SE posts an official site with an amazingly underwhelming and frighteningly typical sample:

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/page/ff_remix/

It's better than some of the stuff Ian Hartley had on his MySpace, but that's probably just because it keeps elements of the original "Liberi Fatali." I wonder why they decided on a drum 'n' bass album, though? Trance and house are the big dance genres in Japan right now, and surely either of those would better fit Final Fantasy melodies.

Also, that bomb  cover is the most annoying thing ever.

Squenix set up us the bomb...

Looking at that CD cover actually hurts my eyes.

Edit: Buh?  What the heck is that The World Ends with You CD that Amazon.co.jp wants me to buy with FF Remix?  It comes out in July?  Is that English versions or something?  http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%81%99%E3%81 … 70-1039128

According to CD Japan it's arranged versions of the vocal tracks plus the tracks made for international versions: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SQEX-10118

rofl

What you say!!

  Seriously, lol.

Hehehehe ^_~

As for FF Remix, I'm still reeling from FF Mix. I'm rather afraid to listen to this one.

Nothing could be worse than that F.F. Mix album, released some 10 or more years ago though, right?

I'm cautiously optimistic about this, though, actually, considering the drought of new VGM lately, and what with a lot of the stuff being released lately being total crap.

Just because it adds two letters to the name 'Final Fantasy Mix' doesn't mean it is some sort of follow-up. FF Mix was mainly a compilation of tracks featured on singles like FFIV Minimum Album and FFV Mambo de Chocobo. This album is an all new electronica remix for better or worse.

So...Final Fantasy Remix...this album was released on the 6th of this month; anything good come out of it, or were the..."Arrangements"...pretty minimalistic?

I liked it enough as background music to whatever else I was doing, but I didn't think it strong enough to actively listen to it on it's own...

I was sorely disappointed by it.   I can't get over how overwhelmingly generic the arrangements are; it surmounts to very little than using the song's original sound source laid on top of some very uninspiring beats.  The way they fragment some of the melody segments is pretty irking, too. 

Dunno, maybe I'm just not "getting" the concept of the album.  Or maybe this just isn't my brand of electronica.  By contrast, I actually dug F.F. Mix a whole lot more; those five featured tracks actually had a likable flair to them.  Cheesy, yes, but far more memorable.

I think "Eternal Wind" is awesome, mainly because the 8-bit sounds merge very well with the new rhythm. In the end, the track retains the dreamy feeling of the original theme. On the other hand, the rest of the album is pretty boring and uninspired.

By the way, Siliconera has a nice interview with Ian Hartley: http://www.siliconera.com/2008/08/16/dj … asy-remix/

I think Matt and Ian are decent electronic musicians, but they shouldn't have been chosen to do this album. Their styles and sampling just doesn't click with Final Fantasy. I don't mind the album, but I'd much rather listen to Voices of the Lifestream or some good official techno arranges outside the Final Fantasy series.

Either you guys are really damn critical, only gave this one listen before giving up, or both, but HOT DAMN, I'm enjoying this album like all get-out!

As far as I'm concerned, there're some really good chill and club mixes on this album; granted, they do take a lot of parts from the original compositions straight from the OST, but they also do sampling over them, too. I LOVE this!

And here, all this time, I bought this expecting to be disappointed, and wanting to sell it away straight after I got it...

I actually enjoyed the album a whole lot as well.  Just finished writing a review for it today, so it's still fresh on my mind.  I think it offers a pretty good spread as far as staying true to the source material in some tracks and expanding and creating something entirely new with others.

While Ronfaure and Terra's Theme are basically the source tracks with drum loops and bass laid over top, I think it was quite tasteful, and I actually enjoyed it.  Opening -Bombing Mission- and Liberi Fatali take a sort of different approach, taking lots of liberties, which I also enjoyed.  Prelude and Eternal Wind sample the source, but chop them into bits so that they still offer something new.  I liked the IDM approach to Zanarkand, and the throw-back to the FF Mix album with Mambo de Chocobo.  Overall, the music along with the pretty crazy packaging left me very satisfied.

I've been trying to listen to the album again, and though my opinion as a whole hasn't changed much, I admit that I'm enjoying Blue Fields quite a bit.  It's easily my favorite song on the CD, with the smooth electronica hooks melding superbly with the already smooth melody of the original.