If I had to personally pick which game series had the best music in video game history, it wouldn't be Super Mario, Zelda or even the powerhouse that is Final Fantasy. Eking out Nobuo Uematsu's classic soundtracks would be those of Nobunaga's Ambition, a series of fairly obscure (in the U.S.) strategy games based on the Sengoku period in Japanese history. The reason is that, from its beginning in the 1980s, Nobunaga has been in the hands of two fantastic composers: Yoko Kanno (who I've introduced before) and Kousuke Yamashita. Although Uematsu has crafted classics themes in all of his soundtracks, Kanno and Yamashita's albums contain a home run in nearly every single track. Although Final Fantasy has more recognizable music and far more popularity, it's Nobunaga's consistent excellence that puts it over the top.
I posted one song from Nobunaga's Ambition before - "The Beacon", which was performed at the second Game Music Concert. That one was composed by Yoko Kanno, and where Kanno's soundtracks excelled in their diversity and eclecticism, Yamashita sticks to straight orchestral arrangements. The result, when looking at the series as a whole, is an interesting evolution in the games' music, especially since Kanno began transitioning into mostly orchestral scores just before Yamashita took over. Today's song is from Tendou, which is the most recent game in the series (released in 2009) and is scored by Yamashita. It is the main menu music to the game and contains an unusually powerful arrangement for a menu screen, which are usually more restrained in game soundtracks. If Nobunaga's Ambition can keep up this level of soundtrack quality, here's hoping another game isn't too far in the future.
Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/15339
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