grunty
I have reached Yuki nirvana
For shits and giggles since nothing's really happening right now. Part Deux.
Let's refresh our memories with Yuki Kajiura tracks that got MAKEOVERS over time. (Note: expanded to multiple studio versions, rather than just makeovers/selfcovers - more on that below.) I imagine I've not listened to some of these studio recordings in years, as I'm usually going back to versions that I remember liking (or very rarely go back at all if I am satisfied with their YKlive appearances). Excited to revisit them. Would you consider them successes or flops?
In your replies please vote for your favorite versions from choices provided OR say that you don't like any version of the song. Try to be specific with a year/album/performer, if the song title alone isn't enough to differentiate versions. If I somehow missed a studio recording (of a song in discussion) that you like, please specify! (More on that below.) To be honest I'm also thinking we could skip the voting part and just chat about it. I guess we'll see how it goes.
Before I start blogging (there's more of it below), take a look at recordings to discuss this week:
Wall of text:
I originally wanted to make a thread for discussing YK's selfcovers only but then I kept adding more and more tracks and loosening criteria and as of now my list stands at over 50 titles (each with several studio versions to discuss). That's obviously too many recordings to talk about at once so I decided to try making it into a weekly thing for forum engagement. We'll see how that goes - hopefully the thread doesn't die immediately.
I'm thinking of posting 2-3 SETS of recordings in the middle of every week (not more than 7 recordings total) so there's hopefully enough time for everyone to listen & discuss them around weekends. Just to give it a bit of a random feeling, I'm going to try posting one set chronologically, one set alphabetically (alternating asc./desc.), one set random (though it ended up being the last one alphabetically in the first week, lol, some luck); and avoid repeating artists or shows/albums in the same week. You should get the idea from the first set. I know I already went over that aforementioned 7 recordings limit - do comment, if you feel this is already too many recordings to discuss for one week...
Just because we will be moving on to new sets of titles every week, it shouldn't mean that you can't discuss songs that we had already talked about - just be specific in your posts. Previously discussed titles will be listed in a spoiler in one of the following posts.
My current list is a bit of a mess as far as my decisions & criteria go. I'm still on the fence about including certain recordings (with minimal differences compared to the original) but also feel bad about excluding them when I do include a similar version of another song for decent reasons (like comparing to a 3rd or 4th version)... Eh, it is what it is, nothing's ever perfect. I did make the decision to exclude:
Like in the previous poll thread, I will try to provide links to official youtube uploads, which hopefully work internationally - drop a comment if they don't. As some of these tracks are more obscure, there may not be official uploads available unfortunately. I'll try having a version up on mega, if there's absolutely nothing on youtube.
Let's refresh our memories with Yuki Kajiura tracks that got MAKEOVERS over time. (Note: expanded to multiple studio versions, rather than just makeovers/selfcovers - more on that below.) I imagine I've not listened to some of these studio recordings in years, as I'm usually going back to versions that I remember liking (or very rarely go back at all if I am satisfied with their YKlive appearances). Excited to revisit them. Would you consider them successes or flops?
In your replies please vote for your favorite versions from choices provided OR say that you don't like any version of the song. Try to be specific with a year/album/performer, if the song title alone isn't enough to differentiate versions. If I somehow missed a studio recording (of a song in discussion) that you like, please specify! (More on that below.) To be honest I'm also thinking we could skip the voting part and just chat about it. I guess we'll see how it goes.
Before I start blogging (there's more of it below), take a look at recordings to discuss this week:
WEEK #2k25
courtesy waltz / Yami no Uta ? / original 2010 / Kalafina ver. | aime moi 2003 / OG arrange | Shinkai no Kodoku 2005 / original 2013 / ReTracks | Honoh no Tobira 2005 / original 2005 / hearty edition 2013 / ReMix2013 |
Code:
DL FOR SONGS THAT I COULD NOT FIND ON YOUTUBE
mega.nz/file/IgB1kBSC#kHifZxB1JBwn8YbszhYAki3cxkDReZhFkqg0gqyB3Ug
Pass: "HDReMaster2013"WEEK #2k25 BREAKDOWN
| The COURTESY WALTZ (? FJ.com upload / web archive from May 2001 already has the mp3) * listen (not on youtube; check link above) | FJ.com description: c_waltz.mp3 The COURTESY WALTZ 王宮舞踏会シーンの為の曲。結構お気に入り。 本当は歌入りだったんだけど、これはオケヴァージョン。 本当は生でやりたいけど、これは宅録ヴァージョン。 |
| Yami no Uta (2010 "Red Moon" / Kalafina album) Performance: Kalafina listen | Lyrics: Yuki Kajiura Music: Yuki Kajiura Arrangement: Yuki Kajiura Programming: Yuki Kajiura Guitar: Susumu Nishikawa Bass: Tomoharu "Jr." Takahashi Drums: Masuke Nozaki Strings: Kiyo Kido Strings Chorus: Yuriko Kaida, Yuki Kajiura |
| aime moi (2001 NOIR - blanc dans NOIR album) Performance: Kirika Yumura (CV. Houko Kuwashima) listen grunty note: Kajiura arrange of a song not written by her. I should've featured it during the anomaly week but it somehow didn't click for me. | Lyrics: Kenzo Saeki Music: Hirofumi Asamoto Arrangement: Yuki Kajiura vocal: Houko Kuwashima keyboards & programming: Yuki Kajiura electric guitar: Takahiro Koike acoustic guitar: Hiroshi Imaizumi violin: Hitoshi Konno viola: Hirohito Furugawara cello: Masayo Furugawara |
| Shinkai no Kodoku (2005 Mobile Suit GUNDAM SEED DESTINY Original Soundtrack 2) Performance: Houko Kuwashima listen (original) / listen (2) (recent digital single) | Lyrics: Yuki Kajiura Music: Yuki Kajiura Arrangement: Yuki Kajiura Recorded & Mixed by Takashi Koiwa(Mixer's Lab) *no musicians in Gundam SEED Destiny OST2 *no musicians in "THE BRIDGE" Gundam album *no musicians in Houko Kuwashima's "Houko Chronicle" album ??? Houko Kuwashima's 2005 "Junshaku brilliant" album ??? halp ??? |
| Shinkai no Kodoku ～ReTracks (2024 Mobile Suit GUNDAM SEED Memorial CD-BOX) Performance: Houko Kuwashima * listen (not on youtube; check link above) | Lyrics: Yuki Kajiura Music: Yuki Kajiura Arrangement: Yuki Kajiura *no musicians or recording credits in Memorial CD-BOX |
| Honoh no Tobira (2005 "Honoh no Tobira" / FictionJunction YUUKA single) Performance: FictionJunction YUUKA listen (not official) / listen (2) (recent digital single) | Lyrics: Yuki Kajiura Music: Yuki Kajiura Arrangement: Yuki Kajiura All Keyboard & Programming: Yuki Kajiura EG.AG: Masayoshi Furukawa Bass: Tomoharu "Jr." Takahashi Strings: Konno Group Chorus: Kaori Nishina |
| Honoh no Tobira～hearty edition (2005 "Honoh no Tobira" / FictionJunction YUUKA single) Performance: FictionJunction YUUKA listen / listen (2) (not official) | Lyrics: Yuki Kajiura Music: Yuki Kajiura Arrangement: Yuki Kajiura All Keyboard & Programming: Yuki Kajiura EG: Masayoshi Furukawa EG: Koichi Korenaga Cello: Ayano Kasahara |
| Honoh no Tobira ～ReMix2013 (2024 Mobile Suit GUNDAM SEED Memorial CD-BOX) Performance: FictionJunction YUUKA * listen (not on youtube; check link above) | Lyrics: Yuki Kajiura Music: Yuki Kajiura Arrangement: Yuki Kajiura *no musicians or recording credits in Memorial CD-BOX |
END OF WEEK
Wall of text:
I originally wanted to make a thread for discussing YK's selfcovers only but then I kept adding more and more tracks and loosening criteria and as of now my list stands at over 50 titles (each with several studio versions to discuss). That's obviously too many recordings to talk about at once so I decided to try making it into a weekly thing for forum engagement. We'll see how that goes - hopefully the thread doesn't die immediately.
I'm thinking of posting 2-3 SETS of recordings in the middle of every week (not more than 7 recordings total) so there's hopefully enough time for everyone to listen & discuss them around weekends. Just to give it a bit of a random feeling, I'm going to try posting one set chronologically, one set alphabetically (alternating asc./desc.), one set random (though it ended up being the last one alphabetically in the first week, lol, some luck); and avoid repeating artists or shows/albums in the same week. You should get the idea from the first set. I know I already went over that aforementioned 7 recordings limit - do comment, if you feel this is already too many recordings to discuss for one week...
Just because we will be moving on to new sets of titles every week, it shouldn't mean that you can't discuss songs that we had already talked about - just be specific in your posts. Previously discussed titles will be listed in a spoiler in one of the following posts.
My current list is a bit of a mess as far as my decisions & criteria go. I'm still on the fence about including certain recordings (with minimal differences compared to the original) but also feel bad about excluding them when I do include a similar version of another song for decent reasons (like comparing to a 3rd or 4th version)... Eh, it is what it is, nothing's ever perfect. I did make the decision to exclude:
- remixes not produced by YK (like old See-Saw remixes);
- efforts like "salva nos ~ dialogue remix ver." or "full size mix" ("kouya ruten ~full size mix" is pretty pointless and do many actually people go back to the shortened edits of "romanesque" or "I have a dream"?);
- lyric/vocal theme song expansions of BGMs, like "let the stars fall down"<=>"Manten". Taking them into consideration would put me in a position of including songs based on melodies/leitmotifs, rather than other full tracks. That means that even tracks like "el cazador"/"cazador del amor" and "Sagitta luminis"/"Hikariful" are excluded as of now.
Like in the previous poll thread, I will try to provide links to official youtube uploads, which hopefully work internationally - drop a comment if they don't. As some of these tracks are more obscure, there may not be official uploads available unfortunately. I'll try having a version up on mega, if there's absolutely nothing on youtube.
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I also never watched the Gundam series back then, nor did I bother understanding the lyrics.
I also couldn't stop looping the song for days, dwelling in its vivid, soul-moving warmth of sunset, loneliness, lamentation and longing - it expresses so much emotions, so heavy yet gentle, that it makes me want to sigh and shiver... it's so poignant.
