Customer Reviews

Final Fantasy IX: Uematsu's Best Selection

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4 star:		(3)
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Although I never played Final Fantasy IX, I am a fan of Uematsu's other works so I decided to pick up this CD. Let me just say that I enjoyed the music thoroughly, even though I couldn't connect it with a scene in the game. The quality of Uematsu's composition is, as always, top notch, and the sound quality is some of the best I have heard on the Playstation (except, of course, for Chrono Cross). This is especially good to know after the dissapointing sound quality heard in the first two Playstation FF's. Of special note is the voice samples that can be heard in parts of the soundtrack, such as the realistic singing in "Song from her Memory," the spanish yell in "Vamo Alla Flamenco", or even the trademarked "Wark!" in "Ukelele de Chocobo."

The music its self conveys every sort of mood imaginable, from the adventurous "Over the Hill", to the peaceful "Daguerreo, the hermit's library", to the frightening and fast-paced (if a bit watered down) "Final Battle". Other highlights of the CD (IMHO) include "Vivi's Theme", the previously mentioned "Vamo Alla Flamenco", and "Not Alone". I do have some bones to pick with Uematsu's composition of some songs, however. For example, "Zidane's Theme" ends up sounding a bit too... Disney, and, as I mentioned before, The Final Battle is very watered down compared to earlier final boss songs in the FF series (think Zeromus from FF4, Dancing Mad from FF6, or even One Winged Angel from FF7). Also, I just didn't like "Black Mage Village," as the song is much to synthy and techno-y even for my tastes.

Finally, as the title says, this is a "best selection" album, so it doesn't have nearly asmuch music as the full four disk import. However, the music selection is excellent, despite the fact that it seems like Uematsu gravitated more towards peices improtant to the game than peices that were the best music in the game. The result turned out good, though, so I'm not complaining. One last complained i have is that the songs only loop once before fading, where they loop twice in the four disk set. This makes it hard to get into some songs, as they end just as you start to get into them.

As a whole, though, FF9: Uematsu's Best Selection is well worth picking up, especially if you don't have the full OST. The composition, the sound quality, and the selection are all extremely well done.

Holy Heck! What an absolutely gorgeous soundtrack! Where do I even start? This music fits the wonderfully charming atmosphere of FF9 perfectly. If you've played the game you'll be able to associate every one of these tracks with the exact moment you first heard them while playing this game. Vivi's theme(#4) is cute and mischiefous, just like the charecter it portrays. Steiner's song(#6) has that big bumbling clumsy feeling you can easily associate with the man.

The overworld theme ("Over the Hill")
uses the game's "Melodies of Life" and combines it with an adventurous, happy beat that captures the cartoony(but wonderful) feeling of the game. "Village of Dali" consists of a beautiful, relaxing melody that reminds one of a peaceful, isolated little farm town(which, of course, is what Dali is). A few more. Freya's theme(#16), is a haunting, gothic rift that is reminiscant of Bach. "Dagguerreo, The Hermit's Library" is a sleepy little acoustic song that somehow makes you want to take a nap and cry at the same time(it's gorgeous). And finally, the games main theme, "Melodies of Life", which is probably the best song in the game, and is played during the game's end credits, once again perfectly captures the charm and beauty of the entire game through an orchestral score and very nice vocal work by Japanese singer Emiko Shiratori. The song is then followed by the famous Final Fantasy theme song, which is beautifully conducted.

I hope you find this review helpful. If you've played this game or you are a big fan of the Final Fantasy series, then I guarentee that you won't regret buying this CD.

final fantasy is a wonderful gaming experince as well as a great musical experince.it's not your normal everday music but it's very great and original.the music is very relaxing and i suggest you only get it if you like the final fantasy music or game series.if your a fan of the music or play the games it will mean a lot more.so i strongly suggest you only get if your a hard core final fantasy player or like the music.

Final Fantasy IX is my all time favorite video game. I used to have the 4 cd soundtrack to this game and loved it. It got lost in a move and I just couldn't justify putting out a lot of money for the soundtrack again. I bought this best selection cd and couldn't be happier with it. It has my favorite tracks for the other cds and it is wonderful to listen to.

Some people simply don't have the money to invest in the comprehensive, 4-disc soundtrack of a game like this (some of them can run you up to $50), and that's where "best-of" selections come into play. FFIX contains some of the most infectious and listenable tunes of the entire series (all performed in high-end MIDI), and this particular collection of some of its key songs is deserving of a high-rating.

Though this soundtrack doesn't have some of my own personal favorites from the game (namely the Hilda Garde theme and town-exploring songs like that of Burmecia and Cleyra), but one thing included on here that is not in the original soundtrack is the English version of the ending credits song "Melodies of Life", which is actually much more interesting and rewarding in English (though some native Japanese speakers may disagree) with catchier lyrics. Also, one standout track from the game that is mysteriously absent in this selection is Kuja's final battle theme "The Dark Messenger", which is a wonderfully-written piece and is essential to the game. It also gives newcomers to the Nobuo Uematsu clan a good taste of his wide range of influences, to the folky ocarina-driven opening theme "A Place to Call Home" to the electronica/techno vibe of "The Final Battle".

While this "best-of" is a good alternative to the high price of the full-length version, there are just too many excellent tracks missing to consider this a more sound investment. But in case you cannot afford the original or simply do not want to set yourself back as substantially as it might, then I would recommend picking this up.

7.5/10

I made this review a few years ago under a different account (my username now, but it has quotes around it. Have no idea how that works.)

It's a good CD, but since I haven't listened to the whole thing more than a few times because I still don't own the game even after two or three years. I don't really feel the connection to it because of that, unlike FFVII where I own the game and know the story behind the music.

I do recommend this CD, though, because I also own FF S Generation and the composition is basically the same. Track 30 is the same as Track 15 on FF S Gen. The main reason that I got this CD was because it had "Prelude" and the English version of "Memories of Life". I only had one problem with each of them, though, but trust me when I say that doesn't ruin the experience. "Prelude" is too short, but the sound is excellent with the harp/crystal music. If they had added another minute or two it would've been perfect. As for "Memories of Life", the singing is beautiful, as is the music. As a matter of fact, it sounds like all they did was switch singers (and you can see what I mean if you listen to the Japanese version of it on FF S Gen.). The only problem is there are some places that you can't understand what she's saying. Even if you're listening real closely, you can barely understand because she doesn't enunciate real well. That's only in a couple of spots, though, so it only ruins the mood when you try to sing along with it and you can't get the words down right because they don't make sense. Also, because there are so many tracks, you can guarantee that some won't be longer than 30 seconds long. It's kind of a bummer in a way because they could've used that time to spice up some of the other songs, but it doesn't detract that much from the actual CD.

Overall this is a good CD and I recommend you buy FF S Generation along with it. You won't regret it.

I actually do not own this soundtrack, and do not plan on buying it anytime soon. But there is a very simple reason for that....I already own the four disc original soundtrack for this game. And altough people who this may also have the 4 disc version, I don't have the money to buy this, along with the other iten's I want.

This cd may not including all of my favorites, it does have some wonderful tracks on it. "You're Not Alone" is one of my favorites, if not my favorite, and is on this collection. Other greats include, "Vamo' Alla Flamenco", "Bran Bal", "Behind that door" and "Sky of Alexanderia" are not to be missed. I think that "Black Mage Village" shouldn't beon this cd, but it is a fun track.

If you own the 4 disc soundtrack, you may want to order this, so you can have must of your favorite songs on one disc. For those who don't own the 4 disc soundtrack I suggest you get this to truly sample FFIX's amazing collection. And then you may want to like into the original version. Either way, this is a collection worth getting.

I haven't listened to the whole thing more than once because I don't own the game. I do recommend this CD because I also own FF S Generation and the composition is basically the same. Track 30 is the same as Track 15 on FF S Gen. The main reason that I got this CD was because it had "Prelude" and the English version of "Memories of Life". I only had one problem with each of them, though, but trust me when I say that doesn't ruin the experience. "Prelude" is too short, but the sound is excellent with the harp/crystal music. If they had added another minute or two it would've been perfect. As for "Memories of Life", the singing is beautiful, as is the music. As a matter of fact, it sounds like all they did was switch singers (and you can see what I mean if you listen to the Japanese version of it on FF S Gen.). The only problem is there are some places that you can't understand what she's saying. Even if you're listening real closely, you can barely understand because she doesn't enunciate real well. That's only in a couple of spots, though, so it only ruins the mood when you try to sing along with it and you can't get the words down right because they don't make sense. Overall this is a good CD and I recommend you buy FF S Generation along with it. You won't regret it.

This soundtrack is full of all of the final fantasy classics from number nine, including mostly every characters theme.