[Album] Ibara REMIX TRACKS (INDV-0111)

Catalogue Number : INDV-0111
Publisher : INH
Composition: Shinji Hosoe
Arrangement: Tatsuya Uemura, WASi303, Hyakutaro Tukumo and A' & Namihei
First Printing: August 03, 2006
Price: ¥6,090

- Playing Time 18:47
01: Weapon Select
02: Show Time / Re-Arranged By Tatsuya Uemura
03: Bonds Of Steel / Re-Arranged By WASi303
04: Rose Garden / Re-Arranged By Hyakutaro Tukumo
05: Endress Train / Re-Arranged By A' & Namihei

Ok, so we're done with the info bit. Onto impressions...

Aside Weapon Select, which is an in-game tune not put on the OST, the rest are obviously the arrangements.....

And what breathtaking arrangements they are !!!

Miss the glory days of the classic Falcom JDK Band and the Konami Battle Albums ?

It's sorta back here, tho it's former Toaplan and Technosoft stars that handle the majority of the arrangements. There is a member of Success responsible for the majority of the Psyvariar music, you can guess who it is.

Tatsuya Uemura, responsible for games like Out Zone, Zero Wing and other Toaplan games, really cooked up a great power-rock remix of Show Time.
At any case the theme is easily recognizable and very, very enjoyable to hear.

WASi303 is the Success composer if you haven't figured out yet. His remix of Bonds of Steel includes a great chip-tune passage that works really well between the techno-rock parts of the arrangements.

Now it's Hyakutaro Tsukumo's turn to shine... If any of you loved his work on Thunder Force V, Blast Wind and Hyper Duel, you're in for quite a tasty treat. With the use of great drums and an orchestral intro, by the time the guitar rips into the scene, you just know it's going to rock out seriously. It's my personal favorite of all the four arrangements.

As for A' & Namihei's involvement, he/they was/were involved in the production of Thunder Force VI before it got canned. The remix of Endress Train is by far the most surprising of them all... since it doesn't really rock out like the rest of them. Instead, it's a beautiful rock ballad which is similar to what was done with Requiem for the Nameless Victims on Dracula Batlle 1. While it isin't as intense, it certainly keeps the whole synth-rock feel intact at any case. It's just a really awesome way to end the disc on a great note.


Personally, I have no qualms with any of those tracks, each of them has their own unique features which makes them stand out from each other.

As far as synth-rock arrange albums go, this is how I like it. Fair use of guitars and synths, but also a bit of experimentation thrown in for good measure.

5/5 easily

Where can one get this tiny but incredibly awesome arrange disc ?

It's included with the INH Set of Ibara The Lunatic which comes with a region-free DVD of super-play videos and a very nice booklet filled with art of all the characters and enemies/machines.

It's available at VGM World here.

Jam it back in, in the dark.