Overview

The Insanity DVD sets are great purchases for fan's of shooters and their music. With Battle Garegga, Raiden, XIIStag, Trizeal, Mushihimesama, and Ketsui - Cutting the Bonds of Hell all being interpreted in DVDs before it, Ibara receives treatment here. Ibara The Lunatic features one gameplay track, four remix tracks, a region-free DVD of super-play videos, and a very nice booklet filled with art of all the characters and enemies/machines. With regards to its CD, aside Weapon Select, a heavy electronic in-game tune not put on the soundtrack, the rest are obviously the arrangements... And what breathtaking arrangements they are!

Body

Miss the glory days of the classic Falcom J.D.K. Band and the Konami Battle albums? It's sorta back here, though it's former Toaplan and Technosoft stars that handle the majority of the arrangements. Tatsuya Uemura, responsible for games like Out Zone, Zero Wing, and other Toaplan productions, really cooked up a great power-rock remix of "Show Time". At any case the theme is easily recognizable and very, very enjoyable to hear.

There is a member of Success responsible for the majority of the Psyvariar music, you can guess who it is. Yup, WASi303 is the one I'm talking about if you haven't figured that out yet. His remix of "Bonds of Steel" includes a great chip-tune passage that works really well between the techno-rock parts of the arrangements.

Now it's Hyakutaro Tsukumo's turn to shine... If any of you loved his work on Thunder Force V, Blast Wind and Hyper Duel, you're in for quite a tasty treat. With the use of great drums and an orchestral intro, by the time the guitar rips into the scene, you just know it's going to rock out seriously. It's my personal favorite of all the four arrangements.

As for A' & Namihei's involvement, he/they was/were involved in the production of Thunder Force VI before it got canned. Their remix of "Endress Train" is by far the most surprising of them all... since it doesn't really rock out like the rest of them. Instead, it's a beautiful rock ballad. While it isn't as intense, it certainly keeps the whole synth-rock feel intact at any case. It's just a really awesome way to end the disc on a great note.

Summary

Personally, I have no qualms with any of those tracks, each of them has their own unique features which makes them stand out from each other. As far as synth-rock arrange albums go, this is how I like it. Fair use of guitars and synths, but also a bit of experimentation thrown in for good measure.