Final Fantasy X Vocal Collection was a CD that I hoped would happen for every Final Fantasy...but that was before listening. There are a couple of things that surprised me about this CD and still surprise me a few months after owning it.
Firstly, only one song on the album takes from a tune from FFX. The rest of the songs are all completely original. Then a bigger blow for non-Japanese linguists, 7 of the 14 tracks are spoken dialogue called "Scenario Tracks". If you don't understand Japanese, and have no time to listen to the funny sounding language, half to CD is wasted for you. I won't talk about those dialogue tracks since my grasp on Japanese is not very good.
The first song called "After Tears" (sung by Yuna) is a J-Pop ballad with a sweet vocalist and any even sweeter theme. The song, while not the strongest is still beautiful but reminds me very much of "Forevermore" from The Bouncer, which is no bad thing but just not what we expect from a Final Fantasy game!
"A Ray Of Hope" (sung by Tidus) is thankfully much more in tune than Tidus' effort in the Yuna/Tidus Tribute Album. Once again the song is very J-Pop influenced but this time the chorus is actually very catchy. It's a song that you like more each time your listen and so will warrant many listens.
"And On We Go" (Tidus / Wakka) is a very laid back song, very typical of their characters. The slightly Caribbean instrumentation and the fluent guitar plays into this songs hands as the actually tune itself is fairly weak and pales into comparison of the next song.
"Get Happy!" (sung by Rikku) is possibly the classiest, most fun song ever to be in a game! Its pure J-Pop cheese and you'll love every second of it. Its very bouncy, fast paced and notably VERY happy! Classic music - dare I say Dance Dance Revolution?
Following that song was no easy task but "All The Way" (Rikku, Yuna and Lulu) manages it with another catchy and happy song that's came straight from the J-Pop charts. This one has a bit more attitude in it and the three vocalists all match each other well for the big chorus' to round off a great song.
Auron gets the last completely original piece, in which he reads, over a piece of music that contains a slowed down version of Final Fantasy X's "Raid". This song envelops into the most ambitious piece on the album, with bizarre guitar and rock parts and some dark synth work. The end result is something that makes Auron the character he is and a piece of art rather than a song, and that was something really needed to help mix up the songs in this album.
The final track is a remix of "Feel" from the Tribute album. The original was a beautiful piece that took the chords of "Song Of Prayer" and while this does the same, it's stripped down into a techno/garage fest. While it's not to everyone's taste, I do think it's different enough to give it some credit. The flowing harp melodies in it give it a real boost and it rounds off the album in a familiar and happy fashion.
This CD is really a game of two halves. The dialogue sections are short, but worthless to anyone outside Japan, and the songs, all which suffer from a below par sound work, are no the whole not up to the high standard we've come to know and respect from Square. I'd recommend this to fans of J-Pop, and anyone who must have every vocal CD out there, but unless it was at a low price, you may find yourself disappointed with the result
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