Great first effort from a talented group; must-have for Fina
Zephyr | 08/02/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Generally excellent album, but more appealing to Final Fantasy fans than to the general public. A bit inconsistent in style. Some folks criticize the overuse of synthesizers in this album, but keep in mind that this is a VIDEO GAME MUSIC album, and it's going to be reminiscent of that. That's kind of the whole point.
In general, they stayed pretty faithful to the original tunes and added some crunchy guitar, organ and synth solos. The expertly handled (albeit synthesized!) drumming adds quite a bit (especially on tracks 1 and 8) and fans of FF VI will get a big kick out of this album, which is heavy on tracks from said game. Anyway, here's my opinions on the tracks. Hopefully this won't be too lengthy for general consumption.
Track 1: Battle Theme (FF I)
----------------------------
Interesting drums and wah-wah guitar; synth melody is haunting. Otherwise, nothing really special.
Track 2: Clash on the Big Bridge (FF V)
---------------------------------------
Awesome track. Excellent crunchy vintage-Van-Halen-style guitar and keyboards with some really soaring and anthemic dual-guitar melodies. Evolves into some real nifty keyboard work in the middle.
Track 3: Force Your Way (FF VIII)
---------------------------------
Virtuosic guitar, again reminiscent of early Van-Halen. Keyboards are probably programmed, and not played; adds nice atmosphere. Very anthemic. If you've played FF VIII, this will bring you right back. Otherwise probably not all that remarkable.
Track 4: Battle, Scene II (FF II)
---------------------------------
Quirky tune with crunchy guitar, soaring keyboard work. Unfortunately it kind of devolves into muzak in the middle briefly, but it's pleasant enough.
Track 5: The Decisive Battle (FF VI)
------------------------------------
Very similar to Track 2 with a really interesting musical theme. More dual guitars and exquisitely compressed synth sounds and funky bass. Possibly the best track on the disc.
Track 6: Battle Theme (FF VI)
-----------------------------
More anthemic guitar. Very fun 80's era "Yes" style synth hits (think "Owner of a Lonely Heart") in this one. Amusing "video-gamey" programmed synth work in the background. Otherwise unremarkable.
Track 7: J-E-N-O-V-A (FF VII)
-----------------------------
A lot of people seem to really like this one. It's a bit too techno for my taste. Heavy synth and a disco beat. Has a really cool theme in the middle of it that gets disrupted suddenly for some reason for a second or two when the rest of the band cuts out leaving a solo synth. Still a lot of fun, and FF VII fans especially will get a kick out of it.
Track 8: Those Who Fight Further (FF VII)
-----------------------------------------
Great thrashing drum work on this one. Pretty good organ work. (Think mid-70's rock with heavy Hammond organ, then add in some video-game style synth.) Otherwise not particularly interesting.
Track 9: Dancing Mad (FF VI)
----------------------------
Convincingly transformed into a mid-70's progressive rock piece. Pretentious as all hell, but if you like that sort of thing, you'll dig this number as well. Not really changed that much from the original sound version, actually.
Track 10: Fight with Seymour (FF X)
-----------------------------------
Techno J-Pop-ish stuff. Not really my thing, and doesn't quite fit with the rest of the album. Really sounds like something straight from a video game, which kind of departs from the rest of the album which sounds more like rock that's reminiscent of a video game."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1