Overview

Final Fantasy arranged albums, such as orchestrated remixes, piano collections, unofficial projects, and other such releases, have always captivated Uematsu fans worldwide. None of this, however, can compare to the sense of awe and nostalgia that came from hearing classical Final Fantasy pieces put to lyrics. The combined talents of Nobuo Uematsu and Lisa Ooki formulate to create what could be the most artistic use of video game music ever with the "Final Fantasy Vocal Collection" two disc series. The second volume Love Will Grow features vocal variations of various favourites that are arranged for live orchestration and beautifully performed.

Body

"Have You Ever Seen Me" is an arrangement of Final Fantasy III's fan favourite "Cute Little Tozas". Here we have a cute song with a cute premise sung to cute lyrics. The amount of cuteness in this song is addictive, catchy, and you'll be listening to this song more than any other with no idea quite why. That's about it for this one.

The titular track of the second Vocal Collection, "Love Will Grow", is great not only as an arranged Final Fantasy piece, but as a very believable song as well. It's a rather sentimental love ballad sung in English and the instrumentation isn't as much the focus as it is with the other tracks. Unlike most other additions of the album, it also features excellent lyrics. Most of the other English songs are confusing and sometimes ridiculous in their lyrical content.

"Esterlas" represents the very reason of why the first album is so much better than the second. The album just happens to have far too many of these (for lack of a better word) boring tracks. It's hard to tell what original track they're a variation of, the lyrics are uninspired and slow, and the orchestration is very heavy and deep. The kind of pieces that put you to sleep even when you don't want to do so.

It's quite unique how the vocal collection opens and closes with two different versions of the "Prelude," not to mention the fact this track is interesting in itself. First off, it's a perfect example of how silly and random some of the English lyrics on these albums are. Also, it's a jazzy version of the famous piece, making the instrumentation as interesting to hear as the song itself. An honorary mention goes to Lisa Ooki for most likely being one of the first Japanese to sing in scat.

Summary

I know I sound like a broken record, but Pray and Love Will Grow both have a sense of nostalgia to them; fans of the music practically NEED to hear these albums. Love Will Grow is certainly a lot more tedious to listen to, but by skipping it you're missing out on three really great pieces: "Long Distance," "Have You Ever Seen Me," and "Love Will Grow". A highly recommended album.