So there’s this series called Kingdom Hearts – you might have heard of it. Supposedly it involves giant keys, Mickey Mouse, and lots of lots of DARKNESS. It’s known for a lot of things – the ridiculous premise of a fusion between Disney and Square-Enix, repetitive and button-mashy gameplay, one of the dumbest storylines in all of videogaming (and that’s saying something)…

And really, really awesome music.

Hence, this thread, which I will now use to gush on about the awesomeness that is Yoko Shimomura (and a couple others who contributed to the music in this game). Please note that for the most part, I go with the order that has been listed in the OSTs.

Let’s go.



(No, I don’t know why they covered Mickey’s face either.)

*~*

Kingdom Hearts 1

And it all started here. More specifically, it started with

Dearly Beloved (KH1 ver.) – a calming soothing theme that’s more or less become the theme of Kingdom Hearts, and the only tune to have shown up in one variation or another across every Kingdom Hearts game released so far.

Hikari –KINGDOM Orchestra Instrumental Version – Hikari (aka Simple and Clean) performed with full orchestra and no vocals.What more could you ask for?

Destiny Islands – I’ll be honest. The music here tends to get a little repetitive while playing the game. But in short bites like this? Nice.

Mickey Mouse Club March – It is the Mickey Mouse Club March. Are you going to be the one to hate on the Mickey Mouse Club March? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Kairi I, Kairi II, Kairi III – Ladies and Genetlemen, Kairi’s Theme. A song so beautiful it got three different arrangements in the same game!

Night of Fate – The first real battle theme of the game (no, Bustin’ Up on the Beach doesn’t count.), and oh boy, is it awesome, communicating the tension felt by Sora as he encounters the Heartless for real for the first time.

Traverse Town- A nice, calming theme that communicates the idea of joviality and comfort.

Shrouding Dark Cloud – Unlike Destiny’s Force, which built and built and then… never really went anywhere, Shrouding Dark Cloud opens up strong right from the get go. Managing to combine both a sense of danger and whimsy at the same time, it’s one of the perfect songs for a Square-Disney fusion, in my eyes.

Blast Away! -Gummi Ship I- – For all that the Gummi Ship sections were terrible, at least they had good music.

Deep Jungle – Once again, awful level design, but good music.

Having a Wild Time – I admit to this being the first time in the game I actually sat up and starting paying attention to the music in the background. For this, Having a Wild Time will forever have a soft sport in my heart.

Hand in Hand – The battle music for Traverse Town. Bursting with a sense of adventure. I like it a lot, yes I do.

Bounce-o-Rama – It’s, well, it’s bouncy. It’s in the title!

Precious Stars in the Sky – A softer, gentler remix of the Gummi Ship theme, played on the world map.

Blast Away! -Gummi Ship II- – And on the flipside, a faster, more energetic arrangement.

Arabian Dream – The battle music for Agrabah. A nice, atmospheric track.

Under The Sea – Those of you who have clicked the link – the song is now burned into your brain. Forever.

Adventure in Atlantica – Catchy and upbeat. Not half bad.

The Deep End – In my opinion, it’s from this point on that the boss music starts to kick it into high gear, starting with this one. Fast-paced and frenetic, it’s an excellent track.

This Is Halloween – Oh, still have Under The Sea in your brain? Wash it out with some This Is Halloween then. (We will not be held responsible for what happens after This Is Halloween gets stuck in there instead.)

Pirate’s Gigue – Man this game has so many awesome battle tracks.

Never Land Skyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggdWyNeiY1c

Blast Away! -Gummi Ship III-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrgvfhNcYYA – The third and final remix of Blast Away goes for the more ominous and dangerous bent as we segue into the endgame, which lines us up perfectly for

Hollow Bastionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nlCNVewMjA – Holy shit, people. Holy shit. This is, hands down, my favourite track from the entire game. It’s beautiful, evocative, creepy and haunting all at the same time, and the perfect music for the penultimate dungeon.

Scherzo De Notte – And naturally we get to follow it up with a great battle theme for the area too.

Forze Del Male – For maximum effect, imagine Ansem yelling SUBMIT! every five seconds as this plays.

Fragments of Sorrow – The first time we see this song, a remix of Destati, on the list. Don’t worry, it’s not going to be the last. In fact…

Guardando nel buio – The very next song is another remix, this time made even more awesome. With bonus Italian chanting in the background!

Hikari – My inability to understand the Japanese lyrics to this song makes me prefer it so much more over the English version.

Destati – Remixed multiple times but never showing up in it’s original form in the game proper. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Destati.

*~*

Kingdom Hearts 2

My opinion on KH2’s music is mixed. On one hand, you have several utterly amazing tracks. On the other hand the synth quality is utterly bullshit. Oh well.

Dearly Beloved (KH2 ver.) – It’s so beautiful…

Passion –KINGDOM Orchestra Instrumental Version – The version without lyrics!

Passion ~Opening version~ – The version with lyrics. Once again, the inability to figure out what is being sung makes the song so much better.

Lazy Afternoons – Just makes you want to sit back and relax, huh? Note that it got a bit grating after being played at you for 2 and half hours of straight game time…

Kairi – Kairi’s theme makes its reappearance. KH2 was actually the first game to introduce the majority of the character themes, which for some reason were missing from KH1.

The 13th Struggle – Whoo boy. The first of the Organization’s many, many battle themes, this one hits it out of the park quickly, with hints of the sneaky, plotting nature of many of the Org.’s members.

Roxas – The, and I mean the, character theme of the game. It’s just so amazingly delightful to listen to.

Sora – After this, Sora’s theme is almost a disappointment. It just… it just can’t compare, really. It’s still good in its own right, though!

Working Together – A light and cheery battle theme to ease the players back into Sora’s shoes. Not half bad.

A Twinkle in the Sky – The return of the Blast Away remixes (actually the only one in the game). Calm and sedate for the Space map theme.

Desire for All That Is Lost – A pretty standard battle theme. Catchy, but nothing outstanding.

Organization XIII – The first of the many, many tracks that take at least part of their melody from Another Side. (What’s Another Side, you ask? Just wait.) The moody and somber theme of the Organization.

Asteroids Attack – The first of the new Gummi ship themes. Nice tune, although it overstays its welcome a little.

Waltz of the Damned

Vim and Vigor - The perfect battle music for the war sequence. Fast paced and driving, and excellent track.

Rowdy Rumble – For a track that starts out so cheerfully, it shows gains quite a bit of strength as it goes on. A great track, all in all.

Monochrome Dreams – Another fun, cheerful track.

Old Friends, Old Rivals – And the corresponding battle music for the Timeless River.

He’s a Pirate – Not quite as good as the original version from Pirates of the Caribbean, but well worth a listen anyway!

Hazardous Highway – Possibly the best of all the Gummi Ship themes. Just listen to it and bask in the awesome.

The Encounter – The boss theme for fighting Disney bosses, this track is just awesome. Just… awesome.

Byte Bashing – the version I linked to is shorter than the OST version. I consider this a good thing, because while the initial melody is good, the song wears out its welcome way too quickly.

Sinister Shadows – The battle for fighting the 1000 Heartless (and the Reaper in Port Royal, but who remembers that?). One of my favourites from the whole game.

Battleship Bravery – Like Blast Away III from KH1, they opted for a more ominous and powerful tune for the final set of Gummi battles.

Sacred Moon – The theme of The World That Never Was. Like many themes devoted to the Organization, it’s both haunting and evocative.

Deep Drive – The battle theme of the final world. Not quite as good as some of the best, but still pretty good anyway.

Rikuhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSIhRCX0DTY – The last of the character themes.

Darkness of the Unknown – Clocking in at nearly eight minutes long, Darkness of the Unknown is in fact, three separate tunes melded into one, each playing at a specific part of the final battle against Xemnas. It is also awesome. Listen to it.

Fantasia alla marcia for piano, chorus and orchestra

(Those of you about to ask me where The 13th Dilemma and Disappeared are – don’t. I hate those two tracks.)

*~*

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix

A rather short CD, it nonetheless holds some great tunes.

One Winged Angel (KH1 ver. – Good lord Sephiroth looks ridiculous in that picture. Anyway, it’s One Winged Angel. You know the drill. (Not including the KH2 version because the KH2 version sucks.)

Night on Bald Mountainhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0nFmJYE6hU – Well, it’s never going to compare to the original, but it’s still a great piece.

Another Side – Released in the Final Mix of Kingdom Hearts 1, this would later go on to become the base for most of the songs associated with the Organization. And it’s awesome.

The 13th Reflection – For KH2’s Final Mix, this track was composed for the Remembrance battles against the Organization. Somewhat repetitive, but better than the 13th Dilemma anyway.

Cavern of Remembrance – Created for the new dungeon of KH2’s Final Mix, this piece is beautiful… if somewhat more suited for menu music than a dungeon…

The Other Promise – Roxas’ theme remixed into his boss battle music. Listen to this and remind yourself that Final Mix+ will never see release outside Japan.

Rage Awakened – Music for the boss fight against the Lingering Sentiment (Not the official English name. Think we’ll ever get one?)

Fate of the Unknown – Song for the Stinger at the end of KH2 Final Mix. Expect to see this show up again in Birth By Sleep…

*~*

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories

The remake of Chain of Memories was largely pointless, with two notable exceptions –

First, we got to hear Bloo voice Marluxia.

Second, most of the arranged music is in fact better in quality than their counterparts from KH1 and KH2. And that’s what we’re here for today.

Dearly Beloved (Re:CoM ver.) – Yet again, Dearly Beloved makes its way over yet again.

Traverse Town (Re:CoM ver.)

Struggle Away – The first of the new boss themes created for the game.

The Fight for my Friends – Used in battles against Disney villains

A Day in Agrabah 9Re:CoM ver.)

Arabian Dream (Re:CoM ver.)

This Is Halloween (Re:CoM ver.)

An Adventure in Atlantica (Re:CoM ver.)

Face It! – A short piece meant to invoke tension before boss fights.

Pirate’s Gigue (Re:CoM)

Hollow Bastion (Re:CoM ver.)

The 13th Struggle (Re:CoM ver.)

Lazy Afternoons (Re:CoM ver.) – The best version of Lazy Afternoons, hands down.

Destiny Islands (Re:CoM ver.) – And also the best version of Destiny Islands.

Namine – The newly introduced character for Chain of Memories – like the other character themes, it’s a good piece.

Castle Oblivion – Sounds kinda similar to Sacred Moon, doesn’t it?

Graceful Assassin – The first of Marluxia’s three battle themes. Not half bad.

Scythe of Petals – Second of Marluxia’s three battle themes. A catchier beat, but slightly more repetitive as well.

Lord of the Castle – Third of Marluxia’s three battle themes. Holy crap this song is like awesomeness distilled. Wonderful. Stupendous. Amazing. Majestic. Lovely. Gorgeous. Awe-inspiring. Delightful. Justifies the entirety of Re:CoM by it’s mere existence. Etc. Etc.

*~*

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Here’s where it gets a little trickier. You see, there’s no official OST for 358/2 yet (or BbS, for that matter.) Most of the time it’s not a problem, but I haven’t been able to get the song names for some of the new songs. Oh well.

Dearly Beloved (358/2 ver.) – Once more, with feeling!

Neverland Battle – Nice and catchy.

Destiny’s Force (358/2 ver.) – I have no idea why I like this mix when I never really like the original.

Another Side (358/2 ver.) – Used in the very last fight of the game.

Struggle Away ~ The Fight for my Friends – No official name for this song that I know of, and fans think it sounds like a mix of the two songs from CoM, so there you have it.

The World The Never Was - Communicates the either of tension and resolve rather well.

Deep Drive - Wow, it blows the KH2 version of Deep Drive out of the water.

Dirge of the Fourteenth – I don’t think that’s the official name of the song, but rather a fan-name that stuck. Apparently it came from an arrangement by another fan.

Xion – Holy crap this theme is beautiful! And it has two different fan arrangements that have gained prominence.

*~*

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Another set of awesome music! …With no official OST yet. Oh well.

There may be spoilers below… or at the links. So, uh, be careful?

Dearly Beloved (BbS ver.) – Claimed to be the best Dearly Beloved yet.

Aqua

Terra

Ventus

A Battle of Great Valor

Deep Space Battle

Disney Town (Mickey Mouse Club March)

Neverland battle – I dunno why they keep coming up with new Neverland themes. I’m not complaining, though.

Radiant Garden – Awesome remix of Hollow Bastion.

Scherzo di Notte (BbS ver.)

The Encounter (BbS ver.)

Wheel Master Boss Battle – One of the first pieces of new music revealed... It got itself a rather popular fan-mix. And for that little extra, listen to it backwards.

Vanitas Battle – if you think this is good, just wait until you hear

Final Vanitas Battle – Yes. Yes.

Fragments of Sorrow (BbS Ver.)

*~*

Kingdom Hearts Piano Collections

Doncha just love the cover of the thing?

Dearly Beloved

Traverse Town

Hand in Hand

Roxas

The Other Promise

*~*

Kingdom Hearts Piano Collections Field & Battle

Lazy Afternoons

Night of Fate

Hollow Bastion

Medley of Conflict

Musique pour la Tristesse de Xion – I believe it translates to ‘Music for the Melancholy of Xion’, but I don’t really speak French so…

*~*

Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura

The Other Promise

Destati

The 13th Anthology – Every track that took riffs from Another Side all brought together in a medley of pure delight.

*~*

And well, there you have it. My personal opinion on the best of Kingdom Hearts music. Feel free to discuss, disagree, whatever.

Kingdom Hearts music is so good.

HOLY CRAP I didn't know there was a piano collection.

Dearly Beloved <3

I like KH1's music the best, but mostly because I invested the most time in that

Nice thread man. I loved the first game, much preferred it to the second as well for some reason. The music is absolutely fantastic.

Teetris said:

Dearly Beloved <3

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x10

And Pure, you should be ashamed! Not including, Sacred Moon.

Aka - The Castle That Never Was

Shimomura Love <3

I love Shimomura. <3

Also, my favorite track... End of the World

I hope Versus XIII sounds as awesome as the KH soundtrack!

Dearly Beloved should be the first song they teach you when you start playing the piano...

...I can also confirm from experience that girls who are not into games like the song when you play it for them. Dearly beloved indeed :lol

My favorites are the ones when you fight in Agrabah (in both games)..and Hade's Underworld (for KHII)..

Kingdom Hearts II: The Underworld

There's new music in 358/2 days? I played that game for, like, 15 hours before I put it down because it was miserable shit and I don't think I heard anything new. Or at least anything that was new and substantial. That's interesting.

hikari... best thing evar

Shimomura <3, Can't wait to hear her work in Versus!

I like the Symphonic Fantasies arrangement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYq5NOj23BQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhScZHY6E1M

regardless of what i think of KH as a videogame series, i will not deny that the music is wonderful. i certainly appreciate it (and this thread as well - thank you for making it).

Sinister Shadows is probably one of my favorite boss themes ever. So good.

Also, I'm pretty sure it was the theme used for most of the minibosses, not just the Port Royal one. I definitely remember hearing it when you fight Sark in Space Paranoids.

Y2Kev said:

There's new music in 358/2 days? I played that game for, like, 15 hours before I put it down because it was miserable shit and I don't think I heard anything new. Or at least anything that was new and substantial. That's interesting.

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Neverland had new music. Other than that, yes, having the same old music didn't help the game at all.

miladesn said:

Shimomura <3, Can't wait to hear her work in Versus!

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.

I just love the part of the last CD for KH1, so dark and desperate... and then BAAM March Caprice for Piano and Orchestra. Where is it in your selection ?!??

The soundtrack is the only aspect of the Kingdom Hearts series that hasn't disappointed me ever. <3

ok which is the battle theme in kh2 thats in the first fight in the game with roxas?

No ost for BBS is so lame. Has to be a disney rights issue.

soooo good

These games really do have great music. Xion's Theme is a real standout for those who never played 358/2 Days.

Dearly Beloved,

....................I love you so.

Dearly Beloved used to be my alarm clock tune.
I woke up everyday with a smile

As a huge Utada Hikaru fan I'm glad they kept her on for the English versions of the songs. Even though the lyrics are quite different from the Japanese they still convey the same feeling for me.

This is great thread.

I'm going to download and transfer these songs onto a SD card so I can listen to them on my Wii when I get home...... you know........ just to get prepared......

Edit That Dearly Beloved piano cover by Takehiko Yamada is amazing.

Here's a recording of the Kingdom Hearts medley the VGO played at Anime Boston. The singer they have is eh but the rest of it is good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Wbr_KTwj4fc

I'm imagining the guy who yells "HAVE MY BABY" at the beginning is the OP.

What the FUCK I entered this thread and I got the vanitas battle spoiler. GESUS FUCKING CHRIST

Legend of mana is also very good (also by shimomura). I never knew she also did the street fighter music.

Dearly beloved is one of the best piano themes ever!!!.

I love Yoko Shimomura. Deep Jungle is one of my favourite tracks from this series, I agree about the level design though.

Love love love Sacred Moon.

KH2 Final Mix has some great tracks. The cavern of remembrance and the battle theme there are superb. I also really like rage awakened (terra battle). Just one more reason why Final Mix+ is one of the best ps2 games. KH2 vanilla was just a beta.

Deep Dive is my favourite sequence in the series.

The battle theme Deep Drive is so awesome.

I really only started playing Kingdom Hearts cause of the music, fell in love with Hikari. Darkness of the Unknown is one of my favorite pieces ever. Love the battle theme for Hollow Bastion, Hand in Hand and almost all the Organization songs. Have to say never realized how beautiful Xion's theme was on my play-through, really well done.

I went to Video Games Live and the Kingdom Hearts music is one of the first arrangements they play. Then I bought the CD, and it is the first track.

After listening to that track, I really want to play the game, even though I'm not a big Disney or Square fan, and I dislike JRPG's (although I'm working on over coming my hatred).

That Video Games Live CD also made me buy Castlevania off of the Virtual Console.

Pureauthor said:

Musique pour la Tristesse de Xion – I believe it translates to ‘Music for the Melancholy of Xion’, but I don’t really speak French so…

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It means "Music for the Sadness of Xion". and that is one sad track alright... And agreed the BbS version of Dearly Beloved is definitely the best one.

Hey guys, sorry for hijacking the thread but is it ok to jump into Kingdom Hearts 2 without playing the first one? Found KH2 in a bargain bin long ago for next to nothing but the first one is still pretty expensive so haven't managed to pick it up.

The Piano Collections ones are wonderful btw.

Excellent work on OP. Traverse town always stands out for me for some reason. Everytime i hear the solo in Nightswimming i think of that song.

Also i think you missed this gem. There is also some remix version that i have but i don't think it was in the game.

Pureauthor said:

So there’s this series called Kingdom Hearts – you might have heard of it. Supposedly it involves giant keys, Mickey Mouse, and lots of lots of DARKNESS. It’s known for a lot of things – the ridiculous premise of a fusion between Disney and Square-Enix, repetitive and button-mashy gameplay, one of the dumbest storylines in all of videogaming (and that’s saying something)…

And really, really awesome music.

Click to expand...

Great list! KH is, without a doubt, responsible for some of the best video game tunes. I actually really appreciate the compilation. I've been looking to compile my own play list of the series best for my Ipod.

It's a shame your not the biggest fan of the series itself :lol..sure the stories seem to be getting increasingly convoluted, but it is what it is.

Hate the game, the main characters and Nomura's designs. ButI LOVE the music. Shimamura is so awesome.

Great OP btw.

H_Prestige said:

HOLY CRAP I didn't know there was a piano collection.

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It has a kick ass cover art too:

Also Shimomura's serious dramatic songs on KH really get me excited for her Xenoblade & Versus XIII osts. She does very good high art music as well as her happy fun game music.

Bebpo said:

Also Shimomura's serious dramatic songs on KH really get me excited for her Xenoblade & Versus XIII osts. She does very good high art music as well as her happy fun game music.

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Yup. Best thing about her is that she doesn't have "a style". She can do so many types of music so well.

Bebpo said:

Also Shimomura's serious dramatic songs on KH really get me excited for her Xenoblade & Versus XIII osts. She does very good high art music as well as her happy fun game music.

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Shimomura is working on Xenoblade? MIND BLOWN.

Kagari said:

Shimomura is working on Xenoblade? MIND BLOWN.

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Yeah, if anyone had the talent to take Mitsuda's place on another big Takahashi epic drama project, it was definitely her. Her work on the main page is already fantastic:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/sx4j/trailers/index.html

Bebpo said:

Yeah, if anyone had the talent to take Mitsuda's place on another big Takahashi epic drama project, it was definitely her. Her work on the main page is already fantastic:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/sx4j/trailers/index.html

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Sounds a lot like her Roxas theme mixed with something out of Wind Waker. In other words, amazing.

KH has some of the best video game music period.
Yoko Shimomura and Utada make a beast.

Has anybody heard the Hollow Bastion remix? Above the Rising Falls OC Remix? Love it. AMAZING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gutjHs2WV5Q

Also, if you guys know fairuzons, his friend did this electric guitar Hikari mix (Rising Sun):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uuwtxry7aQ

Dogenzaka said:

Has anybody heard the Hollow Bastion remix? Above the Rising Falls OC Remix? Love it. AMAZING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gutjHs2WV5Q

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Wow. Great stuff.

When you walk awaaaay you dont hereeeeee me saaay, pleeeeEEEEEEEaseeeeeeeee oh baaabay dont go, pimple and cleeean is the way that your making me feeeeel today, its haaard to leeet it go!

Bebpo said:

Yeah, if anyone had the talent to take Mitsuda's place on another big Takahashi epic drama project, it was definitely her. Her work on the main page is already fantastic:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/sx4j/trailers/index.html

Click to expand...

So good. She's definitely one of the best composers out there.

Also, anybody who hasn't listened to the 13th Anthology HAS TO.

Yoko took everything dark, pitiful, resentful, powerful, admirable and sorrowful about the Organization and composed it into one, giant, full orchestral piece that incorporates music from all the games. It is so good.

When you walk awaaaay you dont hereeeeee me saaay, pleeeeEEEEEEEaseeeeeeeee oh baaabay dont go, pimple and cleeean is the way that your making me feeeeel today, its haaard to leeet it go!

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I never figured a song with almost irrelevant lyrics would end up being one of the most powerful video game theme songs ever.

I bought the second Piano Collection (Field & Battle). It's nice, but not really worth it though. Only 9 tracks for 19 € (FFXIII OST is 85 tracks for 25 € !)...
If you love Piano Collections, it should be okay for you. But the "real" tracks are a lot better.