Wakeman") and anime & game soundtrack composer. He's equal parts prog-rock keyboardist (the "Japanese You MUST delve into the works of one Motoi Sakuraba. The trio blasts through a set of Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile pieces rearranged for trio (there's also a DVD Motoi pulls a total Wakeman and surrounds himself with the a gigantic keyboard rig). In the last couple of years, Motoi's staged several live performances with a drummer and Gerard's bassist. Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is another winner. Start with Valkyrie Profile or Star Ocean: The Second Story 'Arrange Album'.
FINAL FANTASY OST MSX SERIES
Among the best ones are Force Of Light, Beyond The Beyond, Valkyrie Profile (one of my favorites) and the many albums in the Star Ocean series of games and films.
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From then on, he's done many, many soundtracks, and damn me if the majority of them don't double as symphonic prog, with flesh-and-blood rhythm sections. His 80s band Deja Vu released one CD, Baroque Of The Future before they split up and he recorded his solo debut called Gikyo Kuonsou (an excellent keyboards-bass-drums instrumental album). He's equal parts prog-rock keyboardist (the "Japanese Wakeman") and anime & game soundtrack composer. He himself names ELP as one of his influences. It's just that Nobuo Uematsu's music was my first exposure to progressive rock, and I expect it's a similar story for other gamers. I likes me my video game music all the same. I hope I'm not suffering from some strange form of apophenia, because these all sound like prog to me. Incidentally one of the only good tracks from the game. The synth and piano combination in this song is strongly reminiscent of ELP's Trilogy. Very representative of Uematsu's earlier battle theme style. Uematsu's band, the Black Mages, did an awesome blues/hard-rock cover of this piece. A really good listen, especially with the nostalgia factor. The oddly titled battle theme from Final Fantasy VII. For those of you who haven't played the game, the imagery during the final battle is stunningly gothic and really gels with the music. It has three movements, like a typical symphonic prog epic, the third being the most notably prog-ish. The final battle music from Final Fantasy VI.
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Here are some of his compositions that have a strong resemblance to prog (they are much more dramatic and fun to listen to when playing through the games, of course, but I think they have enough substance to stand on their own feet): I know there must be other gamers out there, and I realize many of them are probably indifferent to the Final Fantasy brand.