Best Soundtracks of 2005
 

2005 has come and gone, but the music lives on. What are your favorite soundtracks released in 2005? (not counting reprints)

Here are some of mine, in no explicit order:

Wild Arms the 4th Detonator Original Score
Musashiden II BLADEMASTER Original Soundtrack
REMASTERED TRACKS ROCKMAN ZERO Physis
History Repeats Itself ~ Abandoner / Lostchild coupling soundtrack
PHANTASY STAR ONLINE Blue Burst EPISODE IV Original Soundtrack
Akumajo Dracula Curse of Darkness Original Soundtrack
Berwick Saga ~Lazberia chronicle chapter 174~ Soundtrack
Drag-on Dragoon 2 Original Soundtrack
DRAGONBALL Z3 Original Soundtrack
Enthusia ~Professional Racing~ Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack
Mushihimesama Original Sound Track
Perfect Dark Zero Original Soundtrack
Riviera ~The Promised Land~ Full Arrange Soundtrack
ROMANCING SAGA -Minstrel Song- Original Soundtrack
Senko no Ronde -Sound Tracks-
Tales of Legendia Original Soundtrack
Ys: The Oath in Felghana Original Soundtrack

I'll get back to this list and elaborate on it later. I'm totally burnt on the forums right now.

I didn't get many soundtracks this year (sadly), but the few I did DL were all good. Yay, here goes my pathetic list:

FFVII Advent Children
Soul Calibur III

I actually haven't finished listening to SCIII yet, but from the ones I've listened to so far, I'm quite sure the rest will be just as good.

I've been disappointed in FF OSTs of late, so I was pleasantly surprised with the AC OST, especially the Divinity tracks. I just can't resist hearing Latin in VG music.

I loved the basslines on the Prince of Persia: Warrior Within soundtrack. It's really exciting to listen to.
I just can't think of another soundtrack at the moment...

I probably don't remeber exactly right now, what for soundtracks were released in 2005, but I think I can say, that "Ys The Oath in Felghana Original Sound Track" was my favourite so far, it really surprised me. I liked all the previous Ys-soundtracks as well, but I think, this one is the best so far (or at least for me ;) ).
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children was a great soundtrack, too. I can't think of anything else at the moment.

2005 saw a lot of great albums released. My favorites include:

*in no particular order*

>> Wander and the Colossus ~Roar of the Earth~ Original Soundtrack
>> Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 Original Soundtrack
>> Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack
>> Ar Tonelico Sekai no Owari de Shi Tsudukeru Shoujo Original Soundtrack
>> Berwick Saga ~Lazberia chronicle chapter 174~ Soundtrack
>> Sonic Rush Original Groove Rush
>> Ridge Racers Direct Audio
>> Ys The Oath in Felghana Original Soundtrack
>> LUMINES remixes
>> Soul Calibur III Original Soundtrack
>> Ray'z PREMIUM BOX -BEYOND-

Again, a great year of releases. As, so far, 2006 is shaping up to be even better.

Masaru Shiina forever.

My favorite VGM of this year was from Perfect Dark Zero, and Ratchet Deadlocked.

Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2, Shoji Meguro is great

I actually didn't hear very many soundtracks that peaked my interest, at least not for 2005. The ones that did were:

- LUMINES Remixes - The game is addicting, and so is its music (if you like trance beats.) Its a real shame I can't play and hear that game on a 50" plasma tv.
- ROMANCING SAGA -Minstrel Song- Original Soundtrack - Just wow. I'm a sucker for grand sounding music.
- Perfect Dark Zero Original Soundtrack - I only really liked it because it sounded close to the first soundtrack. Mission select theme was pure nostalgia for me =p.
- Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack - Can I really count this as a videogame soundtrack? In any case, Freelance Wolf said it for me. Divinity I & II sure is nice.

- Wander and the Colossus ~Roar of the Earth~ Original Soundtrack
- Wild Arms the 4th Detonator Original Score (It's Wild Arms, of course!)
- Digital Devil Saga 2 (DDS1 wouldn't count, since the game was released in 2004, likewise the OST, though I preferred DDS2's anyways)
- Genso Suikoden IV Original Soundtrack (Does this count? Not sure if it was 2005 or late 2004 -- still, it had my favorite Suikoden OST next to Rhapsodia)
- Rhapsodia Original Soundtrack

That's pretty much all I can think of. Of course, I haven't bothered looking into any "newer" OSTs besides the five listed above.

Tales of Legendia was what got me in 2005. Some other really good OSTs were:

DDS2
Berwick Saga
FF:AC
some more i cant think of off the top of my head.

Great year for VGM! Now lets hope 2006 does even better!!

I REALLY didn't enjoy the Perfect Dark Zero soundtrack. Can someone enlighten me to why people like it so much?

That's probably the one I enjoyed the most. It was released in spring, and I listened to it much while taking walks outside, when the weather was warming up, so maybe that factor had an influence. Anyway, I still find the music good, especially "Maximum Acceleration" (which is the 2005 track I listened to the most).

Musashiden II also had some nice tunes (my top being "White Whale of Heaven").

I guess I listen to too much old stuff to keep up with what's "hot".

Hehehe. You have a point. I generally group it with VGM simply because AC is the sequel to a video game, and it's composed by VGM musicians.

Hmm, I can never remember which year a certain album was released. At first I couldn't think of a single one if particularly enjoyed. But I noticed that the ROMANCING SAGA -Minstrel Song- Original Soundtrack has been mentioned. I had high expectations on this, being a big fan of the music from the previous games. And while the music didn't really suprise or exceed my expectations it atleast lived up to them. It seems more of the same 'ol isn't always a bad thing (killer battle themes for instance).

Musashiden II BLADEMASTER Original Soundtrack - I love this soundtrack more and more. It seems that I discover a new track each time I listen to it. Hamauzu is nothing short of amazing in this.

DIRGE of CERBERUS - Even though a lot of people were turned off by the film score aspect. (Including me) There is still some amazing Hamauzu goodness within. You just have to find it.

I feel the same way, only about the Advent Children OST. Everyone seems to like it, yet, I found it bland and really only liked one song (Water).

I don't feel like retyping the huge thread I had from before, so I'll sum things up in three words: Oath of Felghana.

Other notables:

Best Sleeper: Enthusia Racing OST
Best Arranged Album: Atelier Iris Deceitful Wings
Best "Traditional" RPG Soundtrack: Wild Arms 4th Detonator
Best Doujin Album: Battlefield 1987
Best Surprise: Castlevania Curse of Darkness OST (finally, some GOOD nu-Castlevania music!)
Best Find From Teioh's Incredibly Obscure VGMCentral Share: To Heart 2 Character Vocals

I'll throw in an oddball OST here:
Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy OST (aka We Love Katamari OST): It has weird and fun songs. The credits music goes from Star Wars epic to the freakiest lyrics in a game I've heard. Of course the OST is in line with the game, which in itself is really really strange.

I really love this soundtrack : -Advent Rising
-Jade empire
-Kameo
-Final Fantasy advent children
-Castlevania curse of farkness

-Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2. Megaten fanboyism aside, this was still a damn good collection of tunes. If the 4-disc "Integral" set came out in 05, count that one too. I can't remember if it was 05 or the very beginning of 06.

-Shadow of the Colossus. Great, powerful orchestral score. Inspired and inspiring, and the songs were as big in sound and tone as the colossi were in size.

-Indigo Prophecy. I liked that they contracted with an established film composer to do a movie-like soundtrack for this game. In addition to the fact that Badalamenti is just plain talented, the track that plays during the car/helicopter chase and the apartment attack scene (track 15 on the gamerip, I think) is just plain addictive. The soundtrack is just plain good. And I'm just plain done.

I can't deny that!
Though I still have the hardest time categorizing that soundtrack. I may just add a shortcut link in my vgm and movie music listings, haha.

Aw, I completely forgot about that soundtrack. And I listen to it at least once a week too *feels like a idiot.* Its strange no matter how many times I play those tunes.

Now that 2005 is over for a while I must say I disliked most of it. There were some good remixes like Metal Saga or Oath in Felghana, but out of the original music, only a few stayed in my playlist for more than the month they came out:

Brighter than Dawning Blue Lunar Passport
GRANDIA III -original sound tracks-
Mabino x Style Original Soundtrack
Ojousama Kumikyoku Original Soundtrack
Ryouki II Original Soundtrack
Sakura Relaxation Soundtrack
Tears to Tiara Original Soundtrack
Tomoyo After ~It's a Wonderful Life~ Original SoundTrack

8 soundtracks are actually enough, but 2006 is looking so much better already.

Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 Original Soundtrack
Wander and the Colossus ~Roar of the Earth~ Original Soundtrack
Nobunaga’s Ambition Online ~Chapter of Hiryu~ Complete Sound Track
Akumajo Dracula Curse of Darkness Original Soundtrack
Prince of Persia Warrior Within Original Soundtrack
Sonic Rush Original Groove Rush
Civilization IV Official Soundtrack
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack
near death experience, SHADOW HEARTS Arrangetracks
killer7 original sound track
Dragon Quest VIII Sorato Umito Daichito Norowareshi Himegimi Symphonic Suite

These albums stood out for me last year.

Drag-on Dragoon 2 OST is the best.

I also enjoyed:

Tales of Legendia OST
Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song OST
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children OST
Hanjuku Hero 4 OST
Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 OST
Nobunaga’s Ambition Online Chapter of Hiryu OST
Musashiden II Blademaster OST