Worst VGM Composer(s)

[Trance Kuja]

The thread is simple enough, who do you think is the worst VGM composer. Criticism to other people’s choices and opinions is welcome, as long as you back up your opinion with relevant facts and arguments.

Here we go:

1. Tommy Tallarico

Tisk, tisk, tisk. Tommy Tallarico. The single most overrated American composer in history. The guy is confused, generic and utterly arrogant, confusing game music with film music, which sounds simply boring and unoriginal, and also, he thinks that he is one of the best VGM composers. He, like most American composers (with the exception of Spencer Nilson and a few others), don't create active, compelling tunes, but Tallarico is the absolute worst. His music doesn't deserve anywhere near as much credit as it receives.

2. Naoshi Mizuta

Square Enix's second worst member of their sound team (behind Hirosato Noda). He simply can't compose interesting and innovating tunes (as shown on the FFXI OST and the Parasite Eve II OST.) His arranging skills are a notch higher than his composing, but it's still below average and that's not acceptable. Though his style might not appeal to most, there are some which admire his skills mainly because they like droning ambience. However, he is simply a selectable choice.

Hmmm, I don't think I have anymore at this moment, but I will post when I have something new.

[medeii]

2. Naoshi Mizuta

Listen to the following tracks from Final Fantasy XI:

- "The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah" (Rise of the Zilart / Vision of Jiraat)
- "Grav'iton" (Rise of the Zilart / Vision of Jiraat)

The first one, Zi'Tah, is almost universally acknowledged by FFXI players as the "best music anywhere" (meaning the in-game world.) The second is my personal favorite, but less often heard because it's only present in a limited way -- as the BGM for a few high-level mission storylines.

Also, note that while Mizuta composed the majority of FFXI's tracks, others are done by Uematsu and Kumi Tanioka.

My most hated composer is Uematsu. He did some great stuff, but everything he's put out in the last few years has universally sucked. I'll quote part of the review of TBM2 from Chudah's here:

The worst aspect of the entire album, save for the vocals on "The Skies Above", is Uematsu's organ. Some of the underlying synth like the intro to "Man with the Machine Gun" is well done courtesy of Kenichiro Fukui, whose contributions to the album border on great, but the gospel-gone-crap organ instrument Uematsu uses is piss poor and extremely overdone throughout the entire disc. Ironically enough, it's the loudest part of the whole album, and when the organ comes careening out of the speakers like a drunk train flying off of icy tracks it's apparent that Uematsu broke into the studio and fiddled with his levels post-mixing so his organ would be louder than everything.

After that album, I never wanted to hear another Uematsu track again.

[Trance Kuja]

Listen to the following tracks from Final Fantasy XI:

- "The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah" (Rise of the Zilart / Vision of Jiraat)
- "Grav'iton" (Rise of the Zilart / Vision of Jiraat)

The first one, Zi'Tah, is almost universally acknowledged by FFXI players as the "best music anywhere" (meaning the in-game world.) The second is my personal favorite, but less often heard because it's only present in a limited way -- as the BGM for a few high-level mission storylines.

Yet, listen to the utter boringness of the rest of the Soundtrack. Two good (well, in my opinion, Grav'iton is boring) tracks don't mean anything, especially when he has composed so much in the FFXI Series.

Also, note that while Mizuta composed the majority of FFXI's tracks, others are done by Uematsu and Kumi Tanioka.

Of course I knew this, Tanioka is much like Mizuta, only better, but she tends to leave out feeling in her compositions in FFXI and in almost everything she does, while Uematsu only composed a small amount, but mainly are average pieces (with the exception of FFXI Opening Theme.)

My most hated composer is Uematsu. He did some great stuff, but everything he's put out in the last few years has universally sucked.

After that album, I never wanted to hear another Uematsu track again.


But you still bought the Advent Children OST (Composition wise, done by Uematsu (with the exception of 3 tracks), despite the fact it's all arranged by Sekito, Fukui, Toyama, Kawamori and, though his only contribution was really "Cloud Smiles," Hamaguchi)

Bottom Line: I don't like Uematsu either, but in comparison to Mizuta, it seems as if he's an above-average composer.

(Oh yeah, I take back my quote about Mizuta's arranging skills being better than his compositional ability. I simply wasn't thinking, and I forget about how horrible Mizuta's contributions to The Star Onions album was. Medeii, take a listen to this album and then give me your thoughts about Mizuta. My guess is that they would've changed...)

[Chris Kateman]

Stuart Chatwood

[Django]

TK you are so sad :')

[Trance Kuja]

TK you are so sad :')

How?

[Sarah]

just to be fair, I don't think MMORPG music can be judged in the same way "regular" video game music can be. you can't be too dramatic, because you're going to potentially be hearing this song thousands upon thousands of times.

[Trance Kuja]

just to be fair, I don't think MMORPG music can be judged in the same way "regular" video game music can be. you can't be too dramatic, because you're going to potentially be hearing this song thousands upon thousands of times.

In this case, yes it can. The fact is, Mizuta doesn't seem to want to differ from his trademark, uninspired style, first shown in his work at Capcom, and that greatly contributes to the effect of the music, degrading from likeability. MMORPG can be judged in the same way as RPG's, because the same compositional principle is used. You can revisit places and hear the same pieces of music in RPG's as well. However, I respect your points of view, and I understand where you're coming from :)

[Lord Magus]

MMORPG can be judged in the same way as RPG's, because the same compositional principle is used. You can revisit places and hear the same pieces of music in RPG's as well.
But I don't recall many RPGs were the town or dungeon music is especially dramatic. The big dramatic pieces are usually reserved for stuff like major story events and boss battles.

[Trance Kuja]

But I don't recall many RPGs were the town or dungeon music is especially dramatic. The big dramatic pieces are usually reserved for stuff like major story events and boss battles.

It doesn't matter if the music is dramatic or not in RPG's or MMORPG's. You can hear the track thousands of times in either. The point is, the same composition style is used, nothing has changed.

[Enkidoh]

Well, although I don't share your opinions on FFXI's OST, I do respect your opinions as well as your freedom to express them, so I won't argue with you TK.

Personally, I actually thought FFXI's OST was on the whole, first rate - the quality of orchestration and arrangement in most cases was beyond anything previously heard in the FF series - with my personal favourites being Mizuta's Vana'diel March, Mhaura, Metalworks, Gustaberg, The Grand Duchy of Jeuno, and the beautiful Ronfaure - my favourite one of all.

The Opening is pure Uematsu though, with the tolling bell at the end and the chords of the Prelude hidden away within it. Yes, there are some lacklustre tracks (if I hear that damn Irish jig in Selbina again I think I'll scream, and those awful repetative bagpipes completely ruined The Kingdom of San D'oria), but generally, the soundtrack delivered.

Besides, if you hate FFXI's music that much, use the music cheat to replace the music files with whatever music you fancy..

But that's just my own opinion...

[Trance Kuja]

Personally, I actually thought FFXI's OST was on the whole, first rate - the quality of orchestration and arrangement in most cases was beyond anything previously heard in the FF series - with my personal favourites being Mizuta's Vana'diel March, Mhaura, Metalworks, Gustaberg, The Grand Duchy of Jeuno, and the beautiful Ronfaure

You do realize that Metalworks and Gustaberg were composed by Tanioka (the latter arranged by the ever so divine Hidenori Iwasaki), while Ronfaure was composed by Uematsu?

[Enkidoh]

Actually, I didn't (apart from Uematsu's link to Ronfaure). Well, I guess that explains a lot.. ;)

But still, I stand by my opinion that FFXI has one of my favourite soundtracks. I don't expect others to agree (after all, it would be a very boring place if everyone liked the same thing), but I'll respect their opinons as will I do yours.

Getting back onto topic though, my most hated composer would be whoever it was that replaced Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata's original Japanese OST for Sonic CD with a sub-standard synth-pop affair in the US Sega CD version. It's not bad, but when compared with the awesome music of the Japanese version, there simply isn't any comparison. Luckily for me though, PAL territories got the original Japanese electronic/ambient house soundtrack with the European Mega CD version of Sonic CD however...

[nkwp]

Naoshi Mizuta

I hate this guy. His work on the FF XI OST and the expansion pack soundtracks and the Parasite Eve II OST was utter shit. His compositions lack depth and feeling. I can honestly say that has not composed one track that has caught my fancy.

[Alvinz]

THE WORST IS NOBOU UEMATSU i fink i spelt his name right... BUT THEN AGAIN ... hes the ONLY COMPOSER i kno... SO hes ALso THE BEST ^________^ YAY GO NOBOu

[nkwp]

You seem to be confused between your capital letters and small letters.
How can he be the worst and the best when you obviously have not been exposed to anything else?
Isnt that a bit ...oxymoronic?

[Player 1]

Hey,Trance Kuja,I just want to ask you why did you say that Akira Yamaoka hates VGM?

(Btw,where are you from?)

[nkwp]

I will answer on Trance Kuja's behalf because he is not able to access the shrine at this point. However I am friends with him on msn and passed on what you said, here is the answer:

Harry says:
Oh, OK, it's a well known fact that Yamoaka hates VGM. Check interviews and documentaries. And I am from AUS

[Sorata]

Chris Kateman

Do you really think?
For me that was the best game music ever.........
Stuart Chatwood has made the best songs I've ever heard, in the Prince of Persia trilogy............

[Darkness_Essence]

I second the "Tommy Tallarico" sucks opinion. Even though I admit to liking two of Tommy's past VGM contributions, I still can't stand the guy.

I exchanged PMs with the man over the IGN forums. He may be the most polite, yet most arrogant person I have me. I actually felt grateful for IGN boards having so many crazy, messed up people who forced Tommy to stop posting in Nintendo-console forums.

Erm, I'm new by the way. Peace and love to all...in spite of the amount of hatred the aforementioned paragraphs carry.

[Project Epsilon]

Tommy Tallarico

I completely agree with everything that has been said about this man. Now, Earthworm Jim, I love this soundtrack. It fits the game, and is just a fun, goofy mix of tracks. But thats who Tommy is, a little, goofy man. He was in his element when he made those songs. But since then he's been trying to do these orchestral pieces, and they are complete crap.

I think the problem is that he wants to be Nobuo Uematsu so bad, that he is forcing his work to sound epic. You can hear it in his music, its just so forced and unoriginal i almost have an aneurysm listening to it. The only way he could win me back now is by jumping in front of a bus... ok... that was a bit harsh... maybe a new ewj with goofy music...

Oh, yes... i also am new here... so peace and love to all from me as well!

[sirkibble2]

I cannot stand David Clynick. He's completely unoriginal and generic to me.

[thinginthetub]

I liked Tallarico's work in Advent Rising, but I found his other work to be boring and generic and really, it just sounded like he was trying too hard.



People are probably going to yell at me, but Jeremy Soule has been lacking in the awesomeness lately. He's MOST definitely not the worst, but while we're on the subject of boring VGM, yanno. His last few soundtracks have just been boring and uninspired, in my opinion. Anybody else feel the same way?
I'll forgive him for making so many kickass soundtracks in his career, but I'm a little diappointed lately.

[K-5000]

I have no idea what Tallarico has been doing lately, but I liked his MDK soundtrack. Kinda weird that some of it was recycled into the Wild 9 soundtrack, though.

[FrogKing]

Not a fan of Tallarico

He did nice work with earth worm jim and advent rising (except the choral work).

I actually like a couple of tracks from Mizuta's PE 2 (Ghost Town and Douglas' Grief). I am not to keen on his FF XI stuff.

[anima_dnb]

tbh Im still in love with BOTH Parasite Eve soundtracks. PERIOD. The first PE OST was
better of course but still... I like the ambient tracks as well that are on PE2 (And the
rest of the ost)

[anima_dnb]

Well arent you a sick f*ck

[Takfloyd]

Holy shit, someone call the mods... and the police.

[selderane]

I admit that I found Tommy Tallarico a bit grating (especially on the show he used to do on G4) but the soundtrack for Advent Rising is great. I've not listened to enough of his stuff to really critique his style overall. However, if it weren't for the Advent Rising soundtrack I'd never have heard of Charlotte Martin whose entire discography I now possess. So, that gives the man bonus points in my opinion.

As for Nobuo Uematsu, he's a bit hit and miss with me. I think he's talented as all get-out but not everything he does is for me. I just obtained the soundtrack for Lost Odyssey but I've not given it a listen to however it seems to have gotten generally positive reviews.

But I find the point of this entire thread a bit immature. That's to say, too many children, when presented with something they don't care for, are quick to point fingers at the thing of their ire rather than looking within themselves, getting honest, and saying, "It's just not for me."

I say this because of how quickly Nobuo Uematsu came up in this thread. I'm sorry but the man is a giant in the video game music world. He just is. That doesn't mean he's above criticism but isn't it slightly more likely that rather than him "sucking" his music just isn't for you?

The man's music for the Final Fantasy series had a world tour that sold out nearly every place it stopped. That's not the sign of a composer whose overrated or whose accolades are undeserved.

[Destai]

Though I don't know that much about him I find Kenji Ito to be a hella mediocre composer. Or a bad one. Really crap, simple, generic videogame music with little appeal. I dont like Motoi Sakuraba much. His tales of soundtracks are pretty much like Ito's. His Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean stuff is much better but even so I don't really like his style and he churns out so much of it, all of it sounding very similar to one or two other tracks, I find it hard to care.

[knighTeen87]

Masahiko Hataya,Kidon,Satoshi Ise,Infinite and Hideki Okugawa.Run away as fast as you can when you see these names on the composers list

[Glitch]

This will probably get me in trouble, given the amount of people here that love Chrono Cross' soundtrack, but of all VG composers I know for their great works, Yasunori Mitsuda ranks among the average.

[arthurgolden]

I liked Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Radical Dreamers, and Front Mission: Gun Hazard. Other than that, I find Mitsuda to be extremely boring, too. But hey--if you write one of the greatest soundtracks of all time, Chrono Trigger, (even with Uematsu's help) you're still okay in my book.

[selderane]

Yeah, Chrono Cross was very good. There really isn't a single track on the soundtrack I'd skip.

[doomjockey]

Firstly, never expected to see Mitsuda's name even mentioned here. Defintely not the worst. Definitely not average.

Secondly, I came here ready to defend Mizuta.

...

Then decided to have another listen to FFXI OST. After going back over the FFXI OSTs, I reached the same conclusion: Naoshi Mizuta's skills aren't great and sorry to say he's not even touching Uematsu. And I don't like Uematsu. Trance Kuja, I can't agree with you more. Anyone else take out your FFXI and Zilart OSTs and play Kazham. Then play Rabao. Then play Altepa. How about Rolanberry Fields? Notice anything similar?

Lastly, I'm not sure who I'd list as the worst composer but Uematsu's definitely fallen off since FFVI. FFVII's OST was decent, but no track reached the level of VI's Opening Theme Terra/Tina. FFVIII even had a better OST than VII. People probably like the soundtrack because, for many, it was their first journey into a Final Fantasy and perhaps first RPG overall. Your perception of greatness is skewed by nostalgia. Back to the point, Uematsu's not so great these days. The last OST I heard from him was the utterly forgettable Blue Dragon OST.

[cucucachoo]

I'll tell you who the worst video game composer is that I can think of at the time: Well, I searched like crazy and can't find the dude's name and I can't see the name in the game's credits because I lent it to my cousin BUT whoever did the music to Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Spirit Caller is the worst composer known to man. Just listen to the music when you're in a duel, it's repulsive and repetitive. When you're winning the duel it goes into some guitar riff loop that has a worse timbre than a midi guitar and there's hardly any music structure there. I cringe when I hear it.

[Ghostman172]

People are probably going to yell at me, but Jeremy Soule has been lacking in the awesomeness lately. He's MOST definitely not the worst, but while we're on the subject of boring VGM, yanno. His last few soundtracks have just been boring and uninspired, in my opinion. Anybody else feel the same way?
I'll forgive him for making so many kickass soundtracks in his career, but I'm a little diappointed lately.

Jeremy Soule hasn't done a good soundtrack since Total Annihilation.

[selderane]

I do think Jeremy Soule is a bit overrated. He'll write a tune here and there that I like but then I can throw out the rest of it.

I will mention one composer that has never really let me down: Jack Wall.

[Shumagaki]

i like an enormous number of Uematsu songs in the games he composed for, so I figured I would like the music done by the Black Mages too. Whenever I listened to the album they put out though of redone FF songs (was it skies above?) I thought they were absolutely horrible, as if they had taken the good songs and mangled them to pieces beyond recognition. Maybe i'm just not a fan of that kind of hard rock music, but it was hard to believe the same guy who made the catchy tunes in FF created that music.

[Glitch]

My most hated composer is Uematsu. He did some great stuff, but everything he's put out in the last few years has universally sucked. I'll quote part of the review of TBM2 from Chudah's here:



After that album, I never wanted to hear another Uematsu track again.

Ha ha, yeah I read that review, it's funny but I totally agree with the guy. As for Uematsu, I can't say I hate his work, but it's definitely been going down the drain to me since FF VIII, save for a few scattered tracks, and The Black Mages II was pretty much a disappointment.

[arthurgolden]

i like an enormous number of Uematsu songs in the games he composed for, so I figured I would like the music done by the Black Mages too. Whenever I listened to the album they put out though of redone FF songs (was it skies above?) I thought they were absolutely horrible, as if they had taken the good songs and mangled them to pieces beyond recognition. Maybe i'm just not a fan of that kind of hard rock music, but it was hard to believe the same guy who made the catchy tunes in FF created that music.

I love hard rock, and I still don't like most Black Mages reinterpretations. That doesn't mean all of it is bad. But I think if the Black Mages albums were the first Uematsu songs the world heard, he would have faded into obscurity. I think we all give Uematsu a big line of credit because of his past accomplishments. That's the only explanation I can come up with for why I still get excited for every Black Mages release when I haven't liked a single one of the albums first song to last.

[Glitch]

tbh Im still in love with BOTH Parasite Eve soundtracks. PERIOD. The first PE OST was
better of course but still... I like the ambient tracks as well that are on PE2 (And the
rest of the ost)

PE OST was a mixed bag: some tracks were great, others merely passable, and the rest obliterated beyond repair due to Eve's hideously annoying voice, although I suppose it wasn't part of the original compositions, it could've been removed.
I don't know much about Naoshi Mizuta other than his (her?) work on PE2 OST, but Yoko Shimomura isn't the best composer in my book, other female composers such as Michiru Yamane are far better.

[DrMatta]

1. Tommy Tallarico



I beg to differ,
Earthworm Jim was one of the best (snes) soundtracks ever.

[DarkLine]

Earthworm Jim was good...Since E.T. is the worst game of all time, I think it also has the worst music...

[NucleaRaptor]

Masahiko Hataya,Kidon,Satoshi Ise,Infinite and Hideki Okugawa.Run away as fast as you can when you see these names on the composers list
I haven't heard anything by Okugawa except for the SFIII OST,but that one is actually pretty good. A bit repetitive,but upbeat and catchy. I liked it a lot.

Now,Ise I'll have to agree upon. I'm listening to his Capcom vs SNK 2 OST right now. Honestly,shit fukken sucks. I found maybe two tracks that I actually liked,but the rest are absolutely abysmal.

[byzantinechild]

I cannot stand David Clynick. He's completely unoriginal and generic to me.

Thank you. Clynick's work on the original Perfect Dark was good with providing additional music was good, however, when he composed for Perfect Dark Zero, it just sounded like monkeys on crack banging on the synthesizers. Blech!

Mike Pullmer's another one, has anyone listened to the Mission: Impossible N64 soundtrack? Utter dreck! Every track, except Embassy Function, is pretty inane.

Chris Jensen, who did music for Half: Life - Opposing Force is also pretty terrible, providing substandard music, save one track which is pretty good, for a pretty good game. He over-relied on the drum and techno samples a bit too much and didn't vary the sound like Bailey did in the other games.

[Solid-Ares]

For me the worst VGM composers are Naoshi Mizuta (Parasite Eve 2), Trevor Morris (NFS: Carbon and Army of Two), Junkie XL (any game except the one about Jason Bourne), Kyle Richards, Matthew Piersall (Aeon Flux) and Jon Dal, Robert Casady (Underworld: The Eternal War).
I can only say about their work on this games so if they compose anything outstanding now I don't mind, but for now they suck.

[Solid-Ares]

I haven't heard anything by Okugawa except for the SFIII OST,but that one is actually pretty good. A bit repetitive,but upbeat and catchy. I liked it a lot.

Now,Ise I'll have to agree upon. I'm listening to his Capcom vs SNK 2 OST right now. Honestly,shit fukken sucks. I found maybe two tracks that I actually liked,but the rest are absolutely abysmal.

Hideki Okugawa also wrote a great soundtrack (well, at least I like it so much) to "Dead Rising".

[Plankton614]

I say this because of how quickly Nobuo Uematsu came up in this thread. I'm sorry but the man is a giant in the video game music world. He just is. That doesn't mean he's above criticism but isn't it slightly more likely that rather than him "sucking" his music just isn't for you?

The man's music for the Final Fantasy series had a world tour that sold out nearly every place it stopped. That's not the sign of a composer whose overrated or whose accolades are undeserved.

Precisely. To be fair, I adore Uematsu. Do I like everything he puts out? Of course not. But he is undeniably talented, and nowhere near the worst.

Also, to those citing the TBM albums, those should probably be excluded from consideration since those are strictly arrangements of tunes heard in-game.

[Kontrafagott]

Tommy Tallarico

I couldn’t believe my eyes after I read that it took him so long to compose that crappy Score to Advent Rising! Bad themes, lush orchestrations (Ok, at least his orchestrators tried to make that crap more interesting using lots and lots of orchestral effects; but boy: they failed!), no counterpoint, absolutely boring. And where is the Italian Opera he always talks about? I’ve never heard about a Dies Irae in an Italian Opera anyway.
He always talks about his lack of music education. I don’t know why he is so proud about that because he has no technique and no style at all.
It’s kind of grotesque that someone like him got so far in the industry. But maybe that’s the trick. Probably he is so popular because so many people can identify themselves with him.
But thank god! Now he’s doing this dogs and pony-show “Video Games Live” so he wont penetrate us with some new, bad music.

Kai Rosenkranz

Oh boy! What a shame for Germany (I’m from Germany too). His Gothic Scores are soooo bad. Just listen to the third one. Some boring orchestrations, some bad, Media Ventures-like themes, many, many band Hollywood-Fantasy-Scores clichés plus lots and lots of pseudo medieval, and pseudo ethnic elements. Just take the desert track. Punch long organ-points together with some exotic flutes (The Duduk! That’s a must have for deserts), and some ethnic voices. Yea!!! That’s what the desert sounds like: Like a corny, cheesy M-V Track.

[skitarii]

Richard Beddow

The guy practically ruined the music for Empire Total War. While the music might sound a bit fresh on the first listen, the tracks are only about a minute long and LOOP instead of going to the next song.

I wish they used Jeff Van Dyck. Now that guy has talent.

[NucleaRaptor]

I just played through CV:Harmony of Dissonance.

So yeah,Soshiro Hokkai is pretty bad.

[cupacupu]

Motoi Sakuraba

heard about his works on star ocean and valkyrie profile..people said their good wooo[Only registered and activated users can see links] i really got curious of course, who doesn't know about SO and VP ?? so i downloaded ONE song from each series that was "highly recommended" and heard it and....okay, maybe it's sound a bit subjective, but i really can't stay even up to 3 minutes hearing those songs..they're making me headache then dizzy..and the worst: I FEEL SICK (honestly, not lying on this part). dude, they're all SOUND SAME !! no matter what his album i listened to, i feel like i'm listening to a same album.. okay, those albums created by the same composer, but gimme some differences will you..?
because of this, now everytime i want to DL VGM, i always make sure who is the composer..gotta beware of this guy..sure i don't wanna waste my hard disk storage for this one . . .

curiosity can kill sometimes

[kokujin]

Motoi Sakuraba

heard about his works on star ocean and valkyrie profile..people said their good wooo[Only registered and activated users can see links] i really got curious of course, who doesn't know about SO and VP ?? so i downloaded ONE song from each series that was "highly recommended" and heard it and....okay, maybe it's sound a bit subjective, but i really can't stay even up to 3 minutes hearing those songs..they're making me headache then dizzy..and the worst: I FEEL SICK (honestly, not lying on this part). dude, they're all SOUND SAME !! no matter what his album i listened to, i feel like i'm listening to a same album.. okay, those albums created by the same composer, but gimme some differences will you..?
because of this, now everytime i want to DL VGM, i always make sure who is the composer..gotta beware of this guy..sure i don't wanna waste my hard disk storage for this one . . .
In my opinion Sakuraba's modern works just aren't as great as his old FM Synth compositions.So i can see where you're coming from.

[arthurgolden]

Out of curiosity, what were the songs you listened to? Sakuraba is known for being the most prolific VGM composer alive and writes the equivalent of about a song a day, so there's a lot to choose from.

[cupacupu]

In my opinion Sakuraba's modern works just aren't as great as his old FM Synth compositions.So i can see where you're coming from.
hmm..maybe you can give some examples of his old works..
dude, try to love this guy but somehow my ears just can't stand it . . . .

Out of curiosity, what were the songs you listened to? Sakuraba is known for being the most prolific VGM composer alive and writes the equivalent of about a song a day, so there's a lot to choose from.
yes, that was the first reason i tried to listen to his works: because he's one of the big composer for VGM.. so far i've listened to:
valkyrie profile OST..say..Turn Over a New Leaf, Fragments of the Heart..and i just don't get them.
valkyrie profile arrange album and voice mix arrange..and..uh oh, wrong selections to take..those made me feel kinda funny (esp.the voice mix arrange)
SO 3 OST..So Alone, Be Sorrow..it does sound better..but still don't get it LOL :laugh:
SO4 arrange album..i'm really interested in SO4, but when i saw the composer is him..thought for sometimes, and..i took it, who knows it would be better...listened to all tracks...okay, this album was better ! but..the style of those tracks kinda similar . . . .
Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile - Motoi Sakuraba Live Concert..oh yes, people said it was AWESOME..who wouldn't be curious to hear it of course ? esp. the drum&bass solo for 19', oh my ! so i downloaded it..heard it..and, okay that's enough for motoi sakuraba..not gonna torture my ears anymore :(

maybe i took the wrong samples from his works..wish if you could recommend me some songs that show his "better quality" works :puppydog:

[knighTeen87]

I just played through CV:Harmony of Dissonance.

So yeah,Soshiro Hokkai is pretty bad.

come on,i think that game's soundtracks are awesome

[Captain Dolce]

Nobou Uematsu post-FFVI.

Simply overrated. Not necessarily awful. Especially overrated is FFVII's soundtrack. That one's just mediocre at best.

[NucleaRaptor]

come on,i think that game's soundtracks are awesome
Are you serious? I only remember 3 tracks from that game. And one of those is a remix of a track from the very first Castlevania.

[knighTeen87]

yeah I'm serious,soundtracks were totally in CV style

[Kuraodo]

Whoever composed Legend of Dragoon. That game has horrible music, especiall for a JRPG. It doesn't even fit the setting!

[Terramax]

Listen to the following tracks from Final Fantasy XI:

- "The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah" (Rise of the Zilart / Vision of Jiraat)
- "Grav'iton" (Rise of the Zilart / Vision of Jiraat)


I heard them a number of times and I can't stand them. The weakest of the music I've heard in the game.

Whoever composed Legend of Dragoon. That game has horrible music, especiall for a JRPG. It doesn't even fit the setting!

Yeah, my vote would go to that guy also.

[arthurgolden]

Whoever composed Legend of Dragoon. That game has horrible music, especiall for a JRPG. It doesn't even fit the setting!

Dennis Martin and Takao Miratsu

[Audity31]

Though I don't know that much about him I find Kenji Ito to be a hella mediocre composer. Or a bad one. Really crap, simple, generic videogame music with little appeal.

I entered this thread just so I could see someone post this. I recall someone branding him "the greatest hack in vgm". I agree except for when people remix his SD1 tracks they always sound good, somehow. And he did a fun song for Pop'n 12 or 13 (I forget).

[Audity31]

Whoever composed Legend of Dragoon. That game has horrible music, especiall for a JRPG. It doesn't even fit the setting!

Somehow I entirely disagree, with one aspect of this. Standalone, I wouldn't keep any tracks. But I thought they really fit the atmosphere of the game. I think it had to do with my specific instance of playing the game, steadily, at a friend's house; but also to do with the unique sound set the composer used (also, in the way of the latter, that reminds me of Breath of Fire IV/Secret of Evermore/probably a couple of others).

[t0m s3rvo]

Tallarico I'm going to have to agree with. Even though I rather enjoyed Advent Rising's soundtrack, it's still pretty generic as far as orchestrations go.

[the_grimace]

tommy tallerico does kinda suck, and at the very least, VERY OVERRATED. I liked his earthworm jim tracks, but nothing else he did. He tries to make music anymore that just isnt his style. If theres one thing i learned from composing and watching and learning from other composers, its that everyone has their own style. You got to embrace and cherish your style. If you do, people will love your music, it wont matter its all somewhat similiar, because it sounds good. Im not talking about huge patterns in style, like only composing rock or jazz tunes for example, but some composers do more ambient stuff, others more melodic, some more freeform improv music, some more technical and theoritically correct. You need to compose in all styles of music, but where you take each style of music is where your style of composing comes out

[benjamillion]

I have no idea what Tallarico has been doing lately, but I liked his MDK soundtrack. Kinda weird that some of it was recycled into the Wild 9 soundtrack, though.

yeah, funny thing, a friend of mine had wild 9 and had no idea about the existence of mdk and the music from it

[Shinigami64]

Tommy Tallarico...and here's why...

Years ago, on the short-lived G4 show Judgment Day, Tallarico and his co-host Victor Lucas reviewed Guilty Gear XX (X2 in America due to our cultural fear of sex). In the review, Tallarico lambasted the game based solely on his dislike of the soundtrack. Aside from the fact that this is a truly stupid reason to dislike an entire game, there's also the intellectual dishonesty of the matter since Daisuke Ishiwatari's work is solid.

I had no idea that he was a VGM composer until that episode, and that instance was very telling. That man can fuck right off...

[knighTeen87]

hmm,i liked Tommy Tallarico's job on Demoliton Racer but don't have any idea about other compositions

[All Seeing Eye]

I do think Tommy is kinda overrated, but I don't think he sucks. All the games I played that had his music composition, sounded good to me. Aladdin, Earthworm Jim 1 and 2, MDK 1 and 2, Maximo and some others. The guy took his popularity and built upon it. You can't blame a guy for that. I don't see people bitching about Nobuo creating his own music studio, personal orchestra and the rock band Black Mages.

[NucleaRaptor]

You also don't see Nobuo openly badmouthing other people's work and generally being an arrogant douchebag. It's the same reason why everybody hates Itagaki.

[All Seeing Eye]

You also don't see Nobuo openly badmouthing other people's work and generally being an arrogant douchebag. It's the same reason why everybody hates Itagaki.

So because he has a personality you don't like, that means he's a bad music composer?

Failed logic.

[NucleaRaptor]

From the musical standpoint,I enjoy Tallarico's work. Other than maybe reusing classical music too often,he's okay in my book. Being an ass hurts his image in general,though.