The Lifestream ranks Final Fantasy songs: nominations now closed

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ⓐaron

Factiō Rēpūblicāna dēlenda est.
AKA
The Man, V
Hi everyone, Flintlock here. Since Aaron has left the forum, I've taken over the running of this contest.

The aim is to rank our favourite Final Fantasy songs as a community through an event running in November. But before that, we need nominations!

I've re-opened nominations for five days, until Wednesday the 28th of October. You can make up to 20 nominations (including any old ones you might have made - see the tally at the end of this post). Each song only needs to be nominated once.


The Man said:
I'm not sure how many people are going to be interested enough to nominate songs, but I'm going to open this with allowing people to nominate as many as sixteen songs each.

If there aren't enough nominations I may increase the limit. (If this happens, I will allow the first people who nominated to be the first to introduce new nominations, because they had the disadvantage of not being able to exclude pieces already nominated from their lists). I'd like to get us to 256 songs, because there's a wide range of music in the series, but if we only have enough for 128 that's fine. I'll close nominations whenever we get to 256, or if we decide to do 128 then when we reach that milestone instead.

Please, when you nominate a song, include a link to a YouTube video of the song and, since there are several similarly (or identically) titled songs in the series, mention which game it is from. Also make sure you include the song title. Thanks.

It won't be necessary for more than one person to nominate a song. I will update this thread with nominations as people make them and as time permits.

The overall planning thread for this event is here.

Nominations

The list of nominated songs has been moved to a spreadsheet for easier maintenance. You can find it here.

Stats

Nominations by game
  • Final Fantasy VII: 35
  • Final Fantasy VI: 33
  • Final Fantasy IX: 33
  • Final Fantasy X: 27
  • Final Fantasy IV: 22
  • Final Fantasy VIII: 20
  • Final Fantasy V: 16
  • Final Fantasy XII: 13
  • Final Fantasy XIII: 13
  • Final Fantasy Tactics: 9
  • Final Fantasy X-2: 8
  • Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII: 7
  • Final Fantasy XIII-2: 6
  • Final Fantasy XIV: 6
  • Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII: 5
  • Final Fantasy III: 4
  • Final Fantasy: 3
  • Final Fantasy II: 3
  • Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII: 3
  • Final Fantasy XI: 2
  • Final Fantasy XV: 2
  • Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy: 1
  • Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon: 1
Nominations by member (excluding duplicates)
  • ForceStealer: 35
  • The Man: 21
  • Drax: 20
  • Kuroto: 20
  • Monterosa: 20
  • null: 20
  • Doran Martell: 19
  • Flintlock: 18
  • Splintered: 17
  • Ghost X: 15
  • Howland Reed: 15
  • JasonTandro / Doc Brown: 14
  • Wolfhart: 13
  • Robert Baratheon: 13
  • Kuja9001: 10
  • LicoriceAllsorts: 2
Total nominations
  • 272

Includes all nominations up to post #69.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Splintered

unsavory tart
List of all the songs I love in Final Fantasy?


tumblr_inline_mz3qceYENz1rbapf4.jpg


1. Clash at the Big Bridge > FFV (but honestly all versions are great)
2. Liberi Fatali > FFVIII
3. Terra's Theme. > FFVI Specifically the piano version but I don't think we're going specifics? So any.
4. Those Whom we Must Protect> FFIX Rose of May would also be there but the themes were too similiar
5. Hymn of Fayth > FFX (I'm not sure if this really counts but I can't not use it)
6. Saber's Edge > FFXIII
7. The Burdened > FFVII:CC
8. Garuda's Theme > FFXIV
9. Dust to Dust > FFXIII
10. Answers > FFXIV
11. From the Edge of Despair > FFVII
12. Cosmo Canyon > FFVII
13. Under the Apple of Tree > FFVII:CC
14. The Extreme > FFVIII
15. Lifestream > FFVII
16. Overture > Dissidia012

I spent a good thirty minutes trying to narrow it down and I still don't know if this is the definite list. :<
 

Flintlock

Pro Adventurer
Here’s my list of nominations. I think it goes some way to fixing the underrepresentation of IX, at least. :) Clash on the Big Bridge (V) and Anxious Heart (VII) would have been on it, so my thanks go to null and Splintered for giving me an extra two songs to play with.

Final Fantasy V

1. Main Theme of Final Fantasy V


Final Fantasy VI

2. Omen


3. Shadow’s Theme


Final Fantasy VII

4. Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII


5. J-E-N-O-V-A


6. The Great Warrior


7. Aerith’s Theme


8. Reunion


Final Fantasy VIII

9. Fisherman’s Horizon


Final Fantasy IX

10. Memories Erased in the Storm


11. Frontier Village Dali


12. Esto Gaza


13. Terra


14. Bran Bal, the Soulless Village


Final Fantasy X

15. To Zanarkand


Final Fantasy XII

16. Dalmasca Estersand
 

Dawnbreaker

~The Other Side of Fear~
I've gathered my list and I just need to find all the links to the individual songs. I must say that Final Fantasy, for all its faults, certainly has amazing music.

bbl w/links and/or vidz
 

Drax

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Benoist; Captain Highwind
FFV 4evah



Dat Orchestration from 2:00~2:56 would a composer plz finish it



Final Fantasy III: Main theme



Ancient's Village





Final Fantasy XIV:

Snowcloak



Heavensward, or what's out there: (Ex. 1) (Ex. 2--0:00-1:50)
 

ForceStealer

Double Growth
Oh man there are so many... Here are some for now, I'll try to focus on the games that seem unjustifiably underrepresented so far.

Solid battle theme, and I love the FFXIV version too.


This song is just so triumphant.


Great, ominous villain theme. (And this is a great youtube cover)


Quite possibly the best regular-dungeon them in the series. Mysterious, atmospheric, a little frightning. Perfect.




Exdeath has some great themes associated with him. Listen to that bass line! Seriously, the whole way through. While it's not like the grandiose epics like Dancing Mad and One Winged Angel, this song gets you damn pumped for that fight. And the climax beginning at 1:25 is a great hook. It often gets stuck in my head.


Great, threatening boss theme. Once again, these funky bass lines. Speaking of funky, if we only include an iteration of the victory fanfare, it should be VI's.

Two dungeon themes that challenge V's Intention of the Earth:




I love how this is totally opposite Evil Lord Exdeath or Those Chosen by the Planet, and yet manages to be no less threatening.



Geez, it's hard to not just put VI's whole soundtrack up here.

This has already gotten lots of love, so I'll try to show some restraint and just put up:

Best final dungeon music ever.


So much atmostphere.


Love this song, and this version. The pounding heart that's reminiscent of VII. Sephiroth's theme at 1:09. The sound of the violin bows hitting the strings at 1:47. Bitching drum beat and bass section along with the frenetic violins. And the Complete version has an excellent bridge added at 1:50.


Great beat, especially the "skipping" every third measure.


One of my favorite battle themes.


Possibly the best normal villain theme in the series. It just exudes creepiness. And the building crescendo that fakes out to that "small" melody at 1:20 through 1:35 is masterful.


How the hell has this not been nominated yet? For shame, TLS.


We are in trouble! Trouble are we in!


I play Tetra Master just to hear this song.




Why does IX have so many fun themes?




Excellent penultimate boss theme.

Meanwhile, FFX just seems packed with beautiful themes

So peaceful.


Another excellent dungeon theme.


Specifically the Remastered one. The real instruments do this song a world of good, and the addition of the erhu (starting at 1:01) gives me chills.


Oh shit this song. A lot of people talk about how they couldn't get into this story or the characters...but I don't know how this scene and this song in particular could not affect you. I get goosebumps at the best of times at the climax at 3:24, if not choked up.

Here's a game I don't expect to see a lot of on this list. However, on my playthrough of the remaster I really gained an appreciation for this song:

I dunno, it just makes me feel sadder/more wistful than I feel like it sounds on the surface.



Best song in XII, imo. I was whistling this constantly while playing it.


Best normal battle them in the series, as far as I'm concerned. Battle themes are often songs you can only really appreciate after the game, since you get kinda desensitized to them. I was whistling this violin part through the whole game.


This song made me feel nostalgic while I was still playing XIII. The huge beautiful field with the dragons flying by and wildlife running around and looking alive with this music? Flawless.

EDIT: Oh crap! Gotta address null's advice!

How frightening is this song? Great name, too.


Just an epic battle theme. Always gets me pumped.


No game do I sit through the intro as often as I do Tactics. And it's for this song.

Phew, that should be good for now. Hopefully that fleshes out the list a bit :monster:
 

Wolfhart

embraces her dreams
AKA
Monik XIII
Well, I've played few FF titles and I love FFVII's OST so here it goes...











...Yeah, sorry, I had to do that... So many great songs T_T
Thanks ForceStealer for nominating You're Not Alone!
(Probably will add some from FFVIII later)
 

Jason Tandro

Banned
AKA
Jason Tandro, Doc Brown, Santa Christ, FearAddict, Thibault Stormrunner, RN: Micah Rodney
Okay, wow, 16 you say... that's nearly an impossible feat but I shall endeavor. Rather than jibbering on like an idiot (as I did with my The Seven Character Themes post) I'll just let the music stand for itself unless I feel a song needs justifying.

FF4
Final Fantasy IV Main Theme

FF5
My Home, Sweet Home

FF6
Oh lord have mercy....

Coin Song
Dancing Mad
Terra's Theme
Setzer's Theme

Cutting it off there, but I could go on. There isn't a way you can nominate an entire soundtrack is there? lol.


FF7

On The Other Side of the Mountain - Maybe not the first for some of you but it always comes to my mind.
Anxious Heart - Again maybe not the first thought but another one that I really really like. This song drips with FF7's atmosphere.


FF8

Julia
Lunatic Pandora - Mt. Gulag I'm happy for you and I'm gonna let you finish, but Lunatic Pandora is the best dungeon theme of all time. Of all time.


FF9

Kuja's Theme
Bran Bal

FFX

Wandering Flame
Seymour Battle Theme

FF13-2

Caius's Theme

Lightning Returns: FF13

Evil Savior - Don't judge me, Lightning Returns had an amazing soundtrack, especially some really creepy themes.
 

Ⓐaron

Factiō Rēpūblicāna dēlenda est.
AKA
The Man, V
I need to update the opening post with the latest nominations. Force and Wolfhart, could you do me a favour and list the names of the tracks you nominated? If I open too many YouTube videos my browser gets laggy.
 

Wolfhart

embraces her dreams
AKA
Monik XIII
^Yes, sorry about that.

1-Forbidden Land Eureka
2-On That Day Five Years Ago
3-Jenova Absolute
4-The Great North Cave
5-You Can Hear the Cry Of the Planet
6-Mining Town
7-The Sandy Badlands
8-On the Other Side of the Mountain
9-Still More Fighting
10-Fighting
11-Tifa's Theme
12-The Price of Freedom
13-Kingdom of Burmecia
 

Hisako

&#28040;&#12360;&#12394;&#12356;&#12402;&#12373;&#
AKA
Satsu, BRIAN BLESSED, MIGHTY AND WISE Junpei Iori: Ace Detective, Maccaffrickstonson von Lichtenstafford Frabenschnaben, Polite Krogan, Robert Baratheon
Yeah, "The whole FF[insert number here] soundtrack" would be the easy way out, but I guess it's all about being extra, super-duper critical about the music!

Final Fantasy Tactics' Trisection is an easy pick.

FFVIII's The Landing is a goddamn masterful use of some of the main theme (among other things) in a cutscene and y'all should be ashamed for forgetting about it

FFXIV - Beneath Bloodied Banners is some OG Uematsu at work, shiiieet.

Anyway, some dark horse nominations:

FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus:
Calm Before The Storm
Hope of the Future

FFX-2:
Besaid
Their Resting Place
1000 Words (Orchestra Version)
Last Mission No. 1 (International + Last Mission)

FFXII:
Symphonic Poem "Hope"

FFXIII:
Fabula Nova Crystallis

(might add some later if I remember anything that particularly takes my fancy)
 

Flintlock

Pro Adventurer
FFVIII's The Landing is a goddamn masterful use of some of the main theme (among other things) in a cutscene and y'all should be ashamed for forgetting about it
YOU DON'T KNOW ME

That song made it onto my final 20 or so but narrowly missed the cut, alright? :monster:

Maybe I should have just "done a Force" and nominated more than 16. :P
 

Flintlock

Pro Adventurer
Aaron and I have had a brief chat about this by PM and I'll be helping him organise it.

We're aiming for 256 nominations and we're currently at something like 160. If you haven't nominated yet, what are you waiting for? Let's get this thing moving!

If you have nominated already, feel free to "top up" to 20 nominations. :)
 
Last edited:

trash panda

---m(O.O)gle---
AKA
Howl
Ohboyohboyohboy! I need to go through all of my FF Music in order to choose; I already see that a handful of my favorites are not on the first post.

Question though: are we supposed to choose music from the OSTs or can we choose songs from albums like Pray and Potion?
 

Ⓐaron

Factiō Rēpūblicāna dēlenda est.
AKA
The Man, V
I don't care that much, but I don't think anyone has nominated non-OST tracks thus far and I don't really feel they count as separate songs from the OST versions. If you want to nominate non-OST versions I'd just include them as multiple videos, with videos of the OST tracks being included as well.
 

trash panda

---m(O.O)gle---
AKA
Howl
Hm okay...I'll just choose based on how the songs sounded in the OSTs. ^.^

Also...I wasn't here when this thread first went up or else I would've been ALLLL OVVERRR ITTTT. I thought these over a lot...and I actually went through some of the OSTs song by song to make sure I picked my absolute favorites. ^.^

FFVI - Battle (Fucking fantastic song to dance with a broomstick to.)
FFVI - Esper World
FFVI - From That Day On (Just a favorite.) ^.^
FFVI - Dancing Mad 2/2

FFVII - Interrupted by Fireworks (Inspired me to take up piano as a wee child so I could learn to play it.)

FFVIII - Maybe I'm a Lion
FFVIII - The Legendary Beast
FFVIII - Compression of Time (I've always enjoyed this one...it's somehow very soothing.)
FFVIII - The Castle (Wacky, creepy...it fits the atmosphere of Ulti's castle well.)

FFIX - A Place to Call Home
FFIX - Vivi's Theme (Fun, uplifting, and fits the character)
FFIX - Steiner's Theme (I got sick of this song in the game but it really is a good piece.) ^.^
FFIX - Battle 2 (Again, it gets annoying in-game but it is a GREAT battle song.)
FFIX - Freya's Theme
FFIX - Immoral Melody (Forever and always one of my favorites...may induce goosebumps.)
FFIX - Black Mage Village (Now this is a song I can do my laundry to!)
FFIX - You're Not Alone (Just my personal opinion that it's one of the best songs in the series...)
FFIX - Towards the Gate (*tear*)

FFXII - Boss Battle (Let it be said that I love ALL XII and Tactics music...it's hard to choose here...)

FFXIII-2 - Noel's Theme (This is actually on my sleepy time playlist.) ^.^

***I'm not done with this post...my computer keeps freezing so I went ahead and posted what I've got linked so far. Will be done with my nominations tonight. ^.^

***EDIT: Okay I've reached 20 song nominations already. I guess I'll stop until someone tells me I can nominate more. :monster:
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom