Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends

A soundtrack album of Final Fantasy V. Music composed by - who else? - Nobuo Uematsu. Released in March 1994.

What makes this particular album interesting was that it was recorded in Finland. It's probably the first and only game soundtrack ever made that opens with joiku. My Home, Sweet Home also has lyrics in Saame.

(Sorry for not being able to give fuller details. I only have the l33cHed MP3z so I don't have any specific details, you really wouldn't believe how hard it's to find game soundtrack albums where I live =)

As of musical quality, then... as far as I can tell, it varies greatly. The stuff is a mix of orchestrated music and synthetizers. Some of the pieces are rather beautiful (Lenna's Theme, My Home, Sweet Home), some pieces are fairly, er, lacking in depth.

Track list

1. Ahead on Our Way (Main theme)
2. Lenna's Theme
3. Pirates Ahoy
4. Critter Tripper Fritter!? (Mowgli theme)
5. Intention of the Earth
6. My Home Sweet Home
7. The Land Unknown
8. Tenderness in the Air (City theme)
9. Waltz Suomi (a.k.a. Waltz Clavier, with "Yks kaks kol, kaks kaks kol..." in the beginning =)
10. Fate in Haze (Dungeon)
11. As I Feel, You Feel (The great forest)
12. Musica Machina
13. Music Box
14. Dear Friends (By the way, a hear-alike of one Finnish song at parts, but I bet that's just a coincidence this time =)

If you're a fan of the game you'll probably want to check this out, but I can guarantee that you won't like the album if you've never played it. Either way, you might want to download a couple of the mp3s before making a decision. Some good ones to try would be The Land Unknown, Fate in Haze, Intention of the Earth, and Dear Friends. Other soundtracks that you will like:

• Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale
• Final Fantasy Symphonic Suite
• Final Fantasy VII: Reunion Tracks (half of it)
• Final Fantasy IV: Celtic Moon (a quarter of it)