Piano arrange albums you *wish* existed

[Ramza]

I had fought for years for an *official* piano solo arrangement of FF I-III ... and either due to hearing my plea, or because they had nothing better to do, Square Enix made it happen (it was probably the latter, let's face it!).

It wasn't the best album, but I am extremely happy that it exists and really do enjoy the arrangements there.

And yet, there are so many other games, franchises, or composer's works I'd love to see morphed into advanced / intricate / liberal piano solo arrangements and officially published by the rights-owner(s).

For all you other piano lovers out there, what's on your wishlist?

Here are a few on mine:

1. Final Fantasy Tactics -- I think this is bound to happen after Casey Ormond did FFXII (and Senjou no Valkyria). He has an in with Sakimoto and he's shown that he knows how to properly treat Sakimoto's work. There's no reason this album *won't* happen, and many fans want it.

1b. Ogre Battle / Tactics Ogre -- again, Casey Ormond.

2. A "Piano SQ" album -- y'know all of Square Enix's "SQ" albums where they freely arrange music from the entire gameography (from the "Square" side), mostly focused on 8-bit thru 32-bit? This concept, throw out the Final Fantasy main series, and see what comes of it. So you can get SaGa, Seiken Densetsu, Livealive, Bahamut Lagoon, Front Mission, Tobal, *whatever* -- idk, could be good.

3. Lunar/Grandia/Iwadare -- I think the piano stuff at the end of the "Silver Star Harmony" bonus disc with Machiko Naruke showed a lot of promise. I honestly believe Iwadare's style lends itself to the stripped-down piano solo style. Character themes, town themes, battle themes. These three, across the Lunar and Grandia franchises, ought to make for great piano work. Given to the right arranger/performer it could be something really special.

4. CAVE shooting works -- particularly, across all the franchises, I think Mushihimesama and Espgaluda could be made into wonderful piano solo work. In the vein of "concerto" piano. Big, sweeping arrangements, like what was done with Kingdom Hearts Field&Battle. Or maybe something a little more abstract and subtle, like ... any of the slower Hamauzu pieces. In fact, Hamauzu taking on this source material would be a dream come true for me.

5. Ys Piano Collections III -- using the source material of Ys V thru Ys SEVEN(and Origin?), a true continuation of the first two piano albums. But with someone other than M. Fujisawa at the helm. Something good could happen, maybe?

6. Legend of Dragoon -- just a personal favorite with lots of great tracks that could easily go piano-solo. The four "World Map" themes, the main vocal theme, boss battle ... if they ever remade this game, it'd be a good opportunity to revisit the music.

[_if]

I want Sakimoto to do a piano album. Of anything. I don't care as long as he puts in his usual fantastic work. He doesn't often use piano in his music, but when he does it shows how beautifully and creatively he can handle it. Listen to "Sky Ray" from Stella Deus BGM ReArrange Album or "Lost Forest" for examples.

Also, wouldn't Treasure Hunter G be a great source for a piano album? Tons of great, diverse music to choose from. With the right arranger, it could be quite a fun ride.

[Carl]

Castlevania Piano Collection

Darius Piano Collection

Namco Piano Collection

[Nisto]

Zelda is good for piano imo.

Wind Waker could be great, I think.

Also, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, dammit (which would probably be even better)!

[Dag]

Shin Megami Tensei / Persona? Somebody did one here and sounds quite fun.

[Ramza]

Originally Posted by Dag

Shin Megami Tensei / Persona? Somebody did one here and sounds quite fun.

Yes, I've heard that, and I think it's decent. I think that source music would be tough to do anything on piano with other than transcription of main melody, harmony, bass, rhythm. The thing about SMT is that it's already *so* well-defined and so ... I don't know ... it just seems like a real challenge to limit that music to one instrument and do something fun with it.

[strugglepoo]

Little Nemo: The Dream Master would be perfect for me. It's got a great melodic, classical vibe to it. Plus it's super catchy.