20020220: Music From Final Fantasy

Nobuo Uematsu has long since been a brilliant composer, and his full orchestral rendition of some of the best songs from the Final Fantasy series is the most beautiful, heart-warming, heart-breaking, amazing music created. Anyone familiar with the Final Fantasy games will tear when they hear Aerith's Theme perfectly played by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Anyone who appreciates classical music will enjoy this soundtrack, not just Final Fantasy fans.

This album is an incredibly well put together performance of the various songs from the Final Fantasy series. All are performed to perfection, although the tenor in "One Winged Angel" is a bit overpowering. Also, all the introductions and comments are in Japanese so I don't get much out of that. Overall, just another awesome performance.

First of all, people seem to be overly critical of the choir. They say that it sounds out of tune or whatever, but this is only because they were recorded live. In Advent: One-Winged Angel, the same choir sounds totally incredible. The choir itself isn't bad, it's the recording environment that was not so hot.That said, I can say that this is a very impressive two CD set, even though several of the songs I don't recognize. The music is professionally composed and arranged, and just goes to show that Final Fantasy music is proffesional level. The only cons are the lesser sound quality of being recorded live and the MC tracks, which can get to be a bit long. The way they keep talking makes me really want to know what they're saying. My favorite pieces are:1. One-Winged Angel: I do admit that the FFVII Reunion Tracks arrangement is better, but only because of the recording environment. This arrangement has a lot of cool new elements and an awesome sound. The only problems I see with this arrangement is the absent-minded microphone placement and a bit of background shuffling that is heard at one part. The shuffling is very quiet and you get used to it, but I'm just picky about these things. As for the microphone placement; whoever put one right next to the #%@$in' snare drum deproved the quality of the piece a bit much. The snare drum during the chorus is louder than any of the other parts, and the choir is already being a bit overpowered by the orchestra. This makes for a choral section that isn't heard well enough. Despite all these slight cons, however, this arrangement of the classic piece remains superb and awesome-sounding.2. Liberi Fatali: Same choir rant as before. This arrangement doesn't sound quite as good as the original, but it's not really that different, it's still an incredible piece.3. Melodies of Life: This arrangement is better, I think, than the original except for the singing. She sounded a lot more confident in the original. But aside from that, this song is a great classic.4. Suteki Da Ne: The original was quite a bit better, both in sound quality and in the singing. Rikki was nervous during the performance, it is shown by her incessant breath-taking in the middle of phrases and low confidence in her voice. However, the instrumentation does sound nicely different in some spots, and Rikki's singing is still beautiful.This album is a must-have for any FF freak, and is better than most all the ordinary FF soundtracks. Don't miss it.

Final Fantasy 20020220 is worth buying. It is a great CD to listen to if you want to hear orchestrated versions performed live, mistakes and all. That said, let me point out everything that is wrong with the performances, and why I did not give 20020220 a 5/5. As partial as I am to Final Fantasy music, I must criticize the singing in this performance. In both tracks that featured a choir (Liberi Fatali and One Winged Angel) it seemed like everyone was trying to outsing each other, the tenors in particular would sing awfully loud, while everyone else was drowned out. The soloists RIKKI and Emiko Shiratori did a fabulous job, in my opinon. Others said that they sounded nervous, I do not agree. The actual performance by the orchestra was brilliant. I especially liked Liberi Fatali, One Winged Angel, and Vamo' Alla Flamenco. I wish I could speak Japanese, because 8 of the 25 tracks on the 2 disc set are nothing but the concert MCs talking about stuff. All in all I would like to restate that FF20020220 is worth buying, but maybe you should play some of the FF games to hear these songs before you listen to the orchestra version, all the more to appreciate this masterpiece.

Nobuo Uematsu truly holds true to the Final Fantasy music legacy he himself set down beginning with the Final Fantasy Symphonic Suite CDs. Although I do have a few complaints, my overall take on this album is extremely positive. I'd say my favourite renditions on this CD are "Vamo' Alla Flamenco", lush, rich arrangement for orchestra (which truly is the greatest symphonic rendering I've seen from almost any game composer [thanks to Shiro Hamaguchi]) and the brass-graced Final Fantasy VI's "Terra" / "Tina" (which almost lives up to the Grand Finale version). Basically, every single song on these two CDs were mind-blowing with the exceptions of the two most crucial ones, "Liberi Fatali" and "One-Winged Angel". Okay, fine... I've got to give credit where credit is due, Liberi Fatali isn't THAT bad. It falters near the end though, but the primary complaint isn't the symphonic elements (or even the annoying snare [?] drum... *grrr*), but rather the supposed choir they assigned. Not very harmonic or in-tune, but I still give it 4-stars.To sum it all up, all very nice arrangements with those little differences which make it all the more enjoyable. Cons? The choir voices and the MC segments (I don't speak Japanese, so my apologies if you do and find them entertaining).

Firstly, Mr. Gibbs -- why would anybody buy this if they haven't played Final Fantasy games?Secondly, this is an amazing CD. With the exception of One-Winged Angel, every track on this CD is (in my opinion) the best orchestral version of these songs ever done. And this is coming from somebody who owns Celtic Moon, Grand Finale, Fithos Lusec, and a smattering of Orchestral Game Concert CDs.Do yourself a favor and buy this CD. It really is excellent.

スタジオ録音と比較するとかなり活気付いている。良くない点はライブ録音故に全体のバランスが崩れがちになったこと。例えばピアノがでしゃばりすぎたりとか、残響音の問題とか。ライブだから当然の事なので別に不満ではない。最初のｆｆ８のオープニング曲なんかはコーラスにもの凄い意気込みを感じ取る事ができた。スタジオ録音時のアレンジとまたすこし違っていたのも特徴的だ。それも醍醐味だろう。司会も楽しませてもらった。このアルバムで一番気に入ったのはｆｆ１～３メドレーである。オケでメドレーをやってくれるというのは希だと思うし。もうひとつはギタリストとの熱演が素晴らしかったこと。

私は、コンサートに行けなくて、このCDが出ると聞いたときに「おっしゃ！買うっきゃないね！！」と思って買いました。しかし、期待しすぎたのか、最初はあまり良いCDだとは思えませんでした。でも、(私は同じCDを何回も聴くタイプなので）何回も聴いているうちに、次第に嫌悪感（というか何というか）が消えていって、「あっ・・・良いじゃん。」と最近は思うようになりました。最初の方でも述べましたが、私はコンサートに行かなくて（行けなくて）、その時その時の感動というものが、コンサートの場面でなく、ゲームの中のその場面その場面なので、Ⅶ以前のシリーズの曲のアレンジにはまだ馴染めず、星４つという評価にさせていただいたのですが、このCDにはとても良い曲が詰まっていると思います。

これは一言、「良い！！」に尽きます。全てが壮大な雰囲気で、居ながらにしてオーケストラホールにいるような感じです。おすすめは全部ですが、あえて言うなら「ティナのテーマ」「片翼の天使」です。

森田さんのMCが滑っていて、聞いていて寒かったですが、本題の演奏は良かったです。特に、昔のハードゥエアの内蔵音源で演奏されていた曲がオーケストレーションされて聞けたのは、非常によかったと思います。

これはライブCDとは認めません。同じライブCDなら「DQ」のライブCDをおすすめします。オケの演奏はごく普通ですが、なによりも音量が小さすぎる。もうちょっとレベルを調整してから発売して欲しい。