Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy VIII: Original Soundtrack

As far as game soundtracks go, FFVIII's is among the best. There's a good balance of styles: traditional orchestral arrangements, relaxing acoustic tracks, jazz-influenced songs, piano ballads, and even a bit of techno. The album is an emotional rollercoaster and the songs are really what helped defined the game's moods and situations - as I was listening, they brought to mind various scenarios within the game, and this is after several years of not playing it. I guess the centerpiece of the four CDs is the single vocal track featuring Faye Wong, "Eyes On Me". While it's not one of my favorites, it's decent and it reprises into vocal form the familiar melody found in several songs. As with most soundtracks, there are a couple of tracks that it would have been best to leave out, such as "Shuffle Or Boogie" and several tracks around a minute long that don't really go anywhere. But in general, this is an excellent soundtrack and is one of the best available from a videogame.