^oh wow that is harsh :) trigger time!
I wholeheartedly disagree with you in terms of Disc1 lacking identity, and the leitmotif is great and touching. I think the comparison to Zimmer is objectively way off. Just because Kajiura used bombastic (and yes some tracks are bombastic - and this I like tbh) brass and/or strings doesn't mean she spewed out some Hollywood music sheet. Yuri, Eri, Hanae, Tokyo Konsei, Joelle. They all add to the identity of Kajiura. Nothing, nothing like Zimmer at all.
Kajiura doesn't (and shouldn't) create "eccentric" or "androgynous" Zodiacal sign(? Materialise?)-esque (I don't even know what androgynous music means in this day and age) tracks all the time, she is super versatile and should have her hands in all sorts of styles. Of course I totally respect the feeling you have for the ost, in fact I welcome more negative reviews and discussion (instead of praising Kajiura all the time) xD
edit: great. now I had to listen to all versions of zodiacal sign -.-
I'm a worshiper but never a blind one
I've 35 OSTs by her, but not 100 % of her OSTs.
And hey, bombastic isn't categorically bad to be sure. My go-to YK bombastic album is Fate/Zero the three disc edition. I've played that one through the most of all the "more recent" YK OSTs. So that's saying something. It's possible I compare that one to this. F/Z may be a fairly bleak and dark record. But it's this aesthetic I personally like about YK a lot. The sense of dread intermixed with sentimentality and "weird" (as in I've still to discover a composer close to her in terms of arrangement and ideas) is exactly my cup of tea.
My Zimmer analogy may be misleading. But if a record has a big sound, it should offer more than just that. Call it something that grips you and stays within you. Though at times generic, Zimmer is able to do that.
F/Z simply had me hooked by the time I listened to "Grief" on the 1st disc. "Grief" is one of my all-time favourite YK piano melodies. So much is expressed in so few notes, and the way those notes are played and ultimately mixed is simply superb:
https://youtu.be/BAFRmADBxAE?si=b6FqoPf4vy025iRf
Here the 1st disc simply did nothing to me aside from a flashpoint here and there. The music may fit the visuals, and it's mission accomplished in that regard, but for an OST listened to for its own sake, that isn't enough.
Another listening may help things but the world is full of music. These days I usually don't bother with music that doesn't connect.
By androgynous sound I mean her wide and even simultaneous use of soft/tender and hard/bleak elements. That's what I consider a unique approach among soundtrack composers and not many artists can pull this mixture off in an equally dramatic but somehow harmonious fashion.
I agree with your closing argument. Versatility is all good and even desirable. It's just she can be versatile and loud in a way that really hits the listener. I do have a few of these more epic OSTs by her, besides F/Z. But not all of them are worth my time or money.