Overview

The troubled PlayStation 2 editions of the Shining series were accompanied by a range of background music composed for specific games and a number of cinematic compositions used across the series. Famed animation composer Shiro Sagisu (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Bleach) composed approximately 20 tracks for the series in a range of styles. They were compiled in the Shining Theme Music Collection along with some bonus variations.

Body

As might be expected from a composer as experienced as Shiro Sagisu, the music he contributed to the franchise is more refined than the background music created by other composers. Cues such as "Together with the Light" and "Nightmare" stand out for their rich orchestration and high quality samples; while brief, they have a genuinely cinematic flair and could easily fit in a high quality anime production. Sagisu demonstrates a flair for portraying a range of other scenes. Contrary to its name, "Battle" is one of the most dark and atmospheric tracks on the album — featuring minimalistic electronic soundscapes reminiscent of Blade Runner — while "Stalemate" incorporates Psycho-esque strings above electronic ambience to create incredible tension. Other effective scene-setters range from the calming piano infusions of "Time of Memories", the climactic ascending strings of "Darkness of Depths Unknown", and the sentimental orgel reflections of "Resurrection". While such tracks are highly effective in context, they're likely too ambient and derivative to be worth listening to on a stand-alone basis.

Sagisu reserves the most entertaining tracks to exuberant anthems. The considerably more elaborate "Inheritors of the Light" expresses far more personality than the generic imitations featured throughout Shining Tears and Shining Force EXA. Sagisu captures listeners with a range of emotional hooks and keeps them entertained with a shift from ethereal piano-based soundscapes into upbeat passages featuring electric guitars, jubilant strings, and techno beats. The stylings are quite dated — no surprise for a composer that has been around since the 1970s. Yet the piece is so unique and catchy that it still makes a strong impression in and out of the game. Sadly, tracks like this are too few here and only the closely related "The Power of Fate" comes close to reaching the same heights. Action-packed tracks such as "Confrontation Between Light and Darkness" and "Are You of the Light, or the Dark?" also make their mark with their oppressive hybridised textures, but are too heavy and experimental to have a widespread appeal. Another wasted opportunity was "Tomorrow Will Be Full of Light", an absolutely gorgeous piano trio that sadly ends far too soon at the 1:22 mark.

That said, the album has some major production issues. Though the individual tracks are solid, they don't come together to form a particularly cohesive whole and are too few satisfying — the main portion of the album spanning just half an hour. Unfortunately, many of the 15 bonus tracks needlessly prolong the album with variations of themes featured earlier in the album. In fact, "Together with the Light", "Inheritors of the Light", and "The Onset of Despair" are repeated three times on the album and the changes aren't substantial enough to be interesting; some are identical to their originals except for a few tweaks or additional passages, whereas others are plain piano reductions. And don't get me started on the three successive versions of "Song for Souls' Rest" — all slow laborous pieces written for music box. These reprises emphasise the barren content of the release and give a monotonous feel to the end of the album.

Summary

As one might expect from an experienced anime composer, Shiro Sagisu did a good job creating fitting, refined, and varied tracks to accompany the Shining series' cinematic sequences. However, all but a few of the tracks are too brief, ambient, or otherwise unappealing to be worth listening to. The collection wasn't carefully curtailed towards the series and sounds more like it comes from a stock music library. What's more, the collection set a worrying precedent for the four main scores of Shining's PlayStation 2 instalments — all of which proved too generic and bland to be particularly worthwhile. With very few highlights and plenty of repetition, there's no reason to purchase this album.