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Escaflowne OST 3
The third escaflowne sticks with a very classical selection of songs. A few vocal track are thrown in for good measure, but the majority of songs are very much in the classical vein of music. Some of the tracks have an Opera sound to them. It's a solid album with a varied selection of songs. Yoko Kanno once again does an excellent job composing music to fit the series.
The songs on this album go from sad and slow to upbeat and happy in a rather nice mix. There are also a number of very recognizable songs like Short Notice which is the song used to preview the next episode. The best song on the album is easily Aoi Hitomi which is the first vocal song on the CD. The vocals backed up by the violins gives a strange sad yet happy feeling. Aoi Hitomi is followed up by two more vocal tracks Perfect World and I reccommend Instincts. A few more classical pieces takes you to Fatal. Fatal is a short flute solo made to sound like a person whistling. It's another of my favorites on the album because of it's distinct sound. The next song Hikari No Naka E has another beautiful voice singing in it. The singer is is helped out by great performances from the violins and pianist. The last song is called Again and is another classical style song which wasn't the best choice to finish up the album. I think leaving Again off and letting Hikari No Naka E finish the album would have been a better way to go.
This is a very good album from an excellent composer. Most of the instrumental classic pieces are very well done creating a harmony between each section of the orchestra resulting in very moving songs. Masashi Yabuhara's influence in the mixing of the album is it's biggest detriment. I think that the songs had they been arranged slightly better could have made this album outstanding. Any Yoko Kanno fan and even many who aren't will eat this one up.