3 out of 5

Label: Atlus

Producer: Shoji Meguro

‘Remixed’ classical compositions selected from the game soundtrack, Meguro does Holst, Beethoven, Bach and so on proud by proving how modern these pieces can sound, especially when filtered through video game beeps and boops.  Holst’s ‘Planets Suite’ excerpts gets a Dreamscape-esque synth treatment to introduce the disc, chosen, according to Meguro’s notes, as representative of the worldview of Catherine.  While its not the most grabbing track here, thematically I certainly agree, the parts of the suite pieced together into a surreally bouncy musical trip.  The next two tracks – Beethoven and Bach selections – unfortunately don’t get too make too much impact before fading out; undoubtedly their vibes matched whichever portion of the game to which they were synched, but for a disc which was meant to be highlights (and only clocks in at 30 minutes), it doesn’t stir up much promise for what follows.  But boom bap, some heavy (live?) drumming comes in for the next selections.  The Dvorak piece, again according to the notes, was the song demoed to producers for the classical concept, and it has that necessary grabbing feel – immediate, emotional, and momentous.  The William Tell Overture is somewhat hampered by switching from the flute bit to heavier sections rather suddenly, but it definitely shows the uniqueness of what Meguro was attempting to do here.  Similarly mixed mash-ups follow.  There’s not quite a perfect song, all of them working in fits and bursts, but the 6 or so songs at the core of this album are all at least interesting and pleasing and feel like something new instead of just techno remixes.  …Like Chopin’s ‘Revolutionary Etude,’ which sounds like Danny Baranowsky on Metroid.  It’s fun, but easily dismissed.  The disc ends on rather unimpressive notes; a fairly straightforward ‘Hallelujah’ bit and a Sonata from Chopin that has a similar thematic feel to it as the opener but pushed into a jazzier direction it comes across more silly.

The tracks here gave a unique flavor to the game and I appreciate the desire to isolate only the classical pieces; however, I feel the effectiveness of the disc could’ve been helped by including more material so we got a better sense of ebb and flow.  Overall, though, ‘Catherine’ has enough stunningly modern and catchy renditions of generally recognizable pieces that I’m sure it will grab a listener’s attention.  Whether that listener is a gung-ho classical fan or not will probably determine how things go from there… but certainly the creativity behind the compositions is apparent either way.