FFIX: Worlds Apart Review/Listening Guide, Disc 2

Oh… Oh shit. Is this two posts… in two days?!

You bet your ass it is, my adoring fans!

Welcome to my review/listening guide of the first disc of Final Fantasy IX: Worlds Apart, the remix album from the sonic wizards over at OverClocked ReMix!

I’ll be going through, track-by-track, and rating them on a 1-5 “Vivi Scale”, along with giving a few thoughts on why I rated them so. You can listen along on SoundCloud or download the album yourself at ff9.ocremix.org!

Craic in the Castle Walls (Cid’s Theme) XPRTNovice

Another strong showing from XPRTNovice. I interviewed this guy a while back, and I’ve always been impressed by how he can tie in seemingly-disparate styles and songs to make a super-cohesive, great remix.

Late Night Lindblum (Lindblum) Mattias Häggström Gerdt

Mattias, I am unconvinced that you are not Deadmau5 in disguise. This song was funkalicious, fun, and had some great builds. Very, very, very enjoyable. Everyone listen to this shit.

As Long As We Remember (Garnet’s Theme) Archangel, Claire Yaxley

This was the only acceptable way to remix Garnet’s theme, and it was perfect. God, ouch, the feels. The feels make my cold, deadened heart feel things. Such goodness. Loved it.

Zaghnol Comes (Festival of the Hunt) Sixto Sounds

ZAGHNOL COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMES

Yummy-yummies (Quina’s Theme, Qu’s Marsh) Mattias Häggström Gerdt

Mattias, you might be the goddamned MVP of this album. Loving your stuff so far. Another great song by this umlaut-ridden homie.

The Knight of Woeful Sorrow (Freya’s Theme) Abadoss, AndyP, Fishy

Yep, I’m giving out 5’s like they’re candy on this disc. Well, guess what? I fucking love candy, and I fucking love all these songs. They’re all really good. Abadoss and friends, you killed it, well done.

You Don’t Know Me (Unforgettable Silhouette) katethegreat19

It kinda sounds like she says “Through Ice and Dragon-Fart” at one point, which is kinda funny. But on the real side, katethegreat19 is a fantastic singer, and I’m super biased – I’m a big fan of… basically everything she’s done. Her take on Rose of May is incredible.

FIVE. VIVIS.

Spirits of Gaia (Faerie Battle) Brandon Strader

Strader, as usual, fucking slays it. I love the little wooshy-wooshy woo-woo ghosty sounds, and it’s called Spirits of Gaia, and… yeah. Jesus. Disc 2 of this album is… one of the best discs of any album. In general. Seriously, listen to the entire thing. It’s incredible.

You know what, I’m just going to tell you now: the next three songs are all five-Vivi songs as well. So I’m just going to put them up here so you don’t have to keep looking at them:

Terraforming Gaia (Kuja’s Theme) Gario

Remember that cyber/steampunk Steiner spinoff I mentioned on Disc 1? Yeah, if Kuja were in that, this would be his theme song, and it would be amazing. Yep, another 5 Vivis, get over it.

March of Robbers in Treno City (Dark City Treno) Bluelighter

Encapsulates Treno perfectly. Just the right balance of goofy pomp, light harp/flute, and bass.

In the Hall of the Gangster King (Tantalus’ Theme) Verdegrand

I like how faithful this stayed to the original, while still giving it a new, distinct flavor. A little solo piano action to get your Tantalus on. Delicious.

Ambitious Whispers, Immoral Chants (Wicked Melody, Devil’s Ambition) Archangel

The five-star run has ended… because this song was worth SIX out of five stars. Holy hell. This is easily the best song on the disc, and quite possibly nails it better than any other song on the album (that’s REALLY hard to say, but it’s definitely top-tier). Drop what you’re doing and listen to it. Seriously. Unless you’re holding, like, a baby or something, in which case, please don’t drop it.

Into the Sandstorm (Cleyra’s Trunk) jnWake, Argle

Into the Sandstorm was… creepy. It was good. Had a nice sense of foreboding to it, but I didn’t think it was anything special. The RIDICULOUS run of INCREDIBLE songs ends here.

Tribe of the Sandy Treehouse (Cleyra Settlement) katethegreat19

Again, my bias shows. I’ve been listening to this song for years, and I think it’s absolutely gorgeous. I can’t bring myself to give it any less than five stars. Love the drums in the background, and, again, katethegreat’s voice is incredible.

Save the Queen (The Wavering Blade) IanFitC

I don’t feel like this remix went far enough. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but it never really brought in that tension, that intensity that I’m looking for in a Wavering Blade remix. It had a nice breakdown, but… yeah. Maybe it’s because it’s surrounded with stellar mixes all over the disc, but it wasn’t impressive to me.

To Be Forgotten (Eternal Harvest) *Fishy, Chris

Amaterasu*

Another song I didn’t particularly care for myself, but I definitely think it was well done. At about 2:35 it brings in some metally-guitar-stuff that I found completely over-the-top and unnecessary; I would’ve much preferred the acoustic deliciousness from before to continue.

Agree? Disagree? Comment below and we can talk about this glorious homage to FFIX!