The best music of Final Fantasy VIII

Seunia

Seunia

Dedicated Fan
Cthulhu said:
Back when I still had the whole FF soundtrack downloaded, one particular track that stood out in the FFVIII soundtrack was Silence and Motion. Probably because it's awesome and I didn't remember it, :monster:.



Fuck, I should get piano lessons after drum lessons.
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Aaahh...I love the piano version of this tune. ^_^ Can't get enough of it.
 
Ⓐaron

Ⓐaron

Factiō Rēpūblicāna dēlenda est.
AKA
The Man, V
Bearing in mind that I still haven't heard a lot of the soundtrack, "The Extreme" is definitely my favourite track from the game. Might be my second favourite final boss battle theme in the series after "Dancing Mad".
 
RedFFWolf

RedFFWolf

Donator
I'm just playing FFVIII at the moment, and hearing great battle tracks like 'Premonition' (which may just be my all-time favourite battle music), you have to hand it to the female baddies - they probably have the superior music!
Premonition - The Extreme - J-E-N-O-V-A - The Wavering Blade (Beatrix's battle)
Heck, even fighting Ursula and Maleficent in KH2 gives you a great theme over the likes of Jafar and Oogie Boogie for example! (And you could say 'Challenge' in FFX fighting Yunalesca, even if others hog that music too, including Seymour, who many like to believe is a "woman")

On another note, the music of FFVIII overall is just great! From a somewhat synaesthetic standpoint, it often felt like the music matched the colour tone of the game for me!

I also used to love how the enemies Laguna, Ward & Kiros fought (such as the Funguar) almost seemed to be dancing to the battle theme
 
Monterosa

Monterosa

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Tom
I'm a little obsessed with making playlists, and so of course I have one for FFVIII, which may be my favourite soundtrack of all the games bar FFXIII. I've divided my playlist into three parts (think of them as discs) and I can share the tracklist if anyone is interested.

My highlights include:

  • Liberi Fatali, which is so incredible that it should go without saying. I think I nearly wet myself watching the opening cinematic for the first time.
  • The Landing, for being so dramatic and perfect for the Dollet mission.
  • Force Your Way, for making boss battles so exciting.
  • The Mission: I love the mix of the frantic strings with the intermittent booming percussion.
  • Find Your Way: there's something quite magical about this one. It definitely creates the air of mystery and danger required for the locations in which its used. I also love the piano arrangement of this song.
  • Succession of Witches/The Stage Is Set/FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC/Premonition: you could call it the "Sorceress Suite". All of these tracks are deliciously dark that it's no wonder the people of Galbadia were so enraptured by Edea. I was in such awe of Edea as a child, and it's in no small part owing to the music.
  • The Oath/Love Grows: these two tracks are highly reminiscent of each other, so I'm considering them here together. I prefer their rearrangements to the originals. Sometimes when I listen to either of these tracks, I could cry.
  • Silence and Motion: Bizarre and beautiful. I just adore the melody. As Seunia has said, the piano version is exquisite.
  • The Castle/The Legendary Beast/Maybe I'm A Lion/The Extreme: which I would call the "Ultimecia Suite". The baroque strings of The Castle are potently dark and twisted, but the icing on the cake is the imposing organ interspersed with the flute melody. When the strings return to the main melody, they sound playfully demonic.
    The final boss battle tracks are all a triumph.
  • The Successor: I especially enjoy the Piano Collections arrangement of this song, which somehow perfectly interweaves a melody that is both mournful and hopeful.
  • Ending Theme: I don't know if I can say anything about this that hasn't been said before. I especially like the part from 10:00 onwards, for all the same reasons as Mr. Ite on page 1 of this thread. It feels as if the whole game builds up to this part of the song; it masterfully evokes the feelings and memories which the player has experienced during the game. Simply superb in every way.
  • Overture: I like to listen to this after the Ending Theme. It has such a sense of grandeur and power. I think it completes the soundtrack perfectly.

Other major highlights, but only when rearranged (I'm not fond of the in-game versions):

  • Balamb GARDEN－Ami from the FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC album. I could listen to this for an hour and not become bored, it is so beautiful.
  • Blue Fields: Rid of its horrendous MIDI instrumentation and rearranged for strings, clarinet and percussion, this song reveals a truly magical composition.
  • Fisherman's Horizon: Although I do somewhat enjoy the in-game version of this song, it is given a whole new breath of life on the FLWV album, where its arrangement is just magnificent. The piano version is also delightful. Like Blue Fields, the composition for this one is fantastic, but the arrangement/sound quality restrictions in the original hold it back somewhat.
 
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EverPhoenix

EverPhoenix

Lv. 1 Adventurer
I have always been a fan of The Extreme. But, I'm going to busy pretend The Black Mages never did a version of it...
 
Ite

Ite

Save your valediction (she/her)
AKA
Ite
Whoa! This thread was epically phoenix down'd!

No page on this subject should be without The Stage is Set. dun-DUN-dun... dun-DUN-dun... dun-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-DUN-dun. DADADA!! Boom-k-k-kah DAH! Daa DAAAAAH
 
RedFFWolf

RedFFWolf

Donator
Mr. Ite said:
Whoa! This thread was epically phoenix down'd!

No page on this subject should be without The Stage is Set. dun-DUN-dun... dun-DUN-dun... dun-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-DUN-dun. DADADA!! Boom-k-k-kah DAH! Daa DAAAAAH
Click to expand...

Yes, I was reading this in my mind until the sounds came along.

There is no choice but to sing the rest aloud, and I did so with great passion.
 
Lex

Lex

Administrator
Really the whole soundtrack for VIII is a kind of masterpiece. It's unique in so many ways. I feel the-same-but-different about IX's and X's, but I really feel like VIII and IX were the best soundtracks Uematsu ever composed. VIII is the only soundtrack that doesn't fall back on "catchy tune" too much (compared to his work on other games) and it really feels like a movement. I've got the physical OST and I can put the CD's in and just sit and listen to the whole thing. I feel like VIII's soundtrack is really outside the box in terms of FF music.
 
Jason Tandro

Jason Tandro

Banned
AKA
Jason Tandro, Doc Brown, Santa Christ, FearAddict, Thibault Stormrunner, RN: Micah Rodney
Izzat a wild EverPhoenix?!?! o.O

Welcome to the fun good sir!
 
Miscreant

Miscreant

FoolISH
AKA
Pinkfish, Fish
I don't know if any of you have heard of AtinPiano on you tube, but he does some brilliant Final Fantasy covers, with his version of Find Your Way being one of my favourites.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Atin1337/videos

For me, my favourites are (in no particular order)

Find Your Way, The Landing, The Castle, Blue Fields and Eyes On Me
 
Lex

Lex

Administrator
Miscreant said:
I don't know if any of you have heard of AtinPiano on you tube, but he does some brilliant Final Fantasy covers, with his version of Find Your Way being one of my favourites.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Atin1337/videos

For me, my favourites are (in no particular order)

Find Your Way, The Landing, The Castle, Blue Fields and Eyes On Me
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'm now on a binge of this dude's vids.

My favourite piano YouTuber (with a lot of FF covers) is Kyle Landry who has some of the most beautiful collaborations I've ever heard.
 
Flare

Flare

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Flare
Lex said:
My favourite piano YouTuber (with a lot of FF covers) is Kyle Landry who has some of the most beautiful collaborations I've ever heard.
Click to expand...

Oh my God. I'm listening to his cover for Passion by Utada Hikaru right now (first video I saw and clicked), and I may or may not have tears in my eyes.

This is... beautiful.

Thank you Lex.
 
RedFFWolf

RedFFWolf

Donator
Listening to these covers reminds me that I uploaded a recording of me playing "Fragments of Memories" about a year ago. Tuning and transpose has been altered deliberately, so it may sound off in ways.



Please forgive:
1) The awful audio quality of the recording (comes out better in speakers than a laptop, at least)
2) My hideous hands xD

I also regret changing the tuning and the transpose at the time; it sounds less melancholic than it should :\ or maybe there is a chance for a different interpretation (though I know at the time I just loved playing songs [that I was used to playing] in different tuning and instruments etc.)

EDIT: Oh wow, it actually was bang on a year ago. Ha, time is weird!
 
Kuja9001

Kuja9001

Ooooh Salty!
AKA
roxas9001, Krat0s9001, DarkSlayerZero
I take it that no one besides me goes to OCRemix.

My fav FFVIII songs





 
Miscreant

Miscreant

FoolISH
AKA
Pinkfish, Fish
This orchestral version of Blue Fields is just too good!



I'm going to see the FF Piano Opera in London this November, I really hope they play a lot of FFVIII & IX pieces.
 
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