Music of Final Fantasy X-2
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For the music of Final Fantasy X-2, regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu was replaced by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi of The Bouncer fame.[2] Among the game's more notable tracks are two vocalized songs: the J-pop-style "real Emotion" and a more slowly-paced ballad, "1000 Words" (1000の言葉, Sen no Kotoba?). The English versions of the songs are sung by star singer Jade Villalon of Sweetbox. Jade Villalon released extended versions of the songs she sang as bonus tracks on the Japanese release of her album, Adagio. The Japanese versions of the songs are sung by Kumi Koda, a Japanese music artist who also performed motion capture for the "real Emotion" opening full motion video[28] and provided the voice of Lenne in the Japanese version of the game. Koda also released her own English versions of the songs on her CD single Come With Me. While similar, the lyrics of Kumi's versions differ from those sung by Jade.
Creation and influence
Final Fantasy X-2 marks the first soundtrack where former Square composer Nobuo Uematsu did not contribute a single piece despite having composed for Final Fantasy X, of which X-2 is a sequel.
The game includes two songs with vocalized elements, one of which is the J-Rock "real Emotion" which was written by Ken Kato and composed by Kazuhiro Hara and the other being the J-Pop ballad "1000 Words" which was written by scenario writers Kazushige Nojima and Daisuke Watanabe and composed and arranged by Matsueda and Eguchi. Both the songs have been sung by Jade Villalon, also known as Jade from Sweetbox. The songs she sung are available as bonus tracks on the Japanese release of her album Adagio. In the Japanese version of the game however, both the songs were sung by Koda Kumi, who has also released them as a single entitled real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba.
Unlike the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Original Soundtrack which borrowed many pieces from the Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, none of the pieces from the Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack were re-used in X-2.
real Emotion and 1000 no Kotoba
"real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba" is a double A-side by Kumi Koda. It is her 7th domestic CD single. "real Emotion" was the opening theme of Square's game Final Fantasy X-2, and "1000 no kotoba" (1000の言葉, 1000 words) was used in a cut-scene in the game, as well as its ending credits. "1000 no Kotoba" arranged by Takahito Eguchi and Noriko Matsueda. The double A-side is from the album Grow Into One and contains the two songs in addition to their instrumental versions, covering a duration of 20:02. It was published by Rhythm Zone on March 5, 2003 with the catalogue number RZCD-45080.
It reached was certified Platinum.
Chart performance:
- Debut position: #6
- Peak position: #3
- Weeks in top 200: 28
Sale:
- First week estimate: 35,054
- Total estimate: 282,374
Jade's versions of "real Emotion" & "1000 Words"
Jade Villalon of Sweetbox released the of songs she sang for the English version of Final Fantasy X-2 as bonus tracks on the Japanese release of her album "Adagio". However, the orchestrated version of "1000 Words" was not included on the CD. The version of "real Emotion" released on this CD featured a new, additional part in the song, written by Jade. The extended lyrics heard on "1000 Words (Orchestrated Version)" were also added as a new re-made part in the normal version of "1000 Words".
A-mei's versions of "real Emotion" & "1000 Words"
A-mei released the songs she sang for the international version of Final Fantasy X-2. She covered "real Emotion" as "感情真的" (gǎnqíng zhēnde) and "1000 Words" as "1000单词" (qiān dāncí).
Albums
Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack is the video game music soundtrack album from Final Fantasy X-2. The album contains musical tracks from the game composed, arranged and produced Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi. The vocal track "real Emotion" was composed by Kazuhiro Hara. Vocals were performed by Jade Villalon in English and Kumi Koda in Japanese for the tracks "real Emotion" and "1000 Words" . The album spans two discs and 61 tracks, covering a duration of 2:18:00. It was released on March 31, 2003 in Japan by Avex bearing the catalogue number AVCD-17254.
It also includes booklet filled with printed images, providing more information about the soundtrack.
Note: The track listing below is for the Japanese version. The English version on iTunes does not include either "KUON" ("Eternity") tracks, and the "1000 Words" and "real Emotion" tracks are the English versions sung by Jade, resulting in different track lengths from those below.
Track listing
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Other albums
Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission Original Soundtrack was released later on and included the 8 additional pieces that were present in the expanded version of Final Fantasy X-2 which also included another vocal piece entitled "To You" which was sung by Mayuko Aoki who is also the Japanese voice of Yuna. Because the expanded version game was never localized in English, an English version of the song was never made.
Also, Square along with Avex Trax Entertainment had released a promotional album which was called Eternity ~Memories of Waves and Light~ - Music from Final Fantasy X-2. The album was only included with three pieces which were : "Eternity ~Memories of Waves and Light~", "Besaid", and "Yuna's Ballad". It was released alongside the game on March 13, 2003.
As of Monday, May 9, 2005, the Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack (along with others) were released on the iTunes Music Store.
References
- avex network inc. (2005), Koda Kumi Official Web Site
- Oricon Style (2005), Ranking - Oricon Style
External links
- Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack Official North American Page on Square-Enix
- Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack Official Japanese Page on Square-Enix
- Square Enix Music Online Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack review at Square Enix Music
- Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack review at Chudah's Corner