Final Fantasy IX (Video Game Score)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Without doubt, Nobuo Uematsu has swept me of my feet with his score to Final Fantasy VIII. He himself states that it is his best score and I wonder what he would do with the rest. The second Final Fantasy game score I've encountered is simply the next in line and of course expectations were set high. And just like any other occasion in this, you become disappointed when you finally receive the picture where its all about. The music Uematsu has composed for this game is by no means bad or simply average, that is not the deal. It is however a different aspect about the music that makes its hard to like from the musical point of view. First of all, from the 42 tracks discovered on our copy, of the first 30, 8 are primarily longer than 1 minute and the longest of those eight is counting (1.20). Meaning, the first 30 tracks make an impression as long as they are running but that is it. Secondly, the last 12 tracks are minimally 1.07 but maximally 7.33 long and they should carry the hope of this entire disc. Sadly however, it is a bunch of music that takes you nowhere in the side that the first 30 offered. So strangely, even if almost each of those tracks runs for a mere 40 to 50 seconds, I consider them to be way better than what is following in the 2, 3 minute marker.

Its in the end impossible to describe what each of those short tracks achieves but I'm gonna try nonetheless. Those that really stick out are 'Mage Vs. Mage' with its piano based love version, 'Song / Zidane and Dagger' that carries a brief vocal performance of the song theme, 'Kuja Leaving Burmecia' begins with pounding percussion (it starts exactly like "We Will Rock You" from Queen) and later it uses one of the few times low humming choir. 'Dagger Remembers (Madain Sari Destroyed)' with its emotional piano moment, 'Eiko Descends' with short use of inspiring piano work and good but short fanfares, 'Ghost Ship' with its otherworldly use of choir and 'The Origin of Kuja' which upholds a tribal rhythm. Of course the others do make points and carry from fanfares, the short action music to the more playful marches all a sense that Uematsu wrote something. Meaning, it carries even in those 40 to 60 seconds a sense of inspiration and intelligence, something that is hardly achievable. The unfortunate aspect is, apart from the running length of those tracks, it doesn't last to keep an impression and above all doesn't create a coherent musical experience but simply a piece of music after each other. It doesn't satisfy when the score has ended. So, I figured out that the long parts at the end of the disc would do the trick but I was wrong. Those expecting to receive what they heard before will not find it, those expecting magical qualities like in Final Fantasy VIII will be stunned to the retrospect of the scope.

Almost each track of those selections has a theme or a beat, or whatever that keeps it running. But they simply repeat the same idea for several minutes and fades out, making no direct link to a story except music that covers simply a background scene, such as discovering a planet or running from one place to another. Mostly, they even don't carry the sense that it was written by Uematsu himself because they are cheerful but simple, effective but non rewarding, enjoyable but unmemorable. And at the end you receive the cheapest forms of them all, with 'Dokokade 3' being the real nasty winner of that row. 'Organurth' is different because it uses pure organ tones (like the Phantom of the Opera perhaps) but it also isn't that memorable. The song of Final Fantasy IX is very good, but it is not the pleasant version but a silent mix that carries mostly a beat, synths and nothing of the majesty of the normal version, even though in all its flaws it carries a mystical feel and an accomplished piano sound. The music for Final Fantasy IX is not bad. I'm making it sound like it is bullshit. But it simply doesn't come close to the eight in the line, it doesn't create a listening experience and the longer tracks are half as interesting as the short ones. There are many versions available of the music of Uematsu, and our score is simply one of the many. Don't forget, the complete release covers four discs and perhaps misses or contains flaws that aren't found on this disc. Final Fantasy IX simply isn't cooking like its predecessor and doesn't create an experience, it simply links pieces together which are good to a degree but unrewarding in their effect.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Brahne Appears / The Play Begins (0.42)

2. Steiner To The Rescue (0.38)

3. Escape From Alexandria (1.13)

4. Prima Vista Crash (0.57)

5. The Petrifaction Of Blank (1.20)

6. Mage Vs. Mage (0.44)

7. Breaking Through South Gate (1.20)

8. Arrival To Lindblum (0.50)

9. Song / Zidane And Dagger (0.48)

10. Kuja Leaving Burmecia (0.51)

11. Summoning To Destroy Cleyra (0.46)

12. Lindblum Under Attack (0.52)

13. Lindblum In Ruins (0.58)

14. The Disappearing Mist (0.36)

15. Dagger Remembers (Madain Sari Destroyed) (0.43)

16. Recalling Bahamut (0.47)

17. Annihilation Of Brahne's Feet (1.07)

18. A New Queen Is Born (0.38)

19. Bahamut Raid (0.34)

20. Eiko Descends (0.38)

21. Summoning Alexander (1.10)

22. Ghost Ship (0.24)

23. Rescuing Dagger (1.10)

24. Dagger Cuts Her Hair (0.51)

25. Dagger Recalls The Ghost Ship (0.26)

26. The Fall Of Neo-Kuja (1.01)

27. Escape From Terra (0.50)

28. Zidane And Dagger Separate (0.39)

29. The Origin Of Kuja (1.17)

30. Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony / Millennium Version (2.19)

31. Doga And Une (2.10)

32. Daughter Of Madain Sari (3.36)

33. Kuja's Theme / Millennium Version (2.34)

34. Main (4.51)

35. Waltz (1.55)

36. Kogaku Motet 1 (3.42)

37. Organurth (2.18)

38. Mediterranean (2.33)

39. Dokokade 3 (1.07)

40. Weuber (3.10)

41. Kuja 5 (4.29)

42. Melodies Of Life (Silent Mix): Emiko Shiratori (7.33)

Total Length: 66.33

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