It looks like the thread I started a week ago had some positive responses, so I figured I'd get the next letter in sequence going and see how things pan out.

Breath of Fire V Dragon Quarter Original Soundtrack

I've always been a fan of Sakimoto's depth and compositional style, but BOFV hit me in a way that his other works have failed to do... and, still, anything he has put out hasn't been as enjoyable for me to listen to as BOFV. FFT and Vagrant Story are both great listens, but the electronic elements and slight change in style really rocketed this album to the top of my Sakimoto list. The only other Sakimoto work that comes close to BOFV for me is Gradius V... I can already hear some of you grating your teeth. Personal preference is all; I just prefer electronic-influenced sound more than orchestral and moody symphonic stuff.

"Ranger Base" is the first tune that really cements what BOFV is all about, to me: great progression, a very interesting way of infusing some electronic elements into the Sakimoto mold, and warm melody transposed over the intricate and constantly shifting background. "Lift" is like this too. It's intense. Other awesome tunes that are slightly interesting are "The Middle Layer Area" and "Electricity Supply Plant", because they have a real beautiful and almost new-age vibe to them. The variety in Sakimoto's style and the great composition pushes this right to the top of my B List.

As far as honorable mentions go, I'll nominate beatmania IIDX 11 -RED-... partly because it's a great techno/trance album, but also because it's a damn good guilty pleasure.

Yeah I like Sakimoto's electronic stuff more than his orchestral soundtracks too. Probably like a lot of people (maybe not on this board), I grew up thinking "classical music = boring" and so even today I still have a hard time listening to orchestral game music without playing the actual game first.

My vote goes to the Battle Garegga soundtrack.  The original Santaruru (aka Manabu Namiki) songs are all awesome.. I love crazy Yamaha soundchip techno, à la Streets of Rage 2.

The arranged songs from the Saturn version - including the Sakimoto track(s) - are just as good.

Breath of Fire 1 & 2 from the box set.  Can't really think of anything else, Breath of Fire V was good but I could do without the electronic ambient stuff.  More a fan of his "generic" orchestral arrangements, the polar opposite of abobobobo.

I dig a lot of Brandish.

Favorites:
Soundtrack: Brandish 2 (SNES)
Arrange cd: Brandish Piano Collection

Music from Brandish 3 & VT MIDI also have a few kickass songs. Black/Matrix OO is worthy of note too, wicked sound design.

*looks over Sakuraba list*

Ah yes.

Baten Kaitos II Original Soundtrack

I think it's the multiple reprises of Baten Kaitos 1's battle theme that get me every time.  I've yet to play the game. :)

Baroque OST

Honorable Mentions:
Bomberman '94 (my rip)
Breath of Fire 3 OST
Breath of Fire 4 OST
All of the Bare Knuckle OSTs

Brave Fencer Musashiden is the only one I own in  my 'B' section. It's so far ahead of any BoF soundtrack anyway...

-Joshua

Beyond the Beyond, both AST (which with its successful medley style is still completely unrivaled, not only compared to Sakuraba's later arranged albums but in VGM in general) as well as the OST (underrated, has some very nice compositions once you are able to look beyond the cheap first-gen PSX samples).

Hmmm...which Beatmania IIDX soundtrack do I pick?  Happy Sky?  10th Style?  7th Style?  This is a tough one.

I'm going to go with the Beatmania IIDX 7th Style OST, since it was the one that precipitated my descent into the spintastic world of IIDX.  The soundtracks before that were OK, but 7th Style is SOLID GOLD.

Not a ginormous amount of awesome B's, but several favorites.

Winner: Battle Arena Toshinden 2 Original Soundtrack

Great rock material, from start to finish. A solid alternate when I want some fighting music that rocks and I need to give my Guilty Gear CD's a break. Not as heavy, but that's a good thing, as the melodies for all of the themes really shine regardless. Also see: Rips for BA Toshinden 3 and Subaru and BAT2 Dance Revolution.

Runners Up:

Broken Thunder -Thunderforce VI-

Up and out of nowhere, came one of the best albums of last year. The main material is swell, but the last 7 tracks or so almost put this ahead of Toshinden 2 for me. The guys at A' have some serious arranging skills, be it guitar or piano, and they're not afraid to give people their money's worth. Cyber Cave -Sunset Clouds- and Last Letter Full Complete Version are experiences worth the price of admission alone.

Burai Prototype

If there's a more fitting tribute to 80's music, I haven't heard it. I'm a fan of the 80's, so the cheesy vocals and synth rock style of Show-ya are quite frequently blasting the speakers.

Breath of Fire V

I do not like Sakimoto. I get bored very fast by dark "brooding" music. I like Breath of Fire V. Go figure. With the usual Sakimoto, I feel like he's always adding stuff for the sake of adding stuff and his tracks never quite gel in the end...I feel like I end up listening to him show off more than ever enjoying them. I have no such complaint here, as each little part works to enhance the entire songs. "Abandoned Commerce Area" is my favorite from this album.

Hon. mentions (since I only wanted to have one 'battle' in my list):

Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (great bonus level music)
Battle Bakraid
Battle Garegga
Battle Gear 3 OST
Bust a Move 2 (aka Puzzle Bobble 2).

Breath of Fire V, hands down. Nothing else even comes close.

(Although I do have a certain fondness for the Brave Fencer OST.

Easy.  Bust A Move and Bust A Move 2: Dance Tengoku Mix.  Because I know that when I let the music take control, I transform to reveal my treasured happy heart -- and that I've got to be happy when I'm attending the moonlight party. 

The natural playboy, who's been busting out the acid line, saunters over to me and whispers sexily in my ear, "I wanna go flyin' to your soul."  It is then that I know the heat is on; the power bubbles like chemical love, and there's no doubt in anyone's mind: here comes trouble.

Still, we've got to make sure to take that allegretto break, and have ourselves some lunch.  I luv hamburgers.  Hamburgers make me smile -- gives me the energy of enka and the spirit of bon to ascend that magic tower, wield that blue knife, defeat the zombie hopper, and finally reach the sky, sea, and the rainbow dream.  Only then will I be able to discover the rumored capoeira, and find the courage to say..... "HELLO! KITTY-N!"

And if I don't succeed, well..... I guess that's just 2BAD.

I'm going to go with:

1. Brave Fencer Musashiden OST

2. Breath of Fire Special Box

3. Black Mages II

I'm going with BioHazard 2 COMPLETE TRACK, true that it's only half of the whole thing but if I had to choose between the two releases, CT gets my vote.

The 4th Survivor song (Fearful is No Word For It) still goes through my head whenever I'm hurriedly walking through hallways at school, trying not to crash into other students as I rush to the next class.

Bare Knuckle II, of course.  The best of the Streets of Rage soundtracks and one of the few soundtracks anywhere where pretty much every single song is good. (well, I don't care for the last two, but I really don't recall hearing them in-game)  It's more refined and memorable compared to the music of the first game without getting experimental to the point of sounding ugly like some of the music from the third game.

Honorable mention would go to Breath of Fire V because I also think Ranger Base is awesome (the whole soundtrack generally is, of course), and because Electricity Suppliant Building is one of the best individual tracks out of any game score.  The music definitely has something to do with why it's my favorite RPG experience this gen.

Not all of these got published, I know.

Bare Knuckle
Bare Knuckle II
Battlecorps (Sega CD redbook audio)
Battle Garegga
Bionic Commando (NES version)
Black Hole Assault (Sega CD redbook audio)
Black Tiger
Blazing Lazers
Bloody Roar 2 arcade soundtrack
Border Down Sound Tracks 1 & 2, Image Sound Tracks
Bushido Blade Original Soundtrack (short but oh so sweet tracks)

Man, B is harder than I thought!
I love pretty much every B-soundtrack (that sounds weird :S ) I own.

I'll at least divide this into AST & OST, and give the best AST award to:

Battle Arena Toshinden Retake & Remix

Love this one. A huge improvement over the Japanese soundtrack used in the game, and a nice alternative for the Western version. Duke's theme is one of the best themes EVAHR.

OST is a lot harder, so I just refuse to choose between:

Baten Kaitos I
Breath of Fire IV & V

Didn't like Baten Kaitos II as much as the first one, although it was still good.
BoF IV is absolutely awesome and one of the most soothing and relaxing RPG soundtracks I know of, which fitted the atmoshpere of the game perfectly. I love this one to death.
And, as has been said before, BoF V is simply the best thing Sakimoto has EVER done, and he'll probably never improve on it either. Abandoned Waste Pit and Electric Supply Building are some of my favorites. Great Ambient/Industrial stuff.

Honorable mention goes to
Beyond Good & Evil

Bomberman Hero Original Soundtrack
I'm insane, but I just love all the textures, grooves, and sounds the tracks go through.

Runners-up:
Banjo-Kazooie Game Soundtrack (disappointed this hasn't been mentioned yet)
Bare Knuckle II (I was going to save this for S, but since everyone seems to be doing it...)
Beyond Good & Evil (Christophe Heral gets it done)
Bionic Commando (C64 version, although the NES version isn't too shabby)
Bubble Ghost (Game Boy; only three songs, but the main theme by Sakimoto is MARVELOUS)

I have the U.S. release of that OST, so I didn't even think of its Japanese title, but damn is it great.

This is incredibly difficult, but here goes...

My favorite is:

Bandit Kings of Ancient China Arrange Album

2nd favorite is:

Bahamut Lagoon OST (also my favorite Noriko Matsueda soundtrack)

3rd favorite is:

Brandish (PC Engine, Perfect Collection, doesn't matter - just BRANDISH)

Honorable mentions:

Banjo Kazooie
Banjo Tooie
Baten Kaitos
Baten Kaitos II
Battle Arena Toshinden Retake and Remix
Battle Arena Toshinden II
Battle Gear III (this is rarely talked about for some reason)
Beyond the Beyond
Blast Corps
Bounty Sword (Kohei Tanaka kicks ass)

Never got into Breath of Fire music, so I am aware of it, just barely liked it.

Gamerip:
Bubsy SNES version (the first one, not the horrible, horrible second)

Soundtrack release:
Breath of Fire IV (V is good, but IV's the more enjoyable listen)

Brink of Time - Chrono Trigger on acid, that about sums it up.

Another vote for Baten Kaitos.  Man, do I love that soundtrack (and the newness of the sequel has worn off on me - it's still good, but I don't think it outdoes the original).

Bare Knuckle and Bare Knuckle II, Battle Garegga, Breath of Fire IV and V, Bust A Move (Groove) 1 and 2, Baroque.

-Mike