Final Fantasy VII is a role-playing video game by Square (now Square Enix) as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. Released in 1997, the game sparked the release of a collection of media centered on the game entitled the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. The music of the Final Fantasy VII series includes not only the soundtrack to the original game and its associated albums, but also the soundtracks and music albums released for the other titles in the collection. The first album produced was Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, a compilation of all the music in the game. It was released as a soundtrack album on four CDs by DigiCube in 1997. A selection of tracks from the album was released in the single-disc Reunion Tracks by DigiCube the same year. Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII, an album featuring piano arrangements of pieces from the soundtrack, was released in 2003 by DigiCube, and Square Enix began reprinting all three albums in 2004. To date, these are the only released albums based on the original game's soundtrack, and were solely composed by regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu; his role for the majority of subsequent albums has been filled by Masashi Hamauzu and Takeharu Ishimoto.

The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII began eight years after the release of Final Fantasy VII with the release of the animated film sequel Advent Children in 2005. The soundtracks for each of the titles in the collection are included in an album, starting with the album release of the soundtrack to Advent Children that year. The following year, Nippon Crown released a soundtrack album to correspond with the video game Dirge of Cerberus, while Square Enix launched a download-only collection of music from the multiplayer mode of the game, which was only released in Japan. After the launch of the game Crisis Core in 2007, Warner Music Japan produced the title's soundtrack. The latest album in the collection, Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII & Last Order: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, was released by Square Enix the same year as a combined soundtrack album for the game Before Crisis and the animated movie Last Order.

The original music received highly positive reviews from critics, who found many of the tunes to be memorable and noted the emotional intensity of several of the tracks. The reception for the other albums has been mixed, with reactions ranging from enthusiastic praise to disappointment. Several pieces from the soundtrack, particularly "One-Winged Angel" and "Aeris' Theme", remain popular and have been performed numerous times in orchestral concert series such as Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy and Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy. Music from the Original Soundtrack has been included in arranged albums and compilations by Square as well as outside groups.

Creation and development

thumb|upright|Final Fantasy VII was scored by the series' main composer [[Nobuo Uematsu.]]

Nobuo Uematsu composed the music of Final Fantasy VII in less than one year, matching the game's development time, although he had taken two years to create the soundtrack for the previous title, Final Fantasy VI. Final Fantasy VII was the first game in the series to be developed for the PlayStation, and while the media capabilities of the console allowed for pre-recorded Linear PCM (often as Red Book audio tracks on the CD), it was decided to generate the music in real time on the console instead, using samples and note data. although the soundtrack as a whole is primarily orchestral. Ben Schweitzer of RPGFan claimed that "for the most part, it's a diamond", with his primary complaint being the quality of the MIDI sound. He found the tracks to be "beautiful" and said that "One-Winged Angel" was "possibly the most innovative idea in the series' musical history".

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

The second installment of the Remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was released in February 2024. The seven-disc, 175-track, 9:09:25 soundtrack album, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Original Soundtrack, was released on April 10. The special edition includes a 34-track bonus disc containing music from Rebirth<nowiki/>'s mini-games. As with Remake, the soundtrack contains arrangements of Uematsu's music from the original game along with new compositions and arrangements.

Additionally, the theme song "No Promises to Keep", composed by Uematsu and performed by Loren Allred was released as a single on April 3. Kazushige Nojima, who wrote the scenario for the game, also wrote the lyrics to the song. He was careful not to make the lyrics too specific to Cloud or Zack and did not think of it as a love song, but rather about Aerith's defiance against her fate.

Compilation albums

Advent Children

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the 2005 CGI film sequel to the original game, and the beginning of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Its soundtrack album, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack, was released on September 28, 2005, containing new material created specifically for the film, as well as arrangements of tunes from the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack. Both the original tracks and the arrangements cover a variety of musical styles, including orchestral, choral, classical piano, and rock music; Variety noted that the styles vary between "sparse piano noodlings, pop metal thrashings and cloying power ballads". Reunion Tracks appeared on the Oricon charts for a single week at position #108.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack sold over 38,900 copies, and was well received by critics. Independent but officially licensed releases of Final Fantasy VII music have been composed by such groups as Project Majestic Mix, which focuses on arranging video game music. Elizabeth Davis of Classic FM (UK) notes that "Aerith's Theme" is "one of the most famous pieces of video game music ever written" and is rooted in romantic music, and that Final Fantasy VII helped introduce "a whole generation to the magic of orchestral music". Both Remake and Rebirth won the category for best score at The Game Awards 2020 and 2024 respectively.

References

  • Square Enix's official music store