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Game
Music

So, this is a great album and there's two renditions of it: FM Towns and PC-98. The PC-98 is composed using traditional synth whereas FM Towns utilizes CD Audio. In my opinion, the FM Towns excels in the first half while the PC-98 does the second half of the tracks better. The first two tracks in the FM Towns are are sung and pretty good, better than the weaker PC-98 renditions. Even if you don't know Japanese, it's fun to hear them say "Dengeki" in the second song and know they're singing about the game. Burning Drift in the FM Towns is also a straight upgrade: There's an opening engine revving followed by an interspersed ambulance siren that really make it sound high speed chase. Another song that got a minor upgrade is Setting Sun and the Pistol. In the PC-98, it does have a really nice long 11 second western-sounding intro. However, the intro is a bit jarring as the song then segues into fairly standard rock, not picking back up with western themes until the refrain. By contrast, the FM Towns version, with the shorter 3 second intro, is just much more consistent sounding. The overall rock sound also services Into the Smoke better in my opinion as well.

The weakness in the FM Towns album, however, is that the tracks that some exceptionally strong tracks in the PC-98 (most notably Bow Wow Sunshine and Toyama and to a lesser extent Dove Diver) lose their oomph with the instrument choices. The instruments are much more distinct in the PC-98 version, which really make the songs pop and put them on a higher echelon. However, the electronic keyboard in Bow Wow Sunshine and the woodwind in Toyama just lack that kick and mesh in with everything else.

Anyway, the album is great on-the-whole, which is why I've written so much. For all of its minor peccadillos, it has its own strengths that evens them out. Hence, like the PC-98, I give this a 10/10.

Most everything could be recommended, but:
Personal Favorites: Caught in a Four Dimensional Maze, Love Plasma 100% '94, Burning Drift, Into the Smoke, Dove Diver, Setting Sun And Pistol