A Taste of Tenpei Sato: Disgaea Custom Soundtrack (Review)

Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) has been very generous to their fans when it comes to soundtrack pack-ins and pre-order bonuses for their games. The Disgaea franchises isn’t any different, as there are countless promotional album releases and official releases from the series that I recommend checking out. Today, however, we’re taking a look at the Disgaea Custom Soundtrack, a compilation disc of music from Disgaea 1, 2, and 3 that was given out to those who pre-ordered the Disgaea 3 back in 2008.

Resident NIS composer Tenpei Sato is of course responsible for the music here. I’m a huge fan of his work (we recently reviewed the Phantom Brave and Prinny soundtracks), and his quirky tracks from Disgaea are right in line with those releases. More and more I’m starting to draw parallels in my brain between Sato and Noriyuki Iwadare of all people given that both composers rely on lots of synthesized sounds that lend a distinct “gamey” quality to their scores. Well, let’s dig in!

Hit the jump for our review of the Disagaea Custom Soundtrack!

As I mentioned, there are tracks from three different games dispersed in seemingly random order on this disc. I’ll try to go more in a tracklist order rather than separating out by game, as all of these tracks sound like they could be from the same game.

The album opens with two vocal tracks (there are lots of these here) that might not resonate with a lot of listeners. They’re very over the top and playful, as each is voiced by a choir of the game’s characters. While you might want to skip these on future listens, I highly suggest you don’t let them turn you off to the album entirely (hey, at least there aren’t screechy female vocals), as there is some great music beyond.

There is a crap ton of variety on this album. Right in line with the Sato/Iwadare comparison I was making earlier, “Tales of Innocent Youth” is an amazing synth rock track with a great melody, a romantic string backing, and that distinct synth brass sound that adds an epic edge to the track. “Rock Crystal” takes the same approach with wailing electric guitars and synth brass and strings. The vibrato and slides on the electric guitar are impressive, and the added acoustic guitar chords add an elegant touch.

There’s even chip music here. “Lord Laharl’s… Hymn?” is a playful chiptune track with a gothic melody (the more serious orchestral version is featured as the last track on the album). “Galaxy Wars” is an epic orchestral piece with some almost convincing samples. The serious tone of this track reminds me of some of Sakuraba’s orchestral work from his PlayStation days. “Planet X” goes trance with a driving bassline and thumping percussion, which was entirely unexpected. There’s also a few “Western”-styled tracks ala Wild ARMs including “Poem of the Vagabond,” which comes complete with whistling, and “Running Fire” which combines electronic octave-jumping bass with the Western elements. Two of my favorites are actually some of the darkest tracks on the album, which we don’t hear often from Sato. “Makai Fugue” is a convincing fugue featuring organ, while “Dark Whisper” uses belltones to voice an unsettling and melancholy melody.

The majority of the other tracks here are vocal themes. Despite the opening silliness, the rest of the vocal tracks are actually quite good. “Etna Boogie” takes Etna’s husky voice and pairs it to a classy jazz backing, while “Etna Rock” does the same with a spunky rock backing. “Sinful Rose” is one of my favorite tracks, taking that “Western” sound that I mentioned before and applying pop vocals. It’s actually very effective, with the chorus being particularly catchy. “My Comrade,” on the other hand, sounds like something out of an early Western film, with the male vocals sounding like they were recorded in the 1950s, creating a sort of “classic” quality. Finally, “Twinkle Star” is an all out J-pop song, complete with upped production values and a convincing vocal performance. I imagine it was a lot of fun for Sato to work on this one.

While this album isn’t openly available for sale, NIS America has been known to sell it at places like Anime Expo. I highly recommend picking it up for the $5 asking price, as it’s quite a steal if you’re a fan of Sato. Otherwise, you can hunt down the individual game soundtracks and enjoy even more Sato goodness.

Are you a fan of Tenpei Sato’s work on the Disgaea series? Do you think they go overboard with the vocal themes, or is the balance just right?