Overview

The last game of the Shining series' troubled PlayStation 2 era, Shining Wind was a direct sequel to Shining Tears. Once again, Kaoru Okada composed an organic soundtrack for the title influenced by RPG tradition. She manages to considerably improve on the original, but the release still isn't solid listening.

Body

The album opens up with "Heart-shaped Chant," composed by Noriyasu Agematsu of Elements Garden and sung by Nana Mizuki. The music, featuring a very pop-like sound, with orchestral and electronic tones, is very reminiscent of many of the company's vocal themes. In fact, it definitely is reminiscent — mainly due to the singer — of the Wild Arms V soundtrack. It's a very nice song but doesn't cohesively go with the rest of the soundtrack. The album closes with Kaoru Okada's "The Legend of the Shining Wind." This theme is a militaristic, heroic theme with a great sense of adventure in its atmosphere. There are a lot of tones heard throughout the piece. At times, it's a bit of a playful twist on the adventurous tone. At others, it's more of an exploratory, freedom-inspiring tune. In the end, it closes the game quite nicely.

The rest of the features background music composed by Kaoru Okada and features a variety of soundscapes. "The Eternal Forest" is, to me, a very cozy, pastoral music. The strings and woodwind instrumentation work together quite nicely to craft an uplifting and peaceful melody. The inclusion of harp glisses and choral notes add a heavenly touch. "Liberia's Landscape" is a rustic acoustic guitar piece with a bit of a lounge jazz and pop influence. Some beautiful strings and woodwind harmony really add a very lovely depth to the piece. "The Holy Capital" has a very uplifting and regal atmosphere. The melody is quite strong and I do enjoy the harpsichord and strings harmonies as they come together to form a very fitting atmosphere for a, presumably, church or castle town. Among other highlights include "The Sacred Tree", a romantic orchestral theme focusing on strings and woodwinds, and "Crystal of the Heart", an atmospheric track featuring mysterious synth as accompaniment and crystalline synth. "Tears" is a somber strings and harp tune with some beautiful piano and choral tones. It invokes a feeling of sadness and. despite being rather simple, is also quite evocative.

There are also some Asian-inspired soundscapes as well. "The Land of Elves" is one such theme. It's a bit militaristic in approach, but due to the Asian instrumentation, it manages to come off as a bit playful. There is a beautiful sense of atmosphere and the soundscape is quite rich. "March of the Beastly Fangs" is an Asian inspired militaristic track. Unfortunately, the accompanying percussion really mutes out some of the instrumentation in the harmony. The B section, however, is quite nice as it manages to subdue the percussion somewhat. It's a track that tries to excel at creating an intense but worldly offering but falls flat for the majority of the theme. Lastly, "Five Beast Generals" is an upbeat orchestral theme that continues the regional inspiration. It's a bit better overall than "March of the Beastly Fangs" and I really like the playful xylophone that is included. There are moments, I feel, where the melody falls a bit flat, but the atmosphere definitely manages to thrive throughout the piece.

Of course, there are some standard military inspired battle themes as well, but only a few of these manage to impress. "Luminous Knights" is a very regal and militaristic theme. There is a nice melody and it definitely reminds me of Sakimoto, at times, but I feel that the overall theme is rather run-of-the-mill in terms of creating a tense martial atmosphere. "Baelgard Empire" features some sinister tones, but is pretty generic overall, and the more harmonically exuberant "Four Imperial Blades" is also quite disappointing. "Tower of Heaven" is an electro-orchestral theme that manages to redeem itself in the B section with its heavenly choral work and beautiful orchestration. The opening is more action-oriented and creates tension, but ultimately falls a bit flat. Likewise, "Pulse of the Darkness" is another generic ominous militaristic tune. There are some interesting harmonies, but sadly the track fails to impress melodically for the most part. The B section is arguably more interesting than the A section, adding some more inspiring textures, but for the most part, it falters.

Fortunately, there are a couple more themes that manage to succeed. "Raging Soul Blade" is orchestral theme that has a very strong energy and reminds me of Xenogears' orchestral battle themes in style. The strings work is very vibrant and uplifting. Overall, this is a very strong and emotional piece. "The Dark Disciple" is a sinister orchestral battle theme that makes up for some of the other battle themes that fall short of impressing. It has some generic elements to it, but I really enjoy the ominous choir and the harmonies that support the vocal melody. There's a fantastic atmosphere as well. Not the strongest orchestral battle theme in this style, but one of the better themes on this album. Presumably the final battle, "Flapping in the Abyss" is similar to "The Dark Disciple" with its ominous choir, organ, and militaristic influence. It manages to create a feeling of tension and finality, but it suffers a bit when it comes to an engaging melody. Despite this, it is still one of the better battle offers on the album.

Summary

In the end, I think the Kaoru Okada shines more on this release than its predecessor. While most of the battle themes really sound like standard fare, there are a few, on occasion, that rise above the rest to provide a stunning atmosphere. The more peaceful themes manage to impress, however, and are generally some of the stronger themes on the album. The vocal theme by Noriyasu Agematsu sounds like many of his other vocal themes for various games/animes, but it is still a decent offering, even if it does not match the tone of the background music that follows. In the end, this album is cautiously recommended for fans of traditional RPG soundtracks. However, it may be best to play the game first, as it might not leave a lasting impression on a stand-alone basis.