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| Caves of Narshe Forums > 2017 Regalia Playlist Championship > R3: #1 Frog's Theme (CT) v. #4 Balance is Restored (FF6) |
| Posted by: Rangers51 27th November 2017 17:20 |
| This one should be a doozy. Frog's Theme crushed Ahead on Our Way in a shutout in R1, followed by a much closer matchup over FF4's Fight 2 in R2. It's up against a far sterner test now, the ending theme from Final Fantasy VI. It shut out The Big Whale and then squeaked by Phantom Forest to get here. A classic heroic character's theme takes the third #1 seed and the first by Chrono Trigger. Bending, high-pitched notes evoke an Eastern feel backed by a determined marching drumbeat, echoing the nature of the valiant amphibian. This song got the most nomination points of any song that was new to the competition this year. I don't think I'd ever heard the ending theme to Final Fantasy VI called by the name "Balance is Restored" until setting up this competition, but it makes total sense. This track is kind of a cheater's favorite, I think, since it mashes up so many wonderful themes into an overture. But, that doesn't take away from just how good it is, a song that is very much greater than the sum of its parts and composed perfectly to address the visuals it accompanies. |
| Posted by: Rangers51 27th November 2017 20:46 |
| Visit here to view this matchup on the Regalia website or listen to these tracks. |
| Posted by: Perigryn 29th November 2017 01:46 |
| Sheesh. Tough call, here! I had a good listen to both, and was intent on going with Balance Restored... but Frog still held onto me, despite the various highs and lows of the former's emotional and musical roller coaster. |
| Posted by: Death Penalty 29th November 2017 17:24 |
| Yeah, this one feels kind like cheating... Balance Restored encompasses almost everything that makes the FFVI soundtrack great, and it does so with transitions that are frankly amazing in their own right. I have to imagine this was a lot of fun to arrange: Uematsu, having already written all the character themes, gets the go-ahead to play around with combining them all into one. Frog's Theme is good, but it's had a fairly easy path so far; I think I would've had it losing to almost every other track that made it this far. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Balance Restored against a stronger opponent in the next matchup. |
| Posted by: Galsic 29th November 2017 22:06 |
| Frog's theme, cuz it has a unique character all its own, and is just plain catchier. |
| Posted by: Glenn Magus Harvey 30th November 2017 19:42 |
| While I really like Frog's Theme, it is a bit "one-note", and Balance Is Restored has the same natural advantage that Dancing Mad has, which is a wide variety of musical material contained within the track. Then again, Dancing Mad did just lose a round... Now, an open question is whether I should count an official remix. So far I've declined to count unofficial remixes, such as CT Resurrection's Corridors of Time, but this version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4m8bmn5o4g (extended version) is apparently used in the PS1 rerelease in an added cutscene. It's missing the intro segment, but substitutes in a different intro segment and gives it a lot more emotional depth. Meanwhile Balance Is Restore does have the issue that it's composed around what it's supposed to accompany, so it sometimes doesn't flow quite as well. But it does have some really nice moments, such as layering Locke's theme with Celes's theme. And it does have the Final Fantasy Main Theme at the end. I think I'll just go with Balance Is Restored. |
| Posted by: DragonKnight Zero 3rd December 2017 09:18 |
| In my head, I'm picturing a votesplit based entirely on who has beaten FF6 and seen the ending. Reality is most certainly different. My own vote does fit the presumption; I'm one of those who has beaten FF6 and prefer its ending theme. |