Customer Reviews

Final Fantasy IX: Melodies of Life

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Song "melodies of life" is a very touching song, and Shiratori's voice makes it sound better. The first time i heard it in Final Fantasy 9, it brought tears to my eyes (i didnt cry though) And also, the japanese version's Lyrics has a better impact on you than the english version (read a translation). listen to it first. Secone, the song "Galway Sky" really put me down the first time i heard it (it only went through 30 seconds)
It starts really slow in the beginning and it really doesnt sound good. but if u listen 4 1 minute or so, it turns into an upbeat irish jig. i loved it....

I am an avid video game music collector and listener. I am especially fond of the Final Fantasy series in general, and I hold Nobuo Uematsu in the highest esteem. His recent trend for a pop-style theme song is intriguing, and has its good and bad qualities. Melodies of Life is no exception.

The Japanese version of this song is breathtaking in its clarity and movement. It reaches into your soul unlike most other video game music themes. The sweeping melodies and layered harmonies blend to form a near-perfect track. The English version fares not so well. Though the tune and the voice are the same, the lyrics throw off the delicate balance of the song. If there was a better translation of the lyrics that fit the rhythms and beat of the song, it would have been much more complete.

The instrumental version of Melodies of Life is very nice, but having already heard the song twice through, it seemed a bit redundant.

Galway is a neat song, employing the tactics of many different genres. At first, it strikes me as similar to Montage, from Final Fantasy III Eternal Legend of Wind. As it plays through, though, it carries a subtleness of tone and a clarity of voice that pierces, even though I don't understand the words. A very nice track.

Overall, I don't think this CD is worth the price you end up paying. It is touching, but your money would be better invested in the Final Fantasy IX soundtrack itself, or one of the vocal albums.

it was pretty cool, but I didn't know it was as short as it is. i love classical music though, so it was worth it in my mind

This is the import CD of the Final Fantasy IX song "Melodies of Life" sung by Emiko Shiratori. The track list is as follows:

1. Melodies of Life (Japanese)
2. Melodies of Life (English)
3. Melodies of Life (Instrumental)
4. Galway

Emiko Shiratori, the singer, has an incredible voice and both tracks 1 and 2 are gorgeously sung. The song is rather slow (it's not hard rock!) and I'm sure that when the video game Final Fantasy IX comes out, the song will fit the game perfectly.

"Melodies of Life" is played by a string orchestra, and an oboe and some other instruments accompany as solos.

"Galway", the fourth track, is Japanese, and starts out sounding like a song from the movie Titanic. But it develops a medium, catchy beat, and is a pretty good song (it's just a shame that I don't know the words!)

Bottom line: get it if you're any kind of fan of Final Fantasy or video game music. It's a great deal.

the CD is great but u know what 4 songs or whatever is NOT worth 18$! aren't all these songs on the other CD? if so, wouldn't you rather get 110 songs more for 3 times that price?

You don't become a proffessional vocalist unless your voice is only a few steps removed from divine, or you're going on some weird Broadway show where they need bad accents and such. Therefore, I cannot blame the horror that is Melodies of Life on Emiko Shiratori, though it pains me greatly to blame Nobuo Uematsu, whom I hold in the highest regard. But this music is absolutely terrible. Ms. Shiratori's English coach was likely drunk, which is why her english is half the time slang, yet still rings with the perfection that only foreigners can achieve. Furthermore, the melody goes nowhere: no climaxes, no variation, nothing, not so much as a crescendo. Rather it adorns itself with meaningless and poorly placed ornamentation. For the love of god buy FF Pray instead.