Well well well, it's been 20 years since the 02202002 Music from Final Fantasy concert. Time sure flies sometimes huh? Alot has changed since then, but I still have the album in my dresser drawer, even if it is a bootleg. I didn't know about them at the time, I just trusted eBay sellers.

The FF concert scene has really evolved since then as well, and I've been to three of them in SF. I always wanted to be able to watch the video of the 2002 concert, but they never released it. At least I'll always be able to listen to the CD and feel like it's the early 2000s again. Think about it, Smash Bros. Melee was brand-new at the time, there were no Pirates of the Caribbean films, SW ep II wasn't even out yet, and even FotR wasn't on video yet. It was a whole different world, in some ways.

I know, I'm just nostalgically rambling about days gone by, but I remembered it was 20 years ago and felt like I should acknowledge it. It is one of my most listened-to albums after all, and one of my first. I was obsessed with it back in the day actually.

So what about you guys? Do you remember listening to it in the early 2000s?

20020220 It wouldn't have occurred to me that 20 years had passed, thanks for sharing that!

I was at that concert actually. It was my second year in Japan and I believe it was my first ever VGM concert (followed by the Smash Bros Melee concert later that year). If I'm not mistaken it was also the first FF orchestral since Final Fantasy Symphonic Suite over ten years earlier. Since then there've been any number of FF concerts including of course dozens in the Distant Worlds series, and we now see regular concerts from other series and publishers whereas before then I believe Dragon Quest was the only such series. So it wouldn't be a stretch to say it was the beginning of an era.

Snip snip.

Misread the post.

Speaking of Final Fantasy, I have just literally stumbled across the Pixel Remaster OSTs of FF I-V.  And I gotta say they all sound absolutely magnificent.  Hearing these classic tunes powered up with full-fledged orchestrations and band movements is nothing short of a treat.  It gives a real symphonic quality to these works, making them even more the works of art that they are.  I also really love the choral additions to some of the tracks, notably the Final Battle track from FFIV.  FFVI is supposedly coming out this week.  I'm psyched.

Glad to hear it. Have you played them at all? The last time I went through IV was the stunning remaster on the PSP, and the GBA ports of V and VI, which were decidedly less than stellar.

No, unfortunately not.  (Unfortunately?  Hmmm, I wonder if I should rephrase that to "fortunately" if the remasters aren't up to par.)  What I HAVE played, though, are the music OSTs, which, as mentioned, sound really terrific.

But VI looks promising.  The opera scene especially; I heard there's going to be multiple language dubs for that moment.  I'm excited for it.  FFVI is arguably my favorite soundtrack of all time, and the opera scene was one of its biggest appeals.  It was what made me interested in the game in the first place.

Just heard a trailer for the new FFVI, and honestly I was quite pleased at how the orchestratsions sounded, but I was quite surprised at how different Celes sounded.  She sounds a lot less operatic and more, well, plain.  While that may disappoint people who have been spoiled by other "operatic" treatments of this piece, in some ways it makes sense.  Celes is not supposed to be a professional opera singer, so in a way, having her sound deliberately "green", makes sense.  It's still an absolutely beautiful song, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3EIUo1sU5E