Topic: Castlevania music starter CD - The Essential Castlevania

[JILost]

I have my own mix CD that I like to give to people when I'm first letting them know about my passion for VGM, especially Castlevania, to give them an idea of what I hear in it and why I love it so much, maybe peaking their interest as well, bearing in mind they're probably not VGM fanatics and may not even know what Castlevania is. The mix keeps changing as my priorities and tastes change (and as Castlevania evolves), but 95% of it is pretty static.

I wanted to get the community's ideas on "the essential Castlevania" and what should actually go on it from a fan's perspective for such a general-purpose use.

I started with some ideas of what is "mandatory", like series staples and classics (SS), songs that capture "the essential Castlevania" sound (TEC), and songs that are Just That Good (JTG), and went from there. I also tried to capture at least one of each of the series "genres" (Rondo, Lament, 64 all sound different, for example). Here's what I started with:

Vampire Killer (SS)
Bloody Tears (SS)
Beginning (SS)
Wicked Child (SS, TEC, JTG)
Perfect Selection Dracula Battle (JTG)
Simon Belmont's Theme (SS, TEC)
Divine Bloodlines (SS)
Csatlevania 64/LoD
LoI
The Tragic Prince (TEC)
Finale Toccata (TEC, SS)
A Night in Peace and Quiet (JTG)

From there, I decided each song should be one "loop" (again, for the non-VGM people, and to cram as much as possible into 80 minutes) and picked my tracks according to what sounded the most "like Castlevania."

1. Metamorphosis I (SotN) (best Castlevania-like intro track)
2. Dracula's Castle (SotN)
3. Vampire Killer (CV3J) (the essential Vampire Killer, IMO)
4. House of Sacred Remains (LoI) (sounds like LoI, everyone loves it)
5. Wood Carving Partita (SotN) (the essential Baroque Castlevania)
6. Simon's Theme (CV4)
7. Beginning (Akumajo Dracula Tribute Vol. 1) (captures the essence of Beginning while still appealing to non-VGM people)
8. Dungeon ~Main Theme~ (CV64)
9. A Night in Peace and Quiet (CV64 OST)
10. Dance of Pearls (SotN) (one of the best songs in the series)
11. Cross a Fear (Dracula Battle)
12. Praying Hands (CVA2) (may replace this with Battle of the Holy)
13. Successor of Fate (HoDis)
14. Bloody Tears (Rondo) (the essential BT)
15. Divine Blooelines (Rondo)
16. An Empty Tome -Arranged Version- (OoE) (giving the portables some love)
17. VICTORIAN FEAR (PoR, Original version)
18. Requiem for Black Souls (LoI OST version) (sounds like LoI, portable love, sounds like Castlevania in general)
19. Finale Toccata (SotN)
20. Leon's Theme (LoI)
21. Reincarnated Soul (Bloodlines)
22. The Sinking Old Sanctuary (Bloodlines) (series classic)
23. Calling from Heaven (Dracula Battle) (the essential Castlevania ballad)
24. Belmont's Theme (LoS) (the token LoS track)
25. Wicked Child (Castlevania Arcade)
26. The Tragic Prince (SotN)
27. Lost Painting (Dracula MIDI Collection) (nice piano solo to end the disc)

How would your "mandatory" list look? How would your mix look? Did I leave out something you feel is "mandatory" or add something unnecessary? What would you do different?

EDIT: Should I take the lack of responses to mean that my take on "the essential Castlevania" is accurate? Come on folks, I know everyone on especially this forum has different ideas of "what Castlevania is"...Share!

[GuyStarwind]

Your list is pretty much mine but I would add Heart of Fire because it's my personal favorite