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It's Yoko Shimomura's birthday.

Hero of Legend said:
She did the remixes of the classical songs in LKS didn't she? Don't know how many she did in Xenoblade. Isn't she behind the lovely violins in Xenoblade? My fav parts! :D
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Only Bolero, the rest was Yutaka Minobe. She did a few more for Xenoblade but still not many.
 
Xenoblade Chronicles - Epilogue

One of the most accomplished composers in the industry, and one of my personal favorites. All of her tracks are memorable, unique, and charged with raw emotion. Truly one of the masters of the trade. From the quirky and cool Street Fighter tunes (including the memetic "Guile's Theme") to the evocative sounds of Kingdom Hearts, she has left a lasting mark on the industry as one of the finest composers out there.

Here's to you, Yoko Shimomura. Happy Birthday, and may you have many more!

M6YFa.jpg
 
Did she do Xenoblade Title/Main theme? One of the most amazing tracks I've heard in years

Dearly Beloved is almost iconic for me now
 
Her soundtrack for Versus XIII was one of the things I was (and still am...) looking forward to most about the game. I really can't wait to hear it
if the game gets released
.
 
Happy Birthday Shimomura!

Such a brilliant musician. Shimomura is one of those names that can sell me on a game sight unseen. I only bought Radiant Historia after learning she was attached to it.

Looks like you guys have all the big songs covered, so I'm gonna throw out her arrangement of King Dedede's Theme.
 
Codeblue said:
Such a brilliant musician. Shimomura is one of those names that can sell me on a game sight unseen. I only bought Radiant Historia after learning she was attached to it
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Is it bad that this is kind of the case for me? I mean I was always curious about Radiant Historia since it had good worth of mouth, but being in the EU, I couldn't really be bothered with importing it. After experiencing the magic that is Xenoblade's soundtrack, I changed my mind and went ahead and imported purely because her association put me over the line.

As much as I am anticipating Versus XIII, it it gets canned, at least give us the soundtrack!
 
djtiesto said:
My least favorite of all the major videogame composers (ducks a swarm of rocks and tomatoes heading my direction), but I still love me some Live A Live music:

Megalomania

Murder By A Psycho!
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The Live-A-Live soundtrack is reason enough to worship the woman, it's that good.

Consideing this track for its fighting-game-inspired chapter, it doesn't surprise me she had a hand in the SF2 soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXQH6hT_Fcc&feature=share&list=PLD7492B33ACAD8E31

Also love the ancient china one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90d9S-ZXL_E&feature=BFa&list=PLD7492B33ACAD8E31

Special mention to Go Go Buriki Daioh!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49xjOQU54fQ&feature=BFa&list=PLD7492B33ACAD8E31

and the version of it handled by some JAM Project guys for extra awsome mecha anime music cred
 
djtiesto said:
My least favorite of all the major videogame composers (ducks a swarm of rocks and tomatoes heading my direction)
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I'll be dodging those rocks with you.

But her Last Ranker, Street Fighter 2, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, and Radiant Historia stuff are good.

So happy birthday to her in spirit (cuz she ain't gonna see this, lol).
 
Radiant Historia is the only soundtrack by her which I like enough to listen to. It's an incredible soundtrack though.

As an aside, I feel like her Kingdom Hearts work is very overrated, and much weaker than Historia.

EDIT: I also wish she did the vocal track for Xenoblade, because it was crap and her version would have likely been much better.
 
Dantis said:
EDIT: I also wish she did the vocal track for Xenoblade, because it was crap and her version would have likely been much better.
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Definitely not Mitsuda's shining moment, but his peak truly was Chrono Cross and Xenogears, especially when it came to vocal themes.
 
Dark Schala said:
I'll be dodging those rocks with you.

But her Last Ranker, Street Fighter 2, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, and Radiant Historia stuff are good.

So happy birthday to her in spirit (cuz she ain't gonna see this, lol).
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Most would kill for that kinda resume though! Even if Kingdom Hearts isn't your thing, throw in the Mario RPGs and the record is Koshiro territory.
 
I wonder what she's up to. She worked on a crazy amount of OSTs in 2009-2010, but pretty much nothing since last year, except a few tracks for Kingdom Hearts 3D...

Is she finally getting to work on Versus XIII now that the game is taking form?
 
randomkid said:
Most would kill for that kinda resume though! Even if Kingdom Hearts isn't your thing, throw in the Mario RPGs and the record is Koshiro territory.
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Those games' soundtracks fall into that territory as well. I like a few tracks but the overall albums aren't suited to my taste. :x

Regardless, this was one of my favourite battle themes of 2010. I honestly bought both the game and the OST because I loved the samples of the soundtrack I'd heard. Her best album since Legend of Mana & Parasite Eve.
 
IceDoesntHelp said:
Brilliant woman.
Her stuff from Xenoblade is top notch, and the best work she has ever done.
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What? I completely disagree. She only did 8 tracks, and 3 were with Tsutomu Narita. She was completely overshadowed by Manima Kiyota and ACE+. Saying Xenoblade is her best work is a disservice, in my opinion; maybe even some form of ignorance. I hope you don't think she did most of the music in the game.
 
dragonlife said:
What? I completely disagree. She only did 8 tracks, and 3 were with Tsutomu Narita. She was completely overshadowed by Manima Kiyota and ACE+. Saying Xenoblade is her best work is a disservice, in my opinion; maybe even some form of ignorance. I hope you don't think she did most of the music in the game.
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You can disagree, but your justification for your position is weak at best, I'm afraid. Just because she only did a few songs doesn't discount the quality of work she did for the game. Even if she only did ONE song, IceDoesntHelp's free to think that that one song is her best work, regardless of how many people she collaborated with. The tracks that she did for Xenoblade are absolutely phenomenal, and I would go so far to say that what you said is a disservice to her work; maybe even some form of ignorance.
 
hiryu64 said:
You can disagree, but your justification for your position is weak at best, I'm afraid. Just because she only did a few songs doesn't discount the quality of work she did for the game. Even if she only did ONE song, IceDoesntHelp's free to think that that one song is her best work, regardless of how many people she collaborated with. The tracks that she did for Xenoblade are absolutely phenomenal, and I would go so far to say that what you said is a disservice to her work; maybe even some form of ignorance.
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I'm just curious if he's saying that and thinking she did most of the music. If I thought that I'd have to credit her, too. I know I hadn't heard of the others till the OST was out. And of course the amount she provided doesn't discount the quality of her work--I'm asking if he thinks she did most of the music. That's it.

Saying "ignorance" isn't meant as an insult, but stay cute and passive aggressive, sweetie.
 
dragonlife said:
I'm just curious if he's saying that and thinking she did most of the music. If I thought that I'd have to credit her, too. I know I hadn't heard of the others till the OST was out. And of course the amount she provided doesn't discount the quality of her work--I'm asking if he thinks she did most of the music. That's it.

Saying "ignorance" isn't meant as an insult, but stay cute and passive aggressive, sweetie.
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You know, rather than denying your indirect insults, you might be better served learning what passive aggressiveness is. Maybe that way you won't be so quick to anger or sling around veiled insults like "cute" and "sweetie" next time somebody criticizes your opinion.

AuthenticM said:
wait wait wait... she composed Guile's Theme ? Like, the Guile's Theme ? Christ. How come I was not aware of this ?
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Yes, the Guile's Theme.
 
hiryu64 said:
You know, rather than denying your indirect insults, you might be better served learning what passive aggressiveness is. Maybe that way you won't be so quick to anger or sling around veiled insults like "cute" and "sweetie" next time somebody criticizes your opinion.
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It wasn't an insult. It was more a roundabout way of asking, because I didn't actually ask a question. Clearly I shot your dog in front of you and took a shit on the corpse, though, so I apologize for hurting your feelings. Now I can go on feeling like this:

wah.png


...with this playing.

plufim said:
Unfinished Battle is freaking great.
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Yes! It's a shame it only plays in one part, if I remember right.
 
dragonlife said:
It wasn't an insult. It was more a roundabout way of asking, because I didn't actually ask a question. Clearly I shot your dog in front of you and took a shit on the corpse, though, so I apologize for hurting your feelings. Now I can go on feeling like this:

*snip*

...with this playing.
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"Ignorance" is rarely used as anything but an insult, so you'll have to forgive me for perceiving you as rudely dismissing someone's opinion based on a shaky justification then backpedaling when called out on it. I would give you the benefit of the doubt, but your glib attitude isn't really doing you any favors.

But yes, Unfinished Battle is, indeed, amazing.

EDIT: Also, clever use of Shimomura in your response. And if you care to respond further, kindly do it via PM. I don't want to shit up this thread with our bickering.
 
My favorite aspect of her music is her knack for coining melodies that flow in perfect loops. That's a rare, rare talent in a field that it should be more common on.

The illustrious Earth Painting

The relentless Wanderer's Path

The sassy To the Sea

Excellent battle themes, too.

U.B.

Blue Radiance

The Edge of Green

The Red Locus

An Earnest Desire of Grey (those 5/4 Wishbone Ash Rhythms of Epic Power!)

Megalomania

Excellent town themes as well.

Traverse Town (there's that knack again)

Let's Do the Fooka-Fooka!

Mechanical Kingdom

Wildness and Toughness

Hometown Dormina

I'm also almost assured she did Zangief's Theme as well.
 
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