I guess it’s time to resort to youtube T__T
Oh gawd I have so much love for Key music… for the most part, at least. 
My personal favorite Key Composer is Shinji Orito, which you’ll find out later on why… but I may as well mention Yoshino song.
As for the soundtracks for each VN projects:
- I haven’t looked into Kanon’s yet, but from the few tracks that I heard from it… it’s pretty good. They have this air of simplicity in it, but they had the 90’s-esque mood on it. My favorite so far is Hidamari no Machi… but who could possibly not love Shoujo no Ori? But then again this is just from my little knowledge of Kanon OSTs.
- Air OST is good, but it was personally not Key’s best. There were really amazingly beautiful soundtracks, but there were some that… felt weird. Esogorato (Fabrication) was sort of distracting the mood in the anime, but it was fine in the VN. Kannagi (Dissidents)… felt weird and out of place I guess. As for my favorites in Air, it has to be Sousei (Twin Stars… so much feels) and Semigoromo (Thin Clothes)… I wonder why it’s called Thin Clothes? Well, Natsukage (Summer Lights) is a close third, and what I personally find to be one of Jun Maeda’s best instrumental compositions.
- Clannad OST is… from some of the tracks that I heard from it… is a bit more inconsistent than Air’s. There were some tracks, though not bad on its own, that simply felt out of place, but they have this beautiful soundtrack named Shionari (Roaring Tides). I loved that soundtrack so much that I ended up making an attempt to transcribe it… which is as messy as Musescore’s soundfont (some inaccuracies on my part aside, why are their Crystal Synths practically inaudible??).
Well that aside, some of my favorites include Hurry Starfish (Fuu-chan!) and Baka Futari (A Pair of Idiots). Of course they still have some other good soundtracks, but these two are just too memorable to ignore. XD - Planetarian’s music is too few. Well, they weren’t bad per se, but the title screen music Gentle Jena was so beautiful I think it created unrealistic expectations on the tracks.
- Little Busters OSTs, being the first VN that I played were some of the easiest to like. The heroines suit their character leitmotifs the most here, especially Komari my gosh. I love Mahou no Ensemble (Magic Ensemble) and its feels counterpart Tatta Hitotsu Mahou no Kotoba (Just One Magic Word) too much. They have more tracks that I’d like to mention, namely Sawagashi Otome no Yuushuu (Melancholy of a Noisy Girl), Mudai “Koigokoro o Kanaderu Kisoukyoku” (Untitled “Playing a Capriccio to Awaken One’s Love” …because Kurugaya), and Tsutaerarenai Message (Incommunicable Message), but almost every tracks in LB is amazing. My least favorite is Boku no Iya na Koto (My Unpleasant Thing) because it just sounded weird and wasn’t setting the mood right to me.
- I haven’t read EX yet, but I personally love Kanata’s theme Will&Wish. Sha La La Ecstasy is just… what should I say? It sounded to me like it’s church music only to be (slightly) surprised on what scenes it’s actually played on… as if the title isn’t telling enough already.
- Rewrite OSTs are… actually all amazing to me. My only issue is that Retribution isn’t hot-blooded enough, but that’s… seriously it. I simply love everything about it. My personal favorite has to be Yuriha and Scene Shifts there (I love Ryou Mizutsuki), with Carnation and Nirinsou (Soft Windflower) being pretty close. I love Kappanbyo (Cercospora), Eruptible, Hinagiku (Daisy), Sorrowless… I might end up listing like half of the tracks of this VN, so I’ll stop here. XD EDIT: OH GAD WAIT WHY DID I MISS OUT RADIANCE THAT TRACK IS TOO AMAZING
My favorite opening theme from Key used to be Tori no Uta (I watched Air because of this song!), until I first heard Light Colors. Instant favorite. Funny because I haven’t even read Tomoyo After yet. My least favorite is pretty easy to guess when I say that my ears bleed every time I hear the vocals of that song haha. Bravely You, Philosophyz, and Toki o Kizamu Uta (A Song to Pass the Time) get special mention because I like those too. Favorite ending theme is hands down Koibumi (Love Letter), with Alicemagic being pretty close.
Perhaps that’s why I ended up saying that Shinji Orito is my fave Key musician. XD
3 Likes
Preach. Rewrite is among one of Key’s best soundtracks for BGM’s. Scene Shifts There, Yuriha, and Philosophy of Yours are all great beautiful songs that really set the tone of Rewrite. My favorite Rewrite ost would have to be “Wither.” The first part of it sounds a little creepy and all that, but around halfway through, theres a piano and violin playing together and just gives you the feeling of “depression” that sounds so beautiful. The way the piano comes in and builds up to the climax of the song was beautiful. The violin made the sadness more beautiful. It’s beautiful despair.
Other than that, I love Carnation. It’s one of the very few Key BGM’s that are actually Pleasant to hear playing, as a character’s theme.
2 Likes
@Totoro_Futaki Yup, Wither is certainly beautiful.
Oh, just one trivia: the first two unused tracks in Air Original Soundtrack was initially intended to be Minagi’s theme. Do you think the change was justifiable, or were the unused tracks felt more Minagi-like than her current theme? (I’ll just add my opinion here later)
I also have a question: is Sanka really Sakuya’s theme? I’ve been confused about it for a while now.
Sanka is pretty much Sakuya’s theme. Doesn’t matter though, since it plays throughout the VN and isn’t limited to just him. I actually think it benifitted Lucia’s route as much as Chihaya’s route.
I’m here. Still waiting for Harmonia’s Soundtrack, which must be beautiful.
Edit - Was going to put this on the “Key fan cover” page, but then these people are all respectively from Key (Yanagi Nagi sung for Rewrite, Lia, well, duh. Jun. duh), so it doesn’t feel right putting them on there. But feel free to move it if you don’t think it belongs here.
On other news, has anyone heard YanagiNagi singing the Air OP ? Not surprising since her favorite VN is Air. The voice of calmness 
YanagiNagi’s version is something I wouldn’t see playing in Air at all. The only place I’d see it playing at is for a recap of the events.
OHHH, And on other news, has anyone heard Lia singing the OP of Little Busters! ? Her voice isn’t very fitting for songs with rock-instrumental, but her voice is still gorgeous. She’s sung all of Key’s OP’s so far… even covers of Key OP’s she hasn’t done… I want a Philosophyz Lia…
Speaking of covers of songs.
Lia and Jun Maeda separately (respectively), sung the Kanon OP. They’re great.
4 Likes
I think nothing can nor will ever be more Minagi than Niji. The whole waltz-y starlike vibe of the song suits her head-in-the-stars personality to a tee
I knew about Lia, but Jun Maeda!? Hoooooly smokes. It sure does sound like him, if Hikkikomori no Uta were any indication. I only wish the quality were better.
2 Likes
Oh, deym, now that I’ve listened to the Little Busters! Lia… her voice is just so outstandingly beautiful. It may not suit rock that much, but it’s still really nice to listen to. <3
1 Like
I had heard Lia singing Little Busters and Last Regrets before, but the other two are new to me. And wow, that Yanagi Nagi Tori no Uta cover is stunning. I actually got chills listening to it, the acoustic arrangement and her voice are just top-notch.
2 Likes
I’ve stumbled upon Circle of Fifth at one time, and my gad, aren’t those tracks just nice to listen to? (The album includes his past compositions, but I’ll just talk about the original/vocal arrange tracks). I mean, the genre generally just range from rock to pop rock - not that diverse - but I always enjoy music composed by Orito . Not to mention Ayaka Kitazawa, while not being a Lia (she’s on a completely different level), has this really charming voice that I always enjoy.
BTW, does anyone here has a translation of Last Word, because that track is just really nice and (arguably) my favorite in this album but I can’t seem to find a translation of its lyrics. :((
EDIT: I just realized that the stuff from his past works are actually arrangements/remastered versions in this album omg. As in, there’s a Torch arranged in rock! Yes, that one cheery pop song used as the ending theme of Clannad After Story, and that exact ending theme that loves throwing people off-guard after a painfully sad moment! ;u;
Not exactly produced by KSL, but they’re covers of KSL songs anyway, so lemme talk about this one. Mygad how I love Mintjam’s Vivid Colors, his Key Tribute Album. They have an interesting take on Key songs, and I especially like their take on Light Colors! And I may as well extend this appreciation to, while not part of the album, their vocal cover of Philosophyz (it’s arranged by them in the first place :P) because I actually loved their cover as much as I loved the one sung by Runa Mizutani (aka the one used as Rewrite OP).
Okay, this is going to be the last section of this post, but don’t you think that the Field Trip OST (aka Refrain spoilers that music used when you try to save your classmates from an impending bus explosion) from Little Busters is just super intense?? It seems like it’s not really found in the LB OST album (makes it safe to share a YT vid of it here). But I’d like to share this one because I generally liked it:
2 Likes
MintJam is totally boss. I need to hunt down that album, now that you mention it. I love literally every track on there.
1 Like
I just found this glorious interview of Lia regarding how she began her partnership with Key; quite a funny story.
On another note, Jun Maeda really is a boss at composing music. The more I listen, the more I like his stuff. I’ll have to find an address to send fanmail to with broken Japanese that just repeats “Sugoi!” over and over.
4 Likes
It’s indeed an interesting story! Man I’ve been following Lia’s blog and reading her entries makes it seem like things are really tough for her. She probably lives in Los Angeles right now, but goes to Japan very regularly to record and perform songs. That kind of dedication to her career is just amazing to see, and it makes me appreciate her as a singer more!
1 Like
That’s amazing, if that’s the case. She seems like a pretty awesome person; I wonder if she has very many American fans?
1 Like
While I am sure that anybody who is into anime and is familiar with Key works would definitely appreciate Lia, I’m sure that her fanbase in America pales in comparison to that of Japan. I guess that does give her some peace of mind when she goes home and becoms “Lia the mother”
2 Likes
Long ago, when an aunt of mine gave birth to her first daughter, we were waiting for her to get back home with her baby, and when she did I started playing Dango Daikazoku through some speakers (I didn’t know anything about Key, or CLANNAD; I had only heard the song and found it so fitting).
That goes to show how how fitting the music is to CLANNAD’s theme…
With tracks like Hashire, and Real having such a varied song structure and progression to them as compared to other songs, generic is the worst word you can use to describe them. Probably the only one I’d call generic is Miwaku no Beam and even that’s still fun to listen to.
This is true; but I appreciate it for being a collection of good compositions not necessarily related to Charlotte; that is irrelevant to whether the song is good or not.
Repetitive how, though? I mean, of course you’d repeat a chorus within a song; isn’t that the point of a chorus? If you mean repetitive between different songs, then that simply isn’t the case at all. You could even analyze the melody of each of the different chorus tracks from each song and you’d see just how much they differ.
2 Likes
They do differ. But not to the point where it feels as if its a new song. You can cut off the verse and/or chorus of one HLH song and replace it with another and it would fit (changing the lyrics if necessary of course).
Not the mention that song that had a music video in episode 8. Gosh that song was horrible. They could have released the 1st promotional HLH song’s MV instead.
There’s not much originality in the songs for How-Low-Hello, as opposed to stuff from ZHIEND or GirlDeMo.
HLH has its good songs. But nothing special really. It doesn’t have a strong enough fanbase to keep it relevant in J-Pop culture.
GirlDeMo - “OHHH ! I remember them ! I remember those awesome songs that played in the anime ! OHH ! And Iwasawa my waifuu !!”
HLC - “One of the Charlotte bands rights ? Oh, and that useless Yusa girl.”
At least the singer was good.
