Nobuo Month 4/6
By Slunks 4 Comments
16. Main Theme – Final Fantasy VII ~Live~
Last week I mentioned the soul of the composer being found in a main theme – there’s no difference here. Damn this song is beautiful. It completely captures the “world slowly falling apart” undertone, but it reminds you that you’re the hero to save it. When a song does that, you know it’s more than instruments making music, it’s emotion. Which is the key reason why Nobuo is my favorite composer of ever (even past Rush, my #1 band), he can make me believe so passionately about what he does: make me think music about the way I do. This theme is a fine definition of his best – not necessarily musically, but passionately.
17. Theme of Seth – Lost Odyssey
Amazing. People who’ve beat Lost Odyssey will completely understand and know why this song is so important. For those who won’t get around to it, this is the last song you finally hear after fifty or more hours of playing the game, which the last thirty minutes completely destroys all other games for best ending of all-time. Really, it’s that amazing – I’m pretty sure that I could not stop getting caught up in myself – this song definitely tied the knot.
18. Mambo De Chocobo – Final Fantasy
Yeah, that’s right. There had to a chocobo theme in here somewhere. I find it slightly humorous how no Final Fantasy takes place on the same land or timeline (aside from FF XII), however you still have a slight theme to it with various things such as chocobos. The theme is as memorable as ever, and I think it’s made a fine print in gaming music history itself. The hardest part was how many versions of the theme I had to decide from, and while there are technically better types out there, this one strikes the characteristics of a chocobo. Wark!
19. Terra’s Theme – Final Fantasy VI
Probably one of the most memorable melody’s of the franchise if you’re a Final Fantasy VI fan. It has no big build-ups, no crashes, no snaps, no real lift off, yet it remains to have that epic adventure feeling behind it. Amazing where a man can take such a simple melody – it practically is the game’s main theme. I’m personally finally just getting around to the game myself, and I’ll say from what I’ve experienced the song has some big shoes to fill and thus far it’s done more than a fine job.
20. Roar of the Departed Souls – Lost Odyssey
This one’s definitely an awesome progressive heavy rock song. I’m sure this one will please the fans of Nobuo’s non-classical side. Either way, this song is an absolute rollercoaster that has a ride to the top and a big, fast drop after that. Down the line you’ll hear something I’ve pretty sure that’s never been done in music history: An [what I assume is] an italian rap with african tribes shouting in the background. As crazy as it sounds, it’s somehow really awesome with the guitar riff in the background. Supposedly Nobuo composed the Lost Odyssey soundtrack while in Italy, and he wanted to somehow show a side of it within the music, so why not have it as the final boss fight? – that’s pretty cool.
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As always, credit goes out to Nobuo Uematsu, along with other like-minded composers such as Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu, who've not only received help from a legendary musician, but contributed their fair share of what you've listened to today. The glue of which holds the music and context together is also credited to masterminds such as Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yoshinori Kitase, and Kazushige Nojima. Final thanks goes to Square-Enix for placing these amazing guys in their well-deserved spotlight!