[Album] Hako No Niwa (SBPS-0006)

I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Hako no Niwa, orion, and agree with you, largely.

This is an album I usually dip in and out of; I enjoy the individual pieces quite a bit, but never usually listen to it all the way through. In terms of composition, it's solid -- very much in the style of Mitsuda, yet with plenty of originality, demonstrating that his light-hearted side is often what he does best. I expect many will find it dull, and indeed I find lots of the album exactly that, but it demonstrates a considerable amount of musical maturity on Mitsuda's part and (likely) fits the game wonderfully. I love its lyrical nature and percussion use.

Mitsuda is a funny one to me. I only revisit his really unique works (Xenosaga, Moonlit Shadow, and Xenogears Creid) on a frequent basis, yet find very little to fault about his composition. Unlike Uematsu, Ito, Sekito, and several others, I feel he has demonstrated a profound ability to both reinvent himself and refine his old styles in recent years. I like how in touch he is with his music, though admit that some of his works are a tiny bit too consistent for my tastes.

4/5 for me, but only because of personal tastes, not any criticisms about the quality of the composition.

How ya doing, buddy?