Pokémon Soundtrack Discussion with Latios

[Latios212]

I'm aware of that yes, but him leaving Game Freak doesn't necessarily mean the end of his composing for Pokémon games.

Bulbapedia: "On January 1, 2014, Shota Kageyama announced on his Twitter that he had left Game Freak to work as an independent composer. He noted that he's "graduating" from the company after having spent the past six and a half years there and is branching out to work with his new company, Spica Musica. However, he still maintains good terms with Game Freak, later working with them on Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, with an open possibility of continuing to collaborate in the future. He has also collaborated on Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Pokkén Tournament."

Either way, I suppose that's a no for Sun/Moon now (if Google Translate works?). I know how much you dislike his music, but I will miss him as I love a great many of his tracks, haha.

[SlowPokemon]

^Ohhh, I forgot he worked on Pokkén.

And it's not that I dislike ALL of his music, I just feel that the recent Pokémon games have become oversaturated with his style. Even in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the way his tracks were arranged often came across as corny and it was a bit distracting. I really hope that Sato and Adachi contributed a lot to Sun and Moon...and, though I'm hesitant to even get my hopes up, I'm anxiously awaiting Ichinose's return to the franchise.

[daj]

Honestly, i didn't really like Shota Kageyama's style too haha. I remember being really disappointed when I bought the OST. Back then I was searching for pieces to do an old X/Y mashup, so yeah.

Kageyama's style...lacks subtlety and intricacy. All the parts are up-front, you already know the harmonic pattern of the whole piece after listening to the first eight bars, and um, the structure is just...too compartmentalised. I mean, the blend of sounds is excellent, but that and the up-front-ness of everything makes making a good arrangement a pain. And it's not the kind of music you'd repeat on loop to find new elements each ti- wait, what elements again?

So yeah. I really didn't enjoy his style. I think I'd rather hear Latios' arrangement of Route 1 in the game than his one. Ahh, the goosebumps.

I'm anxiously awaiting Ichinose's return to the franchise.

oh dont even get me started on this beauty

[SlowPokemon]

^That's a pretty good way to articulate it. Sato infuses her work with a lot more complexity and interesting textures, and her music is a lot more exciting and unpredictable.

[Latios212]

In addition to both the day and night versions of Hau'oli City, Route 1, Route 2, and both versions of Iki Town all share the same motif. Sort of odd since main series city/route tracks rarely share a single melody, if ever. Almost seems like it's being overused a bit throughout the first couple hours of the game, but not really complaining because most of the abovementioned ones are pretty enjoyable.

[Latios212]

https://itunes.apple.com/album/pokemon-sun-pokemon-moon-super/id1173163741

IT'S OUT IT'S OUT

Dang. That's a lot of Minako Adachi.

[SlowPokemon]

I really hope that Sato and Adachi contributed a lot to Sun and Moon

My wish has been granted

[Latios212]

I gotta say, I'm really impressed with Minako Adachi's work this time around. I wasn't really won over by Adachi's work in X/Y (there were some great ones though, like Anistar City) and ORAS, but man, Minako Adachi composed sooo many good tracks this time around.

I am extremely happy with this soundtrack!

[SlowPokemon]

Me too! And honestly, the Team Flare battle music was enough to convince me of him--it's painfully dissonant at first, especially for Pokémon, but oh man it's the gift that keeps on giving.

[Latios212]

I can appreciate "Battle! (Team Flare)" but I never liked it too much, the instruments sounded a bit too grating to me xD

But I totally see what you mean. And I can't get enough of "Battle! (Lusamine)" this time around. It's absolutely fantastic and I love it so much.

[SlowPokemon]

Can't wait until I get there in the game (I bought the soundtrack but I've only listened as far as I've played, haha).

Does anyone else feel like the battle themes by Masuda are mostly just treading old ground? For the first time, I feel like he hasn't been able to come up with compelling new ideas for the Trainer and Wild Pokémon battles. It's the first time I feel like those (and both of them, too) are just rehashes of better themes he's written before. I still like them, but they don't feel "new" like that wailing electric guitar, killer intro, and awesome varied rhythms did in X and Y, nor how the clever reuse of the series' "Intro Movie" theme did in the Black and White theme. I don't know, I'm just a bit disappointed. The only part of "Battle! (Trainer)" that I'm really into this time is that bizarre wild chord we get at 0:45 and the little tense section that follows it and continues until 1:12.

[Latios212]

Some of them, yeah. I totally agree with the normal trainer and wild Pokémon battle themes - they're somewhat subpar compared to other gens and don't have enough intriguing variation. (They're not bad, though.)

You're in for some really great Masuda battle themes later on in the game, though, don't worry "Battle! (Solgaleo / Lunala)" and "Battle! (Elite Four)" are definitely better than the legendary battle and elite four themes from last gen, and "Battle! (Tapu)" is especially interesting.

[SlowPokemon]

Oh, that's good to hear! I find it so odd that the Trainer music especially isn't holding up, because that's usually one of the best tracks of a new Pokémon game. And yeah, the last two gens' themes for the legendaries and Elite Four weren't terribly awesome in my opinion (though we did get a really great ominous feel from the BW one).

[Latios212]

I'll probably do away with the journal-like entries for now to focus on the themes of Pokémon Sun and Moon and have it be more discussion-based rather than me talking away.

I love Hau's theme. It's just so... happy. My favorite part is the melody around 0:28.

It's cool that his battle theme is an arrangement of his main (encounter) theme, as has been done with a few other characters in this game. Don't see Hitomi Sato compose for battle themes too often. New favorite rival battle theme, for sure :3

Oh, that's good to hear! I find it so odd that the Trainer music especially isn't holding up, because that's usually one of the best tracks of a new Pokémon game. And yeah, the last two gens' themes for the legendaries and Elite Four weren't terribly awesome in my opinion (though we did get a really great ominous feel from the BW one).

Oh yeah, how were those new battle themes?

[SlowPokemon]

I still haven't beaten the game! But I have gotten as far as the "Battle! (Solgaleo/Lunala)" track. It's certainly not exactly anything we've heard before, and using old-school synth sounds was an unusual choice. But I still feel that it's kind of lacking in rhythmic and harmonic development and variety. Kind of like "Battle! (Xerneas/Yveltal)" in regard to the way we just kind of hear the same couple melodic and rhythmic lines over and over without a ton of variation. I also don't really think that the theme provides very good imagery for the scene in question. So, again like the Xerneas/Yveltal track, it's a piece that I like just fine but doesn't really excite me. Maybe it's just disappointing because this is from Masuda, who gave us "Battle! (Dialga/Palkia)" and "Battle! (Giratina)," which are both super interesting and awesome without just beating the same ideas into our skulls.

Minako Adachi, on the other hand, is maybe becoming my current favorite Pokémon composer, or at least showing that he's (in my opinion) every bit as diverse and skillful as Hitomi Sato. In particular, every last one of his six battle themes for the game is spectacular, and though I can't really pick a single one to name my favorite, I have to say the tracks that swayed me were those for the Aether Foundation. Oh man, "Battle! (Aether Foundation)" set the tone for that scene in the game WONDERFULLY. The weird little jazz rhythm that opens the piece, followed by the Team Flare-esque melody that serves as the main centerpiece, combined with interesting touches like using low brass in an effective way and even letting harpsichord lead at certain points (such as the section at 0:42), make this such a fun track and a real highlight for me as a player.

That of course bleeds into "Battle! (Lusamine)" as well, which takes the previously rather elegant and cool "Lusamine's Theme" and mixes it with some of the rhythms and harmonies of the Aether Foundation battle track to have a really incredible little package. It's the quirkier things that sell this track for me, like that bizarre dissonant piano riff at 0:38 and again bringing in the harpsichord at 1:00--I had never exactly thought of Adachi as a master of instrumentation, but these tracks absolutely make a compelling case for that assertion. And then you have "Showdown! Lusamine" which is just absolutely batshit, taking the wildest and best parts of those other two tracks and turning the crazy scale up to eleven, amping up the instrumentation with more electronics and a pipe organ of all things to open the number. Like, I cannot get enough of these tracks. I can't even come to terms with how unpredictable and multi-layered it all is. Again, I know we have slightly differing opinions on Shota Kageyama, and he's done a lot of great stuff for the music of Pokémon, but I honestly find that this soundtrack that is completely void of him has such a wider array of neat and interesting compositions that are simultaneously really catchy and really complex. I don't know. I'm very much into the soundtrack, more than I have been the last couple. Maybe Ichinose is like their lucky charm?

In response to your comment above, I also really adore "Hau's Theme" and Ichinose's arrangement of it in "Battle! (Hau)." It's just a really great rival theme, and it feels like a great spiritual successor to the more fun rival themes like Brendan/May and Bianca/Cheren.

Speaking of spiritual successors, I definitely feel like the two Gladion tracks are an obvious follow up to the rival themes from Black 2/White 2. I love when Ichinose goes full-on metal in his tracks; it's just really fun and easy to get caught up in the head-banging spirit.

...I wrote way too much. Sorry LOL