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Composed by:
Taro Bando |
Arranged by:
N/A |
Publisher:
Pony Canyon |
Catalog Number:
PCCG-00459 |
CD Info:
1 CD - 29 Tracks |
Released:
September 18, 1998 |
| Review by: Kristina Potts (Visitor Review) |
Metal. Pure, unadulterated metal. Not that gloomy garbage filled with grunting and groaning, where fast and loud equals good. This is metal with a melody and a heart. This is the kind of metal that leaves you feeling elated. When the final song ends, you’re running to get an aspirin due to your non-stop headbanging, but you still have a huge grin on your face.
That is the F-Zero X OST in a nutshell. Taro Bando, the composer, definitely knows his stuff. One can’t help but slyly smirk when reading his little quip about “standard” racing game soundtracks in the album’s liner notes. Techno for F-Zero X? No siree. This game calls for some heavy, hard-hitting rock, loaded with wailing guitar. Mr. Bando, I wholeheartedly agree.
The original F-Zero had some fine little tunes, indeed, but they weren’t fully fleshed out. The F-Zero X OST changed all that. Bando retained the original songs that contained killer hooks and gave them a metal makeover, which only further perfected the already brilliant compositions. “Endless Challenge”, commonly referred to simply as “the Mute City theme”, is slow to build up, but once the main guitar melody kicks off, the dizzying tempo doesn’t let you catch a breath for a second until it fades off leaving you feeling spent. Another classic, the Big Blue theme (known as “Decide in the Eyes” here), has an exhilarating, halting method of playing, in which you’re blasted with short, powerful bursts of sound. All in all, the F-Zero staples have been treated with the respect they deserve while still dishing out plenty of innovation.
As wonderful as the familiar tunes are, they are overshadowed by the fantastic new compositions. “Dream Chaser”, used on a course in the game named “Silence”, is anything but. In what has to be my favorite track from the album, the complicated guitar riffs are played at a mind-boggling speed. Sure, it’s not literally being played live, but it’s still darn impressive. Not everything in the F-Zero X OST is a programmed MIDI sequence, however, so you will hear snippets of real playing that enhance the key riffs and make the songs feel more authentic.
Other new tracks like “Fall Down to the Scream” have an ominous, evil feel and a blisteringly fast beat that feels like it’s pumping your own heart for you. “Devil’s Call in Your Heart”, an appropriately titled song, and “Drivin’ Through on Max” even contain wannabe death metal lyrics. While most of the deep, guttural, demonic vocals are incoherent, my imagination can’t help but run wild. In “Devil’s Call in Your Heart”, I’m convinced I hear he line “Watch yourself!” which invokes images of the devil pointing at me with his crooked finger, smiling deviously as he playfully warns “Watch yourself or I’ll get you!” Weirder yet, “Drivin’ Through on Max” has a line that I swear sounds like “Doctors of doom!”
One unusual track, “The Long Distance of Murder”, has a build-up about 30 seconds in that curiously possesses a very classical style. Rework the composition a little and change the instruments and I could easily see it being played by a symphony. Now THAT would be one interesting remix album.
The “Staff Roll” is an interesting track in which the guitars are toned down a bit in order to let other instruments briefly take the spotlight. Heavy bass lines, twisting synth, jazzy horns, funky drum solos, you name it, it’s got it. It manages to be both very wild and exciting and calm and blissful at the same time, which perfectly captures the emotion one feels over the accomplishment of besting this tough racer.
These are but a few of 20 brilliant tracks, a varied assortment of songs each with its own distinct feel despite that all are absolutely, 100% metal. You may be wondering “20? I see 29 tracks listed!” Those final 9 tracks are a bit of an oddity. The album creators decided to tack on recordings taken directly from the game in which the programmers of the game beat their own “staff ghosts”. These ghost racers are maddeningly difficult, and as someone who has struggled to beat their times, I do get a little amusement out of the tracks (especially the fact that the only one that Taro Bando beat was Silence, the easiest staff ghost). It’s even possible to acquire a few racing tips by listening carefully. However, the novelty quickly wears off, and the 9 tracks are soon doomed to forever be skipped. While it’s better than getting nothing extra, one can’t help but feel that it’s a shame that we didn’t get some arranged tracks in their place. Better yet, I would have loved to have the equally impressive new tracks from the F-Zero X Expansion Kit from the failed N64 add-on, the 64DD. While I can’t hold the album’s creators at fault due to the fact that the Expansion Kit wasn’t released until nearly two years after this album’s release, oh, how I long for those songs to be on an album in some form...
F-Zero X was a game I put countless hours into and still do to this day. The insane challenges, blistering speed, and pounding music give me an euphoric adrenaline rush that I’m hopelessly addicted to. There was one thing missing, however – stereo. The F-Zero X OST remedies that problem. It’s almost like listening to an entirely different soundtrack. I was simply in awe the first time I popped it into my CD player, despite the fact that I had listened to each song hundreds of times before. The music is so crisp and sharp; every note is crystal clear. I heard things I had never heard before. It was an amazing, eye-opening experience, and it’s a feeling I reexperience every time I listen to this fantastic album.
Bottom Line: A |
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