Final Fantasy VI: Piano Collections [2001]
XLD Secure Mode | FLAC Image+LOG+CUE | Test Run + AccurateRip | HQ Full Album Scan (300dpi) + Booklet | 166.2 MBs
Game Soundtrack | NTT Publishing (Japan) | CATALOG: NTCP-1003 | Rapidshare
Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections is an impressive CD. I listen to it less frequently than I do Kefka's Domain (FFVI OSV), but more frequently than the disappointing Grand Finale. A couple of these tracks are straightforward, unaltered piano renditions - like the simplistic stuff done for Dragon Quest VI on Piano. But when Uematsu experiments with new arrangements, his results are fascinating.
Take "Stragus", for example. For fun, set your CD player on "random play" the first time you hear this disk. Strago's theme - a quirky and eccentric one to start out with - has been redone so that you won't even recognize it until about halfway through. I don't know how to categorize the style of this arrangement, so I'll take a risk and call it pseudo-modern jazz. It's a great piece, loud and self-assured even in its weirdness, that shows off both Uematsu's willingness to take chances and the pianist's technical skill. In "The Decisive Battle" Uematsu knew he couldn't mimic the rich sound of this track on a solo piano, so he reworked it into a rolling, flowing, frenetic piece that cuts the melodic line into pieces and tosses them around until hurtling into an almost cacophonic climax. "Coin Song" I had to hear more than once before I recognized it. The blaring, annoying Castle Figaro music has been sweetened considerably and now evokes the tenderness, sadness, and dignity that marks the Figaro brothers' friendship.
The other tracks are just what you would expect - an eerie "Mystic Forest", the ironically bourgeois "Gau", the demented and witty "Cefca", etc. "Tina" starts off sounding like a Hollywood tearjerker but develops the passion of an emotional storm. Also present is my favorite version of "Celes" - quiet and appealing, and not as grating as the bombastic "operatic" piece on Grand Finale. It also has my least favorite "de Chocobo" - frivolous and too leisurely to be a proper "Waltz" anyway.
Overall, Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections is a must-have for a collector, and has perhaps a little more general appeal than the other FFVI CDs because hey, everybody likes some good piano.
ALBUM:
ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE: 1994
RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2001
LABEL: NTT Publishing
MADE IN: Japan
UPC:
CATALOG: NTCP-1003
ARTIST: Nobuo Uematsu
COMPOSER: Nobuo Uematsu
GENRE: Game Soundtrack
# Discs: 1
# Tracks: 13
TOTAL RUNTIME: 0:41:28 hr
EXTRACTION:
QUALITY: Lossless (FLAC - Highest Compression)
ENGINE: X Lossless Decoder / FLAC 1.2.1
MODE: FLAC Image + CUE + LOG
CUE SHEET CHARACTER ENCODING: Unicode (UTF-8)
SAMPLE: 44.1 KHz/16 Bit
TAGGING: Basic tags (8KB Padding) + Embedded Cover + Embedded CUE
SCANS: 300dpi Full Album + Booklet
FLAC IMAGE SIZE: 130.7 MBs
TOTAL FILE SIZE: 166.2 MBs
TRACKS:
01) Tina - (3:37)
02) Gau - (2:21)
03) Cefca - (3:40)
04) Spinach Rag - (2:32)
05) Stragus - (3:22)
06) The Mystic Forest - (3:23)
07) Kids Run Through The City Corner - (3:15)
08) Johnny C Bad - (3:35)
09) Mystery Train - (2:36)
10) The Decisive Battle - (2:33)
11) Coin Song - (4:46)
12) Celes - (3:07)
13) Waltz de Chocobo - (2:36)
RECOMENDED PLAYERS/SOFTS:
- (OS X) X Lossless Decoder (XLD) - Multiple format + CUE sheets compatibility. Re-encode FLAC/APE/WVPACK Images files with CUE sheets to Apple Lossless. Winamp Plays it too !
- (WINDOWS) 7-Zip
| Code: |
http://rapidshare.com/files/226885191/NTCP-1003.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/226889233/NTCP-1003.part2.rar |
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Final Fantasy X: Piano Collections [2004]
Final Fantasy X: Piano Collections [2004]
XLD Secure Mode | FLAC Image+LOG+CUE | Test Run + AccurateRip | HQ Full Album Scan (300dpi) + Booklet | 231 MBs
Game Soundtrack | Square Enix (Japan) | CATALOG: SQEX-10028 | Rapidshare
Being the first Final Fantasy (well, at the least of the numbered ones) soundtrack to be composed by more than one person, and the first FF on the PlayStation 2, the Final Fantasy X soundtrack was unique in a number of ways. Masashi Hamauzu, Junya Nakano, and of course Nobuo Uematsu worked together to create a pretty good soundtrack. And following in what appears to be tradition, out popped a Piano Collections album, this time arranged by the OST's own Hamauzu, a departure from most of the previous PC's arranger Shirou Hamaguchi.
Simply put, this CD is cool. All of the tracks are very well arranged and easily fit the mood to which the OST assigned them. All except one of them: 'Song of Prayer'. The 30 second long hymn of Yevon has been arranged into a song that's just over 13 times as long as the original and sounds nothing like something religious. And yet, at 6:36, the song doesn't really get boring. It's a sort of theme and variations track that changes moods all the time, generally being ambient/surreal. It's very pretty, and more impressionistic than anything else. Sort of like the music of 20th century French composer Claude Debussy, only louder. It departs greatly from the OST version, but is very good nonetheless.
And in stark contrast to that we have 'Final Battle'. This song is a very fun, sort of quirky song to listen to. It doesn't exactly have a sense of foreboding doom to it. Essentially, if you took the piano part from the OST's version of the same song and beefed it up a bit, you have the FFX:PC version. While it is a good song, the lack of orchestra completely changes the mood of the song into something that you would expect to be called 'Happy Dance of the Crazy People' or something like that. It's very well performed, quite technical, and very exciting, but it isn't quite the same.
'To Zanarkand' stays very true to the OST version. In fact, it's almost a direct copy, the only differences I notice were Hamauzu's fixing some of the weird-sounding voicings and the addition of a more emotional climax to the original. It borders on almost *too* sappy, but it's very well done nonetheless. Speaking of sappy, how about 'Suteki da ne?'? The OST version was almost too sweet for my tastes (I liked it anyway), but this version is as far away from sappy as you can get, while still retaining a pleasant quality to it. The song is written in a minor key, but with RIKKI singing it, you can't tell. But with the piano, the song is transformed into something that is at once sobering, delicate, and beautiful. It's gorgeous.
In general, all the tracks are faithful to the OST and are very well performed ('Ending Theme' especially... a great part of the first half is *almost* a copy of 'To Zanarkand', but there are some powerful differences that prevent the track from sounding boring). This Final Fantasy experimented with many more styles of music, and the chords/harmonies in a number of the songs are very modern ('Traveling Company' and 'Yuna's Determination' especially). 'Yuna's Determination' actually sounds like a song you'd expect to hear in the lobby of a swank hotel... I've actually played it at the Ritz-Carlton for a gig as a lounge pianist.
This is a great album whether or not you loved the OST. The piano adds a whole other dimension to the sound of the pieces included (except 'Zanarkand', of course). I can't speak for any of these tracks being particularly outstanding, but they are all far better than merely 'average'. We're dealing with a very skilled arranger and performer here. ~ Patrick Dell
ALBUM:
ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE: 2002
RELEASE DATE: July 22, 2004
LABEL: Square Enix
MADE IN: Japan
UPC: 4988601460125
CATALOG: Aki Kuroda
COMPOSER: Nobuo Uematsu, Junya Nakano, Masashi Hamauzu
GENRE: Game Soundtrack
# Discs: 1
# Tracks: 15
TOTAL RUNTIME: 0:56:33 hr
EXTRACTION:
QUALITY: Lossless (FLAC - Highest Compression)
ENGINE: X Lossless Decoder / FLAC 1.2.1
MODE: FLAC Image + CUE + LOG
CUE SHEET CHARACTER ENCODING: Unicode (UTF-8)
SAMPLE: 44.1 KHz/16 Bit
TAGGING: Basic tags (8KB Padding) + Embedded Cover + Embedded CUE
SCANS: 300dpi Full Album + Booklet
FLAC IMAGE SIZE: 181.2 MBs
TOTAL FILE SIZE: 231 MBs
TRACKS:
1) At Zanarkand 3:18
2) Tidus' Theme 4:07
3) Besaid Island 3:01
4) Song of Prayer 6:18
5) Travel Agency 3:00
6) Rikku's Theme 2:49
7) Guadosalam 3:08
8) The Thunder Plains 3:21
9) Raid 3:28
10) The Way of Purgation 3:13
11) Suteki da ne (Isn't it Beautiful?) 4:17
12) Yuna's Decision 3:02
13) People of the Far North 4:03
14) Final Battle 3:54
15) Ending Theme 5:34
| Code: |
http://rapidshare.com/files/228644475/SQEX-10028.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/228649623/SQEX-10028.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/228655636/SQEX-10028.part3.rar.html |
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