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.
Diamond Jealousy
Akira Yamaoka Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rei ni yotte, kimi mo shiku wa kimi no membaa ha toraerare
Shaberanai shaberanai
Hanasanai hanasanai
Shaberanai shaberanai
Hanasanai hanasanai
Kikoete kuru, ano yuumei na shirei naiyou wo tsugeru fureezu
Use only in appropriate products
This card can also be used with instruments which use
Do not touch the terminals
To replace the battery carefully read the instruments
Choukin zandan wo omae ga oshieta!
Choukin zandan wo ore ga oshieta!
Choukin zandan wo omae ga oshieta!
Choukin zandan wo ore ga oshieta!
The lyrics of Akira Yamaoka's Diamond Jealousy are a combination of Japanese and English, and can be interpreted in many different ways. The opening lines translate to "Good morning Takashima, it's your turn this time. According to the etiquette, your member will also be taken away." The first verse references a mission or task that Takashima is responsible for, but the context of the mission is unknown. The lyrics then repeat the phrases "shaberanai," meaning "don't talk," and "hanasanai," meaning "don't let go," which could suggest a sense of secrecy or urgency surrounding the mission.
The following verses and the slightly ominous instrumental sections of the song suggest a militaristic, authoritarian context for the lyrics. The lines "This card can also be used with instruments which use/Do not touch the terminals/To replace the battery carefully read the instruments" read like instructions for handling a weapon or other dangerous equipment. The repeated chant of "Choukin zandan wo omae ga oshieta!/Choukin zandan wo ore ga oshieta!", which means "I taught you the secret passwords!/You taught me the secret passwords!" adds to the impression of a highly structured, hierarchical organization.
Line by Line Meaning
Ohayou takashimakun, konkai no kimi no ninmu da ga
Good morning, Takashima. Your mission this time is to capture your members according to the order.
Rei ni yotte, kimi mo shiku wa kimi no membaa ha toraerare
You can't talk about it, you can't let it out. According to orders, your teammates can be captured.
Shaberanai shaberanai
Don't speak, don't speak
Hanasanai hanasanai
Don't let go, don't let go
Boutou no kaki dashi wa, ninmu shirei ga rokuon sareta teepu kara
A recording of the command to complete the task was detected from the faulty card.
Kikoete kuru, ano yuumei na shirei naiyou wo tsugeru fureezu
The famous phrase in the recording is conveyed by the phrase.
Use only in appropriate products
Use only in designated devices
This card can also be used with instruments which use
This card is also compatible with other devices.
Do not touch the terminals
Do not touch the metal parts
To replace the battery carefully read the instruments
When replacing the batteries, please refer to the manual and handle with care.
Choukin zandan wo omae ga oshieta!
You taught me the loyalty pledge!
Choukin zandan wo ore ga oshieta!
I taught you the loyalty pledge!
Contributed by Nathan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Zer0Blizzard
Lol this is like powerman 5000, didn't know that was called the "cyber rock" genre