https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ8hdwM5h4E

This album is a fully orchestrated version of a few tracks from Final Fantasy VI. However, having been done so early, it does not quite live up to the more recent orchestrated albums and is generally uninteresting. Here is my review.

1- Opening Theme ~ Tina

The bells in the background add to the dramatic atmosphere created by the violin intro – I find them a little slow, but they are played well. However Tina’s Theme does not give justice to the theme – there are far better versions. The main flute sounds “too” Celtic to be enjoyable (for my taste). However the second part, with brass and violins, does sound good. But then it gets lost in the second repetition of the loop, played by a mix of flute and clarinet.

2- Cefca

The track is very faithful to the original. After a piano intro, the theme plays the heart of the loop with a rather quiet and high-pitch flute. Fortunately, there are some louder full-orchestra arrangements that create a little more drama for this evil character. The end of the loop sounds a little burlesque, but it’s concluded by some nice piano.

3-The Mystic Forest

The introduction sounds too loud and dramatic to translate this haunted forest’s mysterious feeling. Fortunately, the core of the loop is played quieter and slower with violins and flutes – there is even the faint voice of a soprano (?) in the background at times.

4- Gau

Using real cellos and strings did this track good, even though I never really like it. The other arrangements were able to translate the sorrowful feelings that Gau evokes better than the original track. I found the use of a harpsichord strange, but it was good nonetheless.

5- Milan de Chocobo

Probably because it was one of the early orchestrations of a Final Fantasy game, I thought it was very uninteresting. The tempo is too slow, the arrangements are random (instruments following each other without seemingly any logical order) and the core of the theme is much too slow. It doesn’t sound like a chocobo theme at all. Just skip it.

6- Troops March On

The best track of the album and SO MUCH superior to the original one. Real instruments make for a much better military march (especially the drum roll and timbales) and the slow tempo make it even more dramatic. However I found the second part to be useless; it doesn’t feel military at all and doesn’t even sound like a variation of the original one. Too bad.

7- Kids Run Through The City Corner

After an intro that’s more than a minute long (and so far off the original theme) the core of the loop finally kicks in. The violin arrangements are very good, and their slow tempo make the track sound even more welcoming than the original (although I preferred the piano version). I did not like the harpsichord, but the track was okay overall.

8- Blackjack

This is a rather poor orchestration of a theme I otherwise loved. The tempo is much too slow, the arrangements do not sound epic at all and the theme is barely recognizable. Just skip it.

9- Relm

I never cared for the theme in the game (nor for the character), and the use of a bagpipe does not change my mind. Fortunately it is brief, and the rest of the track does have its merit. It is slow and quiet, making it superior to the original track.

10- Mystery Train

These are some interesting arrangements. The piano in the background sounds very dark and mysterious, while the main violin track adds to the dramatic atmosphere. It quicker tempo (than the original) actually does it good.

11- Aria Di Mezzo Carattere

Too bad the arrangements include that annoying harpsichord and loud violins. The opera singer’s voice was very beautiful but she gets “buried” by the instruments. But when she is not singing, the arrangements are decent, especially after the first chorus. They sounded better than the “harp” from the video game. But unfortunately, this version is uninteresting compared to more recent ones.

Final diagnosis: I can not recommend this soundtrack. Probably because it was done so early (and not conducted by Arnie Roth) the arrangements just do not live up to the more modern ones.