Overview

This album could be considered the first official Mega Man / Rockman themed arranged album. Arranged by Alph-Lyla, Capcom's in-house sound team, there are a multitude of styles present in the brief but satisfying Vol. 1. How do these arrangements treat the originals?

Body

On this album, the listener will be exposed to a variety of styles. A Latin flavored arrangement, a soft and serene arrangement, something that sounds like a fusion of jazz, rock, and synthesizers, a primarily rock focused arrangement, and an arrangement with progressive rock, classical, and jazz influences will be heard. If you're a fan of variety, this is definitely for you. Unlike later arrangements of the series, doujin and official alike, each track is arranged in a way that fits the original theme perfectly. On the whole, I think this album is spectacular.

Cutman's stage theme is brought to life in "Red Hot Paradise". With the aforementioned latin flavor, there is a heavy focus on brass, piano, and xylophone. "The Ending Battle" is an arrangement of Rockman 2 Ending theme. It's a very soft arrangement with focus on synthesizers and piano. "Spark of Sorcery" is an excellent translation of Sparkman's stage. Focusing on synthesizers and piano in the early sections, throw in a random guitar solo, and you definitely have a winner.

Skullman's arrangement, "Soldier of the Underworld," is by far my favorite arrangement on this album. To me, this is what Tohru Iwao's Rockman 1 ~ 6 Rock Arrange Ver. should have sounded like. While there is a nice mixture of synth and rock elements, the electric guitar sections accent the original melody very nicely. "Strange Stone Puppet," the arrangement belonging to Stoneman, is also quite good. The focus of jazz elements, combined with an unexpected violin solo. There are even sections that have a very prog-rock sound to them.

Summary

In the end, I recommend this album if you can find it. Each arrangement fits the original perfectly, and offers a very diverse array of styles. In fact, if I could find this, I'd buy it just for the Skullman Stage arrangement. To me, between Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, it is the hands-down best track that featured an arrangement. I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who would dislike this album.