Yoko Kanno better be getting paid a lot of money

I was very sad to discover that Napple Tale was never released in America. I discovered the music for that game before I knew what the game was and damn do I love those OSTs. It might be because she writes for Koei that a lot of her VG work is unrecognized, but it's really truly, in pure Yoko Kanno fashion, great stuff.

Unlike the rest of you, I can't pick an OST or two to say is her best work. Each one of them is awesome and amazing in their own ways...

Gah - I love that woman and her work...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Pretty much all of music history is comprised of composers ripping off of one another. It's this perpetual game of one-upping that's been going on since the Renaissance period.

In that light, I can't be bitter towards artists that rip off previous compositions be the ripper Kanno or otherwise. After all, how often do you find yourself listening to ANY piece of music and saying "hey, that sounds like...."?

I say this all because Yoko Kanno's most recent music for Ragnarok Online II sounds pretty standard Kanno and she's not using many techniques that avid Kanno listeners haven't already heard. There are songs in there that sound exactly like ones from Napple Tale, ones identical to Arjuna work, and (to put this in a composer-ripping perspective) there's one that reminds me oh so much of Katamari Damacy music. And the most Napple Tale reminiscent tune (for me) reminded both my sister and I very very much of Saint-Saen's Bacchanale from Samson et Delilah what with the timpani beats and all...

But the end result music, both YK-formulaic and those not, is still as gorgeous and awesome as always. If you have a formula and it works damn well, then might as well keep using it while doing a few new things here and there.

(The client rips are available in both threads on her ROII music in this forum.)

There's nowhere I can't reach.