I have to admit, intially I wasn’t very fond of Final Fantasy X’s soundtrack. It just didn’t have that familiar feel to it as all the previous scores had. Gradually over time, and after playing the game, that opinion changed, but that was all after I’d decided to pick up this CD. I wasn’t expecting much when I ordered “feel/Go Dream.” I’d been hoping for another orchestrated release, a piano album, anything…and I was afraid I’d be let down by this maxi-single. To my surprise, I found these arrangements to be some of the best that’s come from Final Fantasy X.
Mayuko Aoki’s amazing voice is reason enough to buy this CD. Her performance as Yuna in “feel,” the character’s image song based on the “Song of Prayer” melody, easily makes it the best track on the album. With its sweet but slightly sexy tone, the piece is just breathtaking. That combined with the R&B style and oriental undertone make this one of the best vocals I’ve heard in a long, long while.
On the other hand, after listening to “Go Dream” for the first time, Tidus’ image song, I wasn’t too impressed. This was mostly due to the choice of vocalist, Masakazu Morita; his singing just does not fit with the tone of the music. Even so, the instrumenation is excellent, and the song’s catchy melody grew on me.
The final song, “Endless Road, Endless Love,” a brand new composition for this CD, is a nice Yuna and Tidus duet peformed by the previous two vocalists. As most ballads go, it’s really quite good. The sweet and simple melody is nicely complimented by Aoki’s beautiful voice. Again, Morita’s singing seems a tad off, but it’s much better than in “Go Dream.”
Along with these three songs are their karaoke counterparts of which I feel I must make mention. Normally, I don’t listen to these instrumental versions unless I’m actually trying to learn the lyrics, but the quality of the music is excellent and should be appreciated as much as the vocals that accompany them.
All in all, I’d have to say that I’m quite pleased with this single. Although it’s not exactly what I was hoping for, I’ve found “feel/Go Dream” to contain some of the best vocal arrangements in the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy and J-Pop fans alike should definitely take a listen. The CD is now obscure and hard-to-find due to DigiCube going bankrupt.
