Overview

The third game in Gust's Atelier series released for the PlayStation 3, Atelier Meruru features quite a different Gust Sound Team. Ken Nakagawa apparently left Gust before the development of this game, but newcomer Kazuki Yanegawa and old timer Daisuke Achiwa took their place. After the enjoyable romp that was last year's Aterlier Totori — and with the relatively disappointing Ar tonelico III now becoming a fading memory — how does the team perform for the Atelier Meruru Original Soundtrack?

Body

The first disc is a collection of various versions of five vocals from the game. Daisuke Achiwa composed three, starting with "Cadena," featuring vocals by Mineko Yamamoto. This cheery, chant filled song is exactly what one expects from the composer by this point, and is perfectly suited to introduce the album. While the piece doesn't necessarily stand out from previous similar works, it is equally as thrilling as them. "Cloudy," performed by Chata, has a slightly darker atmosphere thanks to its moody electric guitar, though it still retains a bit of cheeriness. Meanwhile, the heroic "Alchemist Girl Meruru's Song" has elements of tokusatsu shows reverberating through its gung-ho atmosphere and Marie's playful vocals. Certainly a fun change of pace, but it's really too imitative to be interesting.

Kazuki Yanegawa's "Little Crown" meanwhile is a soft, relaxing vocal, performed by Mutsumi Nomiyama. Its laid back style is refreshing, though it doesn't demand one's full attention as a result. Mao performs the comparatively light "Metro," Yanegawa's second vocal composition. While not the most impressive piece, it certainly provides an entertaining, head-bobbing listen, particularly the fiddle and guitar solos featured.

The soundtrack proper begins with the second disc, which was mostly composed by Kazuki Yanegawa. The Celtic "Atelier Meruru" serves as quite a thrilling yet understated opening, segueing nicely into the disc's larger whole, comprised of an even mix of silly and slightly more somber tracks, with nary a tedious moment to be found. "Forest Dance" continues the Celtic influence in a piece that is quite soothing and airy. "Royal Court Dance" is a modern styled Baroque imitation with quite an enchanting melody enhanced by a fun, bouncy trumpet, which makes a welcome return in the rather peppy "A Small Kingdom's Castle Town."

A moderate chunk of the disc is a collection of dungeon themes, and each is special in its own way. Some notable mentions include the exciting "Mountain of Wind in Bloom," which borrows an instantly recognizable motif from the Ar Tonelico series to great effect. The following "Fountainhead Foliage" sounds rather peaceful, with a soothing chorus that adds a profound, ethereal effect. The almost epic sounding "Swimmer in the Book of Darkness" starts rather calm, yet develops quite extraordinarily into a majestic piece one can't help but find quite enjoyable.

A large portion of the disc is comprised of incidental event tracks and the like, but these should not be so quickly discounted. "Will you Dance with Me?," "Will you Plow with Me?" and "Will you Harvest with Me?" each give unique and rather pleasant variations on the same melody — that's long enough to have a distinct sound each time, yet short and complex enough to not get irritating after its triple repetition. The lounge sounding "Two Spoonfuls of Honey" features quite pleasantly endearing piano and synth, and the awkward "A Tilt of the Head" pieces are just two examples of how silly music can sound quite attractive.

Yanegawa continues composing for the similarly pleasing, though somewhat repetitious "What My Sight Can See" series before handing over the reins to Achiwa for the majority of the disc's compositions. First up is a collection of original event themes. "Alivio of Wind and Sand" is perhaps the best of the lot, with its mournful, Wild West influence, though both the silly yet occasionally melodically heavy "Princess March" and the gentle "Flower in the Shade" shouldn't be missed.

The next large chunk of the disc is comprised of arrangements from past Atelier games arranged by Achiwa. A large variety of styles are quickly represented herein, such as the mournful "Unfriendly-Looking Knight for meruru" to the royal "The King of Arland for meruru." These pieces do well to spice up the variation present on this disc. The battle themes follow next, and they are numerous and quite entertaining. "Estrella" is obviously the product of flamenco influence, and Achiwa did a fantastic job crafting it. "Luna" follows with the same influence, in a decidedly more serious, cinematic tone. "Alchemist Girl Meruru's Song (Recorder Ver.)" sounds a bit better in this instrumental version, though it still contains the same derivative melody and arrangement.

"Alcyone" ups the ante a bit, with its multilayered electric guitar riffs that create a heroic, exciting atmosphere. "Astral Blader" is similarly constructed, though contains a bit more of a deciding, fatalistic tone. The slower paced "Double Riddles" is no less thrilling, with its almost goofy sounding yet effective sitar and chorus. "Tree Spirit" is far more cinematic in nature, portending the game's conclusion with its epic melody leading up to a climax. "Gigantic Crimson" and "Astarte" both rely heavily on electric guitars to create a thrilling atmosphere, which, while a little overused for final battle themes, is still handled well here by Achiwa, and they provide an enjoyable, if expected, listen. The rest of the soundtrack is comprised of very short character themes, though they provide a better ending than the final battle theme, I suppose.

Summary

If you are a fan of Gust Sound Team's scores, then by all means, go out and grab this album. It's just as good as anything made by the team in the past. The highlights are the dungeon and battle themes, but the whole album is good for a listen. Anyone unfamiliar with Gust scores should know that this, like most (though certainly not all!) of them is a saccharine, peppy affair, mostly. However, the music, if appreciated, can be noted to be quite deep and melodically appealing. I'm not in a position that I can call this the best Gust score (certainly, at least, it isn't as fantastic as the second Ar Tonelico album), but it is entertaining from beginning to end, and if the concept appeals to the reader, then this is a score worth checking out.