fake wings
(2002 .hack//SIGN ORIGINAL SOUND & SONG TRACK 1)
Performance: Emily Bindiger
- Acoustic guitar is always a strong way to start a song, with that beautiful chord progression.
- Emily's voice starting immediately with harmony and the heavy effects has the haunting feel. The Latin guitar (I don't know the name) accenting the song was also delightful. Also the shaker or castanet or whatever in the background.
- I liked the mix too. Quite well done. A very atmospheric and storytelling song.
fake wings
(2003 "FICTION" / Yuki Kajiura album)
Performance: Emily Bindiger.
- Vocal starts the song (no intro) with the acoustic guitar. Emily's voice is natural and minimally effected, and the Latin guitar.
- Full strings are present as well, coming in for an interlude taking the length of a full verse.
- Second verse with vocals brings in the harmony and all the instrumentation. Better mix.
Winner: I respect the original for its atmospheric and nostalgic feel (fitting the anime I presume), but I give it to the FICTION version. Superior mix (great separation), and starting with the vocals gave it an immediacy while the original had a mood setting with the guitar giving that nostalgic feel at the start. Also hearing the vocals more true to life is always a win for me.
dolce
(2013 "Alelluia" / Kalafina single)
Performance: Kalafina
- Chimes starting the song. The vocals start powerfully. It's essentially an acappella performance with chimes at that point.
- Love the way Keiko's voice was written for the first part of the verse to sing just one note as almost a drone, while Wakana sang the melody in her floaty voice and Hikaru moved around on the minor/crunchy notes to give that additional color. I feel Hikaru would have the most fun with those notes. The second part of the verse where the harmony became more expressive and dynamic was a great contrast to the first part, even with Keiko moving around more and going higher.
- Strings coming in on the second verse was beautiful and very appropriate. The effect on Keiko's vocal to give that full base to the rest of the vocals was very cool too.
- Also loved the fact that the end was a combination of verse 1 and 2 musically - starting a cappella and then the strings come in. The very short B melody at the end was beautiful and ending with the chimes.
- I think Kalafina got most of Kajiura's mysterious chime-sprinkled atmospheric music.
dolce~with strings ver.~
(2016 Winter Acoustic "Kalafina with Strings" / Kalafina album)
Performance: Kalafina
- The song is close to the same with some changes for a more acoustic vocal representation (less effects).
- Keiko's part is slightly more balanced in the mix, while in the original it was heavier and boomed, giving added mystery to the vocals.
Winner: The OG. Stronger auditory impact overall to my ears and mind.
everlasting song
(2005 Erementar Gerad Original Soundtrack 1)
Performance: FictionJunction ASUKA | Chorus: Yuriko Kaida
- Lovely intro with that electronic drumbeat and ASUKA's slightly sultry (mature cute) vocal in English.
- The melody of the song is a really beautiful, "innocent" one from Kajiura.
- The electronic beat is a relentless 4-4.
everlasting song~japanese edition
(2005 "everlasting song" / FictionJunction ASUKA single)
Performance: FictionJunction ASUKA | Chorus: Yuriko Kaida
- Superior start with the bright instrumentation and the guitar. I liked that start with the vocal giving room for musical development.
- Strings coming in on the second verse was appropriate. ASUKA sang in Japanese which I think I enjoyed more than the soundtrack version.
- Yuriko's voice was more natural and less atmospheric. The strings bridge hit home.
- A more natural vocal presentation closer to the YKL performance.
- The electronic beat comes up prominently later in the song, tying it rhythmically to the original really nicely.
everlasting song~ballad edition
(2005 "everlasting song" / FictionJunction ASUKA single)
Performance: FictionJunction ASUKA
- Cool, subdued version, with just the piano accompaniment.
- A nice song, but I'm as much a fan of this, since the vocal was the centerpiece (due to reduced instrumentation and tempo) and so needed to be more memorable, but because it was in an unfamiliar language, the enunciation wasn't fully there to give the emotional beats, and ASUKA is a limited dynamics singer (especially singing phonetically, I assume, in English) so I feel her voice was adequate but not mind-blowing.
Winner: The single version was the best for this song. Better arrangement, instrumentation, vocal performance (language familiarity) and the progression and journey of the music was just excellent for this song - final form.