Voices Of The Lifestream

There are few things in the world which can match our love for all things musical. Some could say films, others could say alcohol-related activities, but truthfully the answer would be more along the lines of videogame affiliated content. Of course each of us has plenty of other hobbies and interests but we share a mutual adoration for all things gaming, whether it be through the games themselves, the memories associated with them or the culture surrounding them. In fact, they play such a key role within each of our lives that outsiders have a tendency to find our enthusiastic and nostalgic conversations about them to be borderline unorthodox. Although we often focus on new and upcoming titles, we generally seem to spend a lot of time reminscing about the retro games of yesteryear. Although our typically fervent discussions can range from the likes of Contra 3 to Knights Of The Old Republic, there are a certain breed of games that have attained an inviolable quality that game developers dream of. One such game is Final Fantasy VII, a title which should need no introduction.

The Final Fantasy series is one of the longest running, highest grossing and most critically acclaimed franchises in the world. With the exception of a small handful of games, each installment is set in a new world with new characters and a new storyline. Whilst this may sound unappealing at first, given that most of the more popular game series' out there place a specific reliance on continuity and recurring mascots, there is something captivating and enthralling about beginning an entirely fresh adventure without knowing where exactly it is going to take you. The experience itself is enhanced by rich storytelling, detailed worlds and an enchanting cast of characters each with their own distinctive stories and attributes. It is these components which make you realise exactly why the Final Fantasy series struck such a cord with gamers in the first place. While there are dozens of exceptional roleplaying games out there, each with their own individual accomplishments, no one does it better than Squaresoft.

One of the most understated elements of the games is the music which accompanies the gameplay. Whether we're referring to critical or public perception, in a large majority of cases the music takes a backseat to the other ingredients of the game. This isn't simply something that is solely associated with the Final Fantasy series but with videogames in general. For a very long time videogame OSTs were the dirty words of the music community, much in the same way that gaming as an entertainment medium was seen by a majority of society to be practiced by socially inept teenagers up until recently. With videogames becoming more popular and more widely accepted around the world, the music which is featured within them is also gaining a certain degree of recognition within music-orientated communities. Though it would be unfair to make a direct comparison to said communities, one such website, Overclocked Remix, has been been making waves throughout the internet for a very long time. This remix community places emphasis on videogames and gives aspiring producers the opportunity to let their remixes and reinterpretations be heard by the rest of the world, which not only benefits those who want to get their music out there but also lets often forgotten games get a new lease of life. Indeed, the website is summarised as being "dedicated to reviving the video and computer game music of yesterday, and reinterpreting them with new technology and capabilities."

20 years ago such a community would never have existed. In this age of information, however, it is able to flourish and grow into a creative outlet for videogame enthusiasts around the world. Although its primary focus is singular remixes for specific titles, there have also been album projects dedicated to some of the more critically acclaimed titles out there. Voices Of The Lifestream is one such project. As the majority of you can probably guess, it is based on Final Fantasy VII. Given the popularity of this title, the album spans four discs and plays almost like a who's who of OCRemix. After all, each producer was given free reign on individual and collaborative tracks on this album, which not only adds personality to the songs, but also gives them somewhat of an idiosyncratic feel. Had the album been penned and produced by one artist, the end result would no doubt been strikingly different. One of the main positives of the album is the fact that it never does any injustice to the work of the excellent Nobuo Uematsu, the original composer of every major Final Fantasy game up until his departure from Square-Enix in 2004. Like Uematsu's original score, Voices Of The Lifestream manages to be both engaging and alluring concurrently, and although there are certain songs which may not be appealing to every listener, the good most definitely outweighs the bad.

For more information on Overclocked Remix, please visit OCRemix.org. The songs posted on this site are some of my personal favourites from the album. To get the full thing click here.

pixietricks, zircon - Deliverance Of The Heart (Heart of Anxiety)
Big Giant Circles - Every Story Begins With A Name (Opening - Bombing Mission)
Sixto Sounds, zircon - Lunatic Moon (Red XIII's Theme ~ Cosmo Canyon)
tefnek - motor crazycycle (Crazy Motorcycle)
Hy Bound - Mark of the Beatsmith (Mark of a Traitor)
FFmusic Dj - Ahead On Our Rave (Ahead On Our Way)
bLiNd, Leifo - Fading Entity (Listen to the Cries of the Planet)
bLiNd - Beginning of the End (Birth of a God)