Since I think everyone can agree that Dearly Beloved and the credit themes for the games are generally super good, I think I'll pluck a few of my favorites out that I feel are generally forgotten/underrated. Not because they are my absolute favorites (but actually some of them are?), but because I think they deserve some love. (I also know nothing about music I just like pretty sounds.)
1. Treasured Memories: Shimomura is just so good at these quiet piano pieces, and more than any of her big epic stuff, I find myself coming back to these for the nostalgia effect and the room they give for contemplation. This piece in particular feels like it leaves a lot of space open for you to bring yourself to the music: your own memories, thoughts, and feelings.
2. It Began With a Letter: I find this piece to be simply magical. It evokes a similar sense of wonder and charm as Dearly Beloved.
3. Welcome to Wonderland: I think this is one of the KH1 tracks that benefited the most from live orchestration. It's just a beautiful, warm composition and it shines on the HD Remix soundtrack. I also happen to love playing around in Wonderland so the field music brings happy thoughts.
4. Isn't It Lovely?: I don't understand how Nomura could have heard this track and not immediately scrapped the crappy musical Atlantica plot for a real world. I would have happily swam around under the sea for hours drifting along with the languid, sweeping currents and swells of this piece.
5. Destiny's Union: I feel like this piece showcases Shimomura's talent for tugging at your heart with a bittersweet melody. This song is like a sad smile, like waving goodbye to your best friend who's moving away, not knowing how long it will be before you see each other again.
As for songs I don't like? This is actually pretty easy:
1. Dice and Shine: I could have lived my entire life happily without ever playing the Command Board, much less playing it as many times as I needed to in order to achieve 100% completion and placate my sad gaming neuroses.
2. It's a Small World: To be fair, it's not Shimomura's fault this song is diddlying evil.
3. Mickey Mouse Club March: This song really thinks it's cute but it's not.
4. The Deep End: I don't hate this piece at all tbh, it just scares the ten-year-old in me to tears. I'M NOT READY TO BE A STRONG MAIN CHARACTER. ;^;
5. Byte Bashing/Striking: The field music for Space Paranoids is fine but the battle music is so repetitive and broken I just want to smash my head into something glass for the proper effect.
On a related note, I was actually sitting at the bus stop today wearing my Kingdom Hearts necklace, carrying my purse with a Kingdom Hearts keychain, texting my boyfriend about Kingdom Hearts and listening to the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack and I had a moment where I thought to myself, "I think I may have taken my love for this fandom too far at some point." Thankfully KHInsider exists to reassure me that I'm not, like, weird or anything, haha. Hahaha.
1. Treasured Memories: Shimomura is just so good at these quiet piano pieces, and more than any of her big epic stuff, I find myself coming back to these for the nostalgia effect and the room they give for contemplation. This piece in particular feels like it leaves a lot of space open for you to bring yourself to the music: your own memories, thoughts, and feelings.
2. It Began With a Letter: I find this piece to be simply magical. It evokes a similar sense of wonder and charm as Dearly Beloved.
3. Welcome to Wonderland: I think this is one of the KH1 tracks that benefited the most from live orchestration. It's just a beautiful, warm composition and it shines on the HD Remix soundtrack. I also happen to love playing around in Wonderland so the field music brings happy thoughts.
4. Isn't It Lovely?: I don't understand how Nomura could have heard this track and not immediately scrapped the crappy musical Atlantica plot for a real world. I would have happily swam around under the sea for hours drifting along with the languid, sweeping currents and swells of this piece.
5. Destiny's Union: I feel like this piece showcases Shimomura's talent for tugging at your heart with a bittersweet melody. This song is like a sad smile, like waving goodbye to your best friend who's moving away, not knowing how long it will be before you see each other again.
As for songs I don't like? This is actually pretty easy:
1. Dice and Shine: I could have lived my entire life happily without ever playing the Command Board, much less playing it as many times as I needed to in order to achieve 100% completion and placate my sad gaming neuroses.
2. It's a Small World: To be fair, it's not Shimomura's fault this song is diddlying evil.
3. Mickey Mouse Club March: This song really thinks it's cute but it's not.
4. The Deep End: I don't hate this piece at all tbh, it just scares the ten-year-old in me to tears. I'M NOT READY TO BE A STRONG MAIN CHARACTER. ;^;
5. Byte Bashing/Striking: The field music for Space Paranoids is fine but the battle music is so repetitive and broken I just want to smash my head into something glass for the proper effect.
On a related note, I was actually sitting at the bus stop today wearing my Kingdom Hearts necklace, carrying my purse with a Kingdom Hearts keychain, texting my boyfriend about Kingdom Hearts and listening to the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack and I had a moment where I thought to myself, "I think I may have taken my love for this fandom too far at some point." Thankfully KHInsider exists to reassure me that I'm not, like, weird or anything, haha. Hahaha.