Xenogears was released for Playstation by Squaresoft on February 11th, 1998 in Japan, with a North American release on October 20th of the same year. The story follows the protagonist Fei Fong Wong, who suffers from amnesia and is haunted by mysterious and often troubling flashbacks of his past lives. Xenogears’ storyline was quite controversial at the time of release due to its focus on topics such as religion, subjugation of people, classism, racism, and the horrors of war. Underlying its structure were the ideas of Jungian psychology; the id, ego, and superego from the Freudian structural model of the psyche; the philosophical ideas from Nietzsche; and the psychoanalytical theories of Karen Horney.
The music of Xenogears, entirely composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, perfectly reflects these heavy ideas and themes, while still providing a plethora of fun and beautiful compositions to represent the people and places of its world. Xenogears Original Soundtrack was released on March 1st, 1998, with 44 tracks spread across two discs. The music of Xenogears covers numerous styles, including Celtic, Arabic, folk, and religious. There are also two songs featuring Celtic vocalist Joanne Hogg, as well as choral work performed by The Great Voices of Bulgaria. The whole soundtrack is brimming with catchy, timeless, and unforgettable melodies that immediately pull you back into the game's world. However, even for those who haven’t played the game, this music is masterfully composed and can be appreciated by all.
For OMEGA: A Tribute to Xenogears, the Materia Collective community came together in full force to pay tribute to one of the finest RPG soundtracks ever made. Over 130 arrangers, musicians, vocalists, lyricsts, mixing engineers, mastering engineers, translators, and engravers worked together to cover all 44 tracks from the original soundtrack. OMEGA features a diverse range of instrumentation and styles, from solo piano to full orchestra; guitar and mandolin duet to an enormous choir just to name a few. We put our hearts and souls into this album, and we hope we have made a fitting tribute to a soundtrack that has meant so much to so many people since it was released twenty years ago.
©Ⓟ 2018 Materia Collective LLC
XENOGEARS is property of Square Enix. Musical compositions are © Square Enix under license to Warner/Chappell Music and are used with permission. Materia Collective LLC and respective artists on this album are in no way affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected to Square Enix with respect to this album. Sound Recordings are © 2018 their respective artists under exclusive license to Materia Collective LLC. All rights reserved.
Track List & Credits
OMEGA: A Tribute to Xenogears was made possible by the following individuals:
1You Shall Be As Gods4:52Dean Nguyen:
Bass Drum, Chimes, Gong, Shaker, Snare Drum, Tambourine, Timpani, Wind Chimes, Xylophone Ian Martyn:
Vocals (Alto), Vocals (Baritone), Vocals (Tenor) 2Stand Tall and Shake the Heavens4:46 4My Village is Number One!3:41TheToader:
Producer, Arranger, Nyckelharpa, Guitar, Mandolin, Bass Guitar, Accordion 8The Blackmoon Forest3:56Peter Jones:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Engraving, Sound Design 9Dearly Egg of Dreams3:22 10Dozing Off (Short Version)0:11 11City of Burning Synths3:55Glenntai:
Producer, Arranger, Vocals, Synths, Mixing Engineer 12Hopes and Dreams4:35Trey Hodge:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Guitar 13He Who Rules the Dark2:33 15Marching Orders from the Dreams of the Strong3:21HatVGM:
Trumpet (2), Trombone (3), Euphonium 17Aveh, the Ancient Jig2:39 18Incursion2:46Michael Garrett Steele:
Producer, Arranger, Finger Snap, Clave, Jingle Bell, Egg Shaker, Conga Programming, Toms Programming, Triangle Programming, Alto Sax (1), Alto Sax (2) 21Canção do Vento4:17Matheus Manente:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar, Cavaquinho, Percussion 22The Chapel's Back Porch3:24Joe Zieja:
Producer, Arranger, Guitar, Mandolin 23adrift...Shattered Splinters3:57Danny Flam:
Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Recording Engineer, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba 24Thames on the Field1:44Doug Perry:
Vibraphone (1), Vibraphone (2), Marimba (1), Marimba (2), Glockenspiel Ian Martyn:
Vocals (Soprano), Vocals (Alto), Vocals (Tenor), Vocals (Bass), Shakers Matheus Manente:
Vocals (Tenor), Vocals (Bass), Triangle, Shakers, Timbal, Tamborim 25LET'S GO ALREADY!!!!!3:42JohnStacy:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Engraving, Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Piano, Drums, Synth 26The Lion and the Lamb3:29 27Jaws of Root and Steel2:05Troy Strand:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Marimba (2) 28Blood, Fire and Steel3:31 30Those Who Went Above the Ground5:17Doug Perry:
Producer, Arranger, Percussion, Vocals 31Beneath the Blue Sky With You2:56Xale:
Producer, Arranger, Clarinet in A, Bassoon, Glockenspiel 32Journey Through the Night Sky3:40 33Stellar Remnants/Abstraction6:55Alejandro Espinosa:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Bass, Keyboard, Trumpet, Ocarina, Bamboo Flute 34Flytur ~ Skyve Himmelen!4:59Ian Martyn:
Producer, Arranger, Seljefløyte, Low Whistle, Guitar, Synthesizer, Programming 35Yggdrasil3:11Nathan Chandler:
Mixing Engineer (Unicycle Audio), Mastering Engineer (Unicycle Audio) 37Beginning of Dreams0:37Dean Nguyen:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Performing Artist 40Assault on Babel Tower3:33Annie Rosen:
Vocals (Soprano 1), Vocals (Soprano 2), Vocals (Alto) REVEN:
Vocals (Soprano 1), Vocals (Alto) 41Awake3:58Faseeh:
Producer, Arranger, Songwriter 42One Who Bares Fangs at God4:22Josh Barron:
Producer, Arranger, Orchestrator, Percussion 43The Beginning and the End4:38Peter Jones:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Engraving, Vocals (Baritone), Vocals (Bass) Sauraen:
Producer, Arranger, Mixing Engineer, Engraving, Synth Programmer, Plug-in Writer Alroetsue:
Vocals (Soprano 1), Vocals (Soprano 2) REVEN:
Vocals (Soloist), Vocals (Soprano 1), Vocals (Soprano 2) Saoirse:
Vocals (Alto 1), Vocals (Alto 2) Sirenstar:
Vocals (Soloist), Vocals (Soprano 1), Vocals (Soprano 2), Vocals (Alto 1), Vocals (Alto 2)