Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack

Before I begin, let me say this: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack is in my opinion, not better than Final Fantasy VI Original Soundtrack. However, I believe it is a strong number two in the Final Fantasy music series. Not only are the themes extremely well developed and enjoyably enthralling, but the music fits the game like a glove. This review's length may be a bit long, but I feel so enthusiastic about this score that I have to pour out my thoughts.

First, let me address the issue of how this soundtrack compares to the others in the series. As stated previously, FFVI's is unquestionably one of, if not the, greatest soundtracks ever composed - so FFVII would have to be practically perfect in order to surpass it. However, it's better overall than FFVIII's score, which I found to be pretty much boring (just like the horrible game). The sound quality of Final Fantasy VII's is obviously not that great, especially on some songs, but the composition of the music is so wonderful on Uematsu's part that it completely overshadows that. So basically, if the sound quality itself were equal to that of later Final Fantasy scores, this soundtrack would completely blow them out of the water.

Now, about the music itself. Four discs means a lot of music - all the music from the game in fact - and it turns out that most of it is great. While FFVI had a much darker tone than its predecessors, FFVII's music is even darker, which fits into the nature of the game. The evil "Shinra Company" theme conveys the sense of arrogance, grandness, and oppression so well; you can't help but imagine a sprawling corporate empire set admidst the backdrop of global conquest. Other Shina-related themes include the "Makou Reactor" segment, which not only gets the feel of being inside a reactor right, but also gives you a sense of mechanical coldness that will chill the air around your speakers. The "Turk's Theme" sounds like an a cappella percussion-oriented jazz that is just undeniably cool. And who could fail to mention "Still More Fighting", a clever combination of orchestra and hard electronic rock sounds that qualifies as an excellent boss battle theme. Most of Disc One is filled with Shinra and Midgar themes, which are all featured in the Midgar portion (beginning part) of the game.

Disc Two features a grab-bag of musical style selections that are hit-and-miss. For example, the "FFVII Main Theme" is amazingly majestic, and is a true orchestral movement that would sound great performed by a live symphony. The synth version however suffices graciously. "Electric de Chocobo" is an excellent version of the Chocobo theme... quite possibly the most up-beat and fun, especially if you're a fan of electronic rock. "Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony" is good, although the sound quality should have been improved on this ceremonial march. "J-E-N-O-V-A" is a sci-fi boss battle theme, and most fans of the series' music consider it one of the best. Lastly, "Cait Sith's Theme" is worth mentioning for its jazzy, snappy beat that best conveys the cool gambling fortune-telling cat.

Disc Three also features a variety of themes and music styles - from the tribal, earthly beats of "Cosmo Canyon" and the calming, but heart-breaking cues of "Lifestream" and "Great Warrior" to the hellishly dark "Those Chosen By The Planet", which basically serves as Sephiroth's theme. "Cid's Theme" is outstandingly uplifting, and I personally use it to lift myself up out of a depressive mood. Elemental, New Age, and sci-fi styles abound in "Forested Temple", "You Can Hear The Cry Of The Planet", and "Reunion". Of course, one of the single most important and well-composed songs on the disc (and in Uematsu's career for that matter) is "Aerith's Theme", a touching piano, strings, and brass movement that reminds you of someone you love.

Disc Four is the dark disc. With a powerful militaristic march "Shinra Army Wages A Full-Scale Attack" (which is surprisingly better than any of FFVI's military-oriented themes), and the heart-racing attack track of "Weapon Raid", the disc is generally action themes and dark Sephiroth numbers. The Highwind and Submarine themes are passable and enjoyable, and the Makou Cannon-firing bombastic segment is an effective way to end the Shinra-based themes. "Judgement Day" is a good final dungeon theme that is surprisingly full of hope. The next three tracks are the final boss battle themes, succeeding one right after the other. "Jenova Absolute" is in my opinion better than the first Jenova theme, and "Birth of a God" is a crazed, jumbled-together theme that gives you a slight idea of the state of Sephiroth's mind at the end of the game. However, it's only in the last three tracks that the music really starts cooking. "One Winged Angel" is the greatest final boss theme ever created, and even features a Latin chorus and a true gothic style to it! "World Crisis" and "Staff Roll" are great ending pieces, with (seriously) awe-inspiring reprisals of numerous themes throughout the game; the concluding atmosphere surrounding these two tracks makes you wish the soundtrack wouldn't end. Overall, this is a fantastically great music score that may be hindered by less than great sound quality, but if you miss out on this one, you're really depriving yourself of a fantastic musical experience.

Perhaps the most overrated video game soundtrack of all time, Final Fantasy VII OST, has all the trappings and hype that should make it one of the best video game music albums ever, rightly matching it with the game in terms of quality and excellence. Final Fantasy VII was perhaps the best RPG, or video game in general, that I'd ever played, and I loved every minute of it. The music only helped to make Final Fantasy VII all the more successful. However, when put on its own, the soundtrack simply does not hold up. Even though some of Nobuo Uematsu's greatest compositions can be found on the soundtrack to Final Fantasy VII, most of the others barely make it into the middle of the range.

The sounds of FFVII are experimental comparatively to the rest of Uematsu's compositions, and although this pays off in spades in some compositions, in others it just sounds downright annoying. A major hamperance is the sound system. We've heard much better, orchestral-quality synth work on Final Fantasy Tactics and Xenogears, but the overall sound design in FFVII is muddled by the "electronic-ness", as if the music was recorded with the bass and treble turned up too high. Most of the songs, like "Makou Reactor", "Flowers Blooming in The Church", "It's Difficult to Stand on Both Feet, Isn't it?", and "Who Am I?", are annoying, and there will be many times when you'll think a song has repeated itself over later in the soundtrack because some use the exact same melodies ("Mark of the Traitor" sounds way too much like the other rebel themes). The presentation mostly comes off as ambient. "Who Are You?" and "Ahead on Our Way" are cringeworthy material at best, and even our beloved "Prelude" is mushed into a flat, obviously synth mess of strings and harps. I've heard it done sooo much better in FFIV and VI.

Even most of the character themes aren't worth writing home about. Whereas in FFVI there were intricate (even for the sound system) themes for each character that many of us will probably take to the grave, there really isn't very much offered here. A common example is "Barett's Theme", with synth brass blaring away in the background, which tires the ears way too quickly. The other instruments in the songs have to be that much higher pitched and awkward sounding to get over the din the background makes. This is a common element of composition throughout FFVII, and it permeates almost all of the tracks.

There are positive exceptions, of course. But one of best compositions of the album, "Red XIII's Theme", with its oh-so-cool native beats, is only a scant 1:28 long, whereas some of the more annoying ambient songs are given upwards of four minutes of playing time! "Fanfare" benefits from the overt electronics and is a cool difference from the other styles in which it has been presented in the other games of the series. The notably electric "Can You Hear The Cry Of The Planet" is an excellent ambient, alien-sounding theme as well.

All this goes on for four CD's, with an average of 22 or so songs on each CD, only about one-forth on each are really listenable.

It seems almost as if more work was put into some tracks than others, as there is a distinct audio quality difference - for the better - in all of the best tracks on the CD. This is where FFVII redeems itself in any way, in that is has some of the greatest pieces of music ever composed buried within the mish-mush of the ambient tracks.

The true highlight of the album (and perhaps Uematsu's career) is "One Winged Angel". With its latin chants and apocalyptic bombast, it has the best synth-orchestral sound of the entire album. After a couple listens you'll be singing Latin like I was, this song is just sooo cool! I have not heard very many songs that can beat it, and it ranks as Uematsu's second-best last boss theme (right behind the megalithic baroque grandeur of "Dancing Mad" from FFVI).

"Turks Theme" uses little of the blaring synths and goes more for a "cooler" jazzy melody. "J-E-N-O-V-A" is another excellent battle song which is melodically carried through the soundtrack extremely well. Others that pay off are the Chocobo songs, "Waltz De Chocobo", "Electric De Chocobo", "Cinco De Chocobo", and "Fiddle De Chocobo", which with its wild west flavorings, is definitely a highlight of the album. I just love the synth "hi-yeah!" in the song. It cracks me up! "Aerith's Theme" is a great, sad song, very slightly along the melodic lines of "Celes" from FFVI, with a simple piano opening segueing into an synth orchestra that is truly beautiful and inspiring. I would recommend that you listen to the full orchestrated version presented on Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks over this one, but the original synth is still pretty special comparatively. "Stolen Materia" takes us whimsically back to Uematsu's playful FFVI compositions, and "FFVII Main Theme" is a very good change of pace for the normal overworld adventure themes.

Combined with the stunning visuals, the music is very well used in Final Fantasy VII, and it is a definite "must have" recommendation. As an album, whether or not it receives a recommendation depends on your tastes. For me, it was an awful lot of money for just one CD's worth of really good songs, but I love "One-Winged Angel" so much I had to have it, along with the other notable songs that stuck in my head after playing the game so much my Playstation was about to burn a hole through the discs. Much better versions of "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII" and "Aerith's Theme" are to be had on the Reunion Tracks CD, along with many of the best tracks from the four CDs in the album. If you're a FFVII so-die-hard-you're-naming-your-first-child-Cloud fan, then this is a must have, along with Reunion Tracks, but for the rest of us casual buyers, skip it. It truly breaks my heart to say that I didn't like this album - it's a Final Fantasy soundtrack! Things like this aren't supposed to happen! I suppose Shin Ra got a hold of the master tapes and screwed around with them before they were put into mass production. Or maybe it was Kait Sith...?

Nobuo Uematsu is back, and in fine form. In his first solo project since Final Fantasy VI, Uematsu once again demonstrates his creativity and musical prowess. Those who have been lucky enough to play the game might agree that the soundtrack tells the story just as much as the dialogue.

Historically, there has been one constant in the series of Final Fantasy soundtracks: versatility. Epic, classical, waltz, pop, rock, Latin, industrial, Irish, Middle Eastern... these are just a handful of the styles that Uematsu has employed. Final Fantasy VII is no different. Critics have been quick to point out that the soundtrack is "mechanical" - I would suggest that this statement falls somewhere between falsehood and broad overgeneralization. With four discs of memorable melodies, kickin?Ebeats, and a ton of styles ranging from tried-and-true to experimental, there's something for everyone - just like the other Final Fantasy OSVs. I've certainly pegged my favorites. I've completed the game once, begun my second time through, and consumed the soundtrack as if it were my bread and water.

Almost everyone is acquainted with "Fighting", which is the same track heard on the Tobal preview disc. It's stood the test of time, though - been in my head for more than half a year and I still dig it. "Final Fanasy VII Main Theme" is poignant, yet powerful. As in all the Final Fantasies, this theme is arranged in several different ways throughout the game. It has a dissonance not unlike the bizarre chord progression of Gun Hazard's main theme - so experimental, Uematsu himself joked that it could have gotten him kicked out of music school. "Electric De Chocobo" may as well have been called "Pulp De Chocobo". One might suspect Uematsu was high on Tarantino when he arranged this bad boy. Fun and groovy nonetheless, and I'm sure most will smile when hearing it for the first time.

"J-E-N-O-V-A" is, in the words of Sabin, "sporty, yet functional." Great beat, great melody - and coupled with the intensity of the boss battle scene, this one gave me some sweet anxiety. In contrast is "Costa Del Sol", a light-hearted bossa nova. With its soft vibraphone and percussive instruments, this one has a smooth sound similar to the Portuguese tracks on the Final Fantasy Vocal Collections.

The only way I can describe "Cosmo Canyon" is as "tribal blues." Deep drums and a mournful flute give Cosmo Canyon a lot of emotion - which is appropriate since it represents Red XIII's hometown. (His theme is a reprise in fact). And "One-Winged Angel" is simply badass with a capital B. Real gothic. Real intense. Real choir. The whole game builds up to this final moment when justice is served - the music is perfect. If I were to compose a list of songs "Most Likely to Blow Out My Speakers", One-Winged Angel would rank high.

Next, I should probably address sound quality. Accusations that Final Fantasy VII sounds like nothing more than "upgraded SNES music" are not unfair. Final Fantasy VII has a distinctly artificial sound. Whether this was an intentional choice or the result of a lack of competence/experience on the part of the sound programmer, I do not know. On the one hand, we have a soundtrack whose sound quality barely surpasses Beyond The Beyond and comes nowhere near the realism heard in Suikoden. On the other hand, there are game music fans that would rather listen to Kefka's Domain than Grand Finale. What does that tell you? I was born and bred on games with "artificial" sound - realism is not necessarily a prerequisite for my enjoyment of a soundtrack, though it certainly enhances it. I have fallen in love with Final Fantasy VII OST for what it is - sound quality is no longer an issue for me.

I urge Final Fantasy fans to hold off on purchasing Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack until they have actually played and beaten the game. There is a certain magic that comes with discovering the music while discovering the game - prematurely hearing the soundtrack is like hearing half of the story. Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack is a paramount soundtrack for a paramount game - and experiencing both simultaneously is awesome indeed.

The one soundtrack I - along with many other thousands of Nobuo music lovers in the world - have been waiting for, is at last here. Having played through the game, I must say that I am very impressed, and the music is Nobuo's newest finest.

First, let me describe the new sound program. The PCM has varied benifits over the old SNES sound program. The sound is much clearer, and the bass is more solid. The synthesized timpani is very effective in songs like "Opening Theme - Bombing Mission" and "Crazy Motorcycle", where it fades and then comes back with an awesome clash. Yeah! There are many new sounds incorporated into FFVII as well. Most notable is a twangy harp, new bass drums and top-hat cymbals. However, there is one very annoying sound that prevents the soundtrack to being a perfect listening nirvana. It's this low bass horn that sounds very irritating. Now, I'm not one to complain much about sound programs, but this is downright bad! In beautiful songs like "Main Theme", "Aerith's Theme" and the Final Fantasy theme, the sound is rather disordered.

You have a really mixed bag of music styles here. In Uematsu's hands, these are all perfectly done. Many of the songs involve simple "power". Famous Nobuo clashes and timpani are heard in the battle themes and I must say, these songs are omnipotent! "Fighting" and "Still More Fighting" are in my opinion the best RPG battle themes ever! The truly great ones are the ones Uematsu is best known for, the epochal ones, which include "Fortress of the Condor", "Life Stream", "Weapon Raid" and "Cid's Theme" (the best character theme in any FF game, by the way). There are a lot of new styles incorporated as well, such as Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony's march-style beat, Cait Sith's jazzy mood, Cosmo Canyon's tribal tempo, and Utai Ruins' Asian sound. Not to mention the numerous Chocobo variations, ranging from the Country-Western "Fiddle de Chocobo" to the Ventures-like "Electric de Chocobo".

Other notable songs include "The Victory Fanfare", which is quite different sounding than the ones we are all used to. I was a bit disappointed at first, but now I really like it. It has a *very* cool beat to it and is radically different. "A One-Winged Angel" is total power! Very dark and holy-like, this is like the fight of the gods ... The chorus sounds very cool, and the way they sync is perfect. A lot of vehemence is put in this song, and the single bell gongs are just awesome!

There are just so many different styles here, and they're all done so nicely, that it's really quite extraordinary. This is truly Uematsu's work, which means music that's not at all consolidated to one genre, but music that expands to assorted quality. It takes a special quality to make great music, and Nobuo Uematsu is gifted with that power. He just keeps getting better and better with time!

Final Fantasy VII OST, Nobou Uematsu's follow-up to the legendary FF6 OSV, is a new work in a new style, while keeping the traditions alive. Some people out there will definitely complain that it is not an amazing masterpiece like his previous works. Well, the truth is, it isn't. The legendary status of Uematsu's 16-bit OSVs will never be duplicated, but can we still enjoy his music for years to come? Of course. The FFVII OST proves it well.

FFVII OST is the first FF soundtrack to span 4 CDs, and all the music in between spans different styles. The olden days of medieval, Wagerian-esque music are gone. FFVII represents a new look and a new feel. Upon listening to the first CD, you get a sense of a somewhat Blade Runner RPG. I haven't play much of the game, but rest assured, this soundtrack ties in well with everything the game had to offer.

Uematsu continues to impress with some unique tracks. Some tracks are light-hearted and laid back, while the rest of the OST depicts desperation. All in all, the track arrangement is well varied. "Electric de Chocobo" is interesting; for this track Uematsu was probably inspired by surf-guitar artist Dick Dale. "Interrupted By Fireworks", the song that plays during the Gold Saucer date of Cloud and Aerith, is simplistic but sets an emotional scale. "A One-Winged Angel", of course, gets recognition. Why is it so great? Because it just plain rocks. It will probably go down as one of the most memorable battle themes in RPG history. And before I continue... yes, FFVII OST has the classic FF Theme and the FF Victory theme as well.

The biggest flaw and disappointment of this OST (and every other person will agree also) is its sound quality. Other OSTs like Final Fantasy Tactics, Xenogears, and SaGa Frontier use the PlayStation's sound capabitilies brilliantly, but this is the best they could do for FFVII? I may sound insulting, but every time I listen to this OST, the poor sound quality is so noticable to the ear. It sounds like 16-bit bleeps even compared to the OST of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Flaws aside, the FFVII OST should be in every collector's library. A few years from now, FFVII OST will be a walk down RPG memory lane. It shows the changes the FF series has gone through in the '90s. As I said before, Uematsu's previous OSVs will forever remain classics which will never be duplicated, but with the FFVII OST, we know we will always enjoy Uematsu. This will become a classic as well.

My favourite soundtrack of all time (even though I haven't been listening to it a helluva lot recently), is for some reason shunned as a Final Fantasy soundtrack being "non-melodic" amongst long-time FF fans. So, if you're one of those people who think like that, you're not going to like this review.

The best FF album, by far! I seriously cannot see how anyone can think it is surpassed by anything! It contains all of the best-of-series tunes, the best versions of the recurring themes, and has a very small crap quotient.

Okay, one thing I will admit straight away is that most of the sound programming on this soundtrack sucks, and sucks heavily. We get terrible-sounding drumrolls with little gaps at the start of the snare sample (this may sound like nitpicking, but just listen to the drums in the Mako Cannon tune to see what I mean), and unrealistic single-sample instruments, which ordinarily wouldn't sound bad, if they were used better.

Obviously, the first truly impressive song that springs to mind is "One Winged Angel", the last big boss music. Nobuo really went above and beyond when he made this one. Rather than just a high-powered battle theme, it's a really epic-sounding song with lyrics (in Latin). And, of course, it suits the scene. Very much so. It's a really well-made tune (one of the few with good sound programming).

The other really impressive song (to me, not everyone shares this opinion) is "Final Fantasy 7 Main Theme", the first overworld music. What we get here is an approximately six minute long symphony of the recurring main theme of the game, and it's arranged brilliantly with no noticeable programming flaws.

Another tune that's always appealed to me is "Anxious Heart", the unofficial theme for Cloud (it plays in Nibelheim, amongst other places). I personally think it is more suitable as a main theme because it illustrates the downbeat side of the game much more than the official main theme. It's just a pity that it's so damn short.

Of course, you've got the classic Final Fantasy themes. In my opinion, this version of "Prelude" heard at the start of the game is the best of the entire series, as is the rendition of "Final Fantasy" heard on the end of game credits. There are also many chocobo tunes - four that directly follow the theme. All of them are great, especially "Electric de Chocobo" (aka Pulp de Chocobo), which is like a hybrid of the chocobo theme and the song "Wipeout", arranged in a very Pulp Fiction-esque manner, and "Fiddle de Chocobo", which is like a country-style version of the theme. The other two, "Waltz de Chocobo" and "Cinco de Chocobo", are also very well made, but aren't as memorable as the other two.

The general quality of this soundtrack is definitely above average, with a lot of truly great songs. Unfortunately, there are also some fairly bad tracks (such as "On the Other Side of the Mountain" and... nope, come to think of it, that's the only bad one, as long as you've played the game and know where the tunes fit), and then a lot that are merely good. Which, when you consider that an average Nobuo Uematsu tune is about the quality of a brilliant other-person tune, isn't too much of a problem.

On the whole, this is just a brilliant soundtrack; the best of the series, and the best damn game soundtrack ever. So there.

Well, this is it! The day that every game music fan around the world has been waiting for... The Final Fantasy VII original game soundtrack has finally arrived! After thoroughly listening to Final Fantasy VII, I am pleased to say that once again the legendary Nobuo Uematsu has delivered something very special... I absolutely love the main theme and the battle music rocks! In fact, I've been whistling it all day long! Somebody please stop me? The only thing that I have mixed feelings about is the quality of the PCM music. The PCM in this game is for the most part incredible, but some of the music sounds very 16-bit. Not quite what I expected from the Playstation, especially after games with great PCM music like Soulblade and Genso Suikoden.

This soundtrack is a whopping four discs of pure Final Fantasy joy. Eighty-four songs in all! Heck, there are about six Chocobo songs alone! The beautiful packaging is also worth mentioning. The soundtrack comes in a standard 3-4 disc jewel case and is protected by an astounding jacket. It also comes with a beautiful full color book and a sticker set. Yup, Japan is cool. All things considered, this is a wonderful soundtrack that I would recommend to any Final Fantasy or Nobou Uematsu fan. It is filled with some great triumphs and some mild disappointments. I just can't wait for an arranged version of this soundtrack! "Final Fantasy VII Grand Finale" anyone?

It's no secret, I consider Nobuo my hero. His music has always brought out such emotion, and must be listened with closed eyes and unsequestered hearts. When I listen to his music its hard for me to hear anything but sheer genius. That is why I love this CD so much. Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack is probably his best score to date. The music has a more sci-fi feel because of the nature of the game. It goes from intense energy and action like in the tracks of "Crazy Motorcycle Chase" and the "Final Battle with Sephiroth", to the soul-wrenching "Anxious Heart" and "Holding My Thoughts in My Heart". To top it all off, he throws in one of the greatest versions yet of the familiar Chocobo theme. It starts out with a Pulp Fiction-esque slide guitar riff, then goes into an almost Wipeout (the song not the game) rendition! I loved that! If you like music at all, you will absolutely adore this album! It truly has to be heard to believed!

When I first got this disc in my hands, I was overjoyed. Now I say, "Hmm, that was sure a short buzz." After listening to this disc for several weeks, it has somewhat lost its feeling and meaning. The heroic Final Fantasy VII theme is not as heroic as before. The carnival theme is no longer fun. Red XIII's theme has lost it's rock! I don't know, but isn't this suppose to be the best composition ever done my Nobuo Uematsu? That's what I thought. It was cool at first. The chilling sounds of the Makou Reactor, accompanied by the low octaves of the pianos, and the creepiness of the intro, which leads to the triumphant beat and arrangement of the title screen, were great, and are still great. But, the others kind of suffered. This is the first Final Fantasy OSV that I somewhat lost an interest in. But, other than that, it is a very excellent disc, with a great composition.