Favorite composers... name & explain choices

[Dragon God]

Well.... I've tried to revive one of the more recent threads, only to get the message "thread is invalid".

Might as well do one from scratch I guess.

So yeah.

While I realize this forum has been "dormant" for several months.... I might as well revive it and list & explain my top 5 composers. When you read my choices, keep in mind that I'm geared heavily towards electronic music more than any other genre out there. Orchestral is the genre I like the least if you're curious to know.

1. Hisayoshi Ogura (Zuntata)

I don't know if any of you here are fammiliar with Zuntata, but this is the name of Taito's Sound Team. Ogura has been at Taito since 1983 and is still at Taito today. He must be on of the very first composers in the industry, composing some fairly well known works such as Arkanoid, Legend of Kage, Rastan II and probably his most famous work : The Darius series. Ogura, also reffered as "OGR", is the one who formed the team in 1987, and since then have been reknown(at least in Japan and most Arcade/Shmup circles) for a bunch of series like Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble and more... OGR's finest work to this day remains to be G-Darius. Find me a more experimental soundtrack, I dare you. The combination of eerie choirs, power tools(yes, you've read that right) and some of the most addictive electronic melodies have yet to be surpassed by any soundtrack.

2. Yasuhisa Watanabe

Watanabe is another one that I've been very pleased with for a while. While most his works have not seen a stateside release, he is highly appreciated in shmup circles. Reffered also as "Yack.", he is responsible for some of the most original and catchy shmup music out there, namely Metal Black and Border Down. He's one who always has a perfect balance between quality and quantity in his works. His OSTs are amazingly consistant in quality, the melodies are very, very rich, the best part is that he doesn't stick with a basic stance, his melodies constantly change as they move on. IMO, one of the most creative composers out there.

3. Shinji Hosoe

This name might be fammiliar to some of you, especially if you've played through Xenosaga II as he was responsible for the electronic in-game music. Outside of XS II, he is probably most well known for the Dragon Spirit(1987) and Ridge Racer(1993~Today) series. Having been at Namco for nearly a decade and at Arika for 4 years gave him more than enough experience in the industry. He created his own team of composers in 2000 called SuperSweep. So far, the majority of SuperSweep's creations deal with Shmups and Bishoujo(Pretty Girl) games. Hosoe creates the most hardcore electronic music out there, just listen to Rotterdam Nation '94 from Ridge Racer 2 to see what I mean ;)

4. Koji Hayama

Front Mission 3 may be the only project this guy will be known for around these parts, but by far his creativity is at its peak with the Cho Aniki series. Yes, THAT series. Hayama combines plenty of electric guitar with some of the wackiest vocal samples to be heard in VGM. Not so surprisingly, he is among the most respected composers in Japan. Just hearing one Cho Aniki soundtrack is more than enough to get his style.

5. Akira Yamaoka

Surely many of you know him for his amazing work on the Silent Hill series. His expertise with ambient music knowns no bounds, creates the most disturbing/bone-chilling sound effects for those games, and also provides some excellent rock pieces here and there. I don't think I need to elaborate more on him ;)

So there.

[gangsta_squall]

Okay well i apreciate that some of my favourite composers are not in Video games but you just said composers.

1. Danny Elfman - I like some of his works. He is the guy that you either love his music of you hate it. I think his best score for me was Big Fish because it was probably his composing that made me cry during the final scene. Its just immensely exhilerating listening to his music.

2. Thomas Newman - His score for Road To Perdition can be soft, dark, haunting, and beautiful. It gives you different moods, like happiness, dread, fear, danger, sadness, anger, and redemption. All this diversity of emotions makes it a joy to listen to. I like other scores in his works but this is my favourite. I also like the Shawshank Redemption score.

3. Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy sums it up in two words. I liked the FF8 and 10 scores the most. I think this is because they contained music which blended in well with the gameplay but more importantly i can listen to this remarkable songs off the game. Its relaxing and something to listen to when you want perfect ambience.

4. Tan Dun - In Hero he composed one of his most colorful and exuberant scores to date. The title song is perhaps the best tune i have heard in a long time in cinema.

5. Motoi Sakuraba - I love the work he did on the Tales series and Star Ocean. The songs he wrote suited the mood and made the games that bit more enjoyable because his music was wonderfully cheerful and uplifting.

[Mr. Saxman]

well, I prefer orchestral and jazz/blues over all else, so my choices ar going to be biased, of course (they are mine, after all...)

1. Joe Hisaishi- Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away (need i say more?). I deeply enjoy the Slavic feel that is present in most, if not all, of his music.

2. Nobuo Uematsu- Final Fantasy. Come on now, if you've played any of the games, you can understand why I have chosen Uematsu.

3. Tsuneo Imahori-Trigun. The music composed by Imahori has some of th ebest flow that I've ever felt in blues and jazz, and i, being a jazz musician, know somewhat what i'm tlaking about. Also, every song composed by Imahori has this great exotic feel to it that i feel is lacking in most music.

4. Whoever did the Rurouni Kenshin Background Music (i have the ost's, but cant read japanese, so i cant find out who the composer is...). Just an amazing ambient sound that fits perfectly with the scene that is going on.

5. Tan Dun- same reason as gangsta squall.

[Great_Demon]

Some will be anime, some will be VGM...

1. Joe Hisaishi - Yes for Nausicaa, Mononoke, Spirited Away and the others. The music other than suited the parts in the Anime films perfectly, you can listen to them and be relaxed (on some) and them being great just to listen too.

2. Nobuo Uematsu - Of course for the Final Fantasy games, especially 8 and 10 like gangsta_squall said, so my answer is the same has gangsta_squall's for this one.

3. Akira Ifukube - Ok not anime or VGM, but hes the composer for nealry all the Godzilla films, mainly the older ones and hes great. The music really suits the films and you can listen to them normally as there mainly classical and some of them can be relaxing. And who can remember the Godzilla theme, thats a great one of Akira's. (in no way do i mean the american version of Godzilla)

4. Michael Hoenig - For his work with the Baldur's Gate series on the PC. Especially the main themes, there were great and fitted well with the gameplay and certain main storyline sequences.

5. Ichiko Hashimoto - Mainly for her work with RahXephon, this anime has such lovely music and fits well with what happens in the series. Its also a good listen outside of the anime. Some songs have a jazz effect to them.

[Dragon God]

well, I prefer orchestral and jazz/blues

If you enjoy Jazz, I wholeheartedly reccomend looking into Yasuhisa Watanabe's works. His style would be a fusion of jazz and electronica. Very enjoyable if you let them grow on you.

My favorites from him :

Metal Black OST and Arranged "-The First-"
Kaiser Knuckle
Fighter's Impact
Elevator Action Returns
Border Down Vol. 1 and 2
Majokko de Go Go
Senko no Ronde Image Soundtrack

[Erick_Damon]

Yoko Kanno is my favorite composer. I have watched certain anime just because she did the music. All of her songs have a certain feel to them that I really enjoy. Even if the lyrics are in a foreign language you still can tell what the music is about.

Followed by Yasunori Mitsuda. I have played certain games just because he did the music. Even with hardware limitations his music always sounds good.

Those are about the only 2 composers I would check out a product just because they are involved with it. I also like E.S. Posthumus, Thomas Newman and John Williams. Most of the others already listed are also on my playlist.

[Tictac]

Toshiro Masuda - For his work on the Naruto OST.

[Escushion]

3. Akira Ifukube - Ok not anime or VGM, but hes the composer for nealry all the Godzilla films, mainly the older ones and hes great. The music really suits the films and you can listen to them normally as there mainly classical and some of them can be relaxing. And who can remember the Godzilla theme, thats a great one of Akira's. (in no way do i mean the american version of Godzilla)

My homeboy! :cool:

Ifikube is fantastic. Some complain about reusing themes, but they miss out on the fact that it's a theme. Even for some of the really awful 70's Godzilla movies, Ifikube treated them maturely as far as the music went (unfortunately, he didn't score all of them, so movies like Godzilla's Revenge have the double-problem of being both crappy and having a crappy score.)

He actually did some great work on the 90's Godzilla movies as well, and due to the increased budget, he was able to use some very high-class orchestras. The score for Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (American title) is probably the best score for a Godzilla movie and Ifikube's best work; it even has an early, though non-operatic rendition of the theme that would become "Godzilla's Requiem" in Godzilla vs Destoroyah.

[/geeking]

[Mr. Saxman]

If you enjoy Jazz, I wholeheartedly reccomend looking into Yasuhisa Watanabe's works. His style would be a fusion of jazz and electronica. Very enjoyable if you let them grow on you.

My favorites from him :

Metal Black OST and Arranged "-The First-"
Kaiser Knuckle
Fighter's Impact
Elevator Action Returns
Border Down Vol. 1 and 2
Majokko de Go Go
Senko no Ronde Image Soundtrack

hey, thanks! ill look into them. in fact, ill go listen to some samples right now...

[Dragon God]

I'm a terrible, terrible person ! I forgot about one particular Jazzy Square OST. Mr. Saxman, look up Racing Lagoon OST, it doesn't get more jazzier than that. Music by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi (FFX-2 Duo). Don't worry, this OST steamrolls FFX-2 in quality.

[Dead Aim]

Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy sums it up in two words. I liked the FF8 and 10 scores the most. I think this is because they contained music which blended in well with the gameplay but more importantly i can listen to this remarkable songs off the game. Its relaxing and something to listen to when you want perfect ambience.


I like Nobuo Uematsu's music too. Particularly in FFVII and FFX.

[Erick_Damon]

I'm a terrible, terrible person ! I forgot about one particular Jazzy Square OST. Mr. Saxman, look up Racing Lagoon OST, it doesn't get more jazzier than that. Music by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi (FFX-2 Duo). Don't worry, this OST steamrolls FFX-2 in quality.

Everything steamrolls FFX-2 in quality. I do actually like a few songs though. Then theres the songs that get stuck in your head. But I agree that is a much better soundtrack. I wish I had a chance to play the actual game.

Guess I will play FFX-2 now since I'm thinkin about it. Either that or Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2.

Time to fire up the Dreamcast :fft:

[Azhrei]

1. Koji Kondo - Perhaps 90% of Nintendo's EAD output has his music in there. From the simple but addictive Mario tunes to the haunting themes of Zelda, this man has proven over and over just where his genius lies.

2. Tim Follin - Legendary 8-bit composer, Follin has created some truly memorable tunes, and did great work on converting well known tunes to games. LED Storm, for example. I think his best work was on the C64 conversion of Ghouls'n'Ghosts. I've never heard the machine make such sounds.

3. Nobuo Uematsu - No need to explain.

That's only video and computer games composers, though... leaving out film composers here.

[Edgar]

Damn, I need new Ost's(which might happen in October). So I can put my list again here. Sakuraba is still my favorite though and will always be.

[Daiju]

My likes change now and then, depending on what I want to listen at the moment, but normaly: Yuki Kajiura (I officialy declare myself a Kajiura adict ^_^), Yasunori Mitsuda (Such dramatic and orchestral style... I love his latest album "Krite"), Motoi Sakuraba (Inspiring and active, funky at times, but on a good way), Yoko Kano (Lately I have not listened anything new from her, but what I have, I have liked) and Akira Yamaoka (Been listening a lot of Silent Hill songs lately...). There are a lot more (John Williams, Danny Elfman, Yoko Shimomura, Joe Hisaishi, Daisuke Ishiwatari, etc), but these will do.

[Hakumei Naru]

Why didn't I see this thread earlier?!

I'm a complete and utter music freak...so here goes...not in any particular order mind you...

Nobuo Uematsu
I don't need to tell people here what a genius this man is. The Final Fantasy OST's take up alot less hardrive space then I'd like them to ^_^

Motoi Sakuraba
This man has such a wonderful flare for using woodwind instruments. His talent with counter melodies is truly astonishing.

Yokko Kanno
Composer of soundtracks such as "Escaflowne", "Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex" and "Cowboy Bebop". The "Lovers Only" CD from Escaflowne is constantly in my DVD player.

Yuki Kajiura
The chord progressions in the wonderfully harmonised melodies of .hack//SIGN leave me speechless. The Madlax OST is also something to be marvelled at.

Joe Hisaishi
The soundtrack to "Princess Mononoke" is truly enchanting. I remember how happy I was when I found it in a shop in France for just 13 euros. I have listened to that CD to death, reincarnated it and listened to it to death again.

[Guts]

Well I have to go with Yokko Kanno all the way.

[Great_Demon]

Yuki Kajiura
The chord progressions in the wonderfully harmonised melodies of .hack//SIGN leave me speechless. The Madlax OST is also something to be marvelled at.

How could of i forgotten this one? that would actually rank number 5 on my list and does anyone know the composer who does all the Gundam Seed music? Now thats a great composer too.

[Daiju]

Yuki Kajiura
The chord progressions in the wonderfully harmonised melodies of .hack//SIGN leave me speechless. The Madlax OST is also something to be marvelled at.
How could of i forgotten this one? that would actually rank number 5 on my list and does anyone know the composer who does all the Gundam Seed music? Now thats a great composer too.

YOU ALL SHALL PRAISE KAJIURA, MWAHAHAHA!!!.... ehem...

She has done many other wonderful works, like Noir, Mai-Hime, Xenosaga Ep.2, EATMAN 98', Boogiepop and Others and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (and I think she will do the one for the XXXHolic anime too, but not sure).