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Posted By Austin Yorski about 3 months, 1 week ago
Nobuo Uematsu: Master of Boss Themes, 
If you start a weekly column about video game music, eventually you have to talk about Nobuo Uematsu. So many lifelong gamers grew up with Final Fantasy and its iconic music that even those who don’t know his name can probably hum a few of his tunes. However, before we launch into a discussion on the best and most nostalgic works of an industry titan, we first need to recognize his most ridiculous accomplishment: Blue Dragon‘s “Eternity.”
Your ears do not deceive you, friends. That is Ian “Deep Purple” Gillian singing the boss theme of a Mistwalker RPG. For a lesser mortal, this would be the pinnacle of a career–a magnum opus. For Uematsu, it’s probably one of his weaker works.
Of course, boss battles are his specialty. Take Lost Odyssey‘s “Howl of the Departed” (below) for example. The opening is so grand and histrionic that it almost seems laughable at first. Then that guitar kicks in and you are swept away. That’s the power of an Uematsu boss theme: the song goes on a journey right along with you.
Truth be told, Lost Odyssey probably has the most consistently impressive soundtrack of any project he has worked on. Whether it’s the catchy “Dark Saint,” the tense “Escape!,” or the tragic “Parting Forever,” the entire OST tugs on the heartstrings at every opportune moment. Not even the map theme is exempt. Listen to the haunting first half of “Neverending Journey” and tell me you anticipated the abrupt shift into a determined guitar piece.
But you aren’t here to listen to me extol the virtues of this generation’s great overlooked JRPG. You want to know which Final Fantasy boss theme is objectively the best. Is it Kefka’s “Dancing Mad” or Sephiroth’s “One-Winged Angel“? The answer is neither. The best Final Fantasy boss theme is The Black Mages’ rendition of “Maybe I’m a Lion.”
What’s that? There’s a Deep Purple song called “Maybe I’m a Leo”? Well, that just brings this article full circle, doesn’t it? It’s almost like I planned that.
Music Mondays is a weekly column by Austin Yorski and Robert Heck dedicated to discussing the most interesting audio experiences in electronic interactive media. Tune in every week for more original game soundtracks that you need to hear. Feel free to disagree with, add to, or question everything. I welcome your feedback.
Uematsu was responsible for my passion for music. He is the first composer I bothered to find out his name, responsible for single-handedly creating the eargasm that summed up my childhood.
There are many great composers out there. I’d rate them very highly. Uematsu, however, is a different tier all to himself. You just can’t dethrone him. He’s too deeply seeded in our childhood even if his music wasn’t so incredible in it’s own right.
Which brings me back to a point I made not long ago. If I go door to door asking people if they have accepted Uematsu as their lord and savior and using his music to convert the non-believers, what is the likely-hood of success in creating a new religion?
It’s a shame Uematsu-san is mostly retired these days. The Last Story was his last full composition. While there are other damn good game composers in Japan (like Motoi Sakuraba), none are quite on his level when it comes to transmit that flowing aural ethos that characterizes his work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8myeNrgt9o
Uematsu was like the John Williams for Square. Without him around, those old Final Fantasy games wouldn’t have quite been as memorable. Some of my favorites come from Final Fantasy IV, most notably the boss themes and Golbez’s theme. Plus the final boss from Blue Dragon had a kickass song as well.
I’ve always loved Final Fantasy VIII’s soundtrack. It’s such a shame that it happened to be attached to a game that most Final Fantasy fans would rather forget.
My favorite boss theme is found in Final Fantasy IV when you fight Zeromus. It’s probably purely fueled by nostalgia; but that song still gives me chills when I listen to it.
I never played FFIV as a kid, but when I played it for the first time a few years ago, the Zeromus fight theme did stick out to me as particularly awesome. So no, it’s not just nostalgia. Though FFIV’s entire soundtrack is pretty damn nice. Especially considering it was the first SNES FF.
Probably my favorite boss theme in the series is FFVII’s boss battle theme Still More Fighting/Fight On!. The guitar in the beginning just pumps you up for some fierce ass-kickage.
FFVIII’s and VI’s boss themes are close behind though.
Uematsu’s work is amazing, and you can really feel the lack of his presence in later Final Fantasy games (X and on, to be specific…while he did some of the music for that one, for example, a lot of the soundtrack there is less impressive).
I’m gonna give his best boss battle music to “The Decisive Battle” from Final Fantasy V (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDZYS7Gc5TQ). Everything about that theme just works. And while he has consistently amazing boss themes, his other work can be just as stand out. “Time Compression” from VIII (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fdcJyZ-HRw) just evokes such a sense of emptiness and defeat. And while I consider Yasunori Mitsuda’s soundtrack for Chrono Trigger to be one of the finest, the best piece there might be “Sealed Door”, which was guest composed by Uematsu. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEB4ZmOCi3s)
Also, the Black Mages’ version of “Maybe I’m a Lion” might be their best work, including outdoing the original (and that is possibly the strongest fight music in that game).
Also, how many people know that he did the Main Theme for Super Smash Bros Brawl? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PInuVXgxO1g) Great stuff
Forget Dancing Mad or One-Winged Angel.
Even the REGULAR boss themes from FF6 and FF7 are some of Uematsu’s best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zU2agExFiE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-_1732J39k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVBM3bX7xdw
And let’s not forget FF5′s fantastic “challenge boss” themes too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CMTXyExkeI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa0DFzfqzMU
Those are probably my favorite boss themes Uematsu has done, along with Eternity and Howl of the Departed.
It was stated that Final Fantasy songs would be talked about later, these are lesser known titles.