/mu/

[Anonymous No.]

There hasn't been a good OST since TH14.3, has ZUN lost his touch?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
I don't know, OSTs for TH15 and TH16 seemed quite good.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748931
What songs from those two OSTs would you even put in your top 15?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748934
Have you even listened to Eternal Spring Dream or Secret God Matara ~ Hidden Star in All Seasons? Literal kino.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748934
There are a lot of themes that I like in those games, but if you ask my top 15, Pure Furies, Illusionary White Traveller would surely get in.
(Now that I think about it, top 15 is kind of unfair, since I really like a lot of themes.)

[Anonymous No.]

I actually really like 15's OST. 16 I have to listen to more to really put my finger on it, but it's definitely far from my least favorite.

>>17748934
I don't know if I would say any are in my top 15, but I really liked pretty much all LoLK stage themes and Ringo, Clownpiece, and Junko's themes. For 16 I liked the title theme, stages 1 and 4, and Okina's stage 6 theme. The rest are just okay but, again, I only played through it once, and I can still say with certainty I like its soundtrack far more than PoFV and EoSD.
Regardless, I don't think saying "how many of these songs are in your top 15?" is a good measurement. Three or so DDC songs are in my top 15 but I don't like the rest of the soundtrack.

[Anonymous No.]

I actually really like 15's OST. I'll have to have played 16 more than once to really decide how much I like it, but it's definitely far from my least favorite.

>>17748934
I don't know if I would say any are in my top 15, but I really liked pretty much all LoLK stage themes and Ringo, Clownpiece, and Junko's themes. For 16 I liked the title theme, stages 1 and 4, and Okina's stage 6 theme.
Regardless, I don't think saying "how many of these songs are in your top 15?" is a good measurement. Three or so DDC songs are in my top 15 but I don't think the rest of the soundtrack is all that special.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
Say what you want, World of Nightmares Never Seen Before and Pandemonic Planet are lit as fuck. Honorable mention to The Rabbit has Landed and Mysterious Shrine Maiden Flying in Space.

TH16 also has good OST overall imo. The only one I'm not that much fond of is Narumi's theme.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748943
>>17748956
Doesn't feel like they match up to the older soundtracks. From game order, these are better than anything in the newer OST
- Septette for the Dead Princess
- Necro-Fantasy
- Border of Life
- Phantom Ensemble
- Extend Ash ~ Hourai Victim
- Love-Colored Master Spark
- Walking the Streets of a Former Hell
- Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion
- Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind
- Kobito of the Shining Needle ~ Little Princess
- Futatsuiwa from Sado
- Primordial Beat ~ Pristine Beat
- Romantic Escape Flight

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748981
Again, Secret God Matara is one of ZUN's masterpieces. It's great. It's like his older Windows works. Your list is agreeable as well. I think there is no such thing as bad Touhou music, but some tracks are certainly much more entertaining than others.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
New games have good stage themes.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748981
I dunno man, four of those songs I don't even like all too much, and of the ones you replied to, I still like Pure Furies and Illusionary White Traveler more than any of the rest (that I've heard) aside from Cosmic Mind, Little Princess or Futatsuiwa from Sado. It's all subjective, I guess.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748981
Whoa that's like, not even half of the entire Touhou OST, which seems to imply that some of the newer OSTs at least still top or equal to most of previous soundtracks, except the really good ones.
Well, it's all opinions.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
What are you even on about, LoLK and HSiFS had amazing music.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17749105
He's spreading fud to get a rise out of us.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
The only bad thing about recent OSTs are the tacky lead guitar synths.

[Anonymous No.]

Oh boy, are we arguing about opinions again?
>>17748934
My personal S-tier songs goes something like pic related, and if you take away 砕月 and 東方緋想天 since they weren't ZUN, you'd actually have a perfect 15.
HSiFS's songs weren't super amazing I'll give you that but LoLK's stage 4 and stage 6 were out of this world.
But again, opinions.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17749177
Fuck somehow managed to not capture the first 3 songs, them being PoDD Yumeko's theme, LLS S4, and MS S5.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17749123
While the original post initially made me think otherwise, I think he's sincere and isn't only out to get replies. I'm sure if I said I think PoFV and EoSD have the worst soundtracks and casts in the series or that Kaguya has the worst final boss theme, people would dismiss it as bait.

>>17749167
Yeah, the instrumentation is something I'm not a big fan of. Not like overwhelming trumpets were much better (he hit a nice balance with MoF era music) but I could do without the newer drumkits and guitars. I think the new style worked wonderfully for TD and LoLK, though.

>>17749180
That's an amazing top 3, although I don't know if you mean MS Yumeko's theme or a different song from PoDD. I don't know if I really agree with the rest of the list aside from the DDC/LoLK songs and Cosmic Mind, but I still think they're good for the most part.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
>Battlefield of Hanahazama
>Last Occultism ~ Esotericist of the Present World
>Eternal Spring Dream
>The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects
>Pure Furies ~ Whereabouts of the Heart
>A World of Nightmares Never Seen Before
>A Pair of Divine Beasts
>Illusionary White Traveler
>Into Backdoor
>The Concealed Four Seasons
>White Traveler
>Secret God Matara ~ Hidden Star in All Seasons

Boy could you be more wrong. And that's not even considering the themes that are not favorites but could pass as decent.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748934
Pierrot of the star-spangled banner is in my top 5

[Anonymous No.]

Wow, cool, yet ANOTHER "Has ZUN lost his touch???" thread. Never enough of these.

>>17748934
You've moved the goalposts a bit here from "good" to "Top 15" which has a ton of competition and is a lot harder, but definitely not unbeatable.

But for me Voyage of 380,000 Kilometers and Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects would easily slide into my Top 15 and I genuinely love A Pair of Divine Beasts.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748981
It's honestly easy for me to see Pure Furies or Concealed Four Seasons on that list over a couple of those, though. Also to be fair we're talking about a top 15 in a series with 25 games, and we're (presumably?) not even including the music CDs. Any top 15 will inherently exclude tons of amazing tracks.

[Anonymous No.]

I hope we can all agree on the fact that IN has the most consistent and arguably the best soundtrack

[Anonymous No.]

>>17755565
Except Love-Coloured Master Spark. Fuck that grating drums.
If it weren't for the fact it is kind of iconic in music circles and remixes I would put it as my least favourite.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17755565
Consistent, sure. Everything is at least good to me, with a couple of standouts I adore and a single song I don't care for.
Best? No, I'd put it somewhere in the middle. Better than most, but worse than the best.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
You're the kind of person everyone is making fun of. The one constantly screaming "THE NEW TOUHOU GAME SUCKS BECAUSE [...]" every year (now bi-yearly).

The songs are still equally good, often more complex in turn with cleaner instruments. It's surprising actually. Compared to before, they don't stick to your head instantly. They do so after you listen to them more often and hear them re-arranged.
Regardless of your personal opinion, go listen to Hertzdevil's 8-bit (MEGA ZUN) arranges. They're all re-arranged in the same style, so it's easier to judge them, to see if you simply don't like the new instruments.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
ZUN's perfectly fine.

TH15 was a completely solid OST, I honestly don't think it had a single weak song besides Hecatia's EX-theme and at it's best these 3 are easily new candidates for all time greats.

https://youtu.be/JjHPGJ3wr5E
https://youtu.be/a8Wdta9YFYk
https://youtu.be/MgBoe_x9g2o

ULiL had Kasen's theme which turned out solid
https://youtu.be/fp8hxDtqmR0

TH16 was probably weaker overall more due to aiming at a different style of music more for the moment and less outright catchy themes but it still had some solid compositions.

https://youtu.be/k5H-Hix_O0Y
https://youtu.be/qAO08Rgu0Zk
https://youtu.be/z5babDtDqQU

And there is not mention the recent two ZUN's music collection CD's which have some really interesting experimental new tracks to go with the Hifuu Sealing Club stories.

>>17749241
>Last Occultism ~ Esotericist of the Present World
Personally speaking I didn't like the one in ULiL at all, on the other handI thought the SCoOW re-arrangement made everything better.
https://youtu.be/2m4IGi9PlXo

[Anonymous No.]

>>17755720
fuck you

[Anonymous No.]

>>17755893
>but worse than the best.
like ?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17755720
Really the slap bass drums is your problem? I would think the first thing anyone would complain about is the shrill trumpets.

>>17755893
I feel the same.

IN is more like the point when ZUN finally first found his real legs as a composer and something clicked where he finally really understood what he wanted. But the actual instrumentation and arrangement is still slightly off.

To say IN is his best work is far too presumptuous. Calling any OST his best should be reserved for at minimum MoF/SA era. There is a notable jump in the quality and complexity of his arrangements at that point. Even ZUN probably noticed it as he's been using that same Game Over theme ever since MoF.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756051
I like TD, MS, UFO, MoF, and LoLK much more, and think PoDD and maybe LLS and PCB are a tad better.

>>17756090
Yeah, I think his compositions get a lot more interesting from MoF onwards, and I think MoF to UFO is where he had perfected his early Windows instrumentation and style. TD onwards are more experimental (particularly in instrumentation) which I think can be hit or miss. With DDC, I love everything from Illusionary Joururi onwards but don't care for anything before it, and two of the four Touhou songs I outright dislike come from this game. In Old Adam, I love the rearrangements of previous songs more than those of the other CDs but don't like the new songs.
That being said, many of my personal favorites come from the PC98 and very early Windows era. MS is my second or third favorite soundtrack (often can't decide between it and UFO), and Alice Maestra and Flower of Japan are my favorite ZUN compositions.

[Anonymous No.]

Honestly I don't think MoF is very good. I find SA IN LOLK and PCB to be much better and consistent overall.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748934
clownpiece, junko and reimu dog themes are all pretty good.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756259
>Alice Maestra and Flower of Japan are my favorite ZUN compositions.
Funny you bring them up because they rank as all time favourites for me too. Only real thing they suffer from is being pre-Windows and I highly doubt ZUN will revisit them for a updated re-arrangement. Both came about at the point ZUN hit his peak with PC-98 mixes so have aged very well.

At least there is still the doujin scene to give the songs some love rare as it is for pre-Windows games.

https://youtu.be/Va5K4CpDqV8
https://youtu.be/zAxfjkBpIq8

>>17756259
>TD onwards are more experimental
I agree whole heartedly you can mark TD as the exact point he decided to experiment more with instrumentation he's not familiar with for better or worse.

UFO really is the ultimate culmination of that chapter of ZUN's music. It does have a few weak tracks compared to games before but the large majority of the tracks are some of the finest arrangements he's ever made and as a whole OST it's actually very complete. Makai City Esoteria and Cosmic Mind alone rank easily amongst the all time greats.

I'd reckon you could actually mark the evolution of ZUN's music in cycles sort of like so.

Experimental --> Refinement --> Peak

-PC98-
HrtP, SoEW --> PoDD --> LLS, MS

-Early Windows-
Seihou, EoSD, PCB, IaMP --> IN, PoFV, StB --> MoF, SA, UFO, SWR, DS, GFW

-Modern Windows-
TD, HM, DDC --> ISC, ULiL, LoLK, HSiFS

I'm actually kind of undecided but it feels like there was a sudden jump between DDC and ISC far as instrumentation goes and it feels like he's still in a period of trying to settle into something.

>In Old Adam, I love the rearrangements of previous songs more than those of the other CDs but don't like the new songs.
I actually don't like Old Adam's new songs much either besides Hangover of Bedfellows. But I loved the new tracks in Dr. Latency.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756734
How would you rank the soundtracks, and what's your top 10 or so favorite songs? It's scary how much I agree with a lot of what you said.

I'd say 13 > 5 > 12 >>> 10 > 15 >>> 4 > 3 > 8 > 7 > 16 >>> 14 > 11 > 1 > 2 >>> 6 > 9, at least right now. The list tends to change depending on what I'm playing. Never played the spinoffs.

As for my top 10, it would be
Alice Maestra
Flower of Japan
The Lost Emotion
The Shining Needle Castle Sinking in the Air
Alice in Wonderland
The Hall of Dreams' Great Mausoleum
Desire Drive
Night Sakura of Dead Spirits
Little Princess
Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly

[Anonymous No.]

>>17755565
Only bad track on EoSD in Lunar Clock

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756928
Going to disagree with your opinion.

The only "bad" (It's okay) track I find in EoSD is Lunate Elf.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
I don't think so, Pancho.
LoLK OST was really good and even thought the OST in HSiFS was weaker, it still had pretty good gems.
Even so, EoSD and LLS are still my favorites.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756928
The track fits with the battle extremely well. I can't hate it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756983
>EoSD
Absolutely patrician.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756928
It's still better than Flowering Night

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756928
you misspelled Lunate Elf

Luna Dial is a better theme for Sakuya than Flowering Night

[Anonymous No.]

>>17748916
Pure Furies is furious with you.

[Anonymous No.]

My list is something like this:
12 > 8 > 7 > 11 > 14 > 15 > 16 > 12.8 > 9 > 10 > 13 > 6

In my opinion, th11 was the first one that has more diverse and unique BGM compared to the previous games. The recent one is more often hit and miss for me, especially th13, stages 1, 2, and 3 somehow too bland for me, love the stage 5 and Futo's theme, the rest are okay.


>>17756734
>I actually don't like Old Adam's new songs much either besides Hangover of Bedfellows. But I loved the new tracks in Dr. Latency.
Perfectly stated by ZUN himself. He said that he arrange new songs and also add songs from the games that have some quirks that probably not many people like it. I like both but more often listen to Dr. Latency, especially Schrodinger's Bakeneko.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17755941
>it's easier to judge them, to see if you simply don't like the new instruments.
Instrumentation is definitely an important element, and I don't think it's entirely wrong to judge a song on that aspect.
One example is Pure Furies and The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects. They have the same base melody, but vastly different instrumentation. I love stage 6 whereas I find Pure Furies a complete mess of screeching noises.
Am I then wrong in saying I don't like Pure Furies if I still like the composition?

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756928
consider seppuku

[Anonymous No.]

>>17756891
Strictly only from the games at that point in time in no particular order, my current top 15. Of course similarly it changes all the time depending on what I feel like and whether new games come out...

-Inanimate Dream
-The Lost Emotion
-Flower of Japan
-Romantic Children
-Night Sakura of Dead Spirits
-3rd Eye
-Fairy Wars
-Infinite Nightmare
-Japanize Dream
-Illusionary White Traveler
-Unforgettable, the Nostalgic Greenery
-Pure Furies ~ Whereabouts of the Heart
-Hall of Dreams' Great Mausoleum
-Cosmic Mind
-Ghostly Eyes

Those are all the songs I genuinely feel are most balanced in each area of arrangement, instrument choices and composition.

Far as game OST's which he 100% composed go it's something like this for me.

12.8 > 11 > 12 > 15 > 14.3 > 13 > 5 > 10 > 4 > 12.5 > 16 > 8 > 7 = 14 > 9 > 6 > 3 > 2 > 1

Thing about the early Windows games is whilst ZUN's early compositions are strong. He was lacking when it came to arrangement and picking instruments for the games. It pushes a lot of them down in rank for me, 7/8 being the biggest examples for me.

5 & 4 is different and are kind of special they really push that soundfont to the absolute limit of what you could do and it does make them timeless. But ultimately having a richer set of instruments will always allow more depth to everything. They're kind of like cheap car customized for racing, it's the absolute top 1% on par with a sports car. But it's a cheap car ultimately.

I find HSiFS interesting really, individually I don't like that many tracks besides select few. What I recognize however is as a complete OST it's actually quite well made. It has a really uniform sound, all the tracks have a good deal of depth and complexity to them which seem to flow into each other.

14 ranks low for me because well it honestly feels like two soundtracks from two different games slapped together.

[Anonymous No.]

>>17758718
>complete mess of screeching noises.
>Am I then wrong in saying I don't like Pure Furies if I still like the composition?
Yes, because that's the entire point. The instrumentation is intended for bullet hell gameplay and instead you're judging it based on listening to it by itself.