Overview

In addition to the Atelier Rorona Original Soundtrack, Gust also provided a promotional album that contained unused music in the game. It was purchasable as part of a combo set on their website in conjunction with a visual art book. Does the music justify the purchase?

Body

The album opens up with an arrangement of the first vocal theme of the game, "Falling, The Starlight ~Waltz~". It pretty much sounds like the original to me, with maybe a focus on some softer vocals. I have little idea how it constitutes a waltz. "To Tonelico Hill ~Arrange~" is an interpretation with both dramatic and playful sides. Much of the theme is comprised of dramatic strings whereas the more playful sections incorporate woodblock percussion and plucked strings. It's a decent piece. Meanwhile "The Town of Wine ~Christmas Arrange~" is a bubbly piece with an electronica influence, bell tolls, and a pretty solid brass-led melody line.

Moving on, "Carefree Shopping ~Arrange~" is a beautiful theme that focuses on dual acoustic guitar lines that moves into a more Celtic flute and string led composition with string accompaniment. It's probably one of the best things on the album and it's a shame it wasn't included in the original soundtrack. Bizarrely, it also contains a pre-production version of "Run for Your Life" from Mana-Khemia. Unlike the original, there's more of an electronica focus with more of a rock influence, but still exhibits a pretty awesome guitar solo. As before, Haruka Shimotsuki's voice leds to the original piece's energy quite well!

The remainder of the album consists of four Private Preludes. "Private Prelude 1" features a rock base with a synthesized brass sounding instrument. It's playful and reminds me a bit of Ken Nakagawa's Atelier Iris 3: Grand Fantasm work. "Private Prelude 2" is more in line with the Atelier Rorona sound. It's quite playful with some beautiful harmonica, strings, accordion, and piano work. "Private Prelude 3 (Jingle)" is really too short to leave a mark, but it has a bit of a playful and exotic air to it. Lastly, "Private Prelude 4" is a bit on the playful side as well. Featuring some exotic samples and an interesting rhythm, it's more in tune with his Grand Fantasm work as well. It's not a bad theme at all, but it's not one that’s particularly great either.

Summary

Given this album contains unused music, I didn't know what to expect. For the most part, I had the impression that it was left off for good reason, although I did think that the "Private Prelude 2" and "Carefree Shopping ~Arrange~" should have been included on the original soundtrack. Diehard fans of the original soundtrack but enjoy this, but I don't know if it's worth buying on Yahoo! Japan Auctions unless you are one. I cautiously recommend this one.