Customer Reviews

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Original Soundtrack [Audio CD] Nobuo Uematsu

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The Final Fantasy series is reknowned for having great music, and "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" is no exception. Composer Nobuo Uematsu does some of his best work for this game, bringing together a mix of ethereal classical and pulse-racing hard rock.

The album opens with a delicate string melody, which slowly blossoms out into a full-on symphonic sound. Imagine the musical rendition of a magnificent sunrise over the mountains, and you have an idea of what "Opening" sounds like.

The music turns slightly ominous, trips through a delicate piano solo, dabbles in new-agey piano pop, and even explodes into a frenetic, gypsyish tune in "Beyond the Wasteland." Then the action starts. About halfway through the entire album, we get to "Battle of the Forbidden City," a taut rock number (backed by angelic voices and strings, but still!).

From there on, through most of the second disc, it's an even mixture of delicate classical and symphonic rock. And Uematsu throws in some sputtery techno and new agey stuff as well. The whole thing climaxes with "Advent: One-Winged Angel," a dramatic track that sounds like a musical battle of sorts, and is backed by eerie voices singing "Sephiroth... Sephiroth..."

Then it's back to the more peaceful stuff. The battle is over, the story ends, and the soundtrack concludes with some fragile, hopeful little songs. (And a techno song that seems out of place, right at the very end. "Calling" just somehow doesn't fit the finale)

"Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" is one of those soundtracks that can be enjoyed even if you haven't played the games. But fans of the games (and the "Advent Children" movie) will probably be transported by the music -- you can almost see the scenes play out as the album goes on.

Uematsu has a talent for blending genres: hard rock, classical and a dash of techno. There are blasts of harsh guitar and synth, but then the music can instantly switch over to swelling strings and soft melodies. And of course, the piano-based songs like the bittersweet "Tifa's Theme" or the shimmering "Aerith's Theme," which seem to capture the characters' personalities. Many songs have a choir of angelic-sounding vocalists.

Unlike many composers, Uematsu is equally adept at both rock and neo-classical. But the most impressive aspect of the music is that it's so evocative. Some music is for battles, and some is for slow, meditative scenes, and listeners can almost feel the emotions in those scenes.

Even if you've never played "Final Fantasy" games, the soundtrack of "Advent Children" is an outstanding mix of styles and feelings. A must-listen.

This soundtrack is undoubtedly Nobuo Uematsu's finest work. Every song has its own charm and attractive style, making the soundtrack almost alive, fitting particular emotions and moods perfectly.
The soundtrack opens with such classics as "Opening," "Sign," and one of my personal favorites, "The Promised Land." The choir-work of the song is just amazing, it wraps you in a fabulous cocoon of melancholy emotion. I would have preferred it if "Opening" had been more like the original, more electronic-sounding than orchestral.
The soundtrack continues to flow beautifully with many emotions, all the way to disc two. That's when we land upon the rock genre in the film. The rock could have been disastrous with too much, but Uematsu used just the right amount, adding in the awesome orchestral/choir "Divinity" pieces to keep rock from taking over. At the end of disc two, we come to the best reasons to buy the soundtrack.
The climax begins with the new rock remake of "J-E-N-O-V-A," which has an incredible new sound. Once again, however, I wish it could have been more electronic-sounding, and not rock. After this still-impressive piece, we come upon the staple of the soundtrack, the ultimate piece of the soundtrack: "Advent: One-Winged Angel." This remake of the original "One-Winged Angel" combines rock (electric guitar and drumset), a thunderous orchestra, and the most important element, the choir. It sounds so powerful, and I think it reflects the villain, Sephiroth's, destructive personality and monsterous power almost perfectly. They proclaim his name between the lines of latin, "Sephiroth!" they proclaim, "Sephiroth!" This song deserves to be in some sort of hall of fame, what with its ultimate power and awesome emotion, the hatred and desire for power that everyone feels.
After that, we calm down with "Cloud Smiles," a beautiful, peaceful piece that stirs the heart. Then the credits, a wonderfully arranged collection of themes in orchestral form. Then we have the closing song, the second best song: "Calling" by Kyosuke Himuro. Its emotional, powerful message communicated by the heavenly instrumentation and Himuro's wonderful voice remind us that "there is still good in this world and it's worth fighting for."
Don't miss this wonderful soundtrack.

Back in 2005, FF7AC was released in Japan, and was a video hit. I saw the movie last December and thought it was amazing, then I bought it on DVD in April 2006. The musical score... AMAZING. As you can see, It blends in classical with hardcore/ heavy metal (You've gotta love the "hardcore" version of ONE WINGED ANGEL.)

This summer, I bought the score soundtrack at Animethon. I was pleased! It has every song used in the film, and the songs sound better by themselves.

BEST TRACKS (in no order):
Advent: One Winged Angel
J.E.N.O.V.A
Those Who Fight
Those Who Fight Further
Beyond the Wasteland
Divinity I & II

WORST TRACKS (in no order)
That's a tough descision, but I will say:

For The Reunion (remember in an above paragraph I says the tracks sound better by themselves? This one for some reason sounds better in the movie.)
Sign (Dunno, but must be it's repetitiveness.)
Forever Walking Alone
The Chase of The Highway

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Battle In The Forgotten City
Calling

So I reccomend you buy this, no matter what it takes.

This is a great soundtrack. I love the remakes of the songs from 7 (Jenova, One winged Angel, Those Who Fight, Those Who Fight Further....).

However some of the songs are from the piano collections CD. So owners of that Cd (like me) will not get all new songs.

This is a great soundtrack for a great movie, if you haven't seen the movie yet then check it out........it was finally released!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Peace Out! ^___^

First, I need to say that Nobuo Uematsu needs to be recognized on the global scale for the great composer that he is. All of his works are wonderful, and you can tell how the FF series falters without him (look at X-2). He is the greatest composer of this generation, and is probably the most versatile, as his pieces can accompany action in video games, movies, and on the morning drive. He has taken tracks from FFVII, and remixed them with a live orchestra to create new sounds, which are still familiar to FF VII fans everywhere. The best song on this CD is definitely Advent: One-Winged Angel, which takes the original climactic masterpiece, adds an orchestra, drums, electric guitar, upbeat tempo, and new lyrics to create a fantastic song worthy of Sephiroth. I haven't yet seen the movie, but I can only imagaine with great anticipation how the music fits the action. Even if you don't like Final Fantasy, this is still a magnificent collection of music, with a wide array of genres, from the genius himself, Nobuo Uematsu.

This was a birthday present for my son. He said the cd is good and has enjoyed listening to it. Thanks for the sale and service...it was excellent.

i'm not an anime fan and i don't play video games, but this movie ROCKS!

This is my favourite soundtrack ever!!! It has (in my opinion) all of Nobuo Uematsu's greatest works in it, though it's gone the heavy-metal way. There are some songs like Encounter, Materia and Savior which are quite trippy, and ones like Water and Cloud Smiles which are soft. The One Winged Angel is a great one to listen to, and it had different lyrics from the others. It is the most heavy-metal out of all of them, and has an exremely strong beat to it, with electric guitars and drums all the way through it. If you are a Final Fantasy fan, love FFVII:AC, or just like different rock music, this is definitely for you!

This is a most have if you love the games or the movies. Very well done and not a disapointment at all. Every song is great I loved this and you will to a must buy.

I've only heard the music from the movie, but I find it to be excellent. The only selling point remaining for me is whether or not the theme playing during the battle between cloud & bahamut is included on this soundtrack?