Lose Yourself in the Music of Kingdom Hearts

I haven’t done a review on the video game Kingdom Hearts yet, simply because I think it’ll take up a lot of time and energy, but one thing that I happened to enjoy out of the game was the music. Kingdom Hearts is a take on both Disney and Final Fantasy-based worlds, meshing the two together to get one interesting, bazaar plot. Nevertheless, even though I criticized it a ton when it came out, I grew to love it. That phrase “Don’t knock it until you try it” really works, because I didn’t think Final Fantasy characters would ever work with the silly Disney animations. However, I was proven wrong, and as the characters blended together within the plot, the music styles between both genres had to be combined as well.

As Final Fantasy is a role-playing based game, the music tends to be on the serious side to accompany an intricate story. Well, except for Final Fantasy X-2. Disney, however, has to have the silly tunes once in awhile for their cute animated characters, and I’m sure trying to merge the two types of music together for the developers was no picnic. The music, as I was pleasantly surprised, turned out to be very wonderfully blended score to assist the overall atmosphere of Kingdom Hearts. Some scenes were dark and mysterious, some were light and bubbly, and some, of course, had to have the occasional Disney comic relief.

Almost the entire soundtrack was probably done by electronic keyboard and other computer-mediated instruments, but the dominating instruments were piano, trumpets, and snare drums. The piano is a beautiful instrument that gives the game credit to its soft, dramatic, and occasionally sad side. The trumpets and snare drums are always reminiscent of battle scenes; the trumpets constantly blaring in the background signify a “charge!” feel, while the snare drums swiftly beat and march as a fight is drawn out. Usually, there is a chorus in the background (most likely an artificial one), but it still gives the game a serious and dramatic sensation. I don’t know about you, but I feel that if you add a choir to anything, your music is automatically transformed into something beautiful. I also love love LOVE piano, and therefore anything with piano totally grabs my undivided and heartfelt attention. The Kingdom Hearts original soundtrack especially kept my interest because of the numerous tracks containing piano.

However, half of the soundtrack contains Disney-related themes, or if the music isn’t pulled straight from a Disney movie, it’s made to sound pretty darn close. Most of the tracks for the “world” themes are happy and upbeat, dominated by oboe (I guess for that cartoony effect), xylophone, electronic “honky-tonk” keyboard, and strings. However, as each world is different, the atmosphere created by the music changes as well. For instance, in “Deep Jungle,” there’s a variety of drums and tribal-type sounds and percussion used. In “A Day in Agrabah,” a few violins are used as well as a xylophone, but the tune changes to a middle-eastern style. Unfortunately, hardly any of the original songs from the Disney movies are used except for “Under the Sea” and “Winnie the Pooh,” which I think would’ve worked a little better, but that’s just me.

Listed below are the songs on the Kingdom Hearts original soundtrack, contained on two discs. I didn’t delve into every single song because some are pretty plain, others are too short, and a few are just downright annoying (thus, the asterisk). The good music overpowers the bad, however. I picked out a few noteworthy tracks and commented on those.

* = annoying as hell

[Disc 1]

1. Dearly Beloved (1:12) – The introductory screen of the game, before you log in. The soft piano and lonely, slow harmony repeats over and over in the game, but it’s a short intro on the CD.

2. Hikari (Kingdom), performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra (3:42) – If you let a game sit there at the intro screen for too long, it’ll launch into short little cutscenes, accompanied by orchestrated music. In this case, strings and trumpets erupt into the noble, brave battles, accompanied by snare drums and plenty of cymbals.

3. Simple and Clean, performed by Utada Hikaru (2:33) – The introductory song that has a techno-feel with plenty of beat and bass, but gorgeous singing. The actual genre of the song seems to be the black sheep compared to the other orchestrated versions, but it’s definitely catchy.

4. Dive into the Heart – Destati (4:57) – A melancholy, mysterious song that involves a few low chords of piano and a choir (that is obviously electronic rather than human). The song is slow-paced and even adds a little “scary” factor into it, because the choir sounds as if Armageddon’s about to take place pretty soon. The song picks up about halfway with low beats and electronic-keyboard mediated flutes and tubas, giving off the “serious battle” aura.

5. Destiny Islands (1:49)
6. Bustin’ Up on the Beach (2:01)
7. Mickey Mouse Club March (1:02) - M, I, C...K, E, Y...M-O-U-S-E! Ahem. Sorry.
8. Treasured Memories (1:45) – a lone piano solo that you’ll hear periodically throughout the game.
9. Strange Whispers (0:55)
10. Kairi 1 (1:19) – a character’s theme song with soft flute and piano
11. It Began with a Letter (1:32)
12. A Walk in Andante (1:18)
13. Night of Fate (2:06) – a dramatic song that depicts the beginning of the end. Anvil strikes, piano, soft trumpets, flutes, and deep bass chords sprint through the song as you can imagine a dark, windy night full of sinister things.
14. Destiny’s Force (2:50) – a battle song with plenty of drums, strings, and trumpets
15. Where Is This? (1:42) – A soft, slow, curious song that starts out with drawn-out strings, but progresses with a little flute, piano, and oboe. Reminiscent of “A Walk in Andante”
16. Traverse Town (1:21)*
17. The Heartless Has Come (0:55)
18. Shrouding Dark Cloud (2:15)
19. Blast Away! Gummi Ship 1 (1:50)*
20. Tricksy Clock (0:38)
21. Welcome to Wonderland (1:53)*
22. To Our Surprise (2:14)
23. Turning the Key (0:16)
24. Olympus Coliseum (2:08)
25. Road to a Hero (1:30)
26. Go for it! (2:05)
27. No Time to Think (0:33) – That’s for sure. Sweeping, slicing strings and fast drums sound kinda scary.
28. Deep Jungle (3:00)
29. Having a Wild Time (2:25)
30. Holy Bananas! (2:16)
31. Squirming Evil (1:54)
32. Hand in Hand (2:26)
33. Kairi 2 (1:03)
34. Merlin’s Magical House (1:46)
35. Winnie the Pooh (2:28) – at least they didn’t change this theme.
36. Bounce-o-rama (1:48)*
37. Just an Itty Bitty Too Much (0:40)
38. Once Upon a Time (0:21)
39. Shipmeisters’ Humoresque (2:11)
40. Precious Stars in the Sky (1:08)
41. Blast Away! Gummi Ship 2 (1:50)*

[Disc 2]

1. A Day in Agrabah (2:22)
2. Arabian Dream (2:03)
3. Villains of a Sort (1:33)
4. A Very Small Wish (2:16)*
5. Monstrous Monstro (1:56)
6. Friends in my Heart (1:30) – a soft piano solo
7. Under the Sea (1:54) – at least they kept this one, too
8. An Adventure in Atlantis (2:03)
9. A Piece of Peace (1:00)
10. An Intense Situation (0:48)
11. The Deep End (2:14)
12. This is Halloween (2:22)
13. Spooks of Halloween (2:14)
14. Oopsy-Daisy (0:21)
15. Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship (2:06)
16. Pirate’s Gigue (1:45)
17. Neverland Sky (1:26)
18. Kairi 3 (1:35)
19. Blast Away! Gummi Ship 3 (1:51)
20. Hollow Bastion (2:26) – one of my favorite “world” songs in the game. It’s full of fast-paced piano, strings, an occasional lone clarinet, and a dark chorus that hums in the background. The song is actually very beautiful, in a sinister, mysterious way.

21. Scherzo di note (1:49) – the battle theme to go along with "Hollow Bastion." It’s fast-paced as well with high strings and snare drums that march the tune forward.

22. Forze del male (3:38) – another confrontational battle song, full of angst, that includes an organ, accompanied by a piano, fast strings, snare drums, and the occasional trumpet.

23. Hikari (Kingdom Hearts Instrumental Version) (1:10) – the theme of "Hikari" played more slowly with an organ, piano, and flute

24. Miracle (0:16)

25. End of the World (3:14) – a melancholy choir assists low piano chords again, along with a few strums of a harp and a few electronic chiming sounds. If you listen close enough, you can hear the choir murmur “Destati,” and the whole song is a slow, eerie indication that all will be lost if the hero doesn’t beat the bad guy...

26. Fragments of Sorrow (2:18) – Pounding drums in the background pick up the pace as flutes, strings, and the choir sing “Destati” over and over, reminding the character the urgency of the situation...

27. Guardando nel buio (4:25) – Finally, the boss battle. Strings, soft harp, piano, oboe, a few tambourines, snare drums, and the voices of the choir harmonize together for the fight for humanity.

28. Beyond the Door (1:08) – An organ solo and the choir in the background bring the final battle to a close

29. Always on My Mind (1:47) – Soft piano, chorus, and strings accompany the sad ending of Riku being separated from Sora…will they ever see each other again?

30. Hikari, performed by Hikaru Utada (5:04) – Hikari again, this time performed more slowly with acoustic guitar and a little bit of electronic keyboard sounds, losing the techno feel

31. March Caprice for Piano and Orchestra, performed by Kaoru Wada and the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra (5:13) – I always love the ending credits, because it’s 100% orchestra and sounds absolutely wonderful. A lone piano is accompanied by strings and the flutter of a flute. The song transforms into an anthem-like theme a fourth of the way through, filling the atmosphere with the feel of success and mission complete. The piano picks back up again into a beautiful solo and then the “anthem” repeats, coming to a loud close with drums and trumpets.

32. Hand in Hand, reprise (0:55)

33. Dearly Beloved, reprise (1:20)

34. Destati, performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus (2:54) – The gorgeous chorus that sings its dramatic, angst-ridden battle cry, accompanied by the full orchestra.

Overall: Three stars since half the soundtrack is crap I don't listen to, but if you like the score while you play the game, give this it a try. It stirs the imagination. I believe that video game soundtracks are pretty rare to come by and it’s always new and fun to listen to them, especially without having to hear magic spells, Donald yelling “Waak!”, or Sora yelling and grunting as he’s chopping Heartless aside. Of course, there’s always that unavoidable, annoying world theme song that makes you hit the “skip” button, but the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack is definitely full of the worthwhile tunes that I found myself listening to over and over again.

This review was submitted in support of the fight against breast cancer.