Track Reviews...

Name: "Key Of The Twilight" Artist: Emily Bindiger Type: vocal/remix Although the music for this is pretty nice, I'm not overly fond of the vocals. I was surprised to find that I don't care for them since I loved Emily Bindiger's work on Cowboy Bebop. I just don't think her voice suits this as well as other songs. Still, this song is pretty good and I love that fiddle action, as always. This was originally used in .hack//SIGN. Grade: B+

Name: "Cynical World" Artist: Emily Bindiger Type: vocal Once again, I don't care for Ms. Bindiger's vocals, but the music is pretty cool. The first track on the album that is original. Kajiura-san's music is really neat, but sometimes the lyrics and singer are distracting. Grade: B+

Name: "Fake Wings" Artist: Emily Bindiger Type: vocal/remix This pretty, but the lyrics make me think of that story about the guy who goes into the underworld to fetch his wife but she looks back and is dragged back to hell. At this point, the vocals are starting to annoy me on this CD because they sing things the same way. Another .hack//SIGN song. Grade: B+

Name: "Fiction" Artist: Emily Bindiger Type: vocal A song that finally suits Emily Bindiger a little more. I like this, it's different and the lyrics are pretty cool. I think this should have been the opening track, though, since it seems to be one of the star songs on the album. Grade: A-

Name: "Vanity" Artist: Emily Bindiger Type: vocal Another original song. Uh.. hmm... I don't really like the lyrics for this, but the music is lovely. This album is proving to be pretty difficult to rate. Grade: B+

Name: "Canta Per Me" Artist: Deb Lyons Type: vocal/cover "!?!?!?" I said when I hear the new arrangement for this song. I definitely prefer the original, and I don't like how passionately the singer sings. Normally I love it, but here I think it's strange. I still like this a lot because "Canta Per Me" can't help but rule, and it's nice to have something DIFFERENT on the album at this point. This is in Italian, I believe. Grade: A-

Name: "Zodiacal Sign" Artist: Kaori Nishina Type: vocal This MIGHT be the supposed medley for Aquarium Age... I'm really not sure. I guess these lyrics are made up words because the booklet doesn't list them for this or the next track. I like this because the lyrics don't distract me from the music, even if the music is kind of more like techno. I haven't heard any AA music, but this does sound like it's a splicing of a few similar sounding songs... anyone know for sure? Grade: B+

Name: "Awaking" Artist: Kaori Nishina Type: vocal Another song that doesn't get to have lyrics. This kind of sounds like it could be a lyrical legend folksong type thing... uh, it's neat. It's interesting and makes me think of the sky. A lot of this album does, come to think of it... huh. Grade: B+

Name: "Open Your Heart" Artist: Emily Bindiger Type: vocal/remix The final .hack//SIGN song on the album. It's got a neat little intro. This is my favorite of Ms. Bindiger's tracks, with very simple lyrics that let you focus on the singer and the music. A really nice track, though I normally don't like this kind of stuff. Grade: A-

Name: "Winter" Artist: Deb Lyons Type: vocal This is something I would expect to hear at a cheap musical my church might have put on, only with Jesus inserted into the lyrics. It doesn't really show of Kajiura-san's skills as a composer or anything, so I'm not sure why it's here. Grade: B

Name: "Salva Nos" Artist: Yuri Kasahara Type: vocal/cover The final track is from Noir. Yuki Kajiura's music for Noir will probably be my favorite work she'll ever do, since I wasn't terribly impressed with her .hack stuff. This is the only track on the album I thought was REALLY cool. I loved the original, and I think this manages to make it a bit creepier. It's also a lot longer, and it's interesting to hear this singer taking a stab at the Latin. Sometimes opera is cool ^_^ Grade: A