i) Blue Field (overworld) - An absorbing, original, and incredible overworld theme. Listen to it a few times to discover its true beauty.
ii) The Castle (final dungeon) - This is just awesome. Superb use of the organ here, and it succeeds admirably at creating the 'gothic' atmosphere for Ultemecia's Castle.
iii) Ending Theme - Oh wow. This is amazing. The way it starts of so atmospherically with the "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" and then with the subtle piano music...turning into one of the most exciting boss battle themes ever (Rivalling, though not quite beating "One Winged Angel"). I shall never forget unleashing Squall's final desperation attack with this playing n the background. Very exhilarating.
iv) Eyes On Me (Click here for the lyrics) -
What can I say that hasn't already been said? Faye Wong and Nobuo Uematsu give us one of the all-time FF clasics. This, along with Liberi Fatali is the main theme to the game (Though this is more specifically Rinoa's theme whereas L~F epitomises the game as a whole) - elegant in terms of melody and vocals. Simply unmissable.
v) Find Your Way (Tomb of the Unknown King) - One of my particular favourites. An incredible melody with an excellent choice of instruments - superbly fitting as the FFVIII dungeon theme.
vi) Love Grows (Horizon Bridge) - An absolutely stunning Eyes On Me variation (As all of them are). You won't really get much from it on its own, but in the emotional sections of the game this is simply beautiful.
vii) Shuffle or Boogie (Triple Triad) - AAHHHH!!! I hate this music!! It's the card game music and perhaps that's why I don't like it. I mean, I love the card game but there were so many times when I lost rare cards and it annoyed me when I had to reload a saved game and... oh well, you know. Anyway, bottom line is that this track is annoying.
viii) Silence and Motion (Esthar City) - THIS IS SO AWESOME!! I really adored this, it's played when you visit Esthar and it suits the furturistic feel perfectly. When you listen to this you always get the impression of wonder, scale, and amazement. This is one of Nobuo Uematsu's most original and characteristic compositions to date.
ix) Slide Show Part 2 (Laguna's movie escapade) - An old film-styled humourous piece of music. Played when Laguna, Kiros and Ward are 'acting' in a play.
x) Succession of Witches - WOW. This will remain one of the all-time classic themes in the history of Final Fantasy. Words cannot describe this piece of music.
January 4th, 2000 -
Confirmed a few weeks back, the Final Fantasy VIII Piano Collection CD track listing has been revealed by DigiCube with their promotional flier. The ten tracks will be as follows (note that they will not appear in this order):
