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Nobuo Uematsu: What's his greatest music?

Dancing Mad will always hold a special place in my heart.

I remember a few years ago I asked him what his favorite piece of music was, and after struggling to answer for a bit replied with VI, just because the whole experience was so memorable for him.

Obviously these things change over time, but I always thought that was cool.
 
Greatest is probably FF8 ost. Then 9 and 7. But they are all awesome, Nobuo is GOD. Top tier composer. Cant really tell about FF10 coz Hamauzu and Nakano did a lot of tracks and not sure which ones exactly composed by Uematsu san
 
It has already been mentioned - the over world music for FF7. Such an epic piece and so long for a videogame track. Just wonderful.

FF3/6 will always be my most memorable though. I know it is partly down to the repetition of the relatively short tracks, but I can still hum them, all these years after first playing it. No other game music has stuck with me like that.
 
CountBlackule said:
Final Fantasy X - Wandering Flame

It's so calming.
Click to expand...

not Uematsu like was said, but i seriously love this track so much. i can vividly remember stopping to listen to it for a looong time in the game. it played in the Farplane (iirc), which was visually quite beautiful.

farplane.jpg


this + that music... oh man. i've never been so soothed lol.
 
Does anyone know what tracks Uematsu did for Chrono Trigger? He's credited along with Mitsuda as composer, but I've never been able to find out what songs he did.
 
B.K. said:
Does anyone know what tracks Uematsu did for Chrono Trigger? He's credited along with Mitsuda as composer, but I've never been able to find out what songs he did.
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Noriko Matsueda composed Boss Battle 1, and Uematsu arranged it.

Uematsu composed Light of Silence, Mystery from the Past, Those Without the Will to Live, Bike Chase, Creeping Through the Sewers, Primeval Mountain, Burn! Bobonga!, Tyrano Lair, and Sealed Door.

ULTROS! said:
By the way, did Uematsu compose this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FLFnaV_Q6k

It's an unused FFX track called Nostalgia. I like the song.
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That's a good question. I don't like how inelegant it is at the beginning, though (but it's a WIP). I wonder if that's Nakano?

I get the feeling that Uematsu composed Wakka's Theme. That sounds like his style.
 
This is really tough to say, each game of his has several standout pieces I'd rank as some of my favorite game music ever. For the FF games, 4-6 would be the pinnacle - I'll never forget the first time I heard the opening to FF4 and just couldn't believe how GOOD video game music could sound.

Only soundtrack of his that I wasn't that big on was FF9, it seems he just stretched himself too thin with that one, and a lot of the stuff was kinda forgettable to me.

Getting to meet Nobuo last year was AMAZING.
 
GCX said:
Lost Odyssey - Neverending Journey
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Lost Odyssey is really solid, definitively his best modern work imo. :] I would always listen to the song while on the world map. I consider FF VI is most varied, inspired and thus best work. IV is quite close, since it was truly a foundation for the greatness that was to come. VII, VIII and IX had high & low. Lot's of great tracks mixed with decent or uninspired stuff and a couple of awful songs like Maybe I'm a Lion. XD
 
Wow, never knew Uematsu had a lot of Unreleased tracks for FFVIII, here's a list:

Adel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPuv9QdzDZA (very creepy)
Concert-Eyes On Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajgwc8ZHXns
Concert-Irish Jig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaJoIBNBR7A (cool)
Fake Deling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B0O33c_eKM
Falling Crab: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=280dkg8lbKM
The Future Beckons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsvckjMSSmA (uncleaned Liberi Fatali basically)
Raid on Dollet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ngpfUw_pg (very cool song)
Visions of Dollet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDNs--9t8ZI (also very cool)
Attacking Dollet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngkmdA0KvPM
 
Nobuo Uematsu's got a lot of unreleased gems:

Final Fantasy II
Dungeon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po0iQkspISw
The Airship - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PewVCFyqNnA
Shop - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0dmWqU5K9o

Final Fantasy V
Opening Idea Version 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M660WptcAhs
Flying Ship Version 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0ZiyRv_idw

Final Fantasy VI
Town 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8D5FM7i82Q
Town 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kt7B2okUNM
Troian Beauty Remake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdeD94MQwdU

Final Fantasy IX
Main Theme - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C0cnTUi0_c (sounds similar to Melodies of Life)
Organum - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qkDV97JBn8 (sounds similar to the intro theme)
Waltz - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7UFDGs3GXY

I believe FFIX has a lot, I'll dig more into it.
 
Helscream said:
The first two that come to mind that really impressed me is:

Final Fantasy X - People of the North Pole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6YMf4x16eY

Final Fantasy XIII - Dust to Dust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei5IDNc_s9I

Nobuo Uematsu is an extremely talented composer. Keep in mind I'm the kind of dude that listens to stuff like MegaDeth. Yet Nobuo Uematsu music really makes me say "damn".
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Uematsu didnt compose either of them...

(or am i missing something?)
 
People will be throwing up a lot of FF6 and 7 love (and I guess even 8 love) but here's some specifics I love from 8:

Final Fantasy VIII - Find Your Way - Under-appreciated track from 8 (well, not necessarily on GAF but most other places I frequent). Really atmospheric piece. The piano crescendos and decrescendos do it for me.

Final Fantasy VIII - The Landing - The way this song was first used in the game was just absolutely incredible.

Final Fantasy VIII - The Man With The Machine Gun

Final Fantasy VIII - Force Your Way (my favorite FF boss battle music. Nothing comes close).

And I know like 99% of GAF will disagree with me but I think the entire set of pieces leading up to and including the final battle in FF8 are right up there with Dancing Mad in terms of epic conclusions. In all honesty, if you have never played FF6 or 8 , don't click on these links (the ones linking to Dancing Mad or any of the below songs from FF8). It's remarkable to experience these songs for the first time in their proper context:

1) Premonition (I love how they start with this, seeing as how it was the song that
introduced us to Sorceres battles
in the first place. Really nice touch to bring things full circle).
2) The Legendary Beast (I think this is made all the more amazing by the fact that
it takes a scenery changing attack in order for it to start playing.
)
3) Maybe I'm A Lion (I know some people give this song flak but I just think it worked in the context. This was almost like the "shit got real" moment, given how
Junction ends up being used by your opponent. Once again, elements in the game coming full circle.
The Black Mages remix is just nuts too. I do love the heavy-ass percussion in the original. To say it's the weakest of these 4 songs is completely fair.
4) The Extreme (Again, this song is even more incredible in context. The environment, the buildup, everything just flows seamlessly with this song.)

Now, moving away from FF8:

FF7 - Main Theme (first/best overworld) - No overworld theme comes close. Remotely. Again, aged really well. I just love the feeling of isolation it gave.
FF7 - Your Can Hear The Cry Of The Planet (this song has aged really well. Still so haunting and beautiful).
FF9 - Freya's Theme / Gizamaluke's Grotto - Probably the most under-appreciated track from 9. Absolutely beautiful arrangement.
FF9 - Assault Of The White Dragons - Jesus christ. Talk about an awesome way to
kick start the final dungeon.
O_O
Final Fantasy IX - You're Not Alone - Not sure what it is about this piece. Maybe it's again the context when you hear it. I just have a gigantic smile on my face whenever I hear it .

Bah I could go on and on. I love his work. The Red Wings from FFIV, the Battle Theme from FFV, Battle with the Four Fiends, from FFIV.
 
ULTROS! said:
Wow, never knew Uematsu had a lot of Unreleased tracks for FFVIII, here's a list:

Adel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPuv9QdzDZA (very creepy)
Concert-Eyes On Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajgwc8ZHXns
Concert-Irish Jig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaJoIBNBR7A (cool)
Fake Deling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B0O33c_eKM
Falling Crab: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=280dkg8lbKM
The Future Beckons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsvckjMSSmA (uncleaned Liberi Fatali basically)
Raid on Dollet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ngpfUw_pg (very cool song)
Visions of Dollet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDNs--9t8ZI (also very cool)
Attacking Dollet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngkmdA0KvPM
Click to expand...

Sort of related, there were also some unused foley/etc tracks in FF8, very unusual. One had a Selphie-sounding girl saying "what's the matter?".

M_Night said:
FF4 - Troian Beauty is so stunning.
Click to expand...
Love that version of it, dying to find the notes for harp..
 
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