The silence is deafening.

Does this mean that everyone is underwhelmed as I am about what they heard on the whole in the psf2 soundtrack? I'm a Sakimoto fanboy, yet I couldn't help but think that I've heard it all before. To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. I don't think it is a bad soundtrack, but I'm forced to admit I think even FFVIII and FFX had stronger soundtracks on the whole. It can't even touch the classic soundtracks of FFIIIj-VII.

I like it a lot, and think it's Sakimoto's best yet.
This is probably the best FF music since FF9 (it also sounds a lot like that game's music in a lot of cases... track 023 sounds exactly like the Black Waltz theme for example), and can't wait to hear these tracks in proper MP3 quality.
I think there's a good balance between Sakimoto's dark sound (Vagrant Story) and light sound (FFTA, some of FFT) on this, and on average it's the best stuff he's ever done.
One of my favorites (and one of the five I actually know the name of) is the Archadia Empire's theme, which is a recurring theme in a lot of the tracks. (sort of like this game's "Hymn Of The Fayth", except a lot better... it's probably one of my favorite bad guy themes ever)
I also like how a lot of the tracks seem to have been composed with the cutscenes in mind... you can pretty much tell when something drastic will happen or when the mood changes just by listening to the music, which leads me to believe that this will be the most fitting FF music ever.
Take track 074 for example... I've seen an FMV in which it plays.
It progresses perfectly with the different happenings in the scene, like when an airship fires its cannon, when Vaan gets cornered, when Vaan and Balthier jump off a balcony, etc. (those aren't spoilers, I'm not specific enough for them to be)
If this stuff is representative of the real OST, I'll give it a 9.5/10.

I haven't time to listen to the whole thing yet, but the songs that are good are really good, and the songs that aren't as good are still great, IMO. My favorite by far is East Dalmasca Desert. What a masterpiece. If I had to pick only 5 songs to listen to for the rest of my life, it would be one of them. Phon (sp?) Coast and the jungle-sounding dungeon theme are also instant favorites for me.

I could certainly grow to love this soundtrack. It will just take some time. I didn't like the Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, or BOF-V soundtracks when I first heard them, but now I adore them. It took me more than a year to truly learn to appericiate them.

Edit: [i] and [/b]? What the hell was I thinking?

No. Just means that the link to the download was taken down before I (and I presume others) could get to it. Hard to comment if you have nothing to listen to. ;)

Was it?

http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1N...02LHUTTRVCEJDX

Figured I should share seeing how a lot of people are probably drooling over this and I have it and haven't even touched it yet. Enjoy!

Oh yes... something about 70 GB or so downloaded, *LOL*
:superhappy: Thanks, I'll try and give it a good listen!

Hey, no problem.

Here are my early impressions. Through the first 26 tracks so far and just about all of what I've heard, very beauteous. Sometimes absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, it's also very... I want to say nondescript, but there has to be a better word. Many of the tracks have form but I haven't heard a single thing yet that's stuck with me. I know it's Sakimoto, but more strength and focus and less fluctuation. That's what I'm missing so far. The vibe I'm getting from it so far is slightly above serviceable with something outstanding here and there. 7 out of 10 range. It's no VS or BoFDQ.

edit: <3 Track 030.

Listened to about 1/3 of the tracks so far, and my thoughts are that the music is very reminiscent of FF Tactics... but I'm not really sure if it's the right sort of style for an RPG. It's lovely music, certainly, but none of it so far is what I'd call memorable. Memorable, as in, I can take a ride on my bike, think of a game, and start whistling some of the tunes. Of cours, some songs will become more stuck in my mind when I've heard them a couple of times more, but that's not just it. A lot of Sakimoto's music just sounds a bit too similar. Probably okay pieces for large dungeons, good background music, but nothing that comes to the front and shouts "Here I am, character theme song, hear me, remember me!"

I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing; it's just a very different style than most traditional RPG OSTs, but for me it'll be hard to think of this as RPG music. I'll have to play the game to fully appreciate these songs. It was the same with FF Tactics (+ Advance) for me, and I never actually managed to care for the Vagrant Story OST (probably because I never got further than half an hour into the game).

Some uses of the instruments just feel wrong. At times Sakimoto uses instruments where I think the music would've sounded better with slightly less instrusive sounds from 'softer' instruments instead of brass and percussion. At other times I really wish I could break that flute and some of those strings in two. Also, I get the feeling he really restricted himself to the kind of instruments he included in these compositions. Would it really harm to have, say, a piano play a bit of music sometime? Or get rid of all those layers of instruments, just use one instrument to play a melody. Music doesn't require ten instruments to sound good. That flute would do fine on its own sometime without all that backing.

Anyone remember the Legaia Duel SaGa OST? I'd been hoping that Sakimoto would use more of those styles (and use of instruments), but I guess that's not to be.

I don't want to sound too negative. I am enjoying hearing these songs, and a couple of pieces do rather stand out in terms of melody. But the majority of the songs, I probably won't be able to appreciate fully until I've played the game. As music for the game, this is probably really good. As stand-alone music... I'm not convinced yet.

020 & 047 are my favorites so far. They sound like they'd make decent music for battles. :)

edited to add: whoops, just saw the discussion about the music over at the other thread. Me bad.

And I'm happy for it.
Imo, the primary objective of the music in an epic, movie-like game as FF12 is to set the scene for the events in the game, and this music does a great job at that.
I think that's a problem of FF10, which had similar awesome cinematics (though FF12 does it a lot better), but in which the music didn't nearly fit as well with the scenes as it does in this game.
And there are far better battle tracks than 047 (one of the few tracks which I personally can't stand), such as 069, 051, 091, 036, 057, 070, and others.

Yes, I see what you mean. I watched a couple of videos of FF XII this afternoon, and I understand how this style may fit the scenes better. They are clearly different from the other FF single-player RPGs, more 'vast', if that's the right word.
It felt fine to me, but then, I'm not much of a FF music critic (even liked FF X-2!). I'm not going to give FF XII a bad mark, either. It sounds decent enough, except for some gripes I have about the sound itself (which might change with the release of the actual OST).
Like I said, I just find it difficult to really appreciate Sakimoto's usual style without having played the game. I severely disliked the Tactics Advance OST... until I played the game, and now I love it. I have no reason to assume this time around it'll be any different. :)
Yes, well... I'll get back to you on that when I've had a chance to actually give the whole soundtrack a proper listen (meaning a bunch of times, *LOL*). Until I've played the game, though, I probably won't put any of his battle themes on a pedestal...
I know there's a very clear pattern here, and I cannot change that. Sakimoto is just about the only VGM composer who requires me to play the actual game to be able to really like his music. His work on Legaia DuelSaga is the only exception (it just feels more stand-alone).
To me, his music needs to be *experienced*. It's no comment on the good or bad of his compositions or his skills, it's just something that's become abundantly clear to me today.

BTW Just heard the chocobo theme. Cuteness.

PSF2 rip vs. iTunes Sample
 

After listening to a good chunk of the ripped tracks, and then the tracks that were downloaded from the iTunes offer... I'm suspecting there's something going on between the raw file and the engine output.

For example, take Panelo's Theme. The difference between the rip and the soundtrack version is pretty extreme. The main differences I'm spotting: extra phrase in the beginning that doesn't exist in the rip, additional reverb and placement, overall mix, and eq.

Attached is a lil mp3 crossfade comparison I did to show the differences. 0:00-0:09 PSF2, 0:09-0:19 MP3, 0:19-0:26 PSF2, 0:26-0:34 MP3, 0:34 to fadeout PSF2.

So, taking that into account, I'm refraining from listening to the rest until I get my hands on the physical soundtrack :) And then eventually once it's ingame in November :doh:

Dallista, you nailed it with both of your posts. Though I heard (and enjoyed) many tracks from games like Vagrant Story and Tactics Ogre, it wasn't until I played the games themselves that I really appreciated them. HS is definitely one of the more cinematic game composers to come out of Japan. I haven't listened to too much of FFXII, but it seems to have the same characteristics. Good music, but I need some context to totally dig it. Even knowing the track titles would help to know what he had in mind.

I missed the rip. anyone could upload them somewhere else? I'm really curious for the OST. but then, I guess it will be okay if I wait oddigy upload them after they are tagged and timed.

eriol, I'll send you a link via PM in 10 minutes.

Anyway, I don't think anyone should take the sound quality of the PSF2 rip to be representative of the published soundtrack. I'm merely using the PSF2 rip as a "preview" to determine if I want to purchase this LE OST.

Thx a lot for the link Kaleb. Gonna grab it now :)

Okay, well, I have 1131GB of bandwidth left this month, so I was wondering if someone here would be kind enough to help me get the file so I could mirror it for the rest of the month. (Maybe longer depending on how much bandwidth I actually see being used.) Anyways, thanks for reading!

Updated:

Okay, thanks a lot to Kaleb who provided the link and to Oddigy who ripped it originally:

Link removed, though it will still be available, if you want it just ask.

Big news: The soundtrack has been delayed till May 31, 2006. Very disappointing.

On a lighter note, the LE will come with a 28 page booklet, pictures of the Judge, and pictures of a disc, while the soundtrack will include Kiss Me Good-Bye (English Version) and Symphonic Poem "Hope".

Still, bah...

BiG Bad news =( How could they!!

I'm not as upset as most will be about the soundtrack's delay. March/April was getting pretty cluttered with a lot of purchases for me. Right now, for May, all I am lookig to get is the Okami Audio Collection, so this delay will give m a chance to space things out a bit. We've waited 4 years people, an extra month won't hurt too bad.

Whoa that's a pretty big delay! :o

Maybe a fifth disc, heh? :p

Um, I don't know what they'd put on a fifth disc, considering all the music is complete.

I'm glad to hear confirmation of Symphonic Poem "Hope" in here.

Until late May, I'll be listening to the PSF2 rip. ;)

Given that Sakimoto supposedly created 120-130 tracks yet only 100 feature on the OST (some of which aren't used in the game), there might be some left-overs that don't feature on the album. It'll be interesting to see if the unused versions of the Chocobo and Main Theme that featured on the iTunes soundtrack are released on the main OST.

yeah... CDJapan gives me the notification about the delay. Really sad...

Anyway, what do you mean by saying that the soundtrack will include the english version of KMG and "Hope"? 'cause I already bought those singles and thought that I might be ripped buying those cds.

Funny, there don't seem to be nearly that many tracks on the PSF2 set. I don't imagine many tracks would be streaming either.

I found the 120-130 track thing from a summary of a Sakimoto interview (didn't see the interview in full). Perhaps some of them didn't make the final cut, as the PSF2 set seems pretty complete to me. I note that there is more than 100 tracks there though, Symphonic Poem "Hope" and Angela Aki's single not included...

Unfortunately, you've been ripped in a way, especially if you don't consider the other Angela Aki songs worth the purchase. I don't often purchase singles myself, given this is almost always the case. Sorry that you may wasted some money.