[Album] Final Fantasy IX (SSCX-10043)

Catalog Number SSCX-10043
Release Date August 30, 2000
Release Type Official Release
Release Price 3873 Japanese Yen (JPY)
Media Type CD (4 discs)
Classification Original Soundtrack
Published by DigiCube
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu
Arranged by Nobuo Uematsu, Shiro Hamaguchi, Kunihiko Kurosawa
Performed by Emiko Shiratori, Kunihiko Kurosawa, Haruo Kondo
From the Game Final Fantasy IX
Platform(s) Sony PlayStation

Tracklist:

Spoiler:

Disc One (72:05)
01) The Place I'll Return to Someday (2:08)
02) Memories Washed Away in the Storm (1:15)
03) Strategy Conference (1:38)
04) The Skies of Alexandria (0:54)
05) Vivi's Theme (3:11)
06) Feel My Blade (2:42)
07) Vamo'alla flamenco (1:52)
08) Decisive Action ~ Search for the Princess (3:14)
09) Jesters of the Moon (3:20)
10) Steiner's Theme (2:27)
11) Prima Vista Band (1:45)
12) Captivating Eyes (2:50)
13) Tonight (0:16)
14) Your Warmth (0:34)
15) Mistaken Love (3:35)
16) Queen of the Abyss (1:31)
17) Evil Forest (2:28)
18) Normal Battle (2:40)
19) Victory Fanfare (0:57)
20) Memories of That Day (2:27)
21) Boss Battle (4:05)
22) Game Over (1:55)
23) Run! (2:47)
24) Goodnight (0:09)
25) Over Those Hills (2:38)
26) Ice Cavern (2:59)
27) Dali Village (2:28)
28) In the Distant Twilight (3:07)
29) Reckless Steiner (2:45)
30) Limited Time (3:03)
31) Zidane's Theme (2:46)
32) Black Waltz (1:39)

Disc Two (71:10)
01) Cid's Theme (4:00)
02) One Danger Behind Us... (3:10)
03) Lindblum (2:11)
04) Song of Memories (1:53)
05) Hunter’s Chance (3:47)
06) Qu’s Marsh (3:17)
07) Quina's Theme (3:52)
08) Aloha de Chocobo (2:56)
09) Ukele de Chocobo (2:22)
10) Freya's Theme (3:02)
11) Boundary South Gate (2:56)
12) Fairy Battle (2:28)
13) Burmecia (3:55)
14) An Unforgettable Face (3:24)
15) Kuja's Theme (2:25)
16) Sword of Confusion (3:17)
17) Treno, the Sleepless City (2:53)
18) Tantalus' Theme (2:21)
19) Immoral Melody (2:25)
20) Garnet's Theme (2:40)
21) Gargan Roo (1:47)
22) Cleyra's Trunk (2:43)
23) Cleyra Settlement (2:21)
24) Eternal Harvest (1:15)
25) Heaven's Distress (2:35)
26) Extraction (1:15)

Disc Three (71:30)
01) Attack (2:23)
02) Rose of May (2:34)
03) Fossil Roo (2:31)
04) Conde Petie (3:43)
05) Black Mage Village (3:22)
06) Unreachable Desire (3:47)
07) Ceremony for the Gods (2:09)
08) Eiko's Theme (3:36)
09) Ruins of Madain Sari (3:49)
10) Wall of the Illusionary Beasts (2:31)
11) Iifa Tree (2:29)
12) Amarant’s Theme (2:28)
13) Footsteps of Desire (2:19)
14) We are Thieves! (2:11)
15) A Slew of Love Letters (2:53)
16) Testra Master (3:39)
17) Moogle Theme (1:56)
18) Protecting my Devotion (2:21)
19) Guardian of Time (2:43)
21) Oeilvert (2:17)
22) An Irrevocable Past (2:52)
23) The Frog and the Scoundrel (2:03)
24) Esto Gaza (3:49)
25) Gulug Volcano (2:07)
26) The Mind and Metling Magic (2:03)

Disc Four (70:36)
01) The Airship Hilda Garde (4:07)
02) Daguerreo (2:04)
03) Ipsen's Castle (1:58)
04) Four Mirrors (2:45)
05) Concurrent Battles (2:02)
06) Terra (2:10)
07) Bran Bal, The Soulless Village (3:11)
08) Pandemonium, The Castle Frozen in Time (3:03)
09) You're Not Alone! (2:36)
10) Dissipating Sorrow (3:29)
11) The Evil Mist Returns (2:26)
12) Assault of the Silver Dragons (3:48)
13) Place of Memory (2:14)
14) Crystal World (3:43)
15) Dark Messenger (4:43)
16) Final Battle (6:15)
17) Bittersweet Romance (1:32)
18) Kiss of Betrayal (0:28)
19) I Want to be Your Canary (1:18)
20) Two Unstealable Hearts (1:21)
21) Behind the Door (2:06)
22) Melodies of Life - Final Fantasy (7:35)
23) Prelude (2:45)
24) Coca-Cola Commercial #1 (0:20)
25) Coca-Cola Commercial#2 (0:34)
26) Melodies of Life - The Layers of Harmony (2:03)
Total Running Time: 286:06

Recommended: If you’re a fan of Nobuo Uematsu’s work and would like to hear his most massive work to date, complete with high quality synth and thematic diversity, despite the presence of many comparatively dull tracks.

The final Final Fantasy released for the PlayStation 1, Final Fantasy IX was a game that harkened back to the series’ roots, with characters and a story filled with references to earlier games. The game was a success, though somewhat less so than its immediate predecessors, perhaps due to its overall lighter tone and character-based humor.

Returning for his ninth consecutive Final Fantasy was Nobuo Uematsu, whose participation had never really been in doubt. Final Fantasy IX proved a challenging project for the composer, who single-handedly penned an astonishing 152 tracks of music, clocking in at over three hundred minutes once looped and pressed to disc. Uematsu had never written anything so massive before, and his participation in future Final Fantasies would dwindle, which some sources have attributed to exhaustion.

IX sees Uematsu returning to the leitmotif style he had abandoned in the previous game, and each member of the game’s cast receives one or even two signature themes, almost all of which are further developed with variations. The low-key, plucked-string “Vivi’s Theme” is interpolated into the wacky “Black Mage Village,” for instance, and the rousing “Quina’s Theme,” replete with pounding tympani and woodblocks, is the basis for the far more subdued “Qu’s Marsh.” Oddly, the game’s main character is provided with an upbeat leitmotif in “Zidane’s Theme,” but no repeat performances of the buoyant melody are offered. The villainous Kuja receives two themes, an the omninous piano-based “Kuja’s Theme” and the pounding, menacing “Immoral Melody.”

Uematsu provides further melodic material with the game’s main theme, which weaves in and out of many tracks (such as “Over Those Hills”) but which curiously never receives a full concert performance on the official album, and the haunting Terra motif, a harp arpeggio distantly related to the Final Fantasy “Prelude” that appears in “Terra” and “Bran Bal, the Soulless Village.” The composer also makes explicit references to earlier games in the series, bringing back the chocobo and moogle themes and the complete unaltered “Victory Fanfare” in addition to rearrangements like “Gulug Volcano” (a piece from Final Fantasy I).

Since Final Fantasy IX is lighter in tone than its predecessors, Uematsu imbues the album with some of his quirkiest and most off-the-wall tracks, like the aforementioned “Black Mage Village” and the delightfully kooky “The Frog and the Scoundrel.” Unfortunately, this light tone also means that the game’s battle themes leave something to be desired: while temporary, even-based themes like “Hunter’s Chance” and “Feel My Blade” are delightful, the heavier tracks suffer. The final battle themes are among the weakest in the series (though they are easily eclipsed by those in the later Final Fantasy X), while the normal battle theme is limp. The dark, aggressive “Boss Battle” makes up for this somewhat, but winds up being overused.

There is also a good deal of filler present, mostly in the form of quasi-medieval tracks like “Oeilvert” or dull ambiance like “Esto Gaza.” The “Oeilvert” theme in particular is overused despite its weakness, leading one to suppose that Uematsu may have run out of inspiration in places. And while some of Uematsu’s music in the medieval vein is beautiful and liting (“Evil Forest,” “Dali Village”), much is underplayed and frankly boring (“Treno,” “Daguerreo”).

Despite the presence of so much filler, Final Fantasy IX remains a strong album overall, and a worthy swan song to Uematsu’s involvement with the series. the album has a somewhat unusual history; four discs of score were released as the “Original Soundtrack” just before the game’s launch, featuring 111 tracks and about 280 minutes of music. Most of the fully orchestrated music that played during the game’s cinematic sequences was left off, as were a few tracks from the game proper. These leftover tracks were gathered up and released as a separate, fifth disc, called Final Fantasy IX PLUS and featuring an additional 42 tracks with about 75 minutes of music. As with all Final Fantasy albums, they are only available through importers and other specialty retailers.

Rating (out of *****)
****

Jam it back in, in the dark.