Yoshitaka Hirota (Shadow Hearts composer) Opinions

[Zeratul]

Has anyone has heard the Shadow Hearts OST by Yoshitaka Hirota?

For those of you who've never heard of him here's an interview with Mr. Hirota.

http://interviews.rocketbaby.net/interviews_yoshitaka_hirota_sh.html

Here's a review of the OST.

http://www.altpop.com/stc/reviews/shadowheartsost.htm

For those of you who've heard the Shadow Hearts OST, what are your favorite songs and what do you think of its overall style?

My favorite songs are:

Wind Which Blows Through the Dark 1
Wind Which Blows Through the Dark 2
Brain Hopper
Rice Field of Light
Asian Parfait
Heaven -kunyang kunyang-
Sea -Highnoon Fish-
Swindler -Shanghai Noon-
Much Hatred Still Rankles
Death Zombie Party
China Ogre
Blow Up
Blow Up -Atmosphere-
City -Prague-
Coffin Fettish
Near Death Experience
Vitamin Metropolis -London-
Ripper Ripper
Castle of Silence
Callback from Jesus
Tanjou
Star Shape
Demon's Gig
Imbroglio
Black Cat Floating Through Blue Sky

Personally, I find Yoshitaka Hirota's style a refreshing change from typical VGM. His style has a lot of electronic influences, but he also composes some of the most breathtaking ethnic songs I've ever heard in a game, City -Prague- and Swindler -Shanghai Noon- in particular. His other songs like Ripper Ripper and Castle of Silence demonstrate a lot of creativity in composition that is very different from the typical, repetitive types found in many Final Fantasy and other games. That he doesn't use the typical 4/4 time in all of his songs is a tremendous help to him and his style because without it many of the great songs on the OST couldn't have the eerie effects they have in it. I hope to see a lot more from him in the future because, to me, he's like the Hitoshi Sakimoto of electronic VGM.

[Makura Wing]

Well, you know how much I love Shadow Hearts, and the OST is no different.

Here are my favourite tracks:

Main Theme - Icaro ~ Song of Spirits
Asian Parfait
China Ogre
Wind Which Blows From the Dark I
Plains - Sphere Qu
Reinforcements - Blade
Rice Field of Light
Coffee with Bullet
Sea - Highnoon Fish
Factory - Belt-conveyor for Killers
Anger - Much Hatred Still Rankles
Atmosphere - Blow Up
Prague - City
God Knows Bad News
Graveyard Moon
Demon's Gig
Victory - Result

Main Theme - Icaro ~ Song of Spirits is, in my opinion, one of the best pieces of Vocal VGM around. I admire its intensity.

Asian Parfait should've been called Zhuzhen's Theme, I think. Another great piece.

Both of the worldmap themes are very interesting, too.

[Strohmie]

Muhaha...nice to see my Shadow Hearts OST review get a reference. :D

Anyways, I'm not sure I can really single out a few specific tracks I really like - the soundtrack to me is about the entire experience, more so than any soundtrack I own.

All the same, if I had to choose I'd say "Castle of Silence" is my favorite.

Strohmaier

[Zeratul]

That probably has something to do with why its so hard for to choose any particular song among them. The combination of eerie, oriental, and european themes is simply breathtaking in that OST. Nice review, BTW.

[San]

I was always under the impression Mitsuda did the Shadow Hearts soundtrack. Why did I think that?

[Zeratul]

Mitsuda composed ten songs for it, so that's probably why you got that impression. Most of it is composed by Yoshitaka Hirota, which is hardly like Mitsuda's style at all. Just compare "China Ogre" with "Demon's Gig" or "Ripper Ripper" and you'll see why.