ReMix: Final Fantasy II 'Town Tribute'

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NoppZ' latest is spacey, dreamlike major-key coverage of FF2 for the NES. Starting with a simple beat then entering with the melody on a very ethereal electric piano, the piece evolves from there with some nice latin percussion thrown in on the rhythm side of things and a monoglide synth solo, pads, and guitarish backup on the melody all entering at later points. This mix establishes its tone early on as being fairly mellow and floaty, and though there's some key changes later on, nothing really disrupts that feeling of peaceful restfullness - your typical "chillin' in my home town" RPG theme, but done well originally by The Uematsu and realized effectively by NoppZ. The maintenance of this consistent aura is both the piece's strength and weakness - NoppZ never falters and there's nothing in particular that stands out as being off, but there's also nothing that's too risky or experimental, so it does stay fairly "safe" to use the best adjective I can conjure at the moment. That's not a criticism I would even consider making if I didn't know that NoppZ is capable of some very original arrangements that wouldn't be obvious to just anyone. Does this prevent the mix from being enjoyable? Not really - it's still slickly produced and does achieve a mood with musicality and a good ear for mixing with instruments well-panned, etc. I have to admit, the original melody itself doesn't exactly cry out for an arrangement that takes a lot of artistic freedom i.e. chances. Solid stuff from NoppZ, one way or the other, but not necessarily as inspired as some of his other works.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
What I love about the bells (or the electric piano as djp calls it) is they sound so joyous they're already at the point of tears. They tell me this is a blessed town I'm entering, full of pure folk who are protected by heavenly graces. An admirable representative for the countermelody from the source.
Not to diss the rest of the mix; the melody's admirably boosted by strings, pads, drums, a "can't go wrong" key change, and other pieces to paint the peaceful prosperity of the town. But my first love is those bells. Just loverly.

- Polo on December 7, 2009
Ah Final Fantasy 2. The troubled deadbeat family member of the Final Fantasy music scene. Noone but NoppZ is charitable enough to remix music from it. He's a living saint, I tell you!
This is a slow, upbeat mix, and while I appreciate that is basically what the original was as well, for some reason slow and upbeat tracks depress me a lot. And for some reason, I got a lot of foreboding out of this mix. I felt like I was in the happiest village around, looking at townspeople going about their days oblivious to a scourge of destruction descending upon them. But that's just me.
I craved some meatier arrangement in this. I thought it did its routine thing too often, and the key change didn't make things that much more interesting. The samples sounded a little soppy, but generally they fit well for what this mix is.
Not my favourite style of mix, but nevertheless, I'm glad to see FF2 actually has some representation around here.

- Marmiduke on October 12, 2009
Nice work, lt really is a peaceful to listen to.

- metalsnakejuice on May 6, 2009
Great happy and relaxing track, but I too was blue-balled by the fadeout. :[

- Dhsu on March 30, 2009
Pretty much what everyone has said. Before the strings come in to fill the soundfield, it sounds worryingly bare. Then it sounds rather pleasant for a while, but doesn't really offer enough to be a keeper. Needless fade in the end.
--Eino

- evktalo on December 12, 2008
i love the drums, but there may be a bit too much reverb, especially on that snare.
the lead is amazing. the soundscape here is so dreamy and euphoric
ending left me hanging though

- halc on December 11, 2008
OA;289927 wrote: I like Bummerdudes' assesment of a cheerful town surrounded by thousands of monsters. Are they oblivious? Indifferent? Possibly just so cheerful from this song playing constantly that they don't allow any monsters in to mess up the phonograph.

This one really made me think. I don't know if I'll listen to this piece the same again. Haha.
Nice chill mix. The snare bugs me, especially when it's all alone in the beginning. It's over a bottomless pit or something. Just too big for my tastes. Aside from that, I have no problems with this mix.

- DragonAvenger on September 26, 2008
I think the drums could come down a bit in both volume and reverb, and it's not too far removed from the original, but it does have a nice relaxed feeling.
I like Bummerdudes' assesment of a cheerful town surrounded by thousands of monsters. Are they oblivious? Indifferent? Possibly just so cheerful from this song playing constantly that they don't allow any monsters in to mess up the phonograph.
Anyways, nothing groundbreaking here, and the drums are a bit annoying to me, but the rest is nice and relaxing.

- OA on July 3, 2007
This remix is exceptionally serene.......I could almost drift of to sleep listening to it......good job : )

- Dr. Rod on April 4, 2007
This remix is so relaxing! calm! wonderful!!!!! very highly recommended.

- Incronaut on April 4, 2007
i never played FF2, but this remix is awesome. Very dreamy. I like it a lot when remixers don't try and do too much -- it makes the remix sound more natural

- your the man now dog on July 2, 2006
Now THIS brings back memories! This one of the happiest and most calm track in the game. A pretty village out in the wild with thousands of monsters standing outside the walls waiting, but the town theme is still happy! I like their attitude.
For the remix: Noppz have made it again, a super mellow remix that just want you to hang up your hat and sit down with your feet on a pillow and lie back. Noppz has captured the spirit od relaxness and stuffed it into a remix for everybody to enjoy. AAhhh....Well done.

- Bummerdude on October 3, 2005
Nostalgic stuff. I think that have some problem with the [i]snare[/i]. Snare of bad quality, for me. But the remaining portion is amused. It´s so a bit pleasant.

- Txai on February 23, 2005
Very nice, very happy....very well done :)

- skawttieboy on June 19, 2002
Final Fantasy 2 'Town Tribute'
This one’s a very well done piece by NoppZ from the game Final Fantasy 2. Very melodic, and suits an adventurous theme extremely well. A nice piece NoppZ, keep it up.

- Ginnsu on June 19, 2002