Final Fantasy IV: Celtic Moon

is good

Even if you haven't played FFIV this arrangement of Nobuo Uematsu compositions is great. Highly recommended.

I'll admit, I am a sucker for instrumental music especially when used to do remakes for classics. Final Fantasy IV is a classic and it's music was unique for it's time that it focused more on emotional responses rather than happy-go-lucky themes that dominated games and RPGS alike during the late 80s and early 90s. To take things to the next level, musician Máire Breatnach remixed several key songs in traditional Celtic. Songs such as the Prologue and Rydia's Theme were transformed with the bouzouki, the harp and I think I heard traces of uilleann pipes.The excellent mixture of Celtic and classic gaming music is amazing. Edward's Lute music is one of my personal favorites as is the prologue. Purists will be wooed by the amazing flow and flawless execution of this soundtrack. My only small criticism is that Breatnach probably should've had less pipes and more acoustic guitar sounds as it sometimes seems unnecessary but that could be a personal bias since I am a big fan of Paganini.All in all, I recommend this soundtrack to all hard-core Final Fantasy fans, music lovers and anyone interested in Celtic; you don't have to be a video game fan to enjoy this selection!

I'm not big on Celtic symphonies or anything. So sometimes the pipes were a bit heavy on me. BUT there were a few truly amazing songs on here from IV. I wish they'd do stuff like Into Darkness and Illusionary World on Distant Worlds (an awesome series of Final Fantasy songs fully orchestrated), but these are great versions to listen to on Celtic Moon.Overall, I say a couple songs were great on here, a couple are okay although I've heard better versions elsewhere, and some are like licking a D Cell battery to me. "Make the pipes stop!" Haha All a matter of preference I guess.

Don't be confused. I hand out 5-star ratings only to what I consider ground-breaking in every aspect of an product's existence. But this is really a 4.5+ item.Being a little Irish myself, I like to dabble in celtic sounds and celtic renditions of other songs. This album gives you a quality instrumental feel of some of Final Fantasy IV's compositions, but it still remains loyal to the emotion behind the notes.If you're a die-hard FF fan, you shouldn't be afraid to own this, as it's both a good album and "alternative-soundtrack" that will add originality and variation to your collection.If you prefer a more original-sounding soundtrack, this probably won't meet you with full force, but it is still a quality compilation that will break away (if only slightly) from a more strict fan's collection.To a non FF-fan, the name Nobuo Uetmatsu might not resonate as well as it does within some of us in the deepest circles of Final Fantasy conosseiurs, however if you enjoy any bit of celtic feel, or if you're curious as to how this album stacks up as an alternative-soundtrack, I definately encourage you to purchase this.Overall I rate it a 4.7. For me that's a pretty high score. Sound quality is perfect and selection is above the norm for a soundtrack album. I felt like it could have had a few more tracks listed, but that may be more of an inclination to the celtic theme than to the album itself.

I was quickly bored by both the arrangement and the quality of the performers, I didn't get it so expensive (over 60 bucks as of this writing) but still, it is already gathering dust on the unused cds box.If you love final fantasy IV music, there are better offerings out there, including the music from the original cart.If you love celtic music, there are loads of offerings out there that will not burn a hole in your pocket.If you are a total fan that has to own all things FF...or totally deaf for quality celtic music, go ahead an get this.