Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec: Final Fantasy VIII
[Audio CD, 1 Disc] Source: Final Fantasy VIII [PS1] Composer: Nobuo Uematsu, Shiro Hamaguchi Release Date: 1999 Label: DigiCube
Nobuo Uematsu did some fantastic composition work on the soundtrack to Final Fantasy VIII, arguably making the soundtrack the greatest asset of the game. In this arrangement album, Nobuo Uematsu and Shiro Hamaguchi use a full orchestra and even utilize some operatic vocal work to faithfully expand upon the original soundtrack. This approach offers a lot more depth to the original tracks and gives them an invigorated but familiar feel. Despite the wordiness of the title, Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec: Final Fantasy VIII is a very straightforward and listenable album. The arrangements are masterful and definitely up to Uematsu's usual standards.
Track List
DISC I
01 Liberi Fatali
02 Blue Fields
03 Don't be Afraid
04 Balamb Garden ~ Ami
05 Fisherman's Horizon
06 FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC
07 Eyes On Me
08 The Man with the Machine Gun
09 Dance with the Balambfish
10 Love Grows
11 The Oath
12 Ending Theme
13 Fragments of Memories
Recommended Listening: Blue Fields, Don't be Afraid, Balamb Garden ~ Ami.
Final Fantasy Tactics Original Soundtrack
[Audio CD, 2 Discs] Source: Final Fantasy Tactics [PS1] Composer: Masaharu Iwata, Hitoshi Sakimoto Release Date: 1997 Label: DigiCube
Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical RPG that was released for the PS1 a few months after the release of Final Fantasy VII. While Nobuo Uematsu worked diligently on Final Fantasy VII, Square's first major title on the Playstation, the soundtrack for Final Fantasy Tactics would need to be headed by someone else entirely. Square turned to composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, a duo that were relatively unknown compared to Uematsu but nonetheless had done impressive work with Tactics Ogre and numerous other projects.
The soundtrack to Final Fantasy Tactics is impressive to say the least. It utilizes strong, imaginative orchestral work which works wonders with the darker mood and heavy themes presented in the game. You can tell that the sound team spent a lot of time taxing the PS1 to its capacity in order to flesh out the illusion of orchestral sound. While Final Fantasy VII has a lot of memorable themes, they're hindered by the default sound channels of the PS1. Final Fantasy Tactics overcame this difficulty and set the pace for future Square projects.
Sakimoto and Iwata would go on to compose the soundtracks to Vagrant Story, Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter (Sakimoto only), Final Fantasy XII and Odin Sphere, among other titles. Like Nobuo Uematsu's work, their compositions have a unique and recognizable style.
Track List
DISC I
01 Brand Logo ~ Title Back
02 Backborn Story
03 P.R. Movie
04 Character Introductions
05 Character Making
06 Prologue Movie
07 Pray
08 Enemy Attack
09 Trisection
10 Commander In Training
11 Attack Team
12 Unavoidable Battle
13 Mission Complete
14 Hero's theme
15 A Chapel
16 Algus
17 World Map
18 Shop
19 Warrior's Hideout
20 Fur, Meat, and Bones Store
21 Team Making
22 Brave Story
23 Pub
24 Data Screen
25 Desert Land
26 Alma's Theme
27 Cryptic Mood
28 Decisive Battle
29 Cry of Pain
30 Remnants
31 Anxiety
32 Tension 1
33 Game Over
34 Tutorial
35 Random Waltz
36 Ovelia's Theme
37 Apoplexy
38 Zalbag, The Holy Knight
39 Run Past Through The Plain
40 Invasion
41 Delita's Theme
42 Back Fire
DISC II
01 Memories
02 Dycedarg's theme
03 Antipyretic
04 Saint Ajora's Theme
05 Bloody Excrement
06 And I Ran Away
07 Espionage
08 Kourin
09 Ovelia's Worries
10 Under the Stars
11 Battle On The Bridge
12 Count's Anger
13 In Pursuit
14 Shock! ~ Despair
15 Saint Ajora's Theme Deluxe
16 Cry of Pain!
17 Requiem
18 Terror 1
19 The Pervert
20 Antidote
21 Thunder God Cid
22 Treasure
23 Night Attack
24 Terror 2
25 Ultima, the Nice Body
26 Ultima, the Perfect Body
27 Fanfare
28 Epilogue
29 Staff Credit
Recommended Listening: Desert Land, Antipyretic, Battle on the Bridge.
Chrono Cross is the spiritual successor of Chrono Trigger, a remarkable SNES title that is often praised for raising the bar for the genre, especially in regards to music. Like its predecessor, Chrono Cross succeeds at having a highly immersive soundtrack, relying on haunting strings work and the incorporation of tribal/folk instruments and sounds. It's amazing to think that the PS1 is capable of this kind of sound work, especially when compared to first generation titles like Final Fantasy VII. It was difficult to pick just three recommended tracks off of this stellar soundtrack, but this article would probably explode if more youtube videos were embedded. Chrono Cross has remarkably solid music and is one of the best soundtracks of the PS1 era.
Track List
DISC I
01 Chrono Cross ~ Scars of Time
02 Between Life and Death
03 Arni Village ~ Home
04 Fields of Time ~ Home World
05 Lizard Dance
06 Reminiscing ~ Uneraseable Memory)
07 On the Beach of Dreams ~ Another World
08 Arni Village ~ Another World
09 Ephemeral Memory
10 Lost Fragment
11 Drowned Valley
12 Termina ~ Another World
13 Departed Souls
14 Forest of Illusion
15 Snakebone Mansion
16 Victory ~ A Gift of Spring
17 Lost in Time
18 Galdorb ~ Another World
19 Hydra Swamp
20 Fragment of a Dream
21 Voyage ~ Another World
22 Ghost Ship
23 Deathfire Mountain
24 Fortress of Ancient Dragons
25 Grief
DISC II
01 Beginning of a Dream
02 A Narrow Space Between Dimensions
03 Termina ~ Home
04 The Dragoons
05 Voyage ~ Home World
06 Galdorb ~ Home World
07 Marbule ~ Home World
08 Zelbess
09 The Splendidly Grand Magic Troupe
10 Nap
11 Chronomantique
12 Dilemma
13 Optimism
14 Isle of the Dead
15 Dead Sea/Tower of Destruction
16 Prisoners of Fate
17 A Light Already Lost
18 Island of the Earth Dragon
19 Navel of the World
20 Gale
21 Victory ~ A Cry in Summer
22 Marbule ~ Another World
23 Magic from the Fairies
24 Etude 1
25 Etude 2
26 Magical Dreamers
DISC III
01 Garden of God
02 Chronopolis
03 Fates ~ The God of Destiny
04 Jellyfish Sea
05 Burning Orphanage
06 The Girl Who Stole the Stars
07 The Dream that Time Dreams
08 Dragon's Prayer
09 Tower of Stars
10 Frozen Flame
11 Dragon God
12 Dark Realms of Time
13 Life ~ A Distant Promise
14 Reminiscing ~ Uneraseable Memory
15 Radical Dreamers ~ Unstolen Jewel
16 Fragment of a Dream
Recommended Listening: Chrono Cross ~ Scars of Time, On the Beach of Dreams ~ Another World, The Dream that Time Dreams.
Final Fantasy IV Arrange: Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption
[Audio CD, 4 Discs] Source: Final Fantasy IV [SNES] Composer: Various Artists Release Date: 2009 Label: Indie [OC Remix release]
Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption is a community project created by various artists at OverClocked Remix. This release features 46 arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu's amazing composition work for Final Fantasy IV. From the official release page: "Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption features 36 artists from the OC ReMix community. While the album holds a rock-opera overtone, there are a range of styles presented, from the heavy trance of the Within the Giant, to the more intimate string quartet rendition of Theme of Lute. Each arrangement focuses on enhancing the essence of the original and bringing it closer to an overarching theme, while allowing the artist to add their own unique mark." As this is an independent and not-for-profit release, you can torrent the album in its entirety or download individual tracks here.
The album has a lot of polish, which is to be expected of the folks over at OverClocked Remix. I did have trouble picking out specific artists that I was familiar with, with the exception of bLiNd, so I can understand why this release isn't as widely known as Voices of the Lifestream. However, regardless of name recognition, I was impressed by quite a few tracks. If you're familiar with Final Fantasy IV and the original soundtrack, hop on the torrent, otherwise I recommend you hunt around the individual download section.
Track List
DISC I
01 Full of Courage (The Red Wings)
02 The Might of Baron (Kingdom of Baron)
03 Overture ~ Tellah's Prophecy (Medley)
04 Journey to Solace (Sorrow and Loss)
05 Ana(pro)logue (Prologue)
06 The Flying Machine (Main Theme of FINAL FANTASY IV)
07 Read the Sine (Welcome to Our Town!)
08 Emerald Beauty (Rydia)
09 RDX Necklace (Bomb Ring)
10 Of Fiend and Man (Battle 1)
11 Interlude ~ Yay! (Fanfare)
12 The Skies Hold No Angels for Us (Damcyan Castle)
13 Edward's Dream Quartet (Edward's Harp)
14 Golbez 'N Goblins (Golbez, Clad in Darkness)
15 Fighting for Tomorrow (Fabul)
DISC II
01 Mystic Variations (Mystic Mysidia)
02 Metal Mage (Palom and Porom)
03 Smiling Hilltop for Four Hands (Mt. Ordeals)
04 Step Into the Light (Into the Darkness)
05 Long Time Gone (A Long Way to Go)
06 Rhymes with Elixir (Chocobo Chocobo)
07 Interlude ~ Nom! (Enter Fat Chocobo)
08 Blue Planet in Mode 7 (The Airship)
09 Goodbye Cid... (Hey Cid!)
10 Almost Fell for the Trojan (Troian Beauty)
11 Somewhere to Hide (Somewhere in the World...)
12 Fallen Dragoon (Suspicion)
13 Fallen Ascent (Tower of Zot)
14 Survival Instinct (Battle 2)
15 OMFG GET OUT OF THERE!!! (Run!)
16 Lacrima (Sorrow and Loss)
17 Theme of Love for Guitar Duet (Theme of Love)
DISC III
01 Tundra of Dwarves (Land of Dwarves)
02 In the Land of Dwarves (Giott, King of the Dwarves)
03 Path of Deception (The Land of Summons)
04 Calcobrena After a Night of Dinner and Dancing (Dancing Calbrena)
05 Treason (Battle with the Four Fiends)
06 Until the Tower Falls (Tower of Bab-il)
07 Evoking the Dawn (The Prelude)
08 A Savior Ascends (Lunar Whale)
09 The Still Land (The Lunarians)
10 Bridge to Eternity (Within the Giant)
11 Finale Part One ~ Éminence Grise (Another Moon)
12 Finale Part Two ~ Genesis of Destruction (The Final Battle)
13 Facing (Epilogue)
14 Kind of Green (Rydia)
DISC IV - Bonus
01 All Your Calcobrena Are Belong to Us (Dancing Calbrena)
02 I Love This Radio (Theme of Love)
03 Smooth Sun of Magma (Land of Dwarves)
04 Morphine Kyck (Battle 1)
05 Triaminotrinitrobenzene (Bomb Ring)
06 Phantom of the Zeromus (The Final Battle)
07 Zeromus the Serialist (The Final Battle)
08 Spiraling Decay (The Final Battle)
Recommended Listening: Full of Courage, Path of Deception, Bridge to Eternity.
Guarvail: Final Fantasy Heavy Metal Arrange
[Audio CD, 1 Disc] Source: Final Fantasy series Composer: SHADE Release Date: 2007 Label: Doujin/Indie
Guarvail: Final Fantasy Heavy Metal Arrange is a 13 track arrangement album featuring some of composer Nobuo Uematsu's work on the Final Fantasy series. The album is arranged by SHADE, which comprises two members, Makoto and Eiji. The album itself is similar to The Black Mages, with fast, hard hitting guitar work and some creative harmonies. However, the title itself is a little misleading, as I would not classify this as heavy metal but as a guitar-centric rock arrangement. This might come as a disappointment to some, but if you're already a fan of The Black Mages you should find some familiar ground here. Unfortunately, some of the tracks do come off as lengthy and even repetitive at times, while other tracks seem a bit shorter than they should be (the first arrangement is a minute and twenty seconds of a great theme, really?). This is an album that overall could have benefited from more care in post-production, but nonetheless is a great addition to your music collection if you're familiar with the series.
Track List
01 FF8 The Legendary Beast
02 FF8 The Extreme
03 FF5 Battle on the Big Bridge
04 FF3 Opening Theme
05 FF2 Battle Scene A
06 FF6 Decisive Battle
07 FF7 Birth of the God
08 FF6 Dancing Mad -Tier 1-
09 FF6 Dancing Mad -Tier 2-
10 FF6 Dancing Mad -Tier 3-
11 FF6 Dancing Mad -Tier 4-
12 FF4 Red Wings
13 FF6 Tina
Recommended Listening: The Extreme, Battle Scene A, Red Wings.
Yume Nikki is an indie game that has developed a cult following over the past few years, thanks to its retro feel and unnerving gameplay. There is very little story aside from what you can infer when you explore the main character's twisted dream world. While the game is low on jump scares, the creepy settings, strange creatures, and unsettling sounds can start to tax your sanity. In a similar way, this compilation album preserves the feel of Yume Nikki's tracklist and its retro gaming charm. There's a decent amount of variety here as well, with definite breakcore influences in 'endleSSStation' and other tracks. Listeners that have tried the game will notice subtle nods, like the light switch flicking on and off during 'disregard', an action that can have serious consequences in the game (and apparently in the track, oh god nooo).
Track List
01 white pool
02 Neon Flower
03 ON THE AIR IN THE AIR
04 endleSSStation
05 Dark Ages / 暗黒時代
06 An 8-Bit Memory / 8bit脳
07 9 A.M
08 disregard
09 Madotsuki in Wonderland / マドツキ・イン・ワンダーランド
10 drip of -mars-
11 Dame, Muri / ダメ、ムリ
12 This Way Miss Demon / おにさんこちら
13 Martian Resident / 火星在住
14 Flying Elopement / 逃避行飛行
15 Day of a Closed Diary / 日記帳を閉じる日
Recommended Listening: white pool, Madotsuki in Wonderland, disregard (warning: UBOA imminent).
Persona 4 Original Soundtrack
[Audio CD, 1 Disc] Source: Persona 4 [PS2] Composer: Shōji Meguro Release Date: 2008 Label: Phantom Sound & Vision
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is the latest iteration of the Persona series. The game itself was released in 2008 for the PS2. The soundtrack is composed primarily by Shoji Meguro with a few vocal tracks that are voiced by Shihoko Hirata. The soundtrack is a mix of modern pop with rpg standards, which compliments the games modern setting and characters quite nicely. Despite Persona 4 missing some of the urban cityscape inspired beats from Persona 3, Shoji Meguro demonstrates why he's the go-to composer for the Shin Megami Tensei series. While some of the tracks might be a little too pop induced (the main battle theme comes to mind), the soundtrack as a whole is very listenable and has a lot of charm, albeit not quite as much as Persona 3. One of my only complaints about this particular collection is that the full game soundtrack is actually 2 CDs, although this collection has nearly all of the 'best of' tracks. Unfortunately, it is missing 'Mist', one of the overdriven final battle themes in Persona 4, and quite frankly Shoji Meguro does some of his best work on battle themes (as evidenced in Digital Devil Saga).
Track List
01 Pursuing My True Self
02 Aria of the Soul
03 New Days
04 Your Affection
05 Who's There
06 Reach Out to the Truth (instrumental version)
07 Castle
08 Border of Insanity
09 I'll Face Myself (battle)
10 Muscle Blues
11 Sauna
12 Striptease
13 Heartbeat, Heartbreak
14 Game
15 A New World Fool
16 Reach Out to the Truth
17 Junes Theme
18 Traumerei
19 Secret Base
20 Heaven
21 Deduction (another version)
22 Long Way
23 The Almighty
24 Never More
Recommended Listening: The Almighty, Heaven, Long Way.
Megalomania: Rockman Guitar Arrange is a great collection of popular themes from the NES era of the Megaman (Rockman) franchise. While Megaman remixes are generally abundant due to the popularity of the series (OverClocked ReMix has 100+ submitted tracks), the doujin group Dangerous Mezashi Cat gets back in touch with Rockman's roots: hard and fast guitar rock. The album definitely has some ho-hum tracks, which can possibly be attributed to staying too close to the source material and not deviating as much.. it is an arrangement album after all. However, there are definitely some remarkable tracks that should make it a mainstay in your collection.
Persona V.3
[Audio CD, 2 Discs] Source: Persona 3 [PS2] Composer: Shōji Meguro Release Date: 2006 Label: Sony
Shin Megami Tensai: Persona 3 was released in 2006 (2007 for North America) by Atlus. This two disc collection features 58 compositions and arrangements by Shoji Meguro, a longstanding composer for the varied Shin Megami Tensai series. The soundtrack itself is quite varied and reflects the modern tone of Persona 3 and its gameplay. The soundtrack jumps between classical sounding arrangements, urban inspired battle themes, overdriven guitars, and still manages to keep some classic RPG charm intact. The diversity of the soundtrack compliments the dual nature of Persona 3's gameplay, which has you planning your daily schedule around attending high school, improving your social links and fighting through the hellish tower Tartarus at night. While most of the Shin Megami Tensai series (and most games in general) has a relatively narrow thematic range to draw emphasis to the gameplay, this soundtrack incorporates a variety of elements that work quite well together to create an extremely listenable album. The number of remix and band arrangement compilations based on this soundtrack attests to this.
Track List
DISC I
01 Burn My Dread
02 Poem of Everyone's Soul
03 Beginning
04 This Strange Sensation
05 Want to be Close
06 Troubled
07 Crisis
08 Shadow
09 Invoke Persona
10 Unavoidable Battle
11 Peace
12 When the Moon's Reaching Out Stars
13 Iwatodai Dormitory
14 The Voice Someone Calls
15 tartarus_0d01
16 Mass Destruction
17 After Battle
18 p3ct004_01
19 Deep Breath Deep Breath
20 Master of Shadow
21 Paulownian Mall
22 tartarus_0d02
23 Unsettling Premonition
24 Fearful Experience
25 Calamity
26 Junior Exam
27 Adventured Act
28 Joy
29 tartarus_0d03
30 Deep Mentality
31 The Path is Open
32 The Path Was Closed
DISC II
01 Changing Seasons
02 Basement
03 Master of Tartarus
04 This is Fine
05 Living With Determination
06 tartarus_0d04
07 Kyoto
08 Afternoon Break
09 Current Net Price
10 tartarus_0d05
11 Remembrance of 10 Years Ago
12 Mistic
13 Power of the Heart
14 Street of Memories
15 Memories of the Academy
16 Living With Determination - Iwatodai Dormitory Arrange
17 tartarus_0d06
18 The Thing Comes From the Darkness
19 Battle for Everyone's Souls
20 Nyx
21 Determination
22 Burn My Dread -Last Battle-
23 Bonds
24 Because I Protect
25 Memories of You
26 Blues in Velvet Room
Recommended Listening: Want to be Close, Mass Destruction, Battle for Everyone's Souls
Anubis: Zone of the Enders
[Audio CD, 1 Disc] Source: Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner [PS2] Composer: Norihiko Hibino and Konami Music Entertainment Release Date: 2003 Label: Sony/Columbia
The Anubis soundtrack features most of the music used in Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, which was released in 2003 for the PS2. The Zone of the Enders series is produced by Hideo Kojima, whose name is synonymous with the popular and longstanding Metal Gear franchise. The soundtrack is composed by Konami Music Entertainment under Norihiko Hibino, who has also done extensive work within the Metal Gear series (PS2 generation onward). As such, there's some common ground between these various soundtracks, but for the most part The 2nd Runner's soundtrack has a distinct feel. The game centers around fast-paced and instinctual mecha combat and the soundtrack does an excellent job of setting this pace. The soundtrack as a whole can be described as an amalgamation of techno and hard hitting orchestra work. Some of the individual tracks can be repetitive, like any game soundtrack, but I feel that there's a good amount of solid, powerful work to listen to.
Track List
01 Beyond The Bounds
02 Jehuty - Vivid Transparency
03 Seek Taper
04 Leo! Leo!
05 Phobos At Mars
06 VR Training
07 Fake Aumaan
08 Ardjet
09 Compression Space
10 Beyond The Bounds
11 Bahram Battleship
12 Train
13 Air Fight
14 Aloivia
15 Inhert
16 Explosion & Aftermath
17 Descending Aumaan
18 Chaotic Fight
19 Zakat
20 Final Battle
21 Jehuty Returns
22 Trusting Peace
Recommended Listening: Beyond the Bounds, Bahram Battleship, Air Fight.
Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec: Final Fantasy VIII
