Nobuo Uematsu

<strong>Nobuo Uematsu</strong> (植松 伸夫 ,Uematsu Nobuo?, born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese <strong>video game composer and musician</strong>, best known for scoring numerous <strong><u>Final Fantasy</u></strong> titles. He is one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community. Uematsu is a self-taught musician; he learned to play the piano at the age of eleven or twelve, with Elton John as his biggest influence. <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> Uematsu joined Square (later Square Enix) in 1986, where he became well-known for composing music for the Final Fantasy series. After nearly 20 years in the company, he left Square Enix in 2004 and founded his own company, called Smile Please. He has since composed music for video games primarily developed by Square Enix and Mistwalker as a freelancer. Several soundtracks and arranged albums from Uematsu's video game scores have been released. As a result of his success with video game music, various pieces of his work have been performed in concerts over the world. He formed a rock band called The Black Mages in 2003, who play arranged rock versions of Uematsu's compositions. The style of Uematsu's compositions is diverse, ranging from stately classical symphonic pieces and heavy metal to New Age and hyper-percussive techno-electronica. For example, in Lost Odyssey, the score ranges from classical orchestral arrangements to contemporary jazz and techno tracks. Uematsu is a big fan of Celtic and Irish music, and as such, some of his compositions contain elements from this music. The styles of Uematsu's Final Fantasy scores vary from upbeat, to dark and angry, to melancholy in nature. For instance, the music of Final Fantasy VIII is dark, while the soundtrack of Final Fantasy IX is more carefree and upbeat. The style of Uematsu's Final Fantasy music has resulted in him being named one of the "Innovators" in Time Magazine's "Time 100: The Next Wave — Music" feature. He has also been called the "John Williams of the video game world". <!--spoiler--></span></div> <em><u>Video game soundtracks</u> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> * Genesis (1985) * Cruise Chaser Blassty (1986) * Alpha (1986) * King's Knight (1986) * Suishō no Dragon (1986) * 3-D WorldRunner (1987) * Apple Town Story (1987) * JJ (1987) * Cleopatra no Mahou (1987) * Rad Racer (1987) * Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School (1987) * Final Fantasy (1987) * Aliens (1987) * Hanjuku Hero (1988) * Final Fantasy II (1988) – re-scored by Tsuyoshi Sekito on the WonderSwan Color and PlayStation versions (2000, 2002) * Square no Tom Sawyer (1989) * The Final Fantasy Legend (1989) * Final Fantasy III (1990) – re-scored with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Keiji Kawamori for the Nintendo DS version (2006) * Final Fantasy IV (1991) * Final Fantasy Legend II (1991) – with Kenji Ito * Final Fantasy V (1992) * Romancing SaGa 2 (1993) – with Kenji Ito * Final Fantasy VI (1994) * Chrono Trigger (1995) – with Yasunori Mitsuda and Noriko Matsueda (also with Tsuyoshi Sekito for the PlayStation version) * DynamiTracer (1995) * Front Mission: Gun Hazard (1996) – with Yasunori Mitsuda, Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano * Final Fantasy VII (1997) * Final Fantasy VIII (1999) * Final Fantasy IX (2000) * Final Fantasy X (2001) – with Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano * Final Fantasy XI (2002) – with Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka * Hanjuku Hero Tai 3D (2002) * Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2003) – with Hitoshi Sakimoto * Hanjuku Hero 4: 7-Jin no Hanjuku Hero (2005) – with Kenichiro Fukui, Hirosato Noda, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Naoshi Mizuta, Kenichi Mikoshiba, Ai Yamashita, and Kenji Ito * Final Fantasy XII (2006) – with Hitoshi Sakimoto * Blue Dragon (2006) * Lost Odyssey (2007) * Anata o Yurusanai (2007) * Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) – with several others * Lord of Vermilion (2008) * Blue Dragon Plus (2008) * AWAY Shuffle Dungeon (2008) * Final Fantasy XIII (2009) – with Masashi Hamauzu * Blue Dragon 2 (TBA) * Cry On (canceled) Other works * Final Fantasy IV Celtic Moon (1991) – with Máire Breatnach * Phantasmagoria (1994) * Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII (1999) * Ah! My Goddess: The Movie (2000) – with Shiro Hamaguchi * Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack PLUS (2000) * Piano Collections Final Fantasy IX (2001) * Final Fantasy: Unlimited Music Adventure Version 1 (2001) – with Shiro Hamaguchi * Final Fantasy: Unlimited Music Adventure Version 2 (2002) – with Shiro Hamaguchi and Akifumi Tada * The Black Mages (2003) * Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII (2003) * The Black Mages II: The Skies Above (2004) * Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (2005) * The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight (2008) * Guin Saga (2009) </em> <!--spoiler--></span></div> All this is <!--link--><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuo_Uematsu">Wiki Information</a> Visit <!--link--><a href="http://www.lastfm.es/group/Nobuo+Uematsu+Fanclub">Last Fm FanClub</a> and <!--link--><a href="http://www.nobuouematsu.com/">Nobuo Uematsu's oficial web</a>