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Album Information Reviewer Rank
Final Fantasy IX OST Plus
Published by: DigiCube
Release Date: December 06th 2000

Composed by: Nobuo Uematsu
Arranged by: Shiro Hamaguchi, Kunihiko Kurosawa, Tomoharu Hani

1 Disc, 42 Tracks
Catalog: SSCX-10047
95

Reviewed by: Mithrandir

Final Fantasy 9 was a huge task for Nobuo. The game contains around 160 tracks of music and that is the reason why all the tracks weren't included in the original OST. In this album, we can find all the orchestrated tracks from all the FMV's, plus some that were not released on the original OST. I tell you, this album is one of my favorites...

I won't do the review track by track since it has 42 tracks, I'll describe what is important. Enough, let's start the review!

FIRST PART (FMV Music)

Well, the tracks 1 to 29 are all taken from the FMV's and are all orchestral. The CD starts with the FMV of the play given for the Queen. The nice fanfare is just one of the many good tracks on the CD. One of my favourites is The Petrification of Blank . The track orchestrated is Run! from the original CD. All the action of that FMV is contained by thi track. After this one comes a more soft one, Mage VS Mage which is just beautiful. (By the way, I'm working on an arrangement of this track, maybe you will be able to find it at RPGN).

And the next track is just A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. THe FMV is the one where you try to pass the South Gate while trying to escape from the Black Waltz. This could be in a movie soundtrack. Nobuo took the "Melodies of Life" melody and arranged it in an action track. While hearing this track you can feel the intensity rise. Just amazing I tell you.

Kuja leaving Burmecia is just an orchestral version of Immoral Rythm that we can find on the OST. I always loved Kuja's theme because it sounds "evilish". Plus, they keeped the percussions on this one and added a choir! It represents perfectly Kuja and his evil plans....*Mwahahahahah!*...err sorry about that... Unfortunately, the track is too short.

If you want more "evil" and dramatic music, listen to Annihilation of Brahne's Fleet which is a great track.The theme of Kuja is used to make it sound "evil". More action, you say? Well listen to Bahamut Raid. You will remember this great FMV. Rescuing Dagger is another good track. The march style is used in this track with the brass section and finally ends with the strings to put an end to the dramatical events. On the CD you can also find more soft and slow songs. Dagger Cuts her Hair, Song - Zidane and Dagger, Zidane and Dagger Separate (particulary) and more, that represent those "love" moments between the two protagonists.

As for more action, the FMV tracks end with a great one! The Origin of Kuja. This action track contains the "Melodies of Life" melody and takes a latin-spanish beat. Great way to end the first part!

THE SECOND PART (Outtakes and unreleased)

The second part starts with a "millenium" version of FF7 Rufus Welcoming Ceremony. Nothing too extraordinary there....Basically, I don't like much the last part because the majority of the tracks aren't that good and seem to be "last-minute" composing. The good tracks among those are Daughter of Madain Sari, Kuja Theme (millenium version), Main and Mediteranean. The Millenium version of Kuja adds the percussion (We will rock you) beat to the piano theme. Something that changes cmpletely the original track. As for the silent remix of Melodies of Life, well I never have the patience to hear it to the end since it is soooo bad. Well I don't like that remix.

OVERALL

This is a great album to have and to listen to. I particularly like the first part (FMV) because all the tracks are so good. If you are hesitating on what to buy between this album and the OST, I will say to you that this one will do the job! What if Nobuo composed music for Hollywood movies?

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