Changes in Uematsu's style

Originally Posted by jb1234

His stuff in FFXI was forgettable... but so was the rest of the music so he hardly stood alone.

Agreed...Although I really did like the Airship theme from FFXI.

Uematsu's problem comes when he tries to write too much music. All of the PS1 soundtracks were loaded with filler, which I feel took away from the really great tracks that surfaced on each one. All of them should be 2-3 discs at most. Sort of like FF4, but on a MUCH larger and offensive scale. Compared to FFVI, where each composition felt deliberate and useful. Also, he never quite got a real comfortable sound down with the PS1 entries...The dull synth in FFIX annoys me after listening to maybe 10 tracks in a row (in comparison, I'm not thrilled with FF7's synth, but I don't find it anywhere near as dull and I can listen without having a good number of the tracks blending together). Never sounded quite as rich as his SNES scores to me.

I have to say, I'm actually pleased with the Hanjuku Hero 3D OST. It's not overly long and does have a number of tracks I really lean towards. Overall, I don't consider Uematsu a powerhouse anymore, but I am looking forward to his upcoming works moreso than several well-known composers that have taken over the FF series, some I respect, but rarely listen to (Hamauzu, Nakano) or simply don't want to see more of (Mizuta, Tanioka, Sakimoto). His melodic style clearly gives him an edge in those situations, he almost never disappoints when it comes to battle themes and his last major solo composing project was FFIX six years ago, so I'll be interested to see what he's got.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I took that to read "nostalgia coincides with musical tastes...thus, both can have an effect on how one views the music." I'm personally not afraid to use either in the process of enjoying music, though I try to balance the two. For the purposes of this thread, I gravitate towards rock/synth rock/more upbeat tracks, so I tend to favor Uematsu's battle themes above anything else he's done (and while most find "Otherworld" downright offensive, I thought it fleshed out the FFX OST rather nicely). On the same hand, his brand of sappy pop ballads can be attached to a game I actually really like and I'd still hold my neck whenever they came up on my Ipod.

Plus remember that VGM is soundtrack music...It's intended to go with the game. If people listen to it out of context (or even *gasp* buy the music) it's a bonus for the composer.

There's nowhere I can't reach.