Why don't JRPG's have music like THIS anymore? (NEW, not KH)

Someone used KH as their quintessential example of perfection in JRPG music in a similar thread...

I smite them - and propose a question that hopefully people can get behind when listening to this:

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Chrono+Cross+Time+s+Scar/neYFs

Great site man, thanks! :)

Oh for sure, Grooveshark is amazing, it's 3 bucks a month for "VIP" no ads, and you can use it at least on an android phone. Super nice.

Wow TC, THAT SITE IS AWESOME! :o

On the subject of JRPG music, yes, Chrono Trigger was brilliantly composed, excellent OST.... but there are still many games today that surpass its musical excellence.

Kingdom Hearts is actually an example. Yes, its vocal tracks are garbage but its compositions are simply amazing. Yoko Shimomura did a ridiculously good job on it.

Wow TC, THAT SITE IS AWESOME! :o

On the subject of JRPG music, yes, Chrono Trigger was brilliantly composed, excellent OST.... but there are still many games today that surpass its musical excellence.

Kingdom Hearts is actually an example. Yes, its vocal tracks are garbage but its compositions are simply amazing. Yoko Shimomura did a ridiculously good job on it.

Shirokishi_

I haven't heard anything I think is better than Chrono Cross' soundtrack - some come close, but if you could give me the name of a song, I'd be willing to give it a try. If something better than CC soundtrack exists, I'd love to hear it.

And I HAVE heard Kingdom Hearts, but I don't think it's in the same class as CC's sweeping, epic pieces.

Chrono Cross easily has one of the best, if not the best soundtrack to any game. People tend to ignore it because well, no one really played it and it was too different from Trigger so lots of fans hate it.

We can save the differences between CT and CC and why some people hate CC for another thread : P

The music should hopefully be something we can all agree on.

[QUOTE="Shirokishi_"]

Wow TC, THAT SITE IS AWESOME! :o

On the subject of JRPG music, yes, Chrono Trigger was brilliantly composed, excellent OST.... but there are still many games today that surpass its musical excellence.

Kingdom Hearts is actually an example. Yes, its vocal tracks are garbage but its compositions are simply amazing. Yoko Shimomura did a ridiculously good job on it.

SmokingBomber

I haven't heard anything I think is better than Chrono Cross' soundtrack - some come close, but if you could give me the name of a song, I'd be willing to give it a try. If something better than CC soundtrack exists, I'd love to hear it.

And I HAVE heard Kingdom Hearts, but I don't think it's in the same class as CC's sweeping, epic pieces.

Id put Chrono Cross in the top 3 best JRPG OSTs ever. Masterful, period.

Hard to beat.

Id honestly say that Ys: The Oath in Felghana and Origins both have better soundtracks though.

Look the up, simply phenomenal soundtracks.

We can save the differences between CT and CC and why some people hate CC for another thread : P

The music should hopefully be something we can all agree on.

SmokingBomber

Final Fantasy IX has a phenominal soundtrack, in fact, it's my favorite of all time.

I do quite like the soundtrack to Eternal Sonata...

Listening to Felghana right now btw, so far so good.

Give me your top 5 tracks from it if you could too please.

I can't seem to find anything from "Origins" Is it Final Fantasy Origins?SmokingBomber

No, Its Ys: Origins

Listening to Felghana right now btw, so far so good.

Give me your top 5 tracks from it if you could too please.

SmokingBomber

Valestien Caste

Boys got wings

Sealed time

Chop

Dark Beasts

While I liked that song, I easily find this one superior. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v4EX0rO-xM&feature=related I agree Yasunori Mitsuda is skilled; However I simply don't believe he holds a candle to Nobuo Uematsu.mythrol

Suteki Da Ne is an excellent song, Nobuo can compose for sure.

We need more like this.

Chrono Cross had some amazing music. I'm playing through both Trigger and Cross right now and they are both so amazing.

By the way, that site is awesome. I have been looking for a good site to replace IMEEM before it was bought and absorbed by MySpace.

My impressions of these

Valestien Caste - Reminds me a bit of a Megaman song (except maybe a little drum-heavy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqZBm0aUAbA

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=sZ7addnBQOw&feature=related

Boys got wings - I'm a sucker for the violin and synth sounds in the same song, especially when it's done so well. Reminds me of the outer senshi themes from Sailor Moon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS1yIrp5tAg

Sealed time - More violin and synth, a little too techno at the beginning for my tastes, but that only lasts for 5 seconds or so. Kind of trance-y, but enough variety to keep from being repetitive.

Chop - Nice and upbeat, a little repetitive at parts though.

Dark Beasts - A little too repetitive and sporadic for me at first, definitely kicked into more of a Megaman sound as it went on, seemed to drag a little, electric guitar was a little too whiny for me, guitar absent parts were too repetitive.

Overall, I found these much faster paced than Chrono Cross' selection. Very much songs that seem to fit intense action sequences better than thoughtful, emotional scenes (like suteki da ne), which I tend to lean a little more towards, but not bad at all : )

Songs like "Time's Scar" that can serve both deserve special recognition.

If you like the kinds of music above, I think you would like Grandia 2's music quite a bit. Very good action/battle music and final boss music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jONfsUCAARE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOdSvYrS7nw

If you like the calm, thoughtful music more, you might enjoy David Arkenstone (not a video game composer, but should be) -http://www.davidarkenstone.com/(there are some samples in the lower right player on that homepage that are excellent, starting with the excellent "Secret on the Moors")

or Joe Hisaishi (Miyazaki movie composer, also doesn't do games, but should)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlumtijNjt0

[QUOTE="mythrol"][QUOTE="Scythes777"] I honestly cant say I like Uematsu's music that much. I never found the appeal in One winged angel or some of the other songs in the FF games. I do like To Zanakard though. I have only played a couple of the FF games though, but the songs the fans call the best in the series just dont do much for me.Scythes777

I personally like "One Winged Angel" quite a bit - it's different, but still relevant especially for conveying the weight and mood of those fights, on its own it's still pretty neat.

MP has some haunting songs that bring back some great memories. There are some good MP remixes too.

[QUOTE="Shirokishi_"]

I haven't heard anything I think is better than Chrono Cross' soundtrack - some come close, but if you could give me the name of a song, I'd be willing to give it a try. If something better than CC soundtrack exists, I'd love to hear it.

And I HAVE heard Kingdom Hearts, but I don't think it's in the same class as CC's sweeping, epic pieces.

SmokingBomber

Yasunori Mitsuda composed a masterpiece with Chrono Cross.

I highly recommend you get his KiRite album. It's beautiful!!

Also, Shoji Meguro and Takeharu Ishimoto are other great albeit underrated, composers.

[QUOTE="mythrol"]While I liked that song, I easily find this one superior. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v4EX0rO-xM&feature=related I agree Yasunori Mitsuda is skilled; However I simply don't believe he holds a candle to Nobuo Uematsu.Scythes777

Nobuo Uematsu is good, but nowhere near Yasunori Mitsuda's excellence. Granted, songs like One Winged Angel, Eyes on Me etc are c l a ssics, but Yasunori Mitsuda manages to make each of his songs stand out.

Market In Volfinor

Nocturne

Balto

Creid

And this is the one song that anyone should hear :

Radical Dreamers

IT IS TIME TO REPENT HEATHEN!!!

:P

Ooh, there are some Mitsuda songs there I haven't heard before. I should be ashamed of myself.

And yes, Radical Dreamers is good stuff.

There may be better JRPG's than this one, but there is certainly no better JRPG soundtrack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP-2gDngxjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAQtXKu-kNI

Has anyone tried listening to the links I posted a few minutes ago?

terrible. KH trumps it. haters gonna hate it. people love to hate on popular things.

(amazing). KH (gets beat in the groin with a frozen sledgehammer by) it. (critical thinkers and those with standards) gonna hate it. people love to hate on (mediocre soundtracks that lower the bar for other JRPGs).

positivebalance

Fixed.

Has anyone tried listening to the links I posted a few minutes ago?

SmokingBomber

Most of the links you posted got favourited. You got great music taste.

If you like the calm, thoughtful music more, you might enjoy David Arkenstone (not a video game composer, but should be) -http://www.davidarkenstone.com/(there are some samples in the lower right player on that homepage that are excellent, starting with the excellent "Secret on the Moors")

SmokingBomber

Actually I think he composed some of the World of Warcraft tavern music.

Oh and I think he's an excellent composer. :)

Also, OP you should check these songs -

Shoji Meguro :

Staff Roll - The only song that can match up to Radical Dreamers.

Fierce Battle - the coolest fight song. EVER.

Takeharu Ishimoto :

Price of Freedom - simple but beautiful.

Under The Apple Tree - simple, but leaves you with an awesome impression.

Masashi Hamauzu :

Snow's Theme

Blinded By Light

Enjoy :)

Takeharu Ishimoto :

Price of Freedom - simple but beautiful.

Under The Apple Tree - simple, but leaves you with an awesome impression.

fend_oblivion

Night of Seclusion and Fulfilled Desire were pretty good in Crisis Core as well I thought. Although someone else composed Fulfilled Desire.

[QUOTE="fend_oblivion"]

Takeharu Ishimoto :

Price of Freedom - simple but beautiful.

Under The Apple Tree - simple, but leaves you with an awesome impression.

Storm_Marine

Night of Seclusion and Fulfilled Desire were pretty good in Crisis Core as well I thought. Although someone else composed Fulfilled Desire.

Nice :) Fulfilled Desire is a slower remix of the FF 7 World Map Theme heck, the entire song is a mix up of songs from FF 7 and Crisis Core. It even has the battle music!!!

Keep the songs coming people!!!

Well then in your opinion, do you think One Winged Angel still holds up well today? or do you think most people like it because of nostalgia? IMO I dont think it has aged all that well, it kinda sounds like it came from some Hollywood blockbuster. I listened to the FF6 overworld theme as well but wasnt too impressed with it. Im guessing I need to play the game to get the full effect of the song though. On a somewhat unrelated note, I would like to say that I think the Metroid Prime series has some of the best music and doesnt get enough recognition around here.Scythes777

That question is hard for me to answer because it still holds a large amount of nostalgia for me. To me, I couldn't imagine some one listening to this song: One Winged Angel - And not getting chills or at the least liking it. Part of the magic of it I think is that it's a video game and yet DOES sound like a Hollywood blockbuster song.

It seems you haven't heard a lot of Uematsu's songs. I'd suggest this link: Some Random Guy's Top 50 Utematsu Songs I don't agree with the list entirely, but it will give you a decent taste of his music. A large portion of his songs have Celtic / Irish influences.

If I had to pick I'd say some of his best Albums would be FF4, FF7, FF9, FF10, Lost Odyssey (too many people don't give LO's music credit because it's a 360 exclusive).

Edit:

I really think I should give special mentions to these songs because they stand out as true masterpieces.

To Zanarkand

Eyes On Me

Suteki Da Ne (English Tran: Isn't It Beautiful)

FF6 Terra / Overwold Theme

Crystal Theme / FF4 Prelude

Aerith's Theme

FF4 Prologue

FF4 Overworld Theme

FF7 Main Theme

Lost Odyssey's Prologue

Lost Odyssey's Main Theme (It's a Remade version of Prologue)

I could keep going but I have to stop somewhere.

[QUOTE="Scythes777"] Well then in your opinion, do you think One Winged Angel still holds up well today? or do you think most people like it because of nostalgia? IMO I dont think it has aged all that well, it kinda sounds like it came from some Hollywood blockbuster. I listened to the FF6 overworld theme as well but wasnt too impressed with it. Im guessing I need to play the game to get the full effect of the song though. On a somewhat unrelated note, I would like to say that I think the Metroid Prime series has some of the best music and doesnt get enough recognition around here.mythrol

One Winged Angel still holds up to this day. Fricking amazing song. The AC version sucks sadly.

[QUOTE="Storm_Marine"]

[QUOTE="fend_oblivion"]

Takeharu Ishimoto :

Price of Freedom - simple but beautiful.

Under The Apple Tree - simple, but leaves you with an awesome impression.

fend_oblivion

Night of Seclusion and Fulfilled Desire were pretty good in Crisis Core as well I thought. Although someone else composed Fulfilled Desire.

Nice :) Fulfilled Desire is a slower remix of the FF 7 World Map Theme heck, the entire song is a mix up of songs from FF 7 and Crisis Core. It even has the battle music!!!

Keep the songs coming people!!!

Better, IMO.

This is actually probably my favorite Chrono Cross track.

Interupted By Fireworks-amazing track, one of the best FFVII's got. I think it's alot better then Aerith's Theme as well.

Anxious Heart-maybe a bit overused in the actual game though.

Chrono Cross has a awesome soundtrack, but I think quite a few JRPG in the last decade that IMO have better music like the KH series especially Birth by Sleep.

Yasunori Mitsuda is still awesome through, and speaking of him I been hearing the music of Tsugunai: Atonement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiUInHLbf_Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYHmvZ1K1Ec&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZoUKbVX7mc&feature=related(IGN really love this one lol)

Not as good as CC's music, but it still great and a very overlooked soundtrack made by Mitsuda.

Chrono Cross has a awesome soundtrack, but I think quite a few JRPG in the last decade that IMO have better music like the KH series especially Birth by Sleep.

Yasunori Mitsuda is still awesome through, and speaking of him I been hearing the music of Tsugunai: Atonement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiUInHLbf_Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYHmvZ1K1Ec&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZoUKbVX7mc&feature=related(IGN really love this one lol)

Not as good as CC's music, but it still great and a very overlooked soundtrack made by Mitsuda.

Wanderer5

I'm hearing the first song as I type. BAM Celtic music!! Really good. Has anyone played this game?

Best Ending to a JRPG

Best Opening to a JRPG (or this one, both are amazing!)

Heck the Best Sound Track!

Best Ending to a JRPG

Best Opening to a JRPG (or this one, both are amazing!)

Heck the Best Sound Track!

LegatoSkyheart

I see what you did there...

lol Next time, please reveal the name of the song. I click expecting something new only to get Chrono Cross :lol:

Oh, and if you love Radical Dreamers, listen to Staff Roll from Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne. The only song that can match Radical Dreamers.