Overview

The Atelier Judie Original Soundtrack is the fourth original soundtrack in the alchemy based Atelier series. There are two things that got me excited for this soundtrack. One was that Akira Tsuchiya, who tends to compose the better Atelier soundtracks, was the lead composer. Two is that this is only an original score but it shines as much as the older Elie arrange soundtrack. It sure shows how much the times have passed sound quality-wise.

Body

The whole album was obviously cared for and fans will love it, but there is a lot of new stuff going on. Most of it is very positive. There is a lot more traditional sounding music and it sets a slightly different atmosphere. I don't think it's better, but it is definitely equal to the best of the series. Tracks like "The Ancient Age" and "The Wonderful Land" stand out as being some really interesting hybrid traditional pieces. I say hybrid because of the added bass and modern percussion to some pieces.

There are other tracks besides just these more ancient sounding ones though. A lot of the ancient sounding pieces make up the first half while the more upbeat synth pieces come later on. Tracks like "Rhythm Nation" are totally contrasting and add, well, faster rhythm to this album. The first half did have a pretty neat percussive selection though which I really liked better in the end though I appreciate the upbeatness. "Speed Star" uses some very MIDI-sounding rock guitar and it feels very out of place with the pretty ancient music. I would have liked to hear the percussion make use of the mallets and bells at a faster pace rather than sticking with generic rock drums. Only a couple are like that though.

There are also the familiar organic tracks most would expect from the series. There are a lot of Atelier signature flutes to be found on this album also. Their use in "A Visitor in Scarlet Clothes" is especially mature. There are a couple more RPG-sounding tracks, such as "Country Bonfires", but they're done well and aren't formulaic enough to really hurt the album. There are some vocal arrangements at the end of the album, which are cute and short. They aren't worth much as the singer is overly cute and the songs are just too short to matter. "Elle Gramnad" is a more appealing and substantial effort though.

Summary

Atelier Judie's soundtrack is a great hybrid throwback to ancient organic sounds ranging from slow and beautiful to percussive and catchy. Akira Tsuchiya has come back to full speed giving us an album with lots of highlights and wonderful instrumentation. I think it's great how there's no filler also, even if not every piece is perfect. The final vocal tracks get a little closer to filler though, in my opinion. In addition, while a great soundtrack that tries a couple new things, it doesn't really take the series anywhere. Overall, though, this is a must-have for other fans in the series.

Overview

Now ten years old, Atelier Judie has stood the test of time for most series' fans. As a result, it was celebrated with a PSP port. Given the original game was composed for PlayStation 2, no adjustments were made in terms of the samples of the featured music. However, a few new themes were added to the soundtrack. The expanded soundtrack was released by Team Entertainment across two discs.

Body

The whole album was obviously cared for and fans will love it, but there is a lot of new stuff going on. Most of it is very positive. There is a lot more traditional sounding music and it sets a slightly different atmosphere. Tracks like "The Ancient Age" and "The Wonderful Land" stand out as being some really interesting hybrid traditional pieces. I say hybrid because of the added bass and modern percussion to some pieces. I don't think they're better, but it is definitely equal to the best of the series.

There are other tracks besides just these more ancient sounding ones though. A lot of the ancient sounding pieces make up the first half while the more upbeat synth pieces come later on. Tracks like "Rhythm Nation" are totally contrasting and add, well, faster rhythm to this album. The first half did have a pretty neat percussive selection though which I really liked better in the end though I appreciate the upbeatness. "Speed Star" uses some very MIDI-sounding rock guitar and it feels very out of place with the pretty ancient music. I would have liked to hear the percussion make use of the mallets and bells at a faster pace rather than sticking with generic rock drums. Only a couple are like that though.

There are also the familiar organic tracks most would expect from the series. There are a lot of Atelier signature flutes to be found on this album also. Their use in "A Visitor in Scarlet Clothes" is especially mature. There are a couple more RPG-sounding tracks, such as "Country Bonfires", but they're done well and aren't formulaic enough to really hurt the album. There are some vocal arrangements at the end of the album. However, they aren't worth much as the singer is overly cute and the songs are just too short to matter. "Elle Gramnad" is a more appealing and substantial effort though.

There isn't much new in this PSP edition of the soundtrack. The majority of the tracks are identical to those featured on the release for the PlayStation 2 game. However, Daisuke Achiwa did create a beautiful new instrumental called "Girl Who Authors Time", which was also arranged for Atelier Viorate's port. More substantially, two new vocal themes also bookend the first disc. With its youthful vocalist, "ARMERIA" will be something some find endearing, others annoying. "Time and a Word" is more derivative, but is likely to have a fair amount of mainstream appeal/

Summary

Atelier Judie's soundtrack is a great hybrid throwback to ancient organic sounds, ranging from slow and beautiful to percussive and catchy. Akira Tsuchiya has come back to full speed giving us an album with lots of highlights and wonderful instrumentation. I think it's great how there's no filler, even if there are a few imperfections or derivative pieces along the way. The additions to the PSP soundtrack are few, but they all enhance it and the new vocal themes are a particular plus. Be it the original version or the portable version, this soundtrack is a must-have for fans in the series.

Performed by Yuduki, Miki Takahashi, Saeko Chiba