Style: Orchestral video game music
Primary Emotions/Themes: Selections from Final Fantasy titles
Thoughts: This may be the oldest video game related record that I have in my collection. This was acquired at one of the Distant Worlds concerts quite a few years ago. I didn't have anything near my current equipment then, I just thought it was neat to have a record of the concert.
Time has passed and this has remained in my collection, largely unplayed. I honestly don't know why its essentially been laying around, this is some exceptional music on here. The music in the games was strong to begin with, and now playing them with a full orchestra... it makes the music blossom in a way that it never did on the consoles.
That's not to say that I don't like the soundtracks on the consoles, quite the opposite. I highly prefer listening to the music in it's original context, however switching it up every now and then isn't a bad thing either.
This first entry has some of my all time favorite tracks from the series on it. The epic boss theme One Winged Angel makes an appearance, Bombing Mission from the start of FFVII also kicks off the album in strong form. The real star of the show here though is the opera from FFVI.
That scene blew me away when I was a kid, and hearing it in a full rendition here is beyond anything I could have imagined. It's the fulfillment of what it sounded like when I was a kid listening to the 16 bit sound-chip of the Super Nintendo. A dream come true.
Distant Worlds is one of the few orchestral arrangements that I feel does justice to the origonal music. It could be that Nobou Uematsu was heavily involved with the arrangements. It could be that there is a huge nostalgia factor. It could be both and more. I don't know, I don't care. This record is how you do orchestrated video game music.
Written February 22nd 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment