In keeping with my “needlessly symphonic” theme… 
Suite Gradius Fantasia
Overture
Navigation
The Ancient Planet
Gradius Sonata
Return to The Planet
Perpetual Aria
Gradius Fantasia
Farewell
Okay, so I’m not saying that the “Overture” to Gradius, redone with a full motherfucking symphonic orchestra (because why the hell not?) is one of the greatest pieces of music ever pressed to vinyl. I’m not saying that, okay?
But I am saying that it definitely, without question, kind of sort of holds its own to the symphonic version of the Airwolf theme – in as much as that I could totally see it as the theme song to an mid-80s sci-fi space drama. It’s certainly better than that bullshit theme music to the V series from 1984.
Anyways, I’m getting off topic, Suite Gradius Fantasia was released in 1988, near the tail-end of the big craze of game soundtracks in Japan. Now, don’t get me wrong, game soundtracks continued to be a pretty big deal over here, but in the mid-80s they were fucking huge. Countless games got full-fledged, prestige soundtrack releases, many times redone with full symphonies. And as I’ve mentioned before, many game publishers, both big and small, worked with game music label GMO to put out compilations featuring original and remade versions of themes from their most popular games.
The most well-known symphonic game scores of this time are most likely the Dragon’s Quest ones, but a lot of other games got the symphonic treatment as well- including Gradius. Although to be honest, this release really isn’t a proper symphonic album. Only two of the tracks (the Overture and the 10+ minute “Gradius Fantasia”) feature a proper full orchestra, the rest just feature a string quartet – but they’re also quite good.
I’m no maestro, I don’t know much about classical music, but I think this is a damn good album, one that can certainly hold its own against major movie soundtracks of the era. Hope you enjoy it too.
Dude, this is her-rilliant! I know nothing about the game or about game music in general *blush* – I’m just here for the pop 12″ mixes – but I LOVE this! I actually love the string quartet tracks more than the symphonic ones. They’re lux! Thank you so much for this really interesting post! Thanks, man. You’re the best! Cheers, Bunny – Manchester, England
I got the Gameboy port of Gradius and a pair of headphones for Christmas one year when I was about 6 or 7. The combination etched the theme of this game into my brain! Awesome to hear it like this. Thanks so much for the upload!