[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.

Final Fantasy IX ranks near the bottom of my ranking of Uematsu-composed FF scores, barely above XI (as a whole) and 2. I find it his most uninspired work to date and I would count only MAYBE a dozen tracks from the whole thing worth remembering.

While VII and VIII had issues with filler tracks, both had many high points that made it easy to pick out the great from the ugly ducklings. The high points in FFIX aren't quite so obvious and much of the soundtrack blends together in a flash of theme rehashes throughout the whole thing.

Going from memory, I remember and enjoy: "Rose of May" (aka Loss of Me), "Battle 1", "Gurgu Volcano" (for obvious reasons), "Feel My Blade", "Hunter's Chance", "Quina's Theme", "Qu Marsh", "Vamo allo Flamenco", "You're Not Alone" (probably the score's high point) and...That's it. To the score's credit, I only remember and DISLIKE one song: Melodies of Life, Japanese or English, is as bland as pop ballads come. I was still reeling from the tripe that was "Eyes on Me" when I first heard it and this did little to forward my acceptance of vocals in game music. Can't say I actually remember much else...

I truthfully did not enjoy the game (I quit after 10 hours), but I got probably less from the score as a whole. As a throwback to the "classic" FF scores, it does nothing to recapture their memorability and charm, rather being intent on throwing crap against the wall, in hopes that something...anything will stick.

A solid ** out of *****.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It's nice to see some soundtrack reviews popping up again.

My feelings on this soundtrack are mixed. Some tracks are lovely but many are comparatively dull. Then there are tracks that start off interesting but don't seem to go anywhere. To its credit, the soundtrack is very cohesive as a whole. It functions fairly well in the context of the game despite a lack of moving themes. In album form it doesn't fare nearly as well. Something is wrong when there are 32 tracks on the first disc and I only find a handful of them to be memorable or enjoyable. The character themes are decent but still a far cry from the amazing collection of character themes from Final Fantasy VI. The whole rythmic and tribal nature of many of the tracks suit the game well but often meander into the realm of the forgettable. And the recurring motifs like the Melodies of Life/Oeilvert theme as well as the arrangements of character themes tend to be inferior to their originals, which were never spectacular to begin with. The combat themes are passable but not as good as what the previous three Final Fantasy games had to offer. It's not that the soundtrack is filled with bad tracks. It's that it's filled with average and unremarkable ones. I think it lacks the consistent sense of contextual attachment that many tracks in Final Fantasy VII benefitted from as well as the sheer beauty and general excellence of the music from Final Fantasy VI. So I find it comparable to Final Fantasy VIII in the end. That one was experimental with good highs and bad lows balancing out to average. Final Fantasy IX stays closer to average on the whole. Sometimes veering above that but not often or higher enough to make the entire package rise head and shoulders above the filler.

I'll give it a *** out of *****. It's probably slightly above average, but compared to some of the more inspired and exciting RPG soundtracks out there, it falls on the side of forgettable.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Like FFX, fine in the game but the soundtrack release is stuffed to the brim with filler. This isn't unusual for a post FF6 Uematsu score but it seems more problematic with FFIX (although unsurprising considering how much music was actually composed).

While the battle themes were weaker than usual, I liked most of the town music and the character themes were catchy enough.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Mmm...an interesting one, this soundtrack. Uematsu apparently was in Hawaii when he composed this soundtrack; this gave him some freedom and this is shown by the number of tracks he composed...not so much the quality of those tracks. Some are rather mediocre to me, however some remain classics in my mind.

A much more light-hearted feeling is embodied in the Final Fantasy IX soundtrack, and I'm quite fond of that theme. This is exemplified by tracks such as "Vivi's Theme", "Cleyra Settlement", "Mogri's Theme", "Zidane's Theme" and "At The South Gate Border". There are also several darker tunes which prove to contrast the light-hearted ones excellently, such as "Immoral Melody", "Burmecian Kingdom" and "Iifa Tree".

The soundtrack isn't without it's faults, though. The battle themes seem to be fairly below average, save a few. Also, there are some tracks which seem to go almost nowhere, such as "Cleyra Trunk" and "Oeilvert". However to balance these unfavourable tracks, there is the vocal performance "Melodies of Life", which is one of the best Final Fantasy vocal themes to date. The English version even has the singer sing tolerably, a rarity in many J-Pop artists.

Overall a diverse soundtracks with it's many ups and downs. Just for the record my favourite tracks are "Slew of Love Letters", "One Danger put Behind us...", "Theme of the Tantalus", "Secret Library Daguerreo" and "You're not Alone!"

Well, Nobuo Uematsu...a 3.5/5 for this.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Not one of my fave FF OSTs, I found that most of FFIX's score is rather dull and too light-hearted for my taste. The battle themes are one of the worse in the series, even worse than FFX's battle theme. At least FFX's Battle theme redeemed itself with the remix from the new PS2 board game, but even remixed, FFIX's Battle theme remains as blah as ever.

There's only a few stand out tracks, and I can't even remember most of their names, which is proof that I don't care for the OST as a whole.

2/5 for bland tracks and nothing really grabbing

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?