Round 1, Battle 28 Discussion (July 13/14, 2006)

[Dave]

Four more themes today, and the random number generator picked out quite a nice spread! Enjoy music from four different Final Fantasy games, post your opinions here (more posts than yesterday please!) and vote here (http://www.squareenixmusic.com/uematsu.php)! Thanks, guys!

[Neo Locke]

Hmm... this one is slightly tough at first glance.

Devil's Lab - a great dungeon theme that manages to be both ambient and melodic, but the horrible synth really hurts the overall music here.

Jester's of The Moon - a wonderful jazzy bit, that doesn't really last long enough to be enjoyable.

Main Theme - FFIV's Main Theme is very well done, it's my third favorite main theme from the series, as it's everything a world map theme should be.

Premonition - Not one of the best battle themes, but that doesn't say much as most of Uematsu's battle melodies are excellent. Premonition uses the sorceress themes exceptionally well, combining them into an adrenaline-pumping battle track. Vote.

[TheShroud13]

Wow ;_; mean pairing ;_;

Devil's Lab - <3 Neat melody, interesting percussion, and all around a load of fun. This one's getting my vote, although it pains me to watch some of the other tracks go.

Jesters of the Moon - I've always liked this track, which is good because everything else about Zorn and Thorn was intolerable. There's a neat groove and some solid jazzy melodic material here, but I wouldn't give it the vote over "Main Theme" or "Devil's Lab".

Main Theme - Up there with the tunes from FFVI for my favourite FF map theme, "Main Theme" is one of Uematsu's most beautiful melodies. The B section and transition back into A is absolutely gorgeous. It reminds me a lot of the Lufia map themes, which I also enjoy very well. Still, it doesn't grab me nearly as much as "Devil's Lab". A very pretty tune regardless.

Premonition - It's not quite up to the level of the other tracks in this round, or many of Uematsu's far more gripping battle themes (even from FFVIII), but this isn't a bad track. It's just kinda bland IMO.

[Resk]

Of these themes, Premonition is actually one of my favourites. It's also one of my more favored tracks on the FF8 OT, so my vote definitly goes for it :D

[insertnamehere]

Main theme gets ny vote it's melody is just to beutifull to let it pass by second comes jesters of the moon because josh makes it sound so good and plus it's one of the only jazz pieces i like. devil's lab is horrible nobuo must have stoped what he was smoking when he did that song. premonition comes in third like everybody else said it's not nobuo's best battle theme but it's still good

[Solartide]

Are these coming out daily now or what?

Well this might account for the lack of votes, most people still think its weekly.

Strange, I think all these are sub-par

[Black Mamba]

This is a hard round for me. I love Devil's Lab however I'm a huge fan of Jesters of the Moon. Very stuff choice, hopfully both can go through.

JotM gets my vote.

[Jared]

I vote Devil's Lab... its very interesting and a lot different than most pieces I've heard Uematsu put out.

FFIV main theme is good, but not really my favorite style out there.

Premonition is very well done but a bit too slow for my tastes. "The Extreme" is the way to go for dark battle themes.

Jesters of the Moon has always been one of my favorites, but Devil's Lab beats it by a bit.

And when I put my vote in, it was a 4-way tie. :D

[Dave]

Are these coming out daily now or what?

Well this might account for the lack of votes, most people still think its weekly.

Strange, I think all these are sub-par

It's always been Daily at 12am GMT. Sorry for any misunderstandings.

[Totz]

Devil's Lab - awesome percussion, cool melody, nifty sound effects. This one definetely deserves more love.

Jesters of the Moon - am I the only one who thinks the the last measure before the percussion sounds a lot like the Inspector Gadget theme song? Go, Gadget, go! It's a groovy little jazz thingy.

Main Theme (FFIV) - fantastic all-around, one of Uematsu's best world map themes. I have some bad memories regarding FFIV, but they don't include travelling around the world. <3

Premonition - FFVIII is home to some of my favourite (Uematsu) battle themes of the entire series, and "Premonition" is no exception. It might be a tad on the slow side, but I think it's still great.

Tough battle, this one is. I'm voting for FFVIII.

[Dave]

"Jesters of the Moon" is one of my favourite of Final Fantasy, but it just doesn't have anything to it other than a cool melody. Quite sad really.

I adore "Main Theme," but just like "Jesters of the Moon," it doesn't really go anywhere. It's a great world map theme, and one that doesn't bore, I'm sure.

"Devil's Lab" deserves to be in second place, in my opinion. The start of this piece put me off at first, but then it grew nicely into being quite a sweet little gem.

So, there's no wonder that I voted for "Premonition." It's well-structured, pretty sophisticated, and certainly one of Uematsu's best. I hope to see it go pretty far.

[TheShroud13]

How is sophisticated a good thing for a battle theme? It's not as if it's a theme for a fencing duel or anything :p

[Dave]

Sophisticated: Mixed with other substances. Does that answer your question? :p

Anyway, the votes today are very tight, and there's a three way tie for first place! Let's see who comes out as the victor. I'm not sure what action to take if there is a tie!

[Neo Locke]

Sophisticated: Mixed with other substances. Does that answer your question? :p

Anyway, the votes today are very tight, and there's a three way tie for first place! Let's see who comes out as the victor. I'm not sure what action to take if there is a tie!

Well, if it's a three way tie, we can just take a vote on the LEAST favorite of those three.

[Dave]

The results:

Premonition (FFVIII) 31.58 % (12)
Main Theme (FFIV) 28.95 % (11)
Devil's Lab (FFVI) 26.32 % (10)
Jesters of the Moon (FFIX) 13.16 % (5)

No tie! :)