Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack :: Review by Chris

	Album Title:	Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack
	Record Label:	DigiCube (1st Edition); Square Enix (Reprint)
	Catalog Number:	SSCX-10054/7; SQEX-100013/6
	Release Date:	August 1, 2001; May 10, 2004
	Content:	4 CD Set - 91 Tracks
	Purchase:	Buy at Square Enix Music Online Music Store

Overview

The Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack is certainly a worthy one, but is still far from being the best. Much of the score is fantastic, boasting many highly inspired works that are some of the most original and memorable in the whole series' history. However, the score doesn't always reach these high standards — there is also a horrific abundance of dull and repetitive themes that are quite possibly the worst in the series. This soundtrack is just like a box of chocolates in the fact that you never know what you're going to get. There are both the sweet and succulent chocolates that you long for more of; however, these are placed among the painful display of horrible tasting coffee-flavoured chocolates that leave a sour aftertaste in your mouth for a long time afterwards (unless you like coffee, that is). Anyway enough of that lame metaphor!

For the first time in the series' history Uematsu needed considerable help to complete this soundtrack; instead of going solo like he usually did, he decided to employ two rising stars to help him finish the soundtrack. These were Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano. This pair considerably boosted the Original Soundtrack from a potentially awful one to something fairly commendable. Their inspiration and creativity certainly stands out more prominently than the majority of Uematsu's contributions. Uematsu's contributions, though fair, hardly manage to reach the heights of many of his earlier Original Soundtracks.

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The Main Themes

Three main musical themes are prominent throughout this Original Soundtrack, these being "To Zanarkand," "Suteki Da Ne" and "Song of Prayer." The original versions of these themes are composed by Uematsu and are fairly creditable; however, the majority of the arrangements of this theme lack such status. With over a quarter of this Original Soundtrack being filled with arrangements of these themes, the majority of the arrangements are actually pretty thoughtless and simple. This considerably reduces the originality and overall appeal of the Original Soundtrack considerably, though some truly wondrous arrangements of the themes go half way into healing this fundamental flaw.

The first of the main themes we are introduced to is the opening theme, "At Zanarkand." This classic is Uematsu very nearly at his finest and is undoubtedly one of his most memorable and touching additions to the Original Soundtrack. While the piano melody seems hugely simplistic against the vocal wondrousness of "Liberi Fatali," it still engraves quite a fond place in one's heart. Thankfully, this is the least heavily integrated theme of the three and the majority of its arrangements are far from uninspired in nature, even if they don't stray greatly from the original's melody. "Revealed Truth" is an almost epic arrangement thanks to the high-crafted use of synth orchestration, as limited as it is. Holding close parallels to "The Oath" from Final Fantasy VIII, this is one of the saddest, gushiest, and most momentous themes of the whole series. The most original and praiseworthy arrangement is most certainly Junya Nakano's "Sprouting," however. Nakano's astounding manipulation of percussion transforms the whole style of this piece and makes it ideal for reflecting the hope and sense of camaraderie necessary for an optimistic 'world map' theme. On a less prominent note, there is also the more subtle integration witnessed in "Hopeless Desire." While this theme may have less melodic memorability to the others, it is clear that Uematsu's main goal here is to show your desperate desolation in the lonely gloominess of Baaj temple; thankfully he succeeds with flying colours. The percussion use has momentous effects once again, in particular.

Arguably the main theme, "Suteki Da Ne (Isn't it Beautiful?)" is almost the best vocal ballad the series has seen to this point. While Rikki's voice may lack the mellifluence of Faye Wong's and maturity of Emiko Shiratori's voice, the theme is far better than "Eyes on Me" and "Melodies of Life," due to the fact that Hamaguchi's instrumentation is so well-crafted and the style of the music is so fitting within the game. Why did I say 'almost the best' then, do you ask? This is because the Hamaguchi's "Suteki Da Ne -Orchestra Version-" arrangement at the end of the album is, in fact, the best vocal theme in the series, by far! In fact, it is unquestionably the best theme in the entire Original Soundtrack and it is certainly a grand and sensational finale! Beyond this, the other instrumental arrangements of this theme are quite a mixed bag in terms of success. While Uematsu's bland tasting uniform arrangements "Yuna's Theme" and "Daughter of the High Summoner" are of a rather worthless nature, thankfully Hamauzu's superbly innovative arrangements help to overshadow this. The beauty of the fully orchestrated "Someday the Dream Will End" is particularly touching. It is hardly as profound as "Spiran Scenery," however, which features THE best guitar mastery of the entire series.

The "Song of Prayer" is most definitely the most simplistic of the three main themes — it is simply modal a capella monophony; however, it does have success beyond this thanks to its highly memorable and atmospheric nature. Its spiritual, hymn-like melodies are the perfect setting for the various holy temples you visit throughout the game and the hymn in itself is a very symbolic feature reinforced throughout the game. Unfortunately, the huge multitude of arrangements actually detracts from such success. Hamauzu is responsible for a total of eleven direct vocal 'arrangements' of this theme. The majority of them do not even deserve the status of being considered arrangements. To me, it seems almost unjust that Hamauzu has simply arranged these themes simplistically in order to fill the soundtrack, especially after we see Hamauzu's mastery as an arranger engraved all over this soundtrack and more so in the Final Fantasy X Piano Collections. The majority of these feeble arrangements are nothing more than changing the vocalist who sings the hymn to represent each different fayth, reducing any power once inspired by the original itself. Most are just botched 2-minute jobs used to make the Original Soundtrack misleadingly appear to be as huge as the gargantuan Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack. Thankfully, there are some truly noteworthy exceptions, however, from the ghostly dissonance of the quartal tenor voicing in "Song of Prayer - Yunalesca" to the wonderful imitative canonic structures of the full choir in "Song of Prayer - Spira." My favourite, however has to be "The Sending," which is used as underscoring for an FMV sequence during the game. Through addition of instrumental harmonies to the vocal melodies, Hamauzu has succeeded in creating a theme with a whole new depth, richness, and meaning that goes a million times beyond the original.

The instrumental arrangements of the "Song of Prayer" are rather dominant too, but hardly boast the complexity and innovation otherwise seen by shining lights Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano within this soundtrack. Nakano's pompous march "Reception for Great Sage Mika" sounds totally remarkable thanks to the integration of the "Song of Prayer" theme, which represent Mika's religious elements. However, the fact remains that it is only used as brief underscoring in the game and wasn't ever developed to the fullest like it deserved. "Time of Judgment" integrates the theme once again, as Yevon begins to portray negative things within the game. The fact that Hamauzu leaves most of the phrases eerily suspended gives quite an overwrought sense of beckoning crisis. Hamauzu also integrates "Song of Prayer" into "Macalania Forest," a deeply atmospheric and illustrative track that is rather underrated. This is mainly because it isn't developed to its fullest once again. This theme manages to recapitulate itself in grand style, however, at the end of the soundtrack. More on that a little later!

Nobuo Uematsu's Contributions

Aside from these main themes, I have to say that I was gravely disappointed by Uematsu's contributions. His composition for the first time ever is associated with 'uniformity', 'underdevelopment' and 'lustreness', the complete opposite of what the Uematsu we all once knew and loved was characterised by. Against the ambient efforts of Nakano and the creative wondrousness of Hamauzu, Uematsu seems to be searching for a definite role of his own. The only role he goes half way to establishing is a melodic one. As we all know, Uematsu has always been one for being able to notch up a memorable melody and here his role is largely centred on simply doing this, without focussing on the other winning aspects that made his previous works what they were. "Brave Advancement," for example, is very melodic, making it easy to appreciate on a superficial level as soon as you here. Beyond this, however, it has very little depth and appeal. Something that is even poorer is "Ride the Shoopuf?," possibly Nobuo Uematsu's most damningly awful work to date. Not only is this theme extremely shallow thanks to Uematsu's damp attempts to add melodic appeal, it is actually hugely infuriating to listen to for sustained periods of time! "Djose Temple" is another prime example of such rubbish — it starts off with some vague hints of being innovative, thanks to some minimalist styles, but soon becomes dreadful as the main melody is introduced.

Another thing that strikes you about Uematsu's contributions is the fact that he is continually straying from past to future in a desperate search to give the future of the series' music a strong sense of direction. While it is evident that Uematsu is keen to revive old melodies from earlier Final Fantasy games into this Original Soundtrack, the blatancy of his attempts to revolutionise the series' music into the 21st Century are also very clear. While such experimentation is often successful, some of his more radical works are interruptive misfits and do not transition at all well against the more classically-oriented themes more often heard in the soundtrack. His radical experimentation with old favourites has particularly shocked and appalled old fans to the series. This is most notably the case with "The Prelude," which sees the traditional harp arpeggios and flute melodies take a backseat in favour of an almost unrecognisable dance remix. While I personally love its innovation and daringness, many see it as an unexpected, unnecessary, and distasteful attempt at introducing radicalism to the series. The boldness of the introduction of such changes is made even more prominent in "Otherworld," Uematsu's very first full-blown heavy metal theme. I cannot deny that it works in context within the game, but it stands out like a sore thumb within the soundtrack. One must respect Uematsu's versatility in creating such an original theme, however — some new fans may even consider a desirable creation (although the hardcore heavy metal fans out there will see it as a meagre rip-off). The eccentric "Brass de Chocobo" is very different to earlier incarnations for the theme, but it is hardly as horrific as the rendition heard in the Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack. Such changes make it quite an outwardly enjoyable theme and keep it live and kicking.

Uematsu's character themes are fairly decent, even though they fail live up to the precedent set by the Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version. Although "Yuna's Theme" was too simple and dreary for my liking, I much preferred her alternate character theme, "Yuna's Determination." The warmth, calmness, and mildness heard in the theme make it much more endearing. Another two my favourites are "Rikku's Theme" and "Tidus' Theme," which both have attractive melodies and a laid-back character. Better still is the terribly underrated "Lulu's Theme," an ambient theme full of the mystery and profoundness that is directly associated with her complex character. It couldn't contrast more in style than with the rough and ready "Jecht's Theme," a wonderfully-crafted acoustic guitar duet, which paints an awesome picture of his cool, carefree, and often misunderstood character. This coolness is shared with the highly likeable rock-based "Auron's Theme," which is highly memorable and enjoyable, even if marginally less representative. The villain's theme, "Seymour's Theme," may not beat epics like "Kefka," but its distinctive and mysterious atmosphere makes it an ambient gem nonetheless. The soundtrack, however, is amassed with many arrangements of this theme and the majority of them are thoughtless and utterly laughable.

The battle themes for this game are by far the best the series has seen!! While Uematsu only composes two themes, both are melodic stunners. "Normal Battle" is one of the stronger and more enjoyable of the regular battle themes to hit the series for a long time — while it may not be immensely threatening, it is hugely energetic and impacting. Similarly, while it is hugely predictable, it hardly loses its flair and catchiness with battling over time. Its success is particularly incredible when considering Uematsu has been composing battle themes since 1987! "Seymour Battle" is even better than "Normal Battle" and, while its key-winning feature is most certainly its addictive, catchy melodies, Uematsu captures the adrenaline-pumping atmosphere needed perfectly here as well. While there are some that criticise such a theme for being so electronically based, I feel that such a style works wonders within the soundtrack and fits entirely with the style of both the game and the soundtrack.

In spite of the high multitude of rather second-rate themes from Uematsu, he has composed some others that shine in a much better light. The piano use from "At Zanarkand" is extended to "Via Purifico," a hugely atmospheric cave-like theme. While a little repetitive, it surely captures the mood and beauty required here. "Silence Before the Storm" is the forest theme for the game and has a calming nature and wistful beauty about, plus some heartening, though predictable, melodies. Another good one is the the bright "Men Staked on Blitz"; while some may wield accusations of this theme being far too skindeep, it has a lot of meaning and depth nonetheless, considering Blitz Ball provides the only distraction from the very dark world that lies below. "Mi'ihen Highroad" shares a similar nature, with its lovely light-hearted melodies allowing you to reminisce about happy (or not happy) times journeying down that road. "Cloister of Trials" is perhaps a little less successful, considering it can become a little annoying with time, but it certainly features some interesting instrumentation combinations nonetheless. Uematsu also ensures that he goes out with a bang, however, thanks to the deeply poignant and highly evocative nature of the fully orchestrated "Ending Theme." While centred with hope and optimism, the more melancholic passages concerned with losses and sadness ensure that this theme will not leave you untouched. Its magnificent recapitulation of the "At Zanarkand" theme makes it a fitting conclusion. The interwoven fragments of the "Song of Prayer" emphasise the ultimacy of the theme further. While not the best of the series' ending themes, it is still a 'grand finale' for the game (aside from Hamaguchi's "Suteki Da Ne -Orchestral Version-" of course).

Junya Nakano's Contributions

Junya Nakano's contributions are certainly the weakest of the three, but his role in the soundtrack in creating ambient music and hurrying themes is a prominent one nonetheless. While there is always evidence of fine inspiration in his composition, his major flaw is the lack of creative development of his themes. He may capture atmosphere wonderfully in his themes, but many of them are full of monotony and lack melodic progression (if they have a melody at all, that is). Thankfully there are notable exceptions, however, so we'll start his section positively by discussing them. His best theme is the hidden gem "Illusion," which paints a perfect scene of the cold boundlessness of Macalania Ice Fields through its effect combination of minimalist/impressionist styles together with fantastic use of tuned percussion. Another great scene setter is the highly atmospheric "Guadosalam" — the way Nakano creates mysterious tribal/ethnic elements to his theme through wonderful percussion and flute use is absolutely sensational. "Luca" is the other good town theme, which is both uplifting and airy in nature, yet completely unsuperficial, unlike similar themes from Uematsu (e.g. "Mi'ihen Highroad"). It is well-developed and the guitar use is particularly delicate and thoughtful. Another interesting one is "This is Your Story," heard towards the beginning of the soundtrack. It provides fine underscoring for the accompanying FMV sequence, creating a huge amount of atmosphere, and has lots of experimental features.

On the whole, his battle/hurry tracks are even better. "Enemy Attack" is probably the most threatening normal boss battle themes in the entire series that makes a welcome change from the highly melodic boss battle themes in the previous instalments to the series. The thick textures that are used in conjunction with the heavy percussion use and aggressive crisis motifs all make the theme harrowing and enormously effective. His first theme in the soundtrack, "Run!!," though based on an overly repeated ascending crisis motif, is also very foreboding thanks to its empathic combination of relentless percussion rolls and booming string bellows. The second hurrying theme, "The Advancers," is a little less worthy against this, considering it soon loses its effect due to its repetitive nature, but it has certain enjoyable qualities nonetheless. Unfortunately, "Secret Manuevers" approaches the 100% worthless category, considering its deadly repetitiveness totally detracts from the original tension it creates. Thankfully, to make up for this, he goes out with a bang with the heroic "Summoned Beast Battle," one of the final boss battle themes. This is one of the most intense and climactic of all boss battles in the series and it is almost unsurpassable in terms of atmosphere.

Beyond this, his efforts range from average ambience like "Twilight" to complete and utter tripe like "Temple Band," THE worst track of the soundtrack. The themes are often highly inspiring thanks to their instrumentation use, which is a million times beyond Uematsu's, who uses a very limited palette in comparison. The suspended string use in the desolate "Ominous" and the dusky "Twilight," for example, really stands out, even if it is a little hackneyed as a musical feature. Similarly, the appropriate emphasis on percussion instruments in the icy "Sea of Mists," the tension-wrought "Unwavering Determination," and the hostile "Darkness" is quite effective. The combination of the water-like sound effects and more electronically-orientated sound in "Underwater Ruins" is also quite sensational and effectively represents the sunken machina city that once was. With voice acting taking such a leading role in the game, the music has to play a supporting role behind this and such scene-setting themes allow this to happen. However, while effective themes for setting themes, their excruciating dronings and endless repetition means that these positive features are often completely ignored.

Masashi Hamauzu's Contributions

While Nakano's and Uematsu's contributions were often uninspiring, Hamauzu achieves something a million times better. He flaunts immensely creative writing that is a million times richer in variety than Nakano's and Uematsu's work put together! There are a few less successful tracks — the harsh and oppressive "Takeoff," the interruptive rock theme "Confrontation," and the tiresome and exhaustive "Blazing Desert" — but his experimentation is otherwise hugely successful. His use of instrumentation is predominantly marvellous — from the piano daintiness of the slapstick "Thunder Plains," to the acoustic guitar mastery of the elevating chill out theme "Spiran Scenery," from the synth instrumentation used in the 'techno meets rock' "Blitz Off," to the orchestral approach used in the nationalistic trio of themes "The Wedding," "I Can Fly," and "Tragedy." As one can clearly see, his styles are heavily 'classically-influenced' (using the broadest sense of the word), particularly from 20th Century composers. His styles range from Debussian impressionism with the drifting "Wandering Flames," to the Hindemithian cacophony of "To The End of the Abyss," to the motionless minimalism of "Travel Agency," a wonderfully intriguing shop theme, featuring some abstract contrasts as a result of the piano melodies and drum cross-rhythms. However, such strange combinations do not compare to "Besaid." There is the calming beauty of its highly melodic piano passages, which contast with the unusual dissonance of the discordant bass undertones. It is topped off with the decorative electronic overtones. Strange yet wonderful, huh? The happy-go-lucky optimism of "The Splendid Performance" sees Hamauzu mainly rely on melodic outwardness, rather than his typical abstract creativity, but this hardly reduces the theme to being superficial and unenjoyable. There is also strong melodic reliance with "People of the North Pole," but, thanks to the depth of the composition, this succeeds in being more than just catchy. The contrasts between the cold aggressive tones of the strings in the opening and the lonely boundlessness of the solo violin in the chorus really depict your harsh and desperate battle to climb a domineering mountain well.

On the whole, his battle themes are the best in the soundtrack. Hamauzu isn't prepared to hold back or show any relentlessness with these themes and it is clear he wants them to be as aggressive as possible. While there is some danger of them becoming too oppressive and repugnant in nature to listen to, they are true marvels to listen to for the most part. The full-blown bellowing cries and shrieks of "Crisis" are absolutely terrifying to listen to, particularly considering the explosions of dissonant sound are so unpredictably placed throughout the theme. "Challenge" is equally as chilling and it is probably the best major boss battle theme ever (as well as an electro-acoustic masterpiece). The thick atonal orchestral textures used in conjunction with the heavily distorted sounds of the electronic guitar create a sense of impending doom. Despite expressing a lot of aggression, "Assault" is much more optimistic and lively in nature — it represents a united and hopeful fight, rather than an a doomed fight. The very final battle theme, the Stravinsky-esque "Decisive Battle" is by far the weirdest of the lot. It has a repulsive brass opening and the core of the theme features random spurts of atonal piano melodies. This is not what one would expect for a final battle theme, but it is astonishingly effective in creating the tension and atmosphere required. As his last solo piece, he ensures that he goes out strongly with a firm and well-distinguished bang from this soundtrack in which he is consistently remarkable.

Minoru Akao's and Satoshi Akamatsu's Contributions

One of the main reasons this soundtrack sometimes lacked success and power was the unacceptably poor sound quality used. It doesn't effectively manipulate the new 128-bit soundcard of the Playstation 2 very well, despite being the first Final Fantasy to have this new technology available. The sound programming of Minoru Akao and Satoshi Akamatsu was certainly poor and what is achieved isn't much of a progression from what was achieved in Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX. beyond its PlayStation predecessors and it is far behind the crystal clear sound quality of the wonderful Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack. This was a grave disappointment considering it prevented much of the three composer's mastery from protruding through fully and it essentially inhibited your enjoyment of the music.

Summary

The Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack is clearly a huge achievement that will certainly be remembered in the future. The inspiration and efforts from Hamauzu go way beyond those of Nakano and Uematsu, who made respectable contributions, but lacked consistency. As we can see, these two composers often have underdeveloped and rather tedious themes that do not fulfil their true potential. This is unfortunate, especially considering this often overshadows much more redeeming additions that are true masterpieces on this soundtrack. If you're an old fan of the series, you may be slightly disappointed with the soundtrack, both for its inconsistency and its change in style. Still, it is certainly an unmissable addition to your collection nonetheless that is well worth buying. In my opinion, however, the radical futuristic ideas expressed throughout this soundtrack will make it a much bigger winner for you if you're a new fan to the series.