Nobuo Uematsu, composer for much of the Final Fantasy series, including FFIX, has said the soundtrack to IX is his favorite. To the remix the soundtrack into a four disc set is a tall order and no small feat. At times, the album outshines the FFVII remix album, though on the whole, it is not better.
The first two tracks, “Moguo’s Knife Party” and “Sja Minn Heim,” give the impression that the exact sequenced music data from the game was taken and remixed. It does lead to good results. There is an impressive Django Reinhart impression in “Vamo alla Django.” Christine MacIsaac contributes vocals on “Memories of Dali.” Though she giggles in one spot, I think the song is a highlight on the album. All tracks display musical aptitude by the remixers, especially “Late Night Lindblum” and “Terraforming Gaia”.
Some tracks such as “Yummie Yummies” by Mattias Häggstrom Gerdt and “Ambitious Whispers, Immoral Chants” by Archangel, attempt to combine two tracks from the original soundtrack. Though I appreciate the effort, it’s a little high concept for my ears.
You are getting an incredible selection with 58 tracks, though compared to the FFVII remix album, there are too many unremarkable tracks here to say it’s as good. Again, we have 16 bit 44.1 kHz audio, but I fear the mastering is worse than the aforementioned FFVII album. Like all OCRemix albums, Worlds Apart is free, but you are getting a grab bag. Still, I can’t help but feel Nobuo Uematsu is flattered.
3/5
Worlds Apart can be downloaded here: https://ff9.ocremix.org/
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