RPGamers Network > Reviews > Game Music Reviews > Final Fantasy: Symphonic Suite
Reviewed by: S3KI
The only reason anyone would not like this album would be if they actually detest the music from Final Fantasy I and II. Even then, it's hardly an excuse. Some songs, like "Scene II" (yes, the names are creative, aren't they?) are not great due to nostalgic value, but alternatively, what they add to the original song to make it cooler (in this case a slick drum set and wacky synth effects).
Then there are songs like "Scene V ~ Prelude" (my god, they must have spent hours on these track names...) which are so beautiful it reminds you why Nobuo is one of today's leading composers. A minute and a half after the bright introductory sequence, a delicate harp plays the familiar scale runs of the Prelude theme to be joined later by a cautious yet brave flute. The combination is so fragile yet rich in musical tones that it's just breathtaking. After another minute and a half, (yup, you guessed it, this is the longest track on the rather short album) the two are joined by the full orchestra. The orchestra takes a nostalgic "FF1 - Main Theme" tangent, and winds its beautiful little course. The tone picks up as the brass sound the "FF1 - Garlands Temple" fanfare. The strings join them, and the song gets even brisker. Finally, the fanfare is played with complete synergy between the woodwinds, orchestra, brass and percussion. The intensity finally slackens as the strings take up what may sound familiar to you as the song "GAIA" from Final Fantasy ~ Love Will Grow (2nd Vocal Collection). And last and definitely shortest, the song ends on a nice trumpet fanfare.
And while I did just spend a few bytes talking about Scene V, my favorite song is "Scene VI". And that is for the first 2 minutes of the song. It begins with a clarinet rendition of "Gulg Volcano", possibly my favorite song ever composed by Nobuo (right up there with "World Crisis" (FF7) and "Harvest" (FF5)). A nice group of pizzicato (also known as "plucking"
strings take the melody after the clarinets, only to have them return for one last playing of Gulg Volcano before moving onto the heart of the piece, "Matoya's Cave" from FF1.
Overall, this delicate yet exquisite album has all the best songs from Final Fantasies 1 and 2 orchestrated into 7 neat tracks. It's one of my faves, and will probably stay up there for a good number of years to come.
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| Album Information | Reviewer Rank |
|---|---|
|
Final Fantasy: Symphonic Suite Published by: DATAM Polystar Release Date: July 25th 1989 Composed by: Nobuo Uematsu, Takayuki Hattori Arranged by: Katsuhisa Hattori, Takayuki Hattori 1 Disc, 7 Tracks Catalog: H28X-10007 |
100 |
Reviewed by: S3KI
The only reason anyone would not like this album would be if they actually detest the music from Final Fantasy I and II. Even then, it's hardly an excuse. Some songs, like "Scene II" (yes, the names are creative, aren't they?) are not great due to nostalgic value, but alternatively, what they add to the original song to make it cooler (in this case a slick drum set and wacky synth effects).
Then there are songs like "Scene V ~ Prelude" (my god, they must have spent hours on these track names...) which are so beautiful it reminds you why Nobuo is one of today's leading composers. A minute and a half after the bright introductory sequence, a delicate harp plays the familiar scale runs of the Prelude theme to be joined later by a cautious yet brave flute. The combination is so fragile yet rich in musical tones that it's just breathtaking. After another minute and a half, (yup, you guessed it, this is the longest track on the rather short album) the two are joined by the full orchestra. The orchestra takes a nostalgic "FF1 - Main Theme" tangent, and winds its beautiful little course. The tone picks up as the brass sound the "FF1 - Garlands Temple" fanfare. The strings join them, and the song gets even brisker. Finally, the fanfare is played with complete synergy between the woodwinds, orchestra, brass and percussion. The intensity finally slackens as the strings take up what may sound familiar to you as the song "GAIA" from Final Fantasy ~ Love Will Grow (2nd Vocal Collection). And last and definitely shortest, the song ends on a nice trumpet fanfare.
And while I did just spend a few bytes talking about Scene V, my favorite song is "Scene VI". And that is for the first 2 minutes of the song. It begins with a clarinet rendition of "Gulg Volcano", possibly my favorite song ever composed by Nobuo (right up there with "World Crisis" (FF7) and "Harvest" (FF5)). A nice group of pizzicato (also known as "plucking"
strings take the melody after the clarinets, only to have them return for one last playing of Gulg Volcano before moving onto the heart of the piece, "Matoya's Cave" from FF1.Overall, this delicate yet exquisite album has all the best songs from Final Fantasies 1 and 2 orchestrated into 7 neat tracks. It's one of my faves, and will probably stay up there for a good number of years to come.
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