Monday, November 23, 2009

Top 10 Final Fantasy Songs

So I posted a video on YouTube counting down my Top 10 favorite Final Fantasy Songs; I figured that I would write a little explanation about each of my choices.


10. Vamo' Alla Flamenco (FFIX)

I love the Spanish influence that this song has. It helps that it was also played during one of the more fun parts of the game when Zidane was sword-fighting on stage. It's not overly emotional or anything, but this song always struck me as just being fun. Sometimes you can't explain why, you just like a song!

9. The Man with the Machine Gun (FFVIII)

Although I was quite confused at first, the segments of the game where you got to play as Laguna and company ended up being my favorite parts of the game. A significant reason as to why I enjoyed those parts was the music that played whenever you got into battles. This song is upbeat and has a nice ambient feel to it; basically it's just one of those songs that I can't help but nod my head to as I am listening to it.

8. You Are Not Alone (FFIX)

This song played during one of the more dramatic points in FFIX and I felt like it really captured the feel very well. I enjoy the progression that it makes, as it starts out very plain, then comes in with the flute (or whatever) before going into the electric guitar bit. All in all it's my favorite song from FFIX.

7. Terra (FFVI)

This song is just one of the ultimate overworld map themes that I've heard. This is the song that comes to mind when I think of FFVI. The bassline that keeps repeating itself feels like something that you should march to, and the flute that comes over the top of it is absolutely masterful. I found myself stopping on the world map just to hear this tune out on more than one occasion.

6. Boss Battle (FFIV)

This song epitomizes early era Final Fantasy games to me. While the more recent games explored more modern areas and often had more ambient, rock influenced music, the originals had a very European Middle Ages feel to them. This song fits boss battles perfectly due to how dramatic it is. Every time this came on it had me on the edge of my seat and made the game feel a lot faster paced than it actually was. Just a great song.

5. A Fleeting Dream (FFX)

Whenever you finally got to Zanarkand in FFX it had a very surreal, dreamlike feel to it. This song set the tone perfectly. The exhaling noise (that's what I think it sounds like) that constantly floats in the background works absolute wonders. Combined with the slightly modified melody from Suteki Da Ne it made for a very emotional trip through Zanarkand.

4. Cosmo Canyon (FFVII)

Cosmo Canyon felt almost as if it were inhabited by a Native American tribe with the dwellings in the mountain and the very nature-conscious inhabitants. The pulsing drum beat that plays in the background helps enhance this Native American feel significantly. Once the flute finally comes in, it has a really entrancing melody and builds up to a very dramatic climax. I always loved going to Cosmo Canyon just because of this song.

3. Seymour Battle (FFX)

When I first got to Seymour Omnis, he beat the pants off my team. Therefore I decided to do sidequests and picked up Anima. When I finally went back, I beat him extremely quickly. Because of that I never got to fully experience this song. If you put on headphones while you listen to this, it's like an orgasmic explosion of sound in both ears. It has a nice beat going in the background and the ambient sounds that come in from all over the place make this song very intense. This song is just plain awesome.

2. Still More Fighting (FFVII)

When I think of FFVII, One Winged Angel is NOT the song that comes to mind. Instead, I think of Still More Fighting as the song that defined the game to me. The way that it opens up with the crunchy guitar sound fits in perfectly with the polluted setting of the slums in Midgar. It's very upbeat, as any boss battle song should be, and gets you going when you're fighting a boss. I'd be satisfied if it just continued the opening bit the entire time, but when the synthesizer comes in at just over a minute in it adds a whole new level. It's hard to fully explain, but I wish that every fight in the game used this song because it's simply that cool.

1. To Zanarkand (FFX)

I have to confess that FFX was my favorite game in the series. It focused on the story in a way that no other game I had played had and managed to do it in a compelling manner as well. One of the keys to story telling in any game is the music, and this song was the emotional climax of the game to that point. The entire story came to a head when the group meets Zanarkand, and the music captures the emotion of the situation perfectly as Tidus watches Yuna march onward willingly towards her death and he can't think of any way to stop her. (I would lot this one in with the "Ending Theme" as well since they both utilize the Zanarkand melody)

So there you have it: my top 10 Final Fantasy songs. You don't agree? I don't expect you to! But I do encourage you to make your own list and reply with it or post it as a video response on YouTube. I'll leave you with some honorable mentions of songs that were close, but didn't quite make the cut.

Honorable Mentions:
FF7: Anxious Heart, Oppressed People, Aeris' Theme
FF8: Balamb Garden
FF9: Rose of May
FF10: Otherworld, Auron's Theme, Servants of the Mountain, Spira Unplugged, Besaid, Silence Before the Storm

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