I've been thinking about how opinions change and so I dug up an old customer review of mine from Gamemusic.com:

http://www.gamemusic.com/cgi-bin/WebObj … 03&did=101

"The best music for the best game.....
Reviewed by Jose O. Gonzalez on April 25, 2001.

I am so happy that I got this soundtrack, because this is a game that I have always held dear. I still believe that this is the best RPG of all time with the best story and the best music.  Mitsuda and Squaresoft never disappoint. Any true video game music fan has to get a hold of this soundtrack."

I was fairly surprised to be reading that comment coming from me about how Mitsuda and Squaresoft never disappoint.  Especially after that long rant I recently posted.  These days I'm not so big on Mitsuda and I certainly don't think that Square can do no wrong either.  So while I still like Chrono Trigger's soundtrack, calling it the best one is definitely a stretch for me today, as there are others which I like more.  Of course, more exposure doesn't necessarily mean a change of opinion on something you always liked, nor does that change of opinion have to be a negative one.  For example, I came to like Vagrant Story's soundtrack more than I initially did after listening to it many times over and replaying the game.

So are there any game soundtracks that you make have liked or disliked to a certain degree only to find yourself changing your mind one way or the other in time and for whatever reason?

I'm sure I've changed my mind about certain scores over the years.

A good example, Symphony of the Night isn't as bulletproof as it was a few years ago in my opinion.

I've run across simular things I wrote in sixth grade, like how awesome Mortal Kombat 3 was at the time. Looking back I can't believe I thought that was an excellent game.

Also, not to override the original question but I'd like to add a simular one: "have you ever forced (i.e. lied) to yourself about liking a soundtrack?"

In such a case it would be Wild Arms 3. I was so bent on listening to it until I finally absorbed it - long story short that never happened.

I meant to say may have liked...  Damn, I need some sleep.

I can't think of a soundtrack that I fooled myself into thinking that I liked a lot.  There are some that I still feel uncertain about though.  Particularly some of the ones that are considered fantastic by some.  For example, I'd like to say that Saga Frontier II had a great soundtrack, but the truth is that it does get a little redundant for me somehow.  The first disc is generally great and then I begin to lose interest into the second and third discs.  Final Fantasy VIII is another one that I'm not sure about.  It feels like the quality varies considerably from track to track and it's hard to say sometimes whether some of Uematsu's experiments were successes or failures.  Look at the split opinions on Compression of Time.  One part of me thinks that it might be a great track and the other part hates that blaring horn.  If only I could bear playing the game again long enough to refresh my mind on how the tracks work in the game.  Maybe then I could come to a final determination on how much I do or don't like it.

Yes and no...No, because there are nearly always a handful of tracks that get me to really pay attention to a soundtrack I end up getting and liking. It was the same way growing up with NES/SNES/whatever...There were always favorites that made the rest of the music seem better than it was. Nowadays, I save a lot of iPod space stripping those lackluster themes off and keeping only the gems. It's a pretty accurate (if not damning) statement to open a folder and seeing 9-10 tracks from a 4 disc RPG soundtrack laying in there.

Yes, because there are just composers and styles out there that have grown off me or never appealed in the first place and I tried convincing myself to like them (which I don't do anymore). Nakano is one...Just don't like him anymore. Had to focus too much effort into liking him and settling into what he was offering, rather than enjoying him. The Phantasy Star Online/Universe soundtracks were similar...Think I gave myself a headache trying to get into what they were offering. Worked sometimes, but never got much of a liking for them. This is when you get into the area of deciding "Well this is good...for whoever's composing it or compared to other VGM only. Not so good otherwise."

One that comes to mind right now is the Ys Oath in Felghana OST. I remember I went nuts for that thing when it came out, it was the "perfect" Ys III rendition, just as good as the redbook and more varied, etc...Nowadays, it's amazing how hard it is to listen to it and stay interested, yet the Ys III redbook is still as irresistable as it ever was and even Ys III Perfect Collection's set-up has aged much better over the years. Seems more important to have something that really works extremely well (the power rock and sound set-up of the redbook) than the hodge-podge of styles that made up Felghana. Another is the Rockman Zero Remastered soundtracks...A handful of awesome tracks in the bunch, but weak guitars and poor electronic percussion largely killed that interest (and III was NEVER good at atmospheric or emotional music) Think they owed a lot to the classic Rockman legacy for me sticking with them as long as I did.

RPG's and games (but especially RPG's!) don't mean as much to me anymore, so the music associated with them doesn't have as much weight as it used to. The newer Wild Arms soundtracks are a perfect example...It's not "bad" music and I think a few years ago, I'd have been all over them and the new composers. Now...Meh, just can't bring myself to care about them at all. Maybe if I'd played and liked the games. Only real exceptions are a lot of classic soundtracks (NES, Genesis, SNES, arcade) and that's more because their unique sounds and structures have always appealed to me and only moreso now. Wish I'd known about the soundtracks for Thunderforce 2 and 3 years ago! That's what I get for owning an SNES (although I DID get Darius Twin!)

That said, nearly everything I've always liked on first listen has only gotten better over the years, even before I understood what I was listening to better. Guilty Gear, Rockman, Naruke-era Wild Arms, SNES-Square, SNK, Tokimeki, Cotton and Falcom are still going strong (although somewhat more focused than in prior years...Some have discographies that are a little bloated). The stuff I either completely dislike or need more time to decide on is where the issue comes in...

Usually when I change my mind about a soundtrack, it's "I used to hate it but now I'm growing to like it." Rarely do soundtracks get *worse* in my own mind. Same goes for games.

Ramza

Know what this feels like... when it comes to RPG soundtracks I'm mainly looking at older staples that I've neglected to pick up and can listen to the majority of what's there.

This is more or less how I felt the more I listened to Dew Prism. There were some good tracks but I was trying to alter my perferences to enjoy it more - that didn't work.

Exactly, having all four albums on me at one time seemed to be somewhat of a waste... I still have Physis and do enjoy it from time to time though.

Can't help but feel the same way... it's not really about the lack of Naruke either; for me the honeymoon was over with WA2 (WA:ACF was a fine trip back to those days though.) Playing though the later games didn't change my overall lack of interest in the music though, although I will say I'd like to see some of Crossfire music within context to see how certain pieces work. While there's only a handful ot tracks in XF I liked (mostly the battle themes because they were so different) the soundtrack is one of the most interesting the series has seen in a while... I think they're somewhat on the right path, getting away from certain elements although Agemetsu loves to rape Naruke's melodies for all their worth - can we let "To the End of Wilderness" go already?

More likely to fall out of love with an non-VGM disc than a soundtrack myself, but a lot of games have fallen by the wayside: Legend of Mana is big one outside the music.

The only album that I can think of that I have completely done a 360 with is Guilty Gear XX OST. I loved it when I first heard it, played it to death, got sick of it, and then sold it last year sometime. Then when the Rockman Rock arrange came out I started listening to the MP3s again and I guess enough time had passed for me to listen to it again and play guitar along with it. Sometimes you just gotta warm up the amp, blast "Good Manners and Customs" and rock the afternoon away.

Oh yes. Tons of Sakimoto albums (none of which I own anymore ), most Hamauzu albums (D1 of U:S, SaGa 2, FFVII DoC), post-2000 Yamane albums, crappy vocal songs from artists I enjoy (Okubo needs to stop composing for Chizuru Miura), Baten Kaitos, Dewprism... Moonlit Shadow... and the list goes on.

There are three categories of how I interpret VGM when I first hear it: 1) I like it, 2) I don't like it (or I lie to myself about it), or 3) I don't really "get it" and need to listen a bunch before it can fall into either of the two categories. Kinda like a musical purgatory.

Number of times I've seen people make this mistake on the net and in real life, including myself: nine.  And now, ten. 

You mean 180, of course.  God, linking geometry to real life sure is harder than it seems, isn't it?  Heck, they even made that observation in Seinfeld once.

You neglected to quote the nextpart of my post where I said "when the Rockman Rock arrange came out I started listening to the MP3s again and I guess enough time had passed for me to listen to it again and play guitar along with it. Sometimes you just gotta warm up the amp, blast "Good Manners and Customs" and rock the afternoon away."

So, actually... no, I meant a 360. I used to love the album and then couldn't stand it and sold it: 180. Then as time passed I started listening to the album again and then started liking it again, bringing me back to my original stance on the soundtrack. Two 180s make a 360.

Well played, sir. ;)

Same here, my tastes broaden, seldom do they narrow.  Some soundtracks lose their luster because I've just listened to them so much, but I don't put that on the soundtrack it's just normal.  But even something like CT still hasn't tired for me.

That's a nasty implication with the word selection there.  I don't think it has anything to do with being open or narrow minded.  It just means that tastes continually develop and that hopefully I come to understand a little better over time what I like or dislike without being stuck in the 'musical purgatory' that Zane was talking about.  We all have preferences that may or may not change.  Nobody truly likes everything equally.

Even more important than taste or "narrowing" is the factor of time...If I kept every two-bit OST or track around that I "might" like or occasionally like or "I don't like it, but it might grow on me", I run out of time and mental energy better spent on stuff that I always will enjoy or have a much better chance of enjoying. This is why my iTunes ratings have become so important over the past year...I took note of everything that I was giving 5-stars and so many tracks weren't living up to what those 5-star beasts were providing, it told a pretty damning tale.

It's funny...With a lot of stuff over the past year, it's much more likely to grow on me. Slayer, Dragonforce, early Megadeth, Ratt, early Helloween (Sorry Ashley! took some time for Kiske's style to grow on me!) Y & T, Pantera and even Stryper all went through their "meh" phases, now they're pretty much staples (or at least their good songs). VGM...I feel like I've heard most of what it has to offer and the reward for sticking out stuff that's a chore to listen to at first isn't there. SSH is really the only recent one that's made the jump from "kinda, sorta" to a legitimate staple and that had to do mainly with dealing with the sound of his set-up (which I do like, but I still would prefer live guitars...That said, it also opened up the Guilty Gear X Arcade soundtrack for me).

So it's not really "narrowing" so much as it is focusing.

I've had times when I was swallowing so much audio material that I was hardly really taking the time to let it sink in or even take the time to really feel the music.

Albums I used to like but don't care for at all anymore: Guilty Gear X HRT, Napple Tale, Cyberorg and probabely some more.

It does wear out doesn't it? The only track that still rocks my socks off is 'Beat of Destruction' (which -ironically- doesn't even come close to the redbook version). Talking of updated scores, I still dig KLEENE every bit as much as I did then. I haven't seen that much talk about it though. Some tracks really come close to SSH's covers.

It's scary...I'll put on a Felghana track and be like, "well, okay, cool melody...some other cool stuff" Then I'll put on the redbook or Perfect Collection (or Super Arrange...remember Namba?) counterpart on and it's like, "....DAMN!" I think they tried a little too hard to do a little bit of everything and make it more modern with the electronica/orchestral stuff, when the basic tracks work great with just a little extra powering up. There really isn't a single track I prefer more in Felghana, although I do keep the rockier ones around as solid alternative listens (Be Careful, both versions of Searing, Valestine, Believe in my Heart...Felghana Strongest Foe puts me to sleep nowadays, but I keep it more for the melody and arpeggios in the background that never get old).

Still love KLEENE. The lead synth in a couple tracks gets on my nerves now, but it's still my favorite Woodsoft output and one of my favorite doujin works (and arrange albums, in general) by a longshot. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll do up Rockman like this...As much I listen to chiptunes nowadays, I still hate the sound of the Duo's chip music. A PC-98 or even Genesis version of LoX would have been amazing.

Cyber Org dropped like a rock...It has 2 tracks that just tear ass, a couple that are semi-interesting, then it just kind of meanders through everything else. And disc 2 was never that good to begin with. So this is one that sits in a folder with about 5 excellent tracks to show for it.

"Narrowing" isn't meant to have a negative connotation, though I could see how it might be perceived that way.  I'm saying that music makes me discover more music, but I seldom go back and get rid of albums I liked before because I found something better (unless it's something like the GG series where one album could make another irrelevant) or suddenly failed to understand why I ever liked it.  If an album has a redeeming quality, that doesn't change for me, and a lot of what I listen to at any given time depends on mood and situation, and I may only listen to an album once every year, or once every couple years, I'm okay with that.  I'll admit my CD collection is disturbingly obese, but there's not too much I would change about her.

That's an extreme example of what this thread is about to be sure.  That's why I mentioned degrees in my OP.  I haven't thrown out my copy of Chrono Trigger OSV just because it's not a 'top ten caliber' soundtrack for me anymore.  I still like it enough to keep it.  The memorable quality of the music didn't diminish for me.  I simply don't get as much out of the music when I'm listening to it on its own.  There are a few exceptions in terms of individual tracks of course, like the main Chrono Trigger theme which is always great, and the awesome Battle with Magus.  Just that on the whole I'm not as flat out 'wowed' by it as I used to be.  It could be that my current opinion of Mitsuda has affected my opinion on it, but I doubt that's it considering how my opinion of Xenogears's music hasn't changed.  I think that I developed a personal tendency to judge/enjoy RPGs scores in particular by how thematic, cohesive, or moody they are.  For me, Chrono Trigger sometimes feels like a bunch of different songs thrown together.  You can contrast that with Parasite Eve, which adopts more of an atmospheric cohesiveness throughout the score.

Everybody looks for something different though, so what I look for may mean less than something else for you, or you may simply see things differently.  Nevertheless, I thought I'd try to explain why it is that I don't love it like I used to.  I feel like Chrono Trigger doesn't quite have the distinctive and prevailing personality that I often find myself looking for throughout a score.  It's hard to say sometimes what it is that gives one soundtrack that quality while another fails to achieve it, so I'll leave it at that except to reiterate that I still think Chrono Trigger has a good soundtrack.  Just that my degree of love for it has lessened compared to what it once was.

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I kinda agree with Nemo....there ARE times when I thought I liked something and later realize I simply don't. And I have to say I like waaaaaaaay too much music for my own good (and my wallet's good -_-)

-Joshua

Yes and yes...sometimes, I buy an album, after listening to it for awhile (most albums only have about a 3 month lifespan in my book, unless they're DAMN good), and after that, I usually get tired of it, and then I'm like, "Okay, why am I keeping this thing around when I can sell it?!" So I sell it, and then so many months (or years) down the road, the music will just randomly pop back into my head, and then I'm craving the album again, only to buy or download it again only to pitch it again.

Long run-on sentence much? Yeah.

THAT SAID, I didn't like Kikuta's Lost Files so much when it came out, but for some reason now, I'm just really catching on to it...I checked out his more recent Alphabet Planet, which I damn well liked, and then I went back to Lost Files.

Honestly, when it comes to practically anything, music, books, movies, food, etc., I have to be in a certain mood to enjoy it...and sometimes, it's awhile before I'm in that certain mood that accomodates that particular thing that I'm trying to enjoy; naturally, I'm trying to develop more objective stances on things, connoisseurism, if you will...

...but sometimes, I'm just...a little...MOODY.

I didn't enjoy the music of Suikoden III as much when I bought the soundtrack last year as I did when I played the game in 2003.  I think that what I originally liked about the music was how congruent the tracks were to the settings in which they played, which is hard to appreciate when listening to the soundtrack alone.  One of Suikoden III's great accomplishments was depicting the varied cultures of the Grasslands region; the garb, architecture, and music of each town gave it a unique identity.

I still, however, enjoy the playfulness of the soundtrack, which shines in tracks like "To Peaceful Days."

No. A run-on sentence is two or more independent clauses joined without an intervening conjunction or semicolon for example this is a run-on sentence.

Having my opinion of an album change for the better is something I've (happily) encountered a number of times. 

Dragoon Might (arcade, Konami) is one in particular that comes to mind.  I bought the soundtrack at an anime convention back in '98 based purely on the cover and the fact that it was Konami.  I hadn't even heard of the game and figured it was some oddball RPG Konami had released for the PS in Japan.  To my initial disappointment, the soundtrack turned out to be arcade chip-based music from a fighting game.  I wanted RPG.  Something like Suikoden perhaps.  I gave it a good listen but promptly booed it off and put it on the shelf for a couple years and forgot about it.  Then, after my tastes broadened and I developed an even deeper liking for chip music (after it had pretty much died out in next-gen gaming and I began yearning for it), I went back and listened to it and realized, "Holy shit, this soundtrack friggin' rules."  Hints of oldschool Konami goodness blended in a fighting genre, generated by slick-sounding Konami arcade chip.  What could be better?  It reminded me of some old Genesis fighting game soundtracks that I used to love, like Deadly Moves.  After that, I couldn't believe how shallow I had been when I first listened to it.  While I had wished for something of higher quality at the time, after high quality music had become the standard, the oldschool quality of it brought me back.

Most recently the growing factor has happened with Sonic Rush Adventure.  Initially, I didn't like the soundtrack because A.) it wasn't Naganuma, and B.) though I like Mariko Nanba and Tomoya Ohtani, I thought it sounded like a subpar rip-off that tried to SOUND like Naganuma.  Then one day at work, bam! the Stage One theme song popped in my head and I couldn't get it out.  When I got home I immediately listened to the soundtrack again and before I knew it, I was suddenly loving the soundtrack.  I love it when that happens.

On the other hand, I have experienced the negative change as well.  Most notably, with Nocturne in the Moonlight (SOTN).  But actually, this is probably because one of the co-workers at the game shop I used to work at would play it to death, and I didn't know what the hell he was doing handling the stereo anyway when he doesn't know shit about game music and *I* know shit about game music.  ...  Anyway, I don't dislike like it or anything, I just never feel like listening to it anymore.  With exception to the first level theme, perhaps. 

Also, certain older orchestra albums that I used to love, just don't do it for me anymore.  For example, Tamiya Terashima's arrangements for Falcom.  I used to be a Terashima NUT.  I bought a lot of his non-Falcom original stuff too.  I still like some of his drama soundtracks but now I just find albums like Ys Symphony '95 (interesting musicially, yet) slow and boring.  Now a days, if I'm going to put something on, I'd much rather hear something upbeat, rather than slow orchestral.  Perhaps I had "forced" myself to like those back then because I had found my niche in the VGM scene.  I will note however, that his arrangment of Field of Gale from Ys V Orchestra Version is still one of the sickest orchestral arrangements ever.

Regardless of anything however, I've never sold a game music album.  Not even the stupid Pachinko soundtrack I bought because it was printed by WaveMaster, but turned out to be complete shit.  Perhaps I should start.

- Justin Pfeiffer

I'll go through phases with everything. Maybe I'll like an album a lot, but over the years grow tired of it except for the occasional listen or the few standout tracks. Some times there will be an album I fall in love with on first listen, and then get burnt out on really quickly afterwards. And it's also common for me to not really care one way or another for a soundtrack, and then later grow attached to it.

Hmm, recent examples...

Final Fantasy X. I was more attached to the music when I played the game. Listening to the soundtrack years later, even the tracks I like don't seem spectacular. Then you have to factor in all of the filler (e.g. the ambient Nakano tracks, the 100 different Song of Prayer chants, the variations of Seymore's shitty theme music). Probably the biggest reason I was a little let down is because the soundtrack is a lot more laid back than I remembered. The same goes for Chrono Cross, which I also found to be less exciting than it was years ago. Mellow music can be very nice in the right circumstances, which is why I still like the music of FFXI (at least last time I checked). However, upbeat music is well suited for any "listening" situation I'm in, and thus is preferred.

Had to add this one: despite how sought after the soundtrack is by some, is there anyone else that has fallen out of love with Super Mario RPG. It really doesn't do anything for me anymore.

Hilarious. Since I posted that last year I have gotten back into Sakimoto, am loving all of the Hamauzu I previously didn't like and have been rocking the hell out of Baten Kaitos (the first). Post-2000 Yamane can still suck it, though.