FF song bracket: Round 1, Group 9

[Flintlock]

Pick your four favourite songs from the selection above!

If you can't decide on just four, you can vote for as many as you want, but only in one poll of the 20 in the first round. The full list of upcoming polls can be found here - this spreadsheet has also been updated with game and voter stats based on the results of closed polls, so check it out!

You can listen to the songs in the playlist below.

This poll will be open for three days, and at least four songs will qualify for the next round.

Other popular names for these songs include:

Desert Wasteland - "The Sandy Badlands"
Fight On! - "Those Who Fight Further", "Still More Fighting"
Over the Hill - "Over That Hill"
Village of Dali - "Frontier Village Dali", "Border Village Dali"
Wicked Melody - "Immoral Melody"
Zanarkand - "To Zanarkand"

For more information on this event, visit the discussion thread.

 

[Roger]

Honourable mentions to Overture, Under Martial Law, Fight On! and Fisherman's Horizon. In another group you'd be serious contenders. Not here.

 

[Jason Tandro]

This was tricky, but I had to go with Village of Dali over "Over The Hill", just because Over The Hill while pretty doesn't hit me with the same level as Dali.

Also went with Dancing Mad (obviously), and Zanarkand.

For my last one I chose Judgment Day because it's about as perfect as a final dungeon theme as you can get. Full of energy and excitement with a touch of the sinister.

 

[RedFFWolf]

Oh, this is difficult. I like them all.

Thanks for all these playlists - they really help. I've changed nearly every tick in the boxes after going through it!
This is where I grow up: A decision has been made.

 

[Channy]

I agree, this was a really tough one... in the end I went with Zanarkand, 1000 Words (Because Koda Kumi and/or Jade and urgh so lovely), Judgement Day (because the most awesomest dungeon crawler theme towards the end) and Fight On because yay battle music

...not biased at all

 

[Flintlock]

I normally save my picks until the 24-hour warning, but I can already tell you that I'm almost certainly going to use my "joker" in this round to vote for more than four songs. If you haven't already used yours, take a look at the upcoming polls and decide which one looks the toughest!

 

[RedFFWolf]

^12 and 15 look tough as well.
But 16 is going to leave me with about two strands of hair to my head!
(And I'll continue to avoid using the "Joker" - just because I apparently hate myself right now )

 

[Lex]

This was the one, I had to use my joker.

Overture
Fight On
Judgement Day
Fisherman's Horizon
Over the Hill
Village of Dali
Wicked Melody
Zanarkand
1000 Words

There's no way I could have just picked four. Zanarkand, Fisherman's Horizon, Over the Hill and Judgement Day are up there but I couldn't do without the rest, I just couldn't. So glad the joker exists.

Fuck, now I've used it though XD

 

[trash panda]

This one wasn't terribly difficult for me. I went with the songs that I could listen to on a loop. Of course I love Dancing Mad but I've totally burned that song and I feel like I need to give it a rest.

Fight On <3 <3 <3
Fisherman's Horizon (nostalgia)
Over the Hill
Village of Dali (again, lots and lots of nostalgia)

 

[Ghost X]

Dancing Mad (FFVI)
Fight On! (FFVII)
Judgement Day (FFVII)
Over The Hill (FFIX)

.

 

[Flare]

Fight On!
Judgement Day
Over the Hill
Zanarkand - This song is so frickin' beautiful.

 

[Monterosa]

Holy Hyne this group is strong. I was pretty certain that my joker would come out here, but my will has been broken: I'm going to vote tactically and stick to four.

• Overture This is a real treat for the ears. Of course this song was written as a feature of the game rather than for the background, so it's no surprise that it tells a story. It would be amazing to see a real stage play with this music played by a live orchestra.
  
  
• Fisherman's Horizon Can I please give all my votes to this one? For me there's no question of this being in the top 100. Probably top 10, even. It takes me on a journey to a place where stress is just a strange foreign concept. The Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec arrangement is one of the most breathtaking instrumental pieces I've heard. Have a listen to this gem of a performance from the Final Fantasy VOICES concert:
  
  
  
  
• Those Chosen By The Planet This song continues to terrify and awe me as an adult. The heartbeat percussion style is used to great effect.
  
  
• Frontier Village, Dali This composition is so tender. It's sweetness overlies an almost heartrending sense of fragility. At 2:29 on the soundtrack it's over far too soon, but I could listen to this on loop all night and still adore it. I'd love to grab a bunch of friends and play this live together someday.

Are you kidding me, you didn't vote for that? (Honourable mentions)

Dancing Mad Even if I can only listen to it every so often, this song is profoundly interesting from a musical perspective and as a character portrayal of Kefka. I've enjoyed reading this critical analysis.

Fight On! Probably my favourite 'regular' boss theme of any Final Fantasy game. This is just kickass.

Over That Hill

The Travel Agency

Zanarkand I almost can't forgive myself for not voting for this. I'm glad to see it's loved as much as I adore it.

 

[Flintlock]

The poll will close in a little under 24 hours.

I've been wrestling with the idea of using my joker in this round, and I've decided to go for it. Like Monterosa, there might be more value to saving it for later, but this group is definitely the strongest for me, so I want to give all the songs I love the best possible chance of getting through on their vote counts.

I'll vote for these songs because I think they must get through and they're currently in danger of missing out:

Overture
Fisherman's Horizon
Village of Dali

I'll vote for this song because I'd like it go get through and it's currently in danger of missing out:

Those Chosen by the Planet

(If I wasn't using my joker, I'd have stopped here).

I'll vote for these songs even though I don't think they have a chance any more:

The Travel Agency
Desert Wasteland

I'll vote for these songs just to improve their seedings in the next round:

Dancing Mad
Fight On!
Judgement Day
Zanarkand

Finally, I'll vote for this song because I wouldn't mind seeing it go through and it currently has a chance:

Wicked Melody

That's it. 11 songs. I could also have voted for Over the Hill, but I would worry about it edging out a song from another group which I like more.

Phew.

 

[Kuroto]

I have picked my favourites and I have to say that except for the very last pick, it wasn't really that hard. Okay, I had to be a bit tactical, but still, not as difficult as 8. So here are my picks:

Fisherman's Horizon - Let's start with my very last pick, shall we? It was a very close competition with Dali, but in the end I just like this piece a tiny bit better (Sorry Flint). I just like the way the melody is passed to a different instrument in each part. Again a calm piece, I guess I just can't get enough of those ones.

The Travel Agency - I am amazed to see that I'm only the second person to vote for this piece. This one was one of my obvious choices. I just really like the combination of piano and percussions. I like the fact that this song is rhytmic and very beutiful at the same time. Also the claps. Can't get over those. Such a fine detail but absolutely hits the nail on its head.

Zanarkand - There are people who haven't voted for this one?! Shame on you! Seriously though, I would have had to hang myself if I had not voted for this piece. Zanarkand isn't just my very favourite song from all the FF music that I've ever heard. For me it's most likely the best piece of music there is. The melody is just unbelievably beautiful. And it is not just beautiful but also so melancholy that on the right time it will tear you up. So even though I knew that I could have been tactical and not voted for this one to push up another song, I also knew that I couldn't have lived with myself after that. This is the vote I knew I would give even before the voting started.

1000 Words (orchestra) - Again a song that makes me a bit too emotional to sing it. To be honest I have this problem with most of the FF songs. But I truly like this song. When this song was nominated I wasn't sure if I really liked this orchestra version, but when I listened to it for the first time from this playlist, I knew I'd vote for it. I like the song, and the orchestra makes it even more grand that the original is and less pop.

My honorable mention has to go to Dali. It was pretty tough to choose between it and Fisherman's Horizon, because they are stylisticly very similiar. It could have really gone either way, but like I said before, I slightly prefered Fisherman's Horizon.

Also because Dancing Mad doesn't seem to have any problem going through I didn't really consider voting for it too much. No doubt it deserves a place in the top 100 though, it's a really great piece of music. But even if I hadn't been tactical, it might not have made to my top four. But at the moment that is very uncertain.

 

[Flintlock]

- says she can't get enough of calm pieces
- doesn't vote for Dali



Seriously, that song is just perfection, I'm going to cry if it doesn't get through.

 

[Kuroto]

Would you like to explain again how the last 20 songs are going to be picked? Is Dali going to be completely out of the game if it doesn't get another vote?

EDIT: Also Zanarkand is calm and Travel Agency is quite calm too.

 

[Flintlock]

It will be whichever songs have the most votes. At the moment it looks like 7 will be enough, but it could end up being higher or lower.

 

[Flintlock]

This poll is now closed. The songs which have definitely made it into the top 100 are:

Dancing Mad
Fight On!
Judgment Day
Zanarkand

If your favourite song isn't on this list, don't despair! It might still get in as one of the best runners-up. The songs with the best chance of qualifying in this manner are:

Fisherman's Horizon
Over the Hill

Thanks for voting! But no thanks for leaving out Village of Dali, you monsters.