Overview

Between 2009 and 2011, Square Enix have released five albums featuring arrangements of Square Enix favourites by contemporary music artists: Love SQ, Chill SQ, More SQ, SQ Chips, and, most recently, Cafe SQ. With their impressive track selections and arranger line-ups, these albums have generated considerable attention in Japan and have arguably grown better with each release. Those that purchase one of the albums through alternative stores such as Village Vanguard and Tower Record in Japan are eligible to receive a free album, SQ Lovers, featuring two megamixes of the series' tracks.

Body

Those that have followed the SQ series from its inception will likely find the megamixes here nostalgic. The 'S' megamix shows how it all begun — with a humble recorder rendition of Final Fantasy's main theme — before pumping up the beats for an entertaining succession of renditions. Highlights include the chiptunes-meets-ululations dedicated to Love SQ's "Eternal Wind", the uplifting pop vocals of Chill SQ's "Aria Di Mezzo Caraterre", the danceable piano riffs of More SQ's "Megalomania", and the mesmerising chiptunes of SQ Chips's "Terra".

The 'Q' megamix is equally diverse. Opening with a soft piano rendition of Seiken Densetsu's "Rising Sun", it incorporates a jubilant remix of the Chocobo theme, a rock piano performance of "Battle with Gilgamesh", and a soft synthetic rendering of "Wind Scene", before finally concluding with Final Fantasy's Prelude. The individual tracks only receive a brief playtime of up to 90 seconds — usually much less — meaning many of the creative development selections of the originals are lost. However, the remix still gives a good taste of the diverse themes and stylings that the SQ series has to offer.

That said, don't expect anything extraordinary from these megamixes. They largely adhere to their original arrangements, with the addition of some electronic beats here and there. Occasionally, tracks are merged together in a novel way — for example, the chiptunes of Final Fantasy XII's "Near the Water" with the modernist orchestrations of Chrono Trigger's "Crono's Theme" — but elaborations are otherwise sparing. The transitions between the items are usually sudden — with pauses, skips, and voice-overs saying 'S' 'Q' being all that separates most tracks. While the arrangements bloom as they progress, the medleys are not organised in a meaningful manner either and sometimes sound tangential.

Summary

Overall, SQ Lovers emphasises the diversity of the albums in the SQ series with its jam-packed medleys. However, it lacks the elaborations and developments required for the megamixes to be particularly enjoyable in its own right and it's better to listen to the individual items separately. Nevertheless, those wondering whether to give the SQ series a try ought to listen to this sampler.