I bought this CD kind of out of the blue. The only information I had was related to the game’s story and concept, nothing more or less. Another Mind’s music differs greatly from the orchestral themes of Nobuo Uematsu’s Final Fantasy scores and the epic themes of Yasunori Mitsuda’s Xenogears and Chrono Cross, some of Square’s finest composers and soundtracks. Junya Nakano’s compositions are subtler (note: don’t you dare take this the wrong way; this is no criticism against the great Final Fantasy OST’s or their composer), and have a very synthesized sound to them. However, this isn’t bad; on the contrary, it makes the soundtrack more worth listening to.
The 24 tracks vary in mood and pace; you never get the feeling of hearing one particular theme over and over again. Another Mind is a nice, relaxing collection of highly enjoyable and recommendable music. Although there are no vocal themes, there are some really nice, above average pieces of music that deserve to be mentioned here. The upbeat Big Power and wonderfully slow and relaxing Finale illustrate some of the best this soundtrack has to offer.
Apart from Hiroki Kikuta’s Soukaigi OST, this is one of the greatest soundtracks from a relatively unknown Japan-only released game. Sadly, very few people will get a chance to hear it. However, due to Nakano’s collaboration on the Final Fantasy X OST, I hope more people will search out this talented composer, and thus this wonderful album. Because of the obscurity of the title, it’s harder to find than most other Square soundtrack releases. Keepin’ an eye out on eBay is normally the best course of action for these obscure kinds of soundtracks.
