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Yoko Kanno - Ragnarok Online II OST results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
MaxGalactica (42)
NFUN (50)
Sheep007 (56)
HBJDubs (66)
Fluttershy_Pony (80)
Johnbobb (90)

General Album Comments

Seanchan: ...it's really not doing this album any favors when it's inevitable that I'm going to compare it to the other "YouTube only video game" album we listened to not 2 weeks ago. While Follow Slowly is fun, energetic, and interesting, this is the exact opposite. Slow, plodding, and ultimately very boring for me.

I'll probably do another listen but I'm having a hard time seeing myself wanting to do a track ranking.

Fluttershy_Pony: I... think I like this album? It's just really long... I like half the songs, which means there's a lot here I enjoy! Also a lot that's... less good... it's just a lot in general. Still, I'd say I like this.

MaxGalactica: Yoko Kanno is far and away my favorite composer. Her compositional style really connects with me with its simplicity on the surface, yet complexity when you listen more carefully. She's produced 7 albums that I've rated 5 stars on RYM (this being one of them), which is way more than any other artist (no other artist has more than 2). Ragnarok Online II is a great showcase of her abilities in both orchestration and folk songwriting, with some hints of her synth abilities. Being the soundtrack for a canceled game, it didn't receive nearly as much recognition as it probably deserved. I'm very glad we got to cover it here and that you guys get the chance to at least be exposed to it.

Johnbobb: This soundtrack gives me big Nier Automata vibes, pretty solid.

Although can we please go back to doing albums that are on spotify

Sheep007: I could complain about having multiple VGM albums in quick succession, but honestly, this is fire. Gonna do one more listen tonight, instrumental tracks are always tricky to order.

Seanchan: I'm not going to submit a ranking this week.

I did do a 2nd listen and I'll pull back a bit on my initial negativity but there was still nothing here that I really latched onto. Given that and the combination of being long and instrumental, it's just not something I want to spend more time with. Din Don Dan Dan, Hodo, and 5 Year War were ones I was most positive on, while Yoru and especially Pub were very much the opposite.

Sheep007: Solid VGM album. Not totally sold on the choir, but the synths are gorgeous, lots of interesting instrument choices throughout, and it's long but not boring in the slightest.

NFUN: I've known D^4 for like 8 years now, and it's one of few songs that I adored back then that I still adore. The "epic violin battle theme" is increasingly cliched, so I was genuinely surprised about how much it holds up when I got to it. So much personality, and that didgeridoo[?] sweep is something so appropriate and unique that I don't understand why it hasn't been copied a thousand places elsewhere. It's bears some resemblance to Water that Connects Life from Cladun in its mood and quality, so maybe it just takes a jazz musician to soar in this field

Clap & Walk just feels like odd time for beginners, like you're at some square dance at your elementary school and the teacher is trying to teach you what time signatures are and how they can vary. Some folksy music is great and some isn't, so perhaps I'm just imagining the condescension because it'd fit in the latter category regardless

Sorry, Yoru and Sailing are inextricably intertwined in my mind. You can blame Max for that one. It threads being soft, subtle, and moving brilliantly. Even if it weren't my favorite of the album, it shows what Yoko Kanno is capable enough. In the hands of too many other composers it'd be generic, cheesy or boring see joe hisaishi, so props for making something that stands out so brightly while being so understated.

you should nominate all 200 songs of ragnarok online 1 next time

HBJDubs: Some bangers early on, but the rest of the album is just okay