HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Xenogears Original Soundtrack'' is the official
soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
for
Square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...
's
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
''
Xenogears ''Xenogears'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the debut entry in the larger ''Xeno (series), Xeno'' franchise. ...
''. It was composed by
Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the '' Chrono'', '' Xeno'', '' Shadow Hearts'', and '' Inazuma Eleven'' franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own ...
and contains 44 tracks, including a Bulgarian
choral A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
song and two pieces performed by the Irish singer
Joanne Hogg Joanne Hogg is a Northern Irish musician, best known for her work as the lead singer and songwriter with the Celtic Christian progressive rock band Iona. Early life and education Hogg was born in Ballymena to a family of medical missionaries ...
. Though the game was released in both Japan and North America, the album was published in Japan exclusively as a two- CD set on March 1, 1998. The soundtrack was composed with strong
traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...
and
Irish music Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland. The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music (or Irish folk music). It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st ...
influences, while the lyrics for the vocal tracks were written by the game's director
Tetsuya Takahashi (born November 18, 1966) is a Japanese video game designer, writer and director. Takahashi worked at Square in the 90s as a graphic designer and graphic director, participating on some of their most well-received titles such as ''Final Fantasy ...
and its scenario writer
Masato Kato is a Japanese people, Japanese video game Game art design, artist, scenario writer and Video game producer, director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal". He then joined Square (video ga ...
. The soundtrack reached No. 55 in Japan and was generally well received by critics, though some disagreed on whether the album can be fully appreciated by non-players. Two
arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...
versions of the soundtrack, ''
Creid ''Creid'' (; meaning "''Believe''") is the arranged soundtrack to Square's role-playing video game ''Xenogears''. It was written by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by a musical ensemble dubbed Millennial Fair. It was released on ...
'' (1998) and '' Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album'' (2011), were also released by Mitsuda. A remastered version of the original album, ''Xenogears Original Soundtrack Revival Disc -the first and the last-'' (2018), was released by
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
along with a pair of concerts. The composer, along with Joanne Hogg, reprised their roles for the soundtrack to ''Xenogears'''s spiritual prequel '' Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht'' in 2002.
Tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...
s were also produced by fans.


Creation


Context

''Xenogears'' entered development in 1996 and was released in 1998. The game's soundtrack was Yasunori Mitsuda's first major solo work, as his previous soundtracks were collaborations with other composers with the exception of the score to ''
Radical Dreamers ''Radical Dreamers'' is a 1996 text-based visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the Satellaview, a satellite peripheral for the Super Famicom. It forms part of the Chrono (series), ' ...
'', which never saw an album release. Mitsuda worked closely with
Masato Kato is a Japanese people, Japanese video game Game art design, artist, scenario writer and Video game producer, director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal". He then joined Square (video ga ...
, the event planner and script writer of ''Xenogears'', to compose the score. Mitsuda considered it hard at times to maintain his motivation throughout the whole two-year period, especially since he had to wait for the end to see the most dramatic tracks implemented. The game's director
Tetsuya Takahashi (born November 18, 1966) is a Japanese video game designer, writer and director. Takahashi worked at Square in the 90s as a graphic designer and graphic director, participating on some of their most well-received titles such as ''Final Fantasy ...
did not initially think "music was all that important" compared to graphics, but eventually acknowledged its importance when he realized it could strongly enhance the expressivity of the images. Takahashi explained that without Mitsuda's music, he would not have been able to achieve his goals for the project. The development team wanted to have a
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
singer contribute to the score. Mitsuda initially had difficulties finding an artist that matched his vision, but eventually chose
Joanne Hogg Joanne Hogg is a Northern Irish musician, best known for her work as the lead singer and songwriter with the Celtic Christian progressive rock band Iona. Early life and education Hogg was born in Ballymena to a family of medical missionaries ...
from the
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
band
Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...
after stumbling upon their album '' The Book of Kells'' in a CD store and listening to the song "Chi-Rho". Hogg was enthusiastic in contributing as it was her first video game-related recording. She did not play the game for the project, however. Irish music was not well known in Japan at the time, but Mitsuda felt that a "Celtic boom" was about to hit the country. His prediction would later turn true with the popularity of the American film ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' and the Irish stepdancing show
Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...
. "Stars of Tears", one of the songs included on the soundtrack album, did not appear in the final version of the game. It was originally intended to play in a
cut scene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
at the start of the game along with the main staff credits. The scene, however, was removed for pacing issues, as it would have made the combined opening movie and introduction scenes last roughly ten minutes. Another song on the soundtrack, "Small Two of Pieces ~Broken Shards~", was the first ending theme with sung lyrics to ever appear in a game developed by
Square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...
.


Composition and writing

The score contains 41 instrumental tracks, in addition to a
choral A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
track and two songs. According to Mitsuda, the music of ''Xenogears'' belongs to the
traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
genre. Though he first described it as stemming from "a world of isown imagining" rather than any specific country, he has also claimed a strong Irish or
Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...
influence. Mitsuda felt that composing for the game was very difficult due to the unfamiliarity of most Japanese with foreign traditionals, but expressed his wish for listeners of the soundtrack to open up to music from all over the world. His musical approach was to insert Celtic influences into "easy-to-listen-to"
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
tracks, rather than making either "dense" Celtic music or simple
background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...
. Other influences on the soundtrack include
Arabic music Arabic music () is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse List of music styles, music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also many linguistic Varieties of Arabic, dialects, with each countr ...
on the desert town theme "Dazil, Town of Scorching Sands", and
religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for Religion, religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ri ...
, in keeping with the game's storyline. Mitsuda explained that he wanted music that "felt religious, but from a different angle". The opening movie of the game was produced before the corresponding track "Dark Dawn" was, and Mitsuda had to rearrange his composition after realizing some parts were out of synch with the frames by about a minute and a half. The choral track, titled "The Beginning and the End", was performed by a 41-voice choir named The Great Voices of Bulgaria and features lyrics written by Tetsuya Takahashi. His lyrics were translated from Japanese to English then to Bulgarian for the recording. Joanne Hogg sang in English on "Stars of Tears" and "Small Two of Pieces ~Broken Shards~". The latter took Mitsuda "an awfully long amount of time" just to compose the demo version. Masato Kato wrote the original lyrics for the two songs, and Hogg arranged them so that they would fit the melodies better and sound more Celtic. As with most of his previous soundtracks, Mitsuda composed a
musical box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces Musical note, musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder (geometry), cylinder or disc to pluck ...
arrangement of one of the main themes; in ''Xenogears''' case, the track "Distant Promise" is the musical box version of "Small Two of Pieces".


Recording

The instrumental tracks of the score were programmed with the
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
sound module A sound module is an electronic musical instrument without a human-playable interface such as a piano-style musical keyboard. Sound modules have to be operated using an externally connected device, which is often a MIDI controller, of which th ...
in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, Japan, while "The Beginning and the End" was recorded live in
Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
, Bulgaria. Hogg's songs were recorded in two days in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ireland in 1996; they featured the Riverdance musician
Davy Spillane Davy Spillane (born 1959 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle. Biography Irish music At the age of 12, Spillane started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him ...
on
low whistle The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of British and Irish artists such as Tommy Mak ...
. When ''Titanic'' premiered in November 1997, Mitsuda noticed coincidental similarities between the film's ending song,
Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...
's "
My Heart Will Go On "My Heart Will Go On" is a song performed by Canadian singer Celine Dion, used as the theme for the 1997 film '' Titanic''. It was composed by James Horner, with lyrics by Will Jennings, and produced by Horner, Walter Afanasieff and Simon F ...
", and the Irish-themed music he was composing for ''Xenogears''. He felt irritated and devoted himself to complete the soundtrack's recording before ''Titanic'' came out. As with some of his previous soundtracks, Mitsuda would stay in the Japanese studio for long amounts of time and regularly fall asleep from overwork, while some melodies would first come to him in his dreams, such as that of "Ties of Sea and Flames". The composer collapsed during the soundtrack mastering process due to exhaustion, and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. The score involved in total nearly a hundred people. At one point, the music staff considered adding sound effects and voice narrations into the soundtrack album, but the idea was scrapped in favour of normal renditions of the game's music.


Reception

The album reached No. 55 on the Japan
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...
charts. Soundtrack Central felt that Mitsuda "created a masterpiece in ''Xenogears''", while RPGFan thought it was "most certainly his greatest achievement". On the other hand, one reviewer on Square Enix Music Online (unrelated to
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
) felt it did not represent Mitsuda's best album, saying that "what was an amazing soundtrack in its day ... has otstood the test of time very well." Reviewers disagreed whether the album could only be enjoyed by ''Xenogears'' players, or if it could be appreciated by a wider audience. Several reviewers noted the diversity of styles present in the score. Soundtrack Central thought it was a "superb mix of epic adventure and traditional themes", while Square Enix Music Online appreciated the melding of futuristic, ethnic and religious themes, feeling that the recurring chanting sound effects made everything sound coherent. Critics also noticed similarities between some melodies and Mitsuda's previous work ''
Chrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing video game by Square. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the first entry in the ''Chrono'' series. The game's development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dr ...
'', though reviewers felt that those of ''Xenogears'' were more "widely based" and had a distinctive Celtic sound. The reviewers also praised the sound system used for the instrumental tracks as being up to the highest standard for the PlayStation console. The emotional tracks were considered the strongest part of the score, and were praised for their ability to musically reflect the various locales and characters seen in the game. The opening track "Dark Dawn" was similarly lauded for showcasing all the influences of the soundtrack in a single composition. The battle themes were described as a weaker area and were called either effective or repetitive, with Square Enix Music Online noting that "Mitsuda has never been very good at composing interesting battle tracks". The final
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
theme "The One Who Bares Fangs at God" received the most diverse comments, ranging from praises to criticism, due to its reliance on synth choral sound effects rather than a clear melody. The ending song "Small Two of Pieces" was received positively and, as Mitsuda predicted, compared to "My Heart Will Go On".


Legacy

While in Ireland, Mitsuda also worked with Spillane and Maire Breatnach, another musician from Riverdance, to record an
arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...
album of ''Xenogears''. Titled ''
Creid ''Creid'' (; meaning "''Believe''") is the arranged soundtrack to Square's role-playing video game ''Xenogears''. It was written by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by a musical ensemble dubbed Millennial Fair. It was released on ...
'' and released in April 1998, the arranged album features 10 instrumental and vocal tracks from the soundtrack arranged in a more dominant Celtic style. "Stars of Tears" and "Small Two of Pieces" appear on the album as "Two Wings" and "Möbius" respectively, and are sung in Japanese by Tetsuko "Techie" Honma. A second arranged album, titled '' Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album'', was released on February 23, 2011. The original soundtrack versions of "Stars of Tears" and "Small Two of Pieces" were featured on the 2001 compilation '' Square Vocal Collection'', and again in 2009 on the compilation ''
Colours of Light ''Colours of Light'' is the compilation album of vocal pieces by Yasunori Mitsuda. It was released on August 26, 2009, in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asia ...
''. The ''Xenogears'' soundtrack remains one of Mitsuda's favourite projects, and one of the works that he continues to feel a "special connection" to. For the game's 20th anniversary, a remastered version of the soundtrack titled ''Xenogears Original Soundtrack Revival Disc -the first and the last-'' was released on blu-ray on April 4, 2018. The remasters were overseen by Mitsuda, and the album contains a new arranged track by Mitsuda featuring a vocal performance by Irish choral ensemble
Anúna Anúna (stylized in all caps) is a vocal ensemble formed in Ireland in 1987 by Irish composer Michael McGlynn under the name An Uaithne. Taking the current name in 1991,AllMusic Biography/ref> the group has recorded 18 albums and achieved a ...
. Contemporaneous with the album release, a concert of music titled ''Xenogears 20th Anniversary Concert -The Beginning and the End-'' was performed by the Xenogears Concert Special Band & Orchestra, Joanne Hogg, and Anúna on April 6 and 7 at the Maihama Amphitheater in
Urayasu 260px, Old Urayasu is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 170,533 in 81,136 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Urayasu is best known as the home of Tokyo Dis ...
, Japan. In 2002, Mitsuda composed the score to
Monolith Soft trade name, trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese Video game developer, video game development studio originally owned by Namco (later Bandai Namco) until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007, best known for the ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' ser ...
's '' Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht'', the spiritual prequel to ''Xenogears'', also directed by Tetsuya Takahashi. Joanne Hogg returned to sing the soundtrack's vocal themes, while the instrumental tracks were performed by the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
. Monolith Soft did not ask Mitsuda and Hogg to reprise their roles for '' Episode II'' and '' Episode III'', however. A
tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...
titled ''Xenogears Light: An Arranged Album'', was published in limited quantities by the fan group OneUp Studios in 2005. The album features 20 tracks arranged from the ''Xenogears'' score and performed with acoustic instruments, such as piano, flute, guitar and violin. Another, unofficial album of remixes titled ''Humans + Gears'' was produced as a digital album by
OverClocked Remix OverClocked ReMix, also known as OC ReMix and OCR, is a non-commercial organization dedicated to preserving and paying tribute to video game music through arranging and re-interpreting the songs, both with new technology and software and by vari ...
on October 19, 2009 consisting of 33 tracks on two "discs".


Track listing


Disc one


Disc two


Personnel

All information is taken from the ''Xenogears'' ending credits and the independent site Square Enix Music Online. ;Main personnel *
Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the '' Chrono'', '' Xeno'', '' Shadow Hearts'', and '' Inazuma Eleven'' franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own ...
– composer, producer *Hidenori Suzuki – sound programmer ;"The Beginning and the End" personnel *Peter Liondev – arranger *
Tetsuya Takahashi (born November 18, 1966) is a Japanese video game designer, writer and director. Takahashi worked at Square in the 90s as a graphic designer and graphic director, participating on some of their most well-received titles such as ''Final Fantasy ...
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...
*The Great Voices of Bulgaria **
Choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
I – Snejanka Radoulova, Iordanka Alexieva, Nina Stanimirova, Tania Dosseva, Zlatina Ouzounova, Iva Gidikova, Tzvetanka Varimezova, Zoia Jeleva, Sylvana Pravtcheva, Hristiana Ignatova **Choir II – Galina Nedekova, Svetla Anastassova, Veronika Hristova, Svetla Tzetkova, Mariana Gueorguieva, Ivanka LuBomirova, Valentina Lavtcheva **Choir III – Maria Naydenova, Virgina Antikadjieva, Ludmila Stoyanova, Silviya Nenkova, Kouna Staykova, Daniela Entcheva **Choir IV – Hristinka Vassileva, Lora Beltcheva, Stoyanka Boneva, Hristina Lutova, Daniela Malamova, Donka Stoyanova **
Tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
s – Veliko Totev, Nikolay Varionov, Karlo Hristov, Peter Todorov, Alexander Alexandrov **
Baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
s – Benedikt Molhov, Dentcho Belev, Ivan Rendov **
Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
– Teodor Hristov, Anton Donkov, Alexander Stoyanov, Kiril Stoyanov ;"Stars of Tears" personnel *
Joanne Hogg Joanne Hogg is a Northern Irish musician, best known for her work as the lead singer and songwriter with the Celtic Christian progressive rock band Iona. Early life and education Hogg was born in Ballymena to a family of medical missionaries ...
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
*
Masato Kato is a Japanese people, Japanese video game Game art design, artist, scenario writer and Video game producer, director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal". He then joined Square (video ga ...
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...
*
Davy Spillane Davy Spillane (born 1959 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle. Biography Irish music At the age of 12, Spillane started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him ...
low whistle The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of British and Irish artists such as Tommy Mak ...
*Hitoshi Watanabe –
electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...
*Hiroshi Hata –
electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
,
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
*
Hidenobu Ootsuki Hidenobu (written: 秀信 or 英暢) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese politician *, Japanese footballer {{given name Japanese masculine given name ...
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
*
Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the '' Chrono'', '' Xeno'', '' Shadow Hearts'', and '' Inazuma Eleven'' franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own ...
keyboards ;"Small Two of pieces ~Broken Shards~" personnel *
Joanne Hogg Joanne Hogg is a Northern Irish musician, best known for her work as the lead singer and songwriter with the Celtic Christian progressive rock band Iona. Early life and education Hogg was born in Ballymena to a family of medical missionaries ...
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
*
Masato Kato is a Japanese people, Japanese video game Game art design, artist, scenario writer and Video game producer, director. In the early days of his career, he was credited under the pseudonyms of "Runmaru" and "Runmal". He then joined Square (video ga ...
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...
*
Davy Spillane Davy Spillane (born 1959 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle. Biography Irish music At the age of 12, Spillane started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him ...
low whistle The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of British and Irish artists such as Tommy Mak ...
*Anne-Marie O'Farrell –
harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
*Hitoshi Watanabe –
electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...
*Hiroshi Hata –
electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
,
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
*
Hidenobu Ootsuki Hidenobu (written: 秀信 or 英暢) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese politician *, Japanese footballer {{given name Japanese masculine given name ...
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
*
Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer and musician. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the '' Chrono'', '' Xeno'', '' Shadow Hearts'', and '' Inazuma Eleven'' franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own ...
keyboards


Release history


References


External links


''Xenogears Original Soundtrack''
at Yasunori Mitsuda's website {{Authority control Video game soundtracks Xenogears Yasunori Mitsuda albums 1998 soundtrack albums