Board 8 > What are your favorite tracks from Final Fantasy VII?

(+) Yeah! (+)

What are your favorite tracks from Final Fantasy VII?

All of them
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the one that plays at the end of disc one
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Shinra Company
Those Chosen By The Planet (specifically the version that plays in the Nibelheim Mansion)
Fighting
Jenova Absolute
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i'm asking because, looking over my music collection, i noticed that i only have 2 ffvii tracks on my playlist. when i beat a game i go through it all and pick the ones i like to add to the list. apparently, past me didn't like ffvii's soundtrack very much, so i wanna see what i'm missing, if anything.

davidponte posted...

All of them

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Main Theme
Opening/Bombing Mission
Birth of a God
One Winged Angel
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Dels posted...

i'm asking because, looking over my music collection, i noticed that i only have 2 ffvii tracks on my playlist. when i beat a game i go through it all and pick the ones i like to add to the list. apparently, past me didn't like ffvii's soundtrack very much, so i wanna see what i'm missing, if anything.

Oh, well, I could list recommendations that - while I may not personally care for that much - are ones that would probably come up often in a popularity poll if you want to sample some of them:

Cosmo Canyon
J-E-N-O-V-A
Still More Fighting
Anxious Heart
Main Theme
Aerith's Theme
One Winged Angel

Also a few dark horse-ish ones that I didn't include in my original post but I still like:

You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet
Weapon Raid
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MenuWars posted...

davidponte posted...

All of them

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xp1337 posted...

Dels posted...

i'm asking because, looking over my music collection, i noticed that i only have 2 ffvii tracks on my playlist. when i beat a game i go through it all and pick the ones i like to add to the list. apparently, past me didn't like ffvii's soundtrack very much, so i wanna see what i'm missing, if anything.

Oh, well, I could list recommendations that - while I may not personally care for that much - are ones that would probably come up often in a popularity poll if you want to sample some of them:

Cosmo Canyon
J-E-N-O-V-A
Still More Fighting
Anxious Heart
Main Theme
Aerith's Theme
One Winged Angel

Also a few dark horse-ish ones that I didn't include in my original post but I still like:

You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet
Weapon Raid

oh cool thanks

yeah i just wanted to test it out by listening to the most popular ones to see if it's really just not my preference or if maybe i was somehow too harsh

Still More Fighting
Staff Roll

if you want a more unlikely pick, Crazy Motorcycle Chase
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Cids Theme
Cosmo Canyon
Main Theme
Still More Fighting
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uggh probably a top 5 game soundtrack for me...I will try not to say "all of them" also.

Opening Theme - Bombing Mission
Barrets Theme
Underneath the Rotting Pizza (cmon, that farty bass)
Holding My Thoughts in My Heart
Main Theme (all-time favorite)
Farm Boy (all-time favorite)
Valley of the Fallen Star
The Nightmare Begins
Fiddle De Chocobo (all-time favorite, so dumb and amazing)
Interrupted by Fireworks (all-time favorite)
The Forested Temple
A Full Scale Attack (all-time favorite)
Judgement Day (all-time favorite)

The things FF7's soundtrack is especially great at IMO are:

* building to eerie climaxes that don't quite resolve (barret's theme, rotting pizza)
* marching rhythms (barret's theme, valley of fallen star, full scale attack, judgement day)
* acoustic atmospheric stuff (nightmare begins, forested temple)
* beautiful minimalist sad melodies (holding my thoughts in my heart, interrupted by fireworks)
* explosively epic stuff (opening theme, main theme)

and I just freaking love farm boy for no reason
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Cosmo Canyon is most memorable to me by far and then probably that soldier marching tune in Juno or whatever it was called again

Epyo posted...

and I just freaking love farm boy for no reason

Dat keyboard banjo
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Jenova Absolute.
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thanks for the in-depth answer, epyo! thank you everyone

Cid's theme
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This is an excellent topic!!!

I think you got good recommendations here but I'm going to throw in "Mako Reactor" as a song that's often overlooked but works great as an atmospheric piece, whereas I'm always more biased towards songs with a little more oomph (J-E-N-O-V-A, Jenova Absolute, Still More Fighting, Highwind Takes to the Skies, Cid's Theme)

Also, "Cinco de Chocobo", the chocobo music when you're riding a chocobo on the world map. Just fills you with a good chill feeling!

Main Theme is a must have too, of course.

You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet is a dark horse favorite.

That OST doesn't have anything less than "real good" on it. Nobuo didn't mail in a fucking thing on FFVII.
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I made a CD of FFVII music. Let me see if I can remember the tracks I put on it.

1. Opening ~ Bombing Mission
2. Anxious Heart
3. Shinra Theme
4. Turks Theme
5. Fighting
6. Still More Fighting
7. Main Theme
8. Rufus's Welcoming Ceremony
9. J-E-N-O-V-A
10. Highwind Takes to the Skies
11. Aerith's Theme
12. Weapon Raid
13. On the Other Side of the Mountain
14. Sending a Dream into the Universe
15. Judgment Day
16. Jenova Absolute
17. Cid's Theme
18. Hurry Faster!
19. On That Day Five Years Ago
20. Crazy Motorcycle Chase
21. Steal the Tiny Bronco!

If I were to remake it, I would definitely include You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet and Staff Roll now.
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Anxious Heart
Bike Theme
Boss Theme
Jenova Battle Theme
Birth of God
World Music

I like the tracks in the Train Graveyard. They help you move the train cars to get the items. I'm not a fan of the tracks in the Mt. Corel area. Blindly falling off the tracks and aiming to get treasure is not so fun.
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TheKnightOfNee posted...

I like the tracks in the Train Graveyard. They help you move the train cars to get the items. I'm not a fan of the tracks in the Mt. Corel area. Blindly falling off the tracks and aiming to get treasure is not so fun.

get the hell out of my topic.

(i laughed)

I remember getting stuck in the train graveyard forever my first time through.

Now I can effortlessly navigate it via muscle memory.
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I wouldn't say I'm familiar with the entire OST, but I really like Aerith's Theme, J-E-N-O-V-A, and Still More Fighting.
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LeonhartFour posted...

I remember getting stuck in the train graveyard forever my first time through.

Now I can effortlessly navigate it via muscle memory.

My first experience with FF7 was the terribly buggy PC version. It would randomly crash at the beginning of battles, sometimes after 1 but usually 3 or 4, so it was always a race to save. Despite that nuisance I was so enthralled with the game that I played through it... and I was literally stuck at wall market forever because of 2 battles in Corneo's (didnt know Cloud could be picked) + Aps + random battles in sewers.

When I was finally able to get out and save in the train graveyard... it was so great. Then I got stuck there too but not as bad, lol. But that's how I'll always remember the train graveyard...

Other worst sticking points:

-carry armor (at least two fights before him and multiple fights after)
-rocket town (so many consecutive fights without saving)
-disc 3 (never beat the game on PC but the lifelong love of FF7 was formed there...)

Maybe time for another "best ff7 song" contest?

Well, I have to admit, guys, this isn't going well.

I've made an active effort to listen to a bunch of the tracks you guys listed and I'm just really... not getting anything out of it.

I'm used to being an outsider in terms of opinions, but there really isn't a single one of these tracks that I feel good about. (except Cosmo Canyon which I sort of like) I don't know what I'm missing. Clearly something is wrong with me.

I'm going to keep forcing myself to listen to the soundtrack in the hopes that something clicks.

A big reason why I love so many of the songs is because of the nostalgia and memories I have when listening to them, so I could see why maybe they aren't percieved as that good if you don't have that same nostalgia.

I get chills every time the music starts to come in at the 50 second mark of The Prelude, and that has very little to do with the song itself.
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Honestly, I think FFVII's OST isn't the same if you've not experienced it in-game first. I don't think it's the best FF OST, but it's the best implemented. Almost every track just sets the appropriate tone.
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I did experience it in game. That's why I said in my second post that past-me who had just played the game must've gone through the soundtrack and decided I didn't like any of it enough to keep.

I do feel the music fit well in-game, I didn't dislike it, it just doesn't seem to be what I want to listen to outside of the game. Which is the case for many soundtracks that are more "atmosphere-setting", but people don't seem to think FFVII's soundtrack is one of those.

I agree with you in general. I don't care much for the FFVII soundtrack being honest.

Bombing Mission, JENOVA Absolute, and Birth of a God are the only ones that really stick with me.

At a stretch you can include the Overworld Theme and the Shinra Theme there but they're less favorites and more the memories that go along with them I think.

One Winged Angel was cool at the time but it doesn't hold up too well for me-- possibly because most of the later games do it but much better.

Now on that note if you throw in the remixes from Crisis Core, Advent Children, and Kingdom Hearts and there are a lot of tracks I end up liking but as far as FFVII originals as presented in the game go that'd be about it.
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There are definitely a few tracks that, even now, years later, can bring back memories of certain areas just by listening to them. They're just not really compelling enough for me to want to listen to them just for the sake of it.

The battle themes, like the Jenova ones aren't bad, but I just prefer many other boss fight themes.

(For the record, Fighting and More Fighting were the only two I had on my playlist - so I'm totally down with those)

I have trouble really getting behind any standard battle themes just because they thoroughly get run into the ground on playthroughs from repetition. FFX and FFXIII's battle themes are the only ones in the series I'll listen to much. Boss theme is okay but if I want a synthy standard boss theme it's too similar to FFVIII's superior boss theme for me so I end up just listening to FFVIII's instead.
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If I had to say a top 3 I would probably go, in no order, Jenova Absolute, Interrupted by fireworks, and Cosmo Canyon.
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For playlists, I'd advise using orchestrated versions - not a big fan of the MIDI limitations. Try for example:

Flowers Blooming in the Church

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WE5QfbZa1k" data-time="

Aerith's Theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3LkKviuGKU" data-time="

Rotting Pizza
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxYJK_mVEsc&index=2&list=RD0WE5QfbZa1k

JENOVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oAvM3Ye-T8" data-time="
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Jenova
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Birth of a God
JENOVA
Cosmo Canyon
Great Warrior
Interrupted by Fireworks
Aerith's Theme
Reunion
Cid's Theme

One Winged Angel has a really awesome beginning, but I don't care for the rest of it.
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Maybe you come to video game music for fundamentally different reasons! What else do you like?? I did not know it was possible to not like FF7's soundtrack...
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Dels posted...

Well, I have to admit, guys, this isn't going well.

I've made an active effort to listen to a bunch of the tracks you guys listed and I'm just really... not getting anything out of it.

I'm used to being an outsider in terms of opinions, but there really isn't a single one of these tracks that I feel good about. (except Cosmo Canyon which I sort of like) I don't know what I'm missing. Clearly something is wrong with me.

I'm going to keep forcing myself to listen to the soundtrack in the hopes that something clicks.

Eh, it just may not be for you!

I don't really think much of FFVII's OST myself. Not bad, but not great would probably be a decent summary of my opinion for it. Has some tracks I like quite a bit, but on the whole... eh.
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Oh yea Cosmo Canyon is good too. You guys are right about that
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Epyo posted...

Maybe you come to video game music for fundamentally different reasons! What else do you like?? I did not know it was possible to not like FF7's soundtrack...

idk i can list you the stuff that i do actually listen to from other RPGs

https://pastebin.com/cN6SJftm

that's probably missing stuff but i just did a quick copy paste