Overview

Sometimes the Japanese do certain things better. This statement stands out for Secret of Evermore, the first and only game to be developed by Squaresoft's U.S. branch. Even though I honestly liked the game the first time I played it, I found it to be bland in comparison to some of Square's other games. The music was one of the reasons why. It lacks the spacious beauty of Secret of Mana and the powerful assets of Final Fantasy. It also sounds pretty flat, with lame, unmemorable music dominating most of the album. This is probably the weakest of Squaresoft's soundtracks, mainly because it lacks the magical touch.

Body

Not that there are no saving graces about it, however. There are eight arranged tracks at the beginning which pick up the pace for an otherwise unlively album. Some of them sound almost identical to the game, such as the jig-like "Pirate Theme", piano sonatas of the castle themes, the ambient "Ocean Theme", and "Merchant Theme". The other five tracks are completely unrecognizable. On the other hand, they sound a lot better than the game's music.

As for the original game music, there is actually only one excellent track. That is the last one, "The Return". It starts out with a lonesome, suspenseful dirge, and then comes to a beautiful, uplifting ending. To touch it all up, there is an eerie wind blowing in the backround throughout the whole track.

The rest of the score, however, is... well, below average. It's somewhat hollow in composition and seems to be missing the big "oomph" that an adventure score like this needs. In this case, the tracks (yes, even the boss battle themes) drag at a snail's pace and never come to life; they seem to be more ambient and less melodic. Music like this doesn't really bother me all that much, but after listening to it a second time, I felt I had only a bad taste for my mouth. I guess Jeremy Soule didn't have the magical, musical touch of Square when he produced the music for Secret of Evermore.

Summary

Due to the fact that there are so many better game soundtracks out there, I can find no way or excuse whatsoever to recommend this one. The arranged tracks are major highlight, but the original material is too unmemorable and ambient to appeal to most RPG music collectors.

Overview

Secret of Evermore was Squaresoft America's lone foray into game production. Despite top-notch production values (including use of some pre-rendered elements in the game's backgrounds) and the same engine that powered the popular Secret of Mana game, Evermore failed to find its audience, and Squaresoft America was reabsorbed into its corporate parent not long after. Composer Jeremy Soule has since carved out a name for himself, providing stirring orchestral and ambient scores for such high profile games as Prey, Knights of the Old Republic, Guild Wars, and the Elder Scrolls series. Secret of Evermore was Soule's first foray into game music, and it would offer him the opportunity to work with the most advanced synth of the SNES generation.

Body

On disc, Secret of Evermore is split into two halves: the first eight tracks are arranged, and feature far better synth than the subsequent eleven. They also offered Soule a larger palette for his themes, which he takes full advantage of in arranging "10 Print Hello World" and "Greek Temple." "10 Print..." is easily an album highlight, a stirring overture for brass and strings that bears only the faintest resemblance to its SNES counterpart, while "Greek Temple" blends orchestral and electronic effects to create haunting yet busy music. Curiously, many of the remaining arranged tracks are rather dull, and do not seem to merit the attention they were given–why rearrange the dull "Merchant Theme," or the ambient "Ocean Theme?"

The SNES-era tracks are a different matter entirely. The mood is primarily dark and moody, as opposed to the generally more upbeat arranged tracks, and this darkness makes for some excellent melancholy music. Tracks like "Puppet Song," "Freak Show," and "The Scientist" exude mystery while remaining highly melodic and enjoyable, while the non-arranged "Greek Temple" tracks are more subdued but equally potent (except for some unfortunate synth effects in the first one).

There are also some lighter tracks, most notably the kooky "Tinkerer" and swirling "Ending Theme," which adhere to the score's darkness even at their most slapstick. Unfortunately, there are also several ambient tracks, like "The Rat's Chamber" and "Quicksand Field" that develop little more than a menacing atmosphere. Still, on the whole, the SNES-era tracks are stylistically consistent and enjoyable, despite the omission of several tracks (such as the haunting "Hector's Camp") from the disc entirely.

Summary

Sadly, the Secret of Evermore Complete Soundtrack is impossible to come by at reasonable prices. It was only issued directly by Squaresoft America, and therefore saw a very small number of copies manufactured before the publisher's demise left it completely out of print. As such, the relative benefits the score offers have to be weighed against the exorbitant prices the album commands (as of this writing, $200 and up). Still, if you can find a copy for a reasonable price–especially if you're a Jeremy Soule fan — it is a highly interesting listen despite its weak points.