Search - Nobuo Uematsu :: Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends

Pretty good for what it is

09/20/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"To start with the obvious - this is video game music. Specifically, Super Nintendo video game music. Thus, you shouldn't expect grand orchestrations and complex harmonies worthy of Bach. That being said: this is Nobuo Uematsu, and a better composer of video game music you may never find. This becomes more obvious with FFs 7 and 8, which could make use of Playstation sound, but even on the SNES he put together some very pleasing tunes and some very listenable tracks. "Dear Friends" is I think my favorite, but really there are many that I like. "Tenderness In The Air", "The Silent Beyond", "Final Fantasy", and "Lenna's Theme" also pop to mind. About video game music - fact is, if you need something you can read or write by without being distracted, there's almost nothing better. It's repetitive and ambient enough to allow you to concentrate on other things, but tuneful enough not to bore you to tears or put you to sleep.
If the computerized versions of the songs (lifted directly from the game) might not be to your taste, there is another CD of arranged music from this same game, called "Dear Friends" that I think is also available from Amazon, and which you might enjoy."

Nobuo Uematsu's best soundtrack ever!

J-Man | 03/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In my personal opinion, this is Nobuo Uematsu's best soundtrack ever. Some may disagree, either for not playing the game, bad sound system or for some other reason, but trust me, this is *awesome* music here. First, you've got the main theme, "Ahead on Our Way", one heck of an upbeat-ish song, and brilliantly composed. After that are many variations of the song scattered throughout the soundtrack: "Lenna's Theme", "The Day Will Come", "Four Valient Hearts", all of which are awesome. As for "The Dragon Spreads Its Wings", now I am truly breathless. The first one sounds really nice, but it's the variation, "The New Origin", that really takes the cake. It's strong, powerful, and it's got Nobuo written all over it. Anyone who says this sound system isn't great should listen to *this* song. There are many other songs that are good too. The Final Fantasy theme is also here, of course, and while it isn't the strong impact version, it's more than beautiful.



So whatever the reason for not liking this soundtrack, listen to it again. Even I didn't like it at first, but after throughly listening to it I have to say this is the most brilliantly composed music I've ever heard. It only could've been done by only one man: Nobuo Uematsu.

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