The Best of Final Fantasy 1994 - 1999: A Tribute impressions

[09.28.00] » Consider this a public service announcement, because we care about you.

    Video games soundtracks are a booming sub-industry in Japan, with at least one album gracing each major game release, and quite a number of minor titles as well. But despite the occasional efforts by the US branches of Square, Nintendo and a few other companies, Americans have never really latched onto the idea of listening to game music outside its original context. The rare Westerners who have cultivated a taste for game music find themselves shelling out painfully large amounts of money to satisfy their interests via Japanese imports. Not surprisingly, when news broke of an upcoming US-produced Final Fantasy tribute CD performed by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Electric Sound Ensemble, fans of the series were delighted. Upon hearing the final product itself, however, most gamers will find their emotions to be somewhat less joyful.

    Numerous people expressed disappointment that their personal favorite tracks were not included in the set list for this album, but this turns out to be a good thing for all involved. The fact that fan favorites such as "Aeris' Theme," "Drifting" and "Succession of Witches" are absent should be greeted with the same sense of relief you feel when you fail to find your mother's name on America's Most Wanted List.

    The disc begins inauspiciously enough, with the rising cathedral sounds of the Final Fantasy VI Opening Theme building into a familiar refrain that manages to do justice to the original version. The next track, Tina (aka Terra, FFVI's World of Balance theme), also sounds acceptable. But upon listening to the flutes which comprise the main line of the piece, it becomes evident that the "electric sound ensemble" appears to be a bank of MIDI-controlled synthesizers. By the end of the third track (FFVI's "New Continent"), this fact is painfully obvious; the songs are all performed with a distinctly artifical sound rather than the majestic strings and horns one might expect from a symphony orchestra.

    This works well enough with the tunes from the 16-bit FFVI, as even a mid-range modern synthesizer can easily outperform the SNES's internal sound chip. However, when stacked against tunes from the CD-based 32-bit Final Fantasies, things fall apart. The reason the center does not hold here is simply this: the instruments used are barely any better than the hollow-sounding PCM heard in Final Fantasy VII's in-game music. The first true sign of trouble is track 5 (the Final Fantasy VII Main Theme), which in no way approaches the swelling emotion and beauty of either the original or arranged versions. While the Reunion Tracks rendition was performed by a full orchestra, this particular version sounds like truncated elevator music interrupted by pointless footstep-like tympani crashes (creating unpleasant visions of the Jolly Green Giant striding clumsily across the Midgard Plains). The remainder of the Final Fantasy VII tracks - Prelude, Cosmo Canyon and Shinra Army Wages a Full-Scale Attack, waver dramatically between "tolerable" and "execrable."

    Track 8 kicks off a series of four tunes from Final Fantasy VIII, a game which featured higher quality sampling than its predecessors. Additionally, several original tunes were performed with a full orchestra and chorus. Most notable among those all-live pieces was Liberi Fatali, the powerful, jaw-dropping choral piece which played during the game's opening cinema. Upon hearing this "tribute," your jaw may drop as well, but only in amazement at finally being able to hear such an amazing track performed with the same skill and verve as might be displayed by an amateur pianist noodling around with the budget keyboards on display at Best Buy.

    The remainder of the FFVIII-based pieces fail to compensate for the injustice served in Liberi Fatali. But on the plus side, none of them are worse, either (if only for the fact that such a feat would be practically impossible). Funky infiltration theme The Spy almost manages to measure up to the original, but that small accomplishment is negated by the final track: a flat, lifeless version of Mods de Chocobo that seems to have misplaced the lively surf guitar that made the piece so much fun to begin with.

    In case it's not clear yet, this is not a good take on otherwise excellent music. You'd have better luck sitting in your living room and tape recording the original games through your TV speaker.

    Little actual information is available on the CD case (and none whatsoever on the one-sided liner), so the blame for this travesty must fall fully on the shoulders of conductor Larry Steelman (who, one suspects, may in fact comprise the entire orchestra as well). Game soundtracks are typically divided into two categories: original sound versions (music taken straight from the game) and arranged albums (music generally performed by a live ensemble). The release of The Best of Final Fantasy 1994-1999, however, brings to light the need for a third category: "For Completists Only." While the $10 price may seem attractive compared to the gougery required for importing the real deal, fans would be better advised to dedicate that money to fan effort Project Majestic Mix, which is not only endorsed by Nobuo Uematsu but is also a labor of love, rather than an exercise in pain.

    CD information:

• 1. Opening Theme
• 2. Tina
• 3. New Continent

• 4. Prelude
• 5. Main Theme
• 6. Cosmo Canyon
• 7. Shinra Army Wages a Full-Scale Attack

• 8. Liberi Fatali
• 9. My Mind
• 10. The Spy
• 11. Mods de Chocobo