the slow pacing intact as it rocks away. Very emotional, very satisfying, even a bit cheesy...This is probably the second-best track on the album.

The two vocals on here are sung in complete Engrish, as the female vocalist is obviously a native Japanese speaker. Her lack of a grasp on the English language isn't enough to stop her from attempting some of the most so-bad-they're-good lyrics, which are cheesy even by 80's standards. People familiar with the JDK Band's classics "Go Fight!" or "Moon's Scape" will find these to be cut from the same cloth, only much cuter with the female vocalist. The first one, "Down Your Way" is the better of the two. The song is obviously an attempt at cheering someone up and it features the classic line, "You've gotta take a stand...Do what you gotta do...Be youuuuuu!" This one would simply not be out of place if it were played on an 80's station, as it carries an eerily familiar guitar-and-drum line that screams 80's pop...Cyndi Lauper would be proud of this. "Prisoner of Love" isn't quite as good, but the melody line is solid and the singing carries more of a sad tone to it. Highlight lines of this one: "Tell me, lock me up and find me in your chain...I got one thing that is driving me insane...Tell me, are you really going to keep me?...Prisoner of Loooove!...Feel like a prisonaaa!" Too good...These lines made the CD worth it right there!

The remaining tracks work well in filling out the guitar-induced craziness, even if they fail to impress as much. "Loneliness Among the Masses" is a pretty mellow jazzy piece that features a saxophone on the main melody and a trumpet solo. There is even finger-snapping going on in the background. Lastly, both "Seat of War" and "Lavender" contribute heavily to the 80's feel with their synth-driven popish melody lines. "Seat of War" is the more somber of the two, as it relies mostly on steady beats and awkward building. "Lavender", however, is about as cheery as a bowl of frosted Cheerios with extra sugar. It's one of those songs that can be labeled as a guilty pleasure: Entirely forgettable, but so much fun to just bob your head along to while it's on...Hmm, maybe this track has more in common with 80's music than any of the other tracks afterall.

I think I've said all I've needed to say about Burai Prototype. It's ironic that a release in the last two months of the 1980's would bring about such a fitting tribute to the music that the decade itself is known for. Whether this was intentional or not, this is just a great-sounding album that should be heralded as one of the top-tier early game music arrangement albums. Falcom fans in particular should give this an extra-close look, as it could easily sub as a JDK Band album, but anyone who can enjoy the expansion of simple melody lines using a good rock set-up will appreciate it. It's long out-of-print, but it shouldn't be overly difficult to find. I see them all the time on Yahoo Japan and I recently won my copy on ebay for $10. Hmm, maybe obscurity isn't such a bad thing for some of these albums after all...

5/5

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Highly interesting review. I've been meaning to discover more about the Burai series since I learnt that Chihiro Fujioka was involved in All Sounds of Burai. Are you familiar with that album, Goldfish?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'm really not familiar with the name...The only credits I found for Fujioka were some of the Gameboy Saga tracks.

I've known about All Sounds of Burai, but I don't actually have it yet. There is another arranged album that I've heard though (Burai: Brave Warriors of the 8 Coin Legend), but it didn't quite knock me out of my seat the way Prototype did. That should pretty much be it as far as Burai albums go.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Some more info on Chihiro Fujioka if you're interested, which will be added to SquareSound pretty soon:

Quote:

Born on October 24, 1959, in Osaka, Japan, Chihiro Fujioka is a rare talent in the gaming industry; once a composer of several popular scores and the bass guitarist in the Japanese symphonic rock band Mr. Sirius, he is now a successful director, storyline writer, and game designer, having seemingly left his musical roots behind. His first roles in the video game industry were composing for several low-key games on behalf of Crystal Software. Perhaps his most notable early score was 1989's All Sounds of Burai, the score for IGS Japan-only PC Engine RPG Burai (aka Burai: Hachigyoku no Yuushi Densetsu), later ported to the Super Nintendo and Sega CD.

Fujioka's first work for Square was for the Game Boy's Final Fantasy Legend III (aka SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha in Japan), where he not only composed the score with Ryuji Sasai, but also directed. The score, his only composing work for Square, was released in the form of the album All Sounds of SaGa in 1991 alongside the works of Kenji Ito and Nobuo Uematsu for the earlier instalments to the first SaGa trilogy. He only produced four tracks — two serene themes, a frenetic panic track, and a proud ending theme — but, despite their simplicity, generally added to the character, catchiness, and diversity of the score. His roots are very traditional, indeed.

Also at Square, Fujioka was responsible for the storyline of the game Final Fantasy Mystic Quest in 1992, which was first released in North America. Here, he worked alongside Sasai once more, though not directly, as Fujioka didn't co-compose. Since it received some acclaim internationally, Fujioka became a much bigger name. His next project, directing Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars in 1996, saw Nintendo and Square directly collaborate. This is his most recognised work, and is highly representative of the general light-heartedness of all his projects.

After the game's success, Fujioka joined many of the game's workers to work on games on behalf of 'Heads and Shell' and 'Alpha Star', two of Nintendo's game developers. On behalf of them, he has worked on hit games such as Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue, and, most recently, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Though unlikely to compose in future, Fujioka will continue to make his mark known by helping to develop more games in the future.

Given what I've heard about Burai Prototype and the score to Burai Fighter, I'd be interested if All Sounds of Burai reflected Fujioka's progressive rock roots. I haven't heard any sophistication in his music as yet.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Heh, this album is about as sophisticated as I like to hear. I checked over Prototype's liner notes and I didn't see Fujioka's name. It looked like this:

Created by: Show-Ya
Producer: Yukio Kakehi
Director: Susumu Kajiwara (NYX)
Coordinator: Kazunori Matsushita (NYX)
Mixer: Susumu Iguchi
Special Thanks: Takeo Iijima (Riverhill Soft)

I wonder if Riverhill Soft and Crystal Soft are somehow related. There were more than a few confusing publishing decisions made back in this time period (not the least of which was Hudson handling Falcom's PC-Engine/Turbo Duo releases).

Thanks for the Chioka Fujioka info...At first, I was thinking of the guy who's taken over the Growlanser series (or at least 2 and 3), but then I had to go look up this guy's name on GMR and only found the Saga tracks.

I was speaking idiomatically.

This was a great soundtrack.

Down your way seems to have an 80s feel to it. The whole soundtrack definitely deserves some respect.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?