Oh god. I've been debating with myself whether to post this for some time, but now that the deadline looms I'm finally gathering the courage to do it. I only have one game to vote for; everything else I would vote for has been covered already, multiple times probably, in detail and with eloquence, so I'm going to vote for something that likely no one else will. I'm not very well versed in the technical aspects of music, so this will mostly be about the emotions this soundtrack elicited for me. This will probably get gushy, so forgive me, but what the hell, that's a big part of what this thread is for right? Here we go.
1.
Saya no Uta - The Song of Saya
Yeah. For anyone that doesn't know already, a warning: this is a pornographic game, and a particularly nasty one. Googling it will almost certainly produce unpleasant results, and the related videos for the youtube soundtrack examples I'll be linking to may as well. I won't endorse any aspect of it here aside from the soundtrack itself, and the soundtrack is the only aspect of it I can say is enjoyable without massive caveats. I actually voted for this game in the 2013 best soundtrack thread, and said that I'd write about it in detail but never did, so I'm going to try to make up for that here. Since its original release was in 2003, it should be eligible.
This is a very hard soundtrack to pin down. It has essentially no bad tracks (there's one track I think kind of sucks, but that's it really), but it varies wildly in tone. Since this is a visual novel, it has some of the inherent advantages of both game and film soundtracks: its pace and placement is controlled to an extent like a film, which gives tracks room to reach their potential tonally, but tracks must also be repeated significantly, which probably encouraged strong motifs. It's short, with only 15 tracks including the 2 vocal ending songs. Only a couple of those tracks reach truly mid-boggling heights, but pretty much everything is distinct enough to be called special.
Sabbath is the first track players hear, a completely soothing synth based piece that has a kind of stereotypically Asian, and even "visual novel" feel to me, though I don't have the expertise to really identify why I feel that way. It's actually a good piece in its own right, and it's used to good effect in the game itself, but its placement in the main menu is a particular piece of devilish cleverness.
Once you've been lulled by Sabbath, the game delivers a stab to the gut in the form of
Schizophrenia. This is the track used in the game's opening scene, and it's an incredibly powerful hook. This is rock, but I don't know what subgenre to put it in. I've never heard anything like it in a video game outside of this one, and nothing exactly like it anywhere else either. Here, heavily distorted, grating guitar and oppressive bass lurch, crawl and skitter in a languishing torment. This sounds like wading neck deep in a pool of entrails. This sounds like suffering without hope of relief. The brief interlude where the bass takes the lead (at least, I think that's the bass?) seems to serve only as a deep breath before the inevitable return of the main motif. When it does comes back for another round, the added percussion gives it a listless energy that makes it seem like the horror it evokes will never end. It fits the scene it accompanies and the perspective of the character it's meant to portray like a glove. The human cry early in the song is the only element that stands out as unnecessary to me, but I think that's because of how it's executed. A more subtle treatment of that element might've made it better.
Sunset is a track the game comes back to pretty often. It's the game's "normal," its portrayal of the everyday. Its less hard edged guitar and generally laid back sound separate it from the darkness portrayed by many of the other tracks, but the presence of that distorted lead guitar and the occasional spacey or deep sea sounding synth hints at lurking evils. It almost sounds like muzak, but there's something sinister just below the surface. Chill, but chilling.
I can't go without mentioning the theme of the game's title character,
Song of Saya I. This is probably the game's most iconic track, with a simple, memorable theme backed by an arpeggiating rhythmic section. The theme itself seems like it might've been designed to be somewhat childish, and even cliche (the way it resolves is something that seems really common in Japanese games, I think it's a kind of Baroque resolution?), but this was probably purposeful, to match with elements of the character it portrays. Still, its execution creates a potent effect for me. This theme is almost like a lullaby, and the abstract female vocals are really appropriate in that context. Elements like piano (sampled both backwards and forwards) and that one woodwind sound that's always super melancholy but I don't know the name of help establish the, well, melancholy mood. There's a sense of nostalgia too; that line from the main character's narration about Saya embodying everything he's lost represents this song really well. It feels like the sweet melancholy of most of this song is mainly meant to represent his perspective of her, while the super distorted electric sound added in the reprisal is the far darker truth. It battles with the rest of the song's elements until the conclusion, where only it remains, wailing like a warning siren and gurgling into silence.
I have to finish this, so I'll just say a few words about the other tracks I think are remarkable before getting to the last, which is my overall favorite. Seek sounds appropriately inquisitive and mysterious with its extreme sparseness but ties into the soundtrack with its even more abstract female synth vocals, Spooky Scape creates dark desolation with echoing lead synth and cymbals, wind-like accompaniment and droning bass (and that heartbeat is a bit cheesy but will probably make you nervous), Sin is a sickly sweet riff on Song of Saya I with some cool percussion sounds and the way its used during really depraved scenes make it really uncomfortable similar to the Sabbath gut punch, Shapeshift feels like something really dark being elucidated and its bass sounds like a growling stomach, Scare Shadow is rather cheesy but effective and the guitar screeching and banging gives it teeth, but that wailing is dumb, and Scream is a perfect audio representation of a psychotic break, even with the cheesy techno percussion, and the wimpy sounds near the end are cool.
I'm not a big fan of the vocal ending tracks, they're ok I guess, and Savage is the track that I think sucks. Song of Saya II is barely even a rearrangement so who cares.
That leaves only one track, Saya no Uta's crown jewel,
Silent Sorrow. This is... what the fuck, this is possibly the single most beautiful track I've ever heard in a video game. It feels elegant rather than crude in its simplicity, the synth is well chosen, and the violin performances are fantastic. The longing and melancholy that were present in Song of Saya I are taken to absurdly melodramatic heights here, creating something hugely potent. This is soaring, tragic beauty. This is a great culmination. This is just really great composition performed with passion. I have no way of describing this track better than a line from the game itself, describing an event that the track plays over: "it is beautiful - overwhelmingly, painfully beautiful."
Painfully beautiful, dammit. I don't give a damn if that's a bit cheesy; when the tone of the scene and the soundtrack are this perfectly in tune you've absolutely nailed it. The only weakness this theme has is its brevity, but I could listen to it on loop for who knows how long.
All that writing and I still don't know if this post was a good idea or not. At least I finally got my feelings out. This is not the best soundtrack of the 6th generation as a whole in my opinion. I can understand if it comes of as cheap and sometimes tasteless. But it works, and at its best it works so well that it creates emotions in me that I can't deny. It deserves recognition. As for its makers, I don't know much about them, and haven't taken the time to do real research. If anyone knows about them, I'd like to know too. And if you've read this whole thing, thanks for reading. Phew.