[Album] Kingdom Hearts OST (TOCT-24768~9)

(all information courtesy of Chudah's Corner)
Composed by: Yoko Shimomura
Arranged by: Yoko Shimomura, Kaoru Wada, Russell McNamara, Kei Kawano & Hikaru Utada, Takahito Eguchi
Publisher: Toshiba EMI
Catalog Number: TOCT-24768~9
CD Info: 2 CD - 76 Tracks
Released: March 27, 2002
Additional album information and tracklist

When fans first heard that Yoko Shimomura had been hired to score the controversial new Squaresoft/Disney collaboration "Kingdom Hearts," reactions were mixed. While Shimomura had had success bringing new life and creativity to established worlds through her work on "Super Mario RPG," many feared that the album would be overrun with the poor-quality arrangements of Disney themes that many Disney-only titles suffered from.
Luckily, this was not the case, and Shimomura developed "Kingdom Hearts" into her greatest score to date both on album and on disc.

Anyone who was afraid that the entire score would be terminally cute has only to listen to the complex and dark tracks that begin and end the two-disc collection. Built around heavy choral use and the Italian word "Destati" (literally "Awaken"). Tracks such as "Dive Into the Heart -Destati-," "Fragments of Sorrow" and the climactic "Guardando nel buio" are filled with gothic atmosphere and powerful instrumentation. That same gothic feeling is present to a lesser extent in several other fine tracks, like the organ-dominated "Forze del Male" and the fan-favorite "Hollow Bastion," which features stunning harp work.

Of course, being a Disney game as well, not everything is gloom and doom. Surprisingly, the arrangements of Disney tunes are both sparse and well-done. In fact, it's quite nice to hear some familiar tunes (like Danny Elfman's "This is Halloween") in-game, and the borrowed tunes all fit in nicely with Shimomura's originals.

The original, lighthearted tracks are generally excellent, from the Russian-sounding "Monstrous Monstro" to the kooky "Merlin's Magical House" and the jazzy, laid-back "Traverse Town." The Traverse Town battle theme, "Hand in Hand," is easily an album highlight, action-packed but sad and hopeful at the same time, and has been extensively arranged in this and the sequel album. Also of note is the lovely, understated piano title theme, "Dearly Beloved," and the wonderful orchestrated tracks at the beginning and end of the album.

In fact, there are almost too many highlights to list, and nearly every track is looped twice for maximum enjoyment. On the other hand, the synth is sometimes inconsistent. Sometimes it's stellar, the equal of any other PS2 game, but it falters at other times, especially where brass is concerned. The album, like its sequel but to a lesser extent, could have used a better synth programming.

There are also a few duds, generally repetitive pieces like "No Time To Think." The "Kairi" tracks are also somewhat weak; as the only character theme per se, one would expect more varied performances, but the three such tracks are largely identitcal.

Another annoyance is the fact that several tracks were left off the release, particularly the dark, brutal "Another Side, Another Story" and "Disappeared." With a little creative rearrangement, there would have been room on the album for these and the remixed "One-Winged Angel" and "Night on Bald Mountain" as well--instead, fans have to seek out the rare "Final Mix" disc for these songs.

Still, when all is said and done, Shimomura's work on "Kingdom Hearts" is truly remarkable, and easily a career highlight. The album is everything VGM fans could hope for, and brings a level of maturity to the wonderful game itself. And while Shimomura would return for both sequels, the original "Kingdom Hearts" remains her best work for the franchise, and a highly reccommended purchase.

5/5

Jam it back in, in the dark.