Nobuo Uematsu 50th Anniversary Tribute: Top 50 Compositions

Yes, the man himself turns 50 today, March 21st 2009, so I made a little tribute. This video contains his 50 best compositions throughout the years, in my opinion. 50 tunes in one video is a little overkill, but I wanted it to be one video and not ten. All the songs are already on Youtube anyway, so just do a quick search if you want to hear the full versions.

Making a top 10 was damn hard, but a top 50 was even worse. Seriously, it was pure torture. First of all, choosing "only" 50 tracks isn't easy when he's made so many great ones. After going through everything once, I had almost 60 tracks that just had to be on the list, and I must have spent at least an hour deciding which ones to get rid off.

Then there's the order. With 50 songs of so many different styles and so high quality, it's impossible to make an actual top 50, where the next song is always better than the last one. I think it's safe to say that the first ten are pretty much in order, but then you can divide the rest into groups of five and the tunes within these groups will have no specific order. Of course, it's not completely random either. For example, the first song is always better than the last.

Those who saw my Top 10 Battle Tunes will probably notice a few differences. Yes, it's been less than two months and I already disagree with my past self. That's not all, though. Since everything is allowed this time, I can also use The Black Mages versions, and these are some times better than the originals. The best example would be One Winged Angel, which now has a place very high on the list. And once again, you most likely won't be able to guess the #1 spot.

Obviously, many great songs are missing, but that's just how it is. However, there are a few in particular that it's quite controversial to leave out. One is Rose Of May, which is absent because Those Whom We Must Protect is the exact same melody, but with different instruments. In other words, it's a tie between the two on that place. The same goes for Premonition, which is pretty much the same as The Landing.

Most of the songs are from FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII and FFIX because those games have the best soundtracks by far. All the other games have great music too, of course, but it's a pretty big step up these "big four". With the exception of a few classics, the other soundtracks are "just" great, while the "big four" are excellent. Chrono Trigger probably has the best soundtrack overall, but Nobuo only made a few tracks for it. Interestingly enough, most of these are among the weakest on the soundtrack. Out of all the FF games, FFIX has the best soundtrack.

Take note that with all the different song titles and translations out there, I probably didn't get the 100% correct name of all the songs. I think I've heard up to five different names for some songs, so it's not easy. You may correct me if I'm wrong, but there's nothing I can do about it now anyway. Also, take note that the one FFII song on the list was arranged by some other guy, but I don't care.

As of upload time, it's already the 21st in Japan, and that's all that matters. Most of us are living in the past. Especially America.

Finally, allow me to congratulate another person whose birthday is March 21st. No, not Kevin Federline, but my coolest subscriber, Thinaran! Happy birthday, man! :D

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Nobuo
• Uematsu
• final
• fantasy
• ii
• iii
• iv
• vi
• vii
• viii
• ix
• chrono
• trigger
• lost
• odyssey
• video
• game
• music
• ost
• piano
• soundtrack
• top
• 50
• birthday
• anniversary
• the
• black
• mages
• epic
• awesome

[beau6830]

You should have put "MY OPINION" at the end of title. Terrible taste of music, shame on you. So you didn't put zanarkand thinking heavy metal and piano version are the same to you. That says it all.

[GarlandTheGreat]

@beau6830 No, I shouldn't. Whoever can't understand this is MY OPINION should stay away from the internet all together. And another word of advice: don't get so worked up over someone having a different opinion than you. Just learn to deal with it.

[TetraMasterGR]

For me all these top50 are top1 all of them! :D

[losthaze]

i'm happy to see alot of FF9 in there, even Nobuo says that he considers FF9's score to be his greatest work

[HomingMissiles]

@Stevelord666

More like John Williams. Hans Zimmer is cool though.

[Stevelord666]

This guy is like the Hans Zimmer of the video game industry.

[BustTheNotes]

What i like most about this list is how you featured Uematsu's amazingly varied styles, the best of each are all here.His electronica, his modern orchestral... his 17th century counterpuntal orchestral, his operatic orchestral, his electronica orchestral fusion, and even his rock! Great list!

[MikeRoePhonicsMusic]

@beau6830 Thanks for the super duper cool tips.

[AgentLym]

@gio3773 Quick tip-- "The Black Mages" is a rock group that has Uematsu in it. ;)

[MrPoisonsting]

Final Fantasy IX has one of the best soundtrack and the character physiological progression during the game was absolutely perfect

[DivineAria]

@EpicYarnEM

Just wanted to say that I agree with that. Yeah, tough enough to just pick 50 tracks but to put them in order...man...pretty much impossible. There's bound to be a lot of disagreements, especially with ordering. People should take the list as opinion and just enjoy the music. Anything by Uematsu is great, really.