Persona 3 Original Soundtrack
Persona 3 Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2006 game Persona 3, featuring music composed and arranged by Shoji Meguro and Yosuke Uda. The physical album released in Japan on July 19, 2006, and was later released worldwide on digital streaming services in January 2021.
Production
The Persona 3 Original Soundtrack was composed primarily by Shoji Meguro, with an additional song composed by Yosuke Uda.[1]
The production of the Persona 3 soundtrack was closely tied to the game’s development and creative direction. The direction of the soundtrack was guided by the goal of reflecting the contrasting themes of light and darkness central to Persona 3’s story. “Burn My Dread” embodies this contrast, with its dramatic shifts between the subdued verse and the powerful chorus. Recurring motifs also strengthen the thematic connection between tracks, for example: ”Living With Determination” draws from “The Voice Someone Calls”, and “The Path Was Closed” features a segment of the Velvet Room theme in piano form. The repetition of Nyx’s melody across Tartarus themes and the Velvet Room’s influence on boss themes underscores the story’s core tension between fate and human will.
Early on, the developers envisioned Tartarus exploration with selectable music, where the support character would stream different songs to the protagonist’s headphones. This would have involved ten field tracks and ten corresponding battle tracks that would switch dynamically, for a total of 20 pieces. However, this ambitious idea was deemed impractical for the development schedule and as a result, the plan was scrapped and some of the unused Tartarus tracks were repurposed elsewhere in the game. For example, “The Voice Someone Calls” was initially composed as a Tartarus theme but was later reassigned to Dark Hour event scenes; the track originally had five variations as a Tartarus theme, and the fourth was selected for the final game. “Master of Shadow” was originally planned as one of the selectable battle themes, and was reworked as a boss theme after the plan was scrapped; “Deep Breath Deep Breath” was its original field counterpart and was composed with the same BPM and key. “Master of Tartarus” was originally a selectable battle theme as well, and its corresponding field track was “Changing Seasons.” The concept was somewhat reworked into the selectable dungeon themes in Persona 3 FES, and expanded further through the use of DLC field and battle tracks in Persona 3 Reload. Tartarus itself features six different exploration themes; the first floor features a grating riff to represent the voices of the Shadows, and the tracks evolve as the player ascends higher to incorporate elements of Nyx’s melody, reflecting the game's overarching story progression.
After the New Year in-game, director Katsura Hashino specifically requested that the overall tone of the game become darker and more somber, which is reflected in the music. “Memories of the City,” which plays in the overworld after the New Year, was intentionally composed to evoke a sense of melancholy. The third semester’s school theme, “Memories of the School,” similarly draws from the ending theme to suggest that the story is nearing its conclusion. Likewise, “Living With Determination - Iwatodai Dorm Arrangement” reworks the melody from “Living With Determination” to fit the heavier emotional tone of the final chapter. “Battle Hymn of the Soul” extends this shift into the final boss fight, combining choir-like vocal layers with a dramatic orchestral arrangement to underscore the final confrontation with Nyx. Even the ending tracks, like “Bonds” and “I Will Protect You”, carry emotional weight to resolve the story’s tension. This deliberate tonal progression reinforces the game’s themes of mortality and acceptance, culminating in “Memories of You,” the emotional closing theme whose lyrics were written to directly tie into the game’s story.
Vocal recording was a key aspect of the soundtrack’s identity. Yumi Kawamura’s emotive singing defined the game’s major themes, while Lotus Juice’s contributions as an MC added a modern, urban edge to tracks like “Mass Destruction” and “Deep Breath Deep Breath”. Notably, Lotus Juice improvised the lyrics to "Deep Breath Deep Breath" in just 15 minutes during recording. Haruko Komiya lent her voice to the Velvet Room theme, which was repurposed in nearly every subsequent Persona series game until ‘’Reload’’; Reiko Tanaka wrote the soundtrack’s English lyrics, while Shigeo and Yoshihiro Komori worked on the Japanese vocal tracks. The recording process included layering instrumentals, as “Unavoidable Battle” features six simultaneous guitar tracks recorded with a tight tone to create a powerful, raw feel, which required precision and effort to execute cleanly. Komori gave a title to the track "When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars," notably saying that it "sounded more beautiful in English" if the "the" before "stars" was left out of the name, though it was later added in by Meguro on the arrange album Burn My Dread: Reincarnation: Persona 3, and completely reworded to "When the Moon Reaches for the Stars" in the North American mini album Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Original Soundtrack.[2]
Mixing and mastering for the album release was handled with care. For "Blues in Velvet Room", the guitar was recorded directly into a Marshall JTM60 amp using a '73 Fender Stratocaster with three separate mics (including a Shure SM58). The audio was processed through a mic preamp and recorded in Pro Tools HD at 24-bit/96kHz before being downconverted to 48kHz for final mastering. This attention to technical detail ensured that the final mix retained a rich, live feel. PC-based plugins also played a role in creating the soundtrack's layered textures: "Peace" features a processed vocal sample from a sample CD created using a pitch-change plugin, and the synthesizer plugin Virus Indigo was used for tracks like "Calamity", replacing the older hardware version used for Maken X.
Release
The 58 song Original Soundtrack was released on two discs in July 2006, published by Aniplex. Alongside the discs, the soundtrack came with a 30 page booklet containing liner notes, track commentary, and lyrics for the vocal tracks. The album also came with sheet music for Aria of the Soul, and "Blues in Velvet Room" created as a bonus track exclusively for the album's release. It was later added to Spotify in Japan in 2018 as part of the "PlayStation Game Music Grand Prize," where it ranked fifth based on number of plays,[3] and the album became available on multiple streaming services worldwide in January 2021.[4]
The first print edition of the album featured discs with full color, while later releases changed the art to be entirely blue and white.[5] "Burn My Dread -Last Battle-" was incorrectly printed as "Burn My Bread -Last Battle-" in the on the back cover for the first print of the album, and was fixed in subsequent printings.
A shortened version of the album, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Original Soundtrack was released in North America and was included with launch copies of the game and with the limited edition of Persona 3 FES. A vinyl release, Persona 3 Vinyl Soundtrack 4xLP, was released by iam8bit in 2022.
Reception
The soundtrack ranked 3rd for Amazon's "Animation and Game" soundtrack category in 2006.[6] It peaked on the Oricon charts at 48th, and stayed within the top 300 for 23 weeks.[7] Critics generally praised the soundtrack, though its usage in-game was critiqued. IGN's Jeff Haynes wrote that the soundtrack became "tiring" since the game "reuses the same track over and over again,"[8] and Gameinformer's Joe Juba critiqued it as "especially odd."[9] Patrick Joynt of GameSpy praised the soundtrack, saying that it's "a soundtrack CD you'll want even if you don't dig game soundtracks."[10]
Multiple popularity polls have been held for the game's songs in the years since its release. During the lead up to Persona Music Fes 2013 a general Persona series music poll was held, where "Memories of You," "Burn My Dread," "Battle Hymn of the Soul," and "Mass Destruction" ranked 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 10th respectively.[11] During the "News Flash! Persona Channel 2015" live stream Atlus revealed the top 25 Persona series songs voted on by fans, and "Memories of You," "Burn My Dread," "Mass Destruction," and "Aria of the Soul" ranked in the top 10 at 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 8th.[12] To commemorate the re-release of Persona 3 Portable in 2023, Atlus held a fan vote for songs within Persona 3 and Persona 3 Portble; the top five spots consisted of “Memories of You,” “Battle Hymn of the Soul,” “Mass Destruction,” “Burn My Dread,“ and “Burn My Dread -Last Battle-” in that order.[13]
Tracklist
English track titles are taken from the Persona 3 Vinyl Soundtrack 4xLP.
Disc 1
| No. | Track title (Japanese) | Track title (English) | Composer | Lyricist | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Burn My Dread | Burn My Dread | Shoji Meguro | Shigeo Komori, Yoshihiro Komori | 1:36 |
| 02 | 全ての人の魂の詩 | Aria of the Soul | Shoji Meguro | — | 5:38 |
| 03 | はじまり | Beginning | Shoji Meguro | — | 0:20 |
| 04 | この不思議な感覚 | This Mysterious Feeling | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:22 |
| 05 | Want To Be Close | Want To Be Close | Shoji Meguro | Reiko Tanaka | 2:33 |
| 06 | Troubled | Troubled | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:43 |
| 07 | Crisis | Crisis | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:18 |
| 08 | シャドウ | Shadow | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:44 |
| 09 | ペルソナ発動 | Persona Summoning | Shoji Meguro | — | 0:44 |
| 10 | 避けられぬ戦い | Unavoidable Battle | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:53 |
| 11 | やすらぎ | Peace | Shoji Meguro | Reiko Tanaka | 1:32 |
| 12 | When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars | When the Moon Reaches for the Stars | Shoji Meguro | Reiko Tanaka | 2:36 |
| 13 | 巌戸台分寮 | Iwatodai Dorm | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:31 |
| 14 | The Voice Someone Calls | The Voice Someone Calls | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:07 |
| 15 | tartarus_0d01 | Tartarus_0d01 | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:34 |
| 16 | Mass Destruction | Mass Destruction | Shoji Meguro | Reiko Tanaka | 3:29 |
| 17 | 戦いのあと | After the Battle | Shoji Meguro | — | 0:57 |
| 18 | p3ct004_01 | p3ct004_01 | Shoji Meguro | — | 0:59 |
| 19 | Deep Breath Deep Breath | Deep Breath Deep Breath | Shoji Meguro | Lotus Juice | 2:21 |
| 20 | Master of Shadow | Master of Shadow | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:35 |
| 21 | ポロニアンモール | Paulownia Mall | Shoji Meguro | Reiko Tanaka | 1:38 |
| 22 | tartarus_0d02 | Tartarus_0d02 | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:10 |
| 23 | 嫌な予感 | Bad Feeling | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:04 |
| 24 | Fearful Experiance | Fearful Experience | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:52 |
| 25 | Calamity | Calamity | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:32 |
| 26 | 試験中... | During the Exam | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:58 |
| 27 | Adventured act: | Adventured act: | Yosuke Uda | — | 1:23 |
| 28 | Joy | Joy | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:50 |
| 29 | tartarus_0d03 | Tartarus_0d03 | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:24 |
| 30 | 深層心理 | Deep Mentality | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:53 |
| 31 | The Path is Open | The Path is Open | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:40 |
| 32 | The Path Was Closed | The Path Was Closed | Shoji Meguro | — | 0:30 |
Disc 2
| No. | Track title (Japanese) | Track title (English) | Composer | Lyricist | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Changing Seasons | Changing Seasons | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:59 |
| 02 | Basement | Basement | Shoji Meguro | — | 3:04 |
| 03 | Master of Tartarus | Master of Tartarus | Shoji Meguro | — | 3:31 |
| 04 | これでいいんだ... | This is how it should be... | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:25 |
| 05 | Living With Determination | Living With Determination | Shoji Meguro | — | 3:05 |
| 06 | tartarus_0d04 | Tartarus_0d04 | Shoji Meguro | — | 3:34 |
| 07 | 京都 | Kyoto | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:06 |
| 08 | Afternoon Break | Afternoon Break | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:22 |
| 09 | 時価ネットたなか | Tanaka's Amazing Commodities | Shoji Meguro | Katsura Hashino | 1:14 |
| 10 | tartarus_0d05 | Tartarus_0d05 | Shoji Meguro | — | 3:35 |
| 11 | 10年前の記憶 | Memories from 10 Years Ago | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:12 |
| 12 | Mistic | Mistic | Shoji Meguro | — | 3:15 |
| 13 | 心の力 | Strength of Heart | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:03 |
| 14 | 街の記憶 | Memories of the City | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:42 |
| 15 | 学園の記憶 | Memories of the Campus | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:55 |
| 16 | Living With Determination -巌戸台分寮アレンジ- | Living With Determination -Iwatodai Dorm Arrangement- | Shoji Meguro | — | 2:32 |
| 17 | tartarus_0d06 | Tartarus_0d06 | Shoji Meguro | — | 3:44 |
| 18 | 暗闇より出でしもの | What Lies in the Darkness | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:35 |
| 19 | 全ての人の魂の戦い | Battle Hymn of the Soul | Shoji Meguro | — | 5:34 |
| 20 | Nyx | Nyx | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:41 |
| 21 | 決意 | Determination | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:44 |
| 22 | Burn My Dread -Last Battle- | Burn My Dread -Last Battle- | Shoji Meguro | Reiko Tanaka | 3:48 |
| 23 | 絆 | Enduring Bonds | Shoji Meguro | — | 1:10 |
| 24 | 私が守るから | I Will Protect You | Shoji Meguro | — | 0:27 |
| 25 | キミの記憶 | Memories of You | Shoji Meguro | Shigeo Komori | 6:09 |
| 26 | Blues in Velvet Room | Blues in Velvet Room | Shoji Meguro | — | 3:15 |
Samples and Remixes
- "Aria of the Soul" – Arranged from "Velvet Room" on the Megami Ibunroku Persona Original Soundtracks
- "Peace" - "Ah" vocals sampled from an unknown sample CD[1]
- "Iwatodai Dorm" - Vocals sampled from "Rapper 1-2" on the Best Service: Hallelujah sample CD
- "Joy" - Vocals sampled from "Rapper 1-2" on the Best Service: Hallelujah sample CD
- "Changing Seasons" - French vocals sampled from an unknown sample CD[1]
- "Basement" - Strings sampled from an unknown sample CD[1]
Personnel
Staff
|
Recording
|
Album Production
|
See also
- Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Original Soundtrack - A collector's edition soundtrack featuring 18 select tracks
- Persona 3 Vinyl Soundtrack 4xLP - A vinyl pressing of the full soundtrack, released by iam8bit
- Persona 3 FES Original Soundtrack - The soundtrack to Persona 3 FES
- Persona 3 Portable Original Soundtrack - The soundtrack to Persona 3 Portable
- Persona 3 Reload Original Soundtrack - The soundtrack to Persona 3 Reload
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Booklet liner notes and track commentary
- ↑ Shoji Meguro, Aniplex Blog. Published May 8, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2025. playlog.jp.
- ↑ 4gamer, 「ペルソナ5」「MH: W」「ICO」などが「PlayStation Game Music大賞」を受賞。Spotifyでノミネート曲をまとめたプレイリストが公開. Published June 16, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2025. 4gamer.
- ↑ PersonaCentral, Persona Series and Catherine Soundtracks Releasing on Spotify and Apple Music on January 5, 2021 (Update). Published January 4, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2025. personacentral.
- ↑ ペルソナ3 . Retrieved March 18, 2025. Aniplex.co.jp.
- ↑ Shoji Meguro, Meguro's Hobby Diary Vol. . Published January 9, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2025. AtlusNet.
- ↑ Oricon Listing
- ↑ "The music manages to support this as well, although it's a bit weaker. A mix of rap, beats, lyrics and other compositions, you'll find that the game typically uses and reuses the same track over and over again. As a result, you'll probably find yourself tiring of the battle theme or the school theme, for example, because it feels as though you've heard that same loop for the past five minutes or more." Jeff Haynes, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Review. Published Jul 24, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2025. ign.com.
- ↑ "sound: Occasionally ridiculous. The upbeat Japanese soundtrack is especially odd, but the voice acting is passable" Joe Juba, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Special Edition. Published 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2025. .
- ↑ "But the music more than makes up for the very traditional anime look of the game, with a great selection of songs matched perfectly to their uses. This is a soundtrack CD you'll want even if you don't dig game soundtracks." Patrick Joynt, Persona 3 Review. Archived: [1]. Published Jul 25, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2025. gamespy.com.
- ↑ Famitsu, ペルソナライブ終演直後のアトラス・目黒将司氏を直撃！ 期待膨らむお答えが……!!【PERSONA MUSIC FES 2013～in日本武道館】. Published August 15, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2025. Famitsu.com.
- ↑ Fans vote for top Persona songs and Persona 4 Golden characters . Published February 4 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2025. gematsu.com.
- ↑ Atlus Reveal Persona 3’s Most Popular Songs. Published February 6, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2025. rpgfan.com.