He is best known for his work on the Silent Hill series for which he composed all the music and sound effects in all seven current games (excluding Silent Hill Play Novel for Game Boy Advance). Some of the music from the first four games was also remixed and used in the Silent Hill movie. He also played a doubly important role as producer of the third and fourth Silent Hill games (which were available for PlayStation 2/PC and PlayStation 2/Xbox/PC). His music from Silent Hill 2 was performed live in 2005 at the third Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany and at the world-premiere of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony Live! on May 27, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, where Yamaoka himself accompanied the orchestra with an electric guitar. As well, Yamaoka actively composes music for Konami's Bemani line of games, particularly, the Beatmania IIDX series.
His first original, non-soundtrack album, iFUTURELIST, was released in January 2006.
Career
He joined Konami on September 21, 1993 after previously being a freelance music composer. He is most well known for his work for the Silent Hill series of video games, for which he composed all the music and sound effects in the whole series (excluding Silent Hill Play Novel for the Game Boy Advance and Esperándote in Silent Hill, composed by 村中りか (Rika Muranaka)). Since Silent Hill 3, he is playing a more important role as the series' producer, also continuing with his music composition working.
Yamaoka's sound commonly contains strong melancholy undertones and generally identifies with the dark ambient, industrial, trip-hop and rock genres. Since Silent Hill 3, he also started working in collaboration with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Joe Romersa for vocal compositions.
Much of his work from previous titles has been compiled for the 2006 Silent Hill movie adaptation, directed by Christophe Gans.
His music from Silent Hill 2 was performed live in 2005 at the third Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany. Yamaoka also performed music from Silent Hill at the world-premiere of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony Live! on May 27, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, and accompanied the orchestra with an electric seven-string guitar. He also composed songs for Konami's Bemani series, which has also featured tracks from Silent Hill.
His first original album, iFUTURELIST, was released in January 2006. He also wrote the theme of 101%, the main show of the French TV channel Nolife.
On December 2, 2009, it was announced that Yamaoka was leaving his long term employer Konami.
Personal Life
Before working as a video game composer, Yamaoka initially sought a career as a designer, but instead became a musician after studying product design at Tokyo Art College.
In 1993 he joined Konami to work on the game Rocket Knight Adventures 2. When Konami began searching for a musician to compose Silent Hill's score, Yamaoka volunteered because he thought he was the only one capable of making the soundtrack.
Yamaoka stated in a 2009 interview that his favorite game creator is Suda 51 and his favorite video game is No More Heroes.
AWAKENING
Akira Yamaoka Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
儚い記憶 戸惑いも無く 彷徨い続ける
眠らず 言葉も無く 溶けゆく白い涙
いざ目覚めよ
闇を砕き光を 幾千の時を超えて
The lyrics of Akira Yamaoka's "Awakening" describe a bittersweet longing for love and a sense of confusion and uncertainty that comes with it. The singer is filled with a deep desire that overflows within them, but it is also accompanied by a painful sense of fate. The fleeting memories of love continue to haunt the singer, leading them to wander endlessly without direction or purpose. The opening lines express this turbulence and highlights the poignancy and fragility of love.
The second half of the song shifts in focus towards hope and light. The singer addresses the listener directly, urging them to wake up from their slumber and shatter the darkness that surrounds them. The use of light as a metaphor for hope and guidance is common in many literary works. The song encourages the listener to look beyond the hardships that they may be facing and channel their energy towards positive change. The final lines of the song express a desire to overcome time and distance to reach out to the one they love, evoking feelings of deep connection and devotion.
Overall, "Awakening" by Akira Yamaoka is a powerful expression of the complexity of human emotion, capturing both the pain and the joy of love. Through vivid imagery and evocative language, the song conveys a message of resilience and hope, encouraging listeners to embrace the light and overcome the darkness.
Line by Line Meaning
愛しき思い 願い溢れ 切ない定めだろう
This describes how the singer's feelings of love and desire are overflowing, but it's a painful destiny they must face.
儚い記憶 戸惑いも無く 彷徨い続ける
Despite their fleeting memories, the singer continues to wander without hesitation or confusion.
眠らず 言葉も無く 溶けゆく白い涙
This line speaks of sleepless nights with no words to describe the pain of the singer's white, melting tears.
いざ目覚めよ
The artist is calling for action, urging themselves (or someone else?) to awaken.
闇を砕き光を 幾千の時を超えて
Breaking through the darkness, the artist looks beyond the thousands of years of time, hoping to find light.
祈り抱え君に 送るよ願いを込めて
With prayers in their heart, the singer sends their wishes to someone with all their feelings embedded therein.
Contributed by Levi I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@GoumesGames
Amazing