Classical Composer Reaction/Analysis to FINAL FANTASY: ONE WINGED ANGEL | The Daily Doug Ep. 715 

"I was not ready." On our first time hearing this, neither were any of us.

Video game music (especially Final Fantasy) is insane. Imagine getting an entire professional orchestra together for crab battle number #2.

It's such an iconic piece of music. I was watching a friend play Kingdom Hearts and at the end of the arena, Sephiroth is the final boss. We're looking at each other saying, "It's a kids game. How hard can he be?" *Bum bum bum bum* One Winged Angel starts playing and we both go wide eyed and our cocky demeanor drops. My friend, totally deadpan: "I'm gonna die." And he did. A lot.

This theme is basically the equivalent to the imperial march theme for movies. You hear the first couple of notes and know who and what is coming.

This piece was originally written without the rock band in mind. They were incorporated when the music was reworked for the film. I was actually at the concert where this version was premiered for the world. I had to scoop my melted face off the floor when they finished performing. Hands down my best concert experience.

Uematsu is an absolute musical genius who has composed some of the greatest melodies I have ever heard. Finaly Fantasy 6 and 7 are two of the greatest OSTs!

I absolutely love watching composers who are not very familiar with video games or anime listen to One Winged-Angel specifically because the song is such a masterpiece and always, always stuns the person listening for the first time. The song is wild, powerful, beautiful, and technically crazy. Uematsu is a legend, and his work in Final Fantasy always made me go "this is where the legendary classical composers of old would be today." I'm sure other people have mentioned it before, but watching Uematsu explain how he wrote the song in little bite sized pieces and then rearranged them like a scrambled puzzle is incredible.

Now.. imagine the one creating this masterpeice didn't even go in any music class/school when creating its original. Uematsu was a pure raw diamond

When the music changes at 9:54 and you say "Sorry, you don't win the game this time"...that is when Sephiroth uses his ultimate skill with a very long animation where a giant meteor destroys most of the planets and then the sun explodes, and then the final stage starts.

for most of us who were teenagers at the time, one winged angel is the first time we realize orchestra can go well with heavy metal

This is arguably one of the best known pieces in video game music. A fun fact: One-Winged Angel is usually the encore piece at concerts on the Distant Worlds tour, featuring music from the Final Fantasy series. The conductor, Arnie Roth, also encourages the audience to participate in this piece. It’s quite impressive to hear a concert hall full of nerds singing, “Seph-I-Roth!” on cue from the conductor whenever it comes up in the song.

One of the most amazing experiences I have ever had was listening to Uematsu perform this version of this song live with the World Philharmonic Orchestra and The Black Mages.

This piece hits so much harder when you understand the character of Sephiroth. The moods accurately depict all the angles of his character development; militaristic, compassionate mentor, graceful but deadly in battle.... then the twists and turns where his psyche turns evil, manipulative, menacing, instilling dread in the player. SUCH a masterpiece, one of my favorite pieces of music of all time, easily.

"To Zarnakand" "Melodies of life" "Liberi Fatali" "Eyes on me" They're more complete than the infinite loop music that appears in most of the games.

I didn't expect algorithm to bring me here, but I'm glad it did. It's always super charming to get impressions on music I've loved for decades from musicians and composers who've never even been to the same planet!

Masayoshi Soken is another AMAZING Final Fantasy composer. He is extremely versatile as well.

You NEED to get to more Nobuo Uematsu, I would LOVE to hear your take on Dancing Mad. Uematsu is a genius.

I'm glad you're listening to this! To be honest, I know people love this version, but the original from the game itself just has tons more clarity for the melody and motifs

I remember getting to sephiroth when I played. I was overleveled for the the difficulty, but hearing the first 20 seconds of this song I remember very well thinking "Am I about to lose? Can I even win?" Ive never had music make me question myself like that. Amazing experience

there are 16 mainline final fantasy games and a whopping _81_ spin offs/sequels and the infamous Uematsu was *never* formally trained in music. he was largely self-taught but took great heaps of inspiration from music of all genres

Now it's time for some "Dancing Mad." I got to meet Nobuo Uematsu during one of the Final Fantasy concerts. He gives off such humble and wise vibes.

10:15 "Where is this going" In the original game, this is usually the part of the fight where Sephiroth attacks you by blowing up the entire solar system

This is why the original and remake are amongst my absolute favourite games ever played. The game and music were made with so much passion and talent. This song matches Sephiroths sheer power and ability, and anything less wouldn't have done him justice. It's really nice to see someone who's an expert experience this piece for the first time.

He does have a metal band called The Black Mages that does covers of FF music. So I think this of the song perfectly shows his love for both classical and metal music. Edit: he used to run that band it ended years ago, his current band is Earthbound Papas

This song hits so hard that if you watch streamers reacting to fighting Sephiroth at the end of the remake most of them don't panic when they see Sephiroth landing they panic when the song decides they should xD Uematsu is a madlad.

I stumbled across this when taking a break from a composition, and I am so happy I did. "One-Winged Angel" was what got me into music, and hearing that it's still blowing people away makes me so, so happy. Thank you for the fun video!

I want you to know when we were kids and played it in 1997, it wasn't this version, but this is how we heard it. Song gives me chills!

One WInged Angel is great and the most popular track from FF7, but I think the most interesting one is Jenova's Theme (often written as J-E-N-O-V-A). You should give it a listen too, especially the orchestral arrangements of it.

PLEASE listen to the original version of Dancing Mad before an orchestral version. You have to know and understand the limitations he was working with to be able to fully appreciate what a masterpiece it is. Then go and listen to the Distant Worlds version to hear the music that it always was under the bleeps and bloops.

I've written a story that was published on Bandcamp called C'mon Newcomer about how Nobuo Uematsu's music (specifically the Bombing Mission song from FFVII) changed my life entirely. The dude is a genius and it cannot be denied that things he does have this strong identity and hit you in the feels exactly how he planned them to. I don't have words to describe Master Uematsu's work. It's just... You know... It's... godddamn, guys... You know

Just listening to your outside understanding of what you're about to react to over the first couple of minutes was enough to make me really want to watch this whole thing and start to follow you. Very cool to watch your reactions to this.

This version used to be the fan favorite for many years, but now there is One Wing Angel Rebirth, which is from the remake of the game (and which won several awards for soundtrack of the year), I recommend it for a future episode 😉

The whole, "let's make a stew" idea is exactly it. It's one of the big reason's I listen to Japanese bands/composers on such a regular basis. Pop song? Let's throw some heavy metal guitars in there; Metal song? Let's add a shamisen solo. There's just a lot of creativity. I got to meet Uematsu-san at a fan convention once; funny guy. He didn't want us to know he majored in English, since he needed two translators because, "I'm terrible at English..."

Welcome to your Final Fantasy Journey! Nobou Uematsu was absolutely a huge part of what formed my love for a variety of styles of music and the near seemless transitions from classical, to modern rock. Soken is considered his spiritual successor at Square. Worth looking in to his work as well. His situation during the making of Shadowbringers is both heart breaking, and inspiring.

Masayoshi Soken is another BRILLIANT composer and he works on Final Fantasy XIV..so many fantastic songs for the entirety of the mmo...between the grand boss musics to the atmospheric area songs everything is just brilliant

Nobuo Uematsu is a delightful rabbit hole of delight. He has he normal Final Fantasy music then he made a separate group called the Black Mages that took that music and added the modern electric rock instruments and this version of One Winged Angel is one of those pieces. He also wrote a operetta for one of the games, The man is a master in his craft. His magnum opus IMO is Dancing Mad. The quality of music he got out of midi on the Super Nintendo is astounding, and the arranged full orchestral versions are masterpieces.

Never has a piece inspired such excitement and dread as One Winged Angel. Every time I hear it I think "Yes! Time to fight Sephiroth! The hardest boss!" Then I go "Oh. I have to fight SEPHIROTH."

My favorite version of my favorite piece of video game music. I was at a live concert where they world premiered this version and I held my breath the whole time. Just so amazing.

I'm very glad that you happened to pick the best recording of this piece to react to. The midi version is still very impactful and there are some orchestral recordings without the rock band that are very well done, but this version just has an incredible impact. My first exposure to it was watching the movie and by that point I already knew the piece and knew it would be somewhere in the movie and then when the guitar started playing I was completely floored.

Nobuo Uematsu is a modern day musical genius! Close to 30 years later, and I still can’t listen to this tune without tears coming to my eyes 🥹 Glad you enjoyed this! 👏👏👏

It's a pleasure to see someone who is knowledgeable about music react with excitement about a song you already love

I just found your channel with this video, and I love it. I am a classically trained opera singer (dramatic coloratura soprano), and I also wrote my dissertation on "One-Winged Angel." I am also a big video game and anime nerd. I am so pleased that the Western music world is catching up on decades of music they have been robbed of simply because it's in a medium people didn't take seriously for a long time. I have had the incredible good fortune to speak with Uematsu-san and pick his brain on his methods, inspirations, and legacy. Long comment long, your enthusiasm in broadening your musical horizons has brought a smile to my face and a new subscriber to your channel. 💜

This made me genuinely happy. I still have my original copy of FFVII and my DVD of Advent Children. I have watched and played both innumerable times from childhood to now. I thoroughly enjoy watching individuals discover this song. Thank you.

Hell yeah!! I've been waiting for Doug to tackle this one since he started video game stuff.

You, my good sir, have opened the Pandora’s box of video game music. Uematsu covers an extremely wide variety of musical styles, instrumentation, arrangements , themes and is even a fascinating demonstration of how to make the most out of whatever technology is available at the time. For me personally he is as influential to my love of music as was Zappa and Dream Theater. I look forward to you diving into his catalog. I’m sure everyone is screaming Dancing Mad at you right now so I am going to also: DANCING MAD!!!

Uematsu and Final Fantasy were my introduction to discover/enjoy classical music when I was around 8 and first popped Final Fantasy VIII. That intro with Liberi Fatali completely blew my mind. At that point FF games didn't include voiced protagonist, everything was text based for the adventure. Therefore the music played a huge role in conveying the different moods of the story. I'd always cherish the opportunity I had to watch the Distant Worlds Orchestra World Tour perform when they came to Buenos Aires. One-Winged Angel was the final song and all of us in the audience performed the vocals as a huge choir. Really powerful and memorable moment. Hope we can see you giving it a go to more songs from the series. Maybe now that a new game of the FFVII series is launching (29/02), Aerith's Theme would kinda be the 'counterpoint' to Sephiroth's theme. From Uematsu, i think Liberi Fatali from FFVIII, Dancing Mad or Opera-Maria & Draco from FFVI would be interesting pieces for you to listen. Outsides Uematsu's work but still in the series, Apocalypse Noctis (from FFXV/ Yoko Shimomura), The Beggining of The End (from FFType-0 Takeharu Ishimoto). If you happen to be interested on more, I'd recommend giving it a go to the Distant Worlds albums which include orchestral arrangement of many great songs from the series. Cheers!

One of my favorite things in the world is watching someone getting blown away by this soundtrack. watching you absolutely vibe just made my week. You're just wonderful, immediate sub, I'm hooked.

Thanks for finally listening to Nobuo Uematsu. He's my all time favorite composer. This song was actually so massive that there was a significant load time before the final Sephiroth encounter. I'm sure it's not even there on the later re-releases, but I remember being scared that my game might had crashed back in the day.

You gotta do Dancing Mad from FF6 next. It’s Nobuo Uematsu’s greatest work

Hello! Just found your channel, Doug. I've been playing games in the Final Fantasy series since I was 12 years old (I'm 34 now). It's so fascinating to watch someone with an experienced music background listen to One Winged Angel for the first time. The modern age of the internet allows for such unique crossovers of media and art. :)

😂 Literally less than a second in and that's a -PERFECT- reaction to hearing One Winged Angel for the first time. Now imagine being a teen, and despite the midi sound, you've just had a few difficult boss battles, the screen goes black and you just hear THIS start to play. It's literally the definition of 'why do I hear boss music?' And it is so very iconic. Just the first note is enough to identify the song

The Advent Children version of One Winged Angel is my absolute favorite! Ever since 2005 and it STILL gives me chills! That guitar throughout is beautiful and the solo omg it is just 🤌🏻❤ Uematsu also likes bluegrass. You can hear its influence in Final Fantasy 10.

Idk anything about music making but the fact you had the same reaction we did when we played it is awesomeness

So fun thing I found out about this song when watching a documentary. He said that as he was making the song bits and pieces of it would come to him at different times and when he thought he had all of it down he then had to lay all the music down and arrange it into the way it's played out now.

This has got to be one of the best reactions to One Winged Angel I've ever watched.

Love this version. What I didn't love is how old I felt when you said Advent Children came out in 2005.

I love how Uematsu, who didn't even know music at the time, looked at video games and thought "this is the type of music video games deserve". He went back to the classics, to some of the best songs of all time and though yup this is what kids should hear when swinging swords and throwing fireballs. The game makers can barely fit anything in game cartridges back then but they decided music deserves the space.

Love the video, great commentary, loved your reaction to Sephiroth!

Uematsu is a massive prog rock fan. A lot of his tracks show a strong influence of King Crimson, ELP and also Deep Purple.

As much as I love this orchestral arrangement, the midi composition using 1990s tech is a *modern marvel of musical craftsmanship*. It's like if Rite of Spring was originally performed on a kazoo and was still an absolute banger.

The fact that I don’t know any kind of musical jargon like you do but have played the games for full context of the story and you immediately pointed out the militaristic sound to the beginning of the song is so damn cool because it plays into the themes leading up to that final showdown in such a major way. Ahh music, bringing people together no matter where it comes from. It’s so incredibly beautiful to be able to listen to such varied genres with an open mind. I have no idea where I got it from, because it sure wasn’t my family, but I cherish it.

Thank you for sharing tour thoughts and emotion. I had so much listening to it again.

supposedly, for this specific song, he had a dozen to 16 or more musical phrases, each no more than a few bars and totally disconnected from each other that he'd written down piecemeal, and then got the idea to stitch them all together like a puzzle into a single composition. that's why it shifts so suddenly and has all those twists and turns. this is the only song he's done like that. which is why it's so unique and instantly recognizable to fans.

Nobuo is just the greatest game composer ever. Final Fantasy VI's overworld theme, aka Terra's Theme. It's an awesome example of what I think he's best at, which is leitmotif composition. Preferably orchestrated, though I love the old 16 bit midi version, would be incredible to see a reaction to. There's one done by an independent group called Orchestral Fantasy that's not only faithful, but it adds a key modulation that makes it just explode. Short, too, under 4:00.

I've been watching a lot of musical professionals of various backgrounds react to game music lately and I am SO THRILLED to stumble upon your channel. Your open-mindedness to video game music is positively wonderful (there's still quite a stigma around "games are art" from many people) and your research and curiosity to educate yourself before jumping in is fantastic. I hope you wouldn't mind exploring many tracks from many of the games - Final Fantasy music is legendary for a reason!

I just love seeing it’s crazy energy coarse through you😂, so glad I found you man you have a new subscriber❤

The composers for the Final Fantasy series have always been amazing visionaries. They do extremely crazy, far out there, amazing compositions and scores that defy all genres. They combine and mix and alter and experiment to the maximum, creating so much great music that sounds like nothing else. Nobuo Uematsu and Masayoshi Soken are a couple of the absolute most amazing music creators. I'd heavily recommend checking out their other tracks across the series. They aren't confined to one sound or one genre, they do a bit of everything all over the place.

wait till he heres Dancing Mad

I'm in tears hearing you react to this, growing up, FF7 has been a huge part of my life, as well as music in all levels and forms, hearing your praise for music from a medium I live in really means a lot. Thank you for checking out this piece and analyzing it, it means a lot to hear a lot of what I studied broken down into the realms I love

I always learn so much from your videos.

You have entered the world of Nobuo Uematsu. One of the greatest video game musicians ever. first time I heard this I got chills.

Dancing Mad from FF VI has to come next! It'd be a good dive to old game music compositions considering limitations at the time.

Thank you for reminding me of one of my favorite pieces of music to date.

I love hearing from professionals on things I love cause I learn new things that I love. The spring music interpretation was new to me.

The Advent Children OST is one of those incredible examples of metal guitar and symphony coming together

I adore how you were able to completely predict certain moments but were still completely surprised by others.

Wonderful analysis and discussion on the ever-classic, One Winged Angel! From the more recent JRPG soundtracks, I'd like really like to see you to analyze the soundtracks of Octopath Traveler, where Yasunori Nishiki does a jaw-dropping job in creating an epic orchestral role-playing soundscape, shifting around in a sea of classic composer influences and at times, I felt it was unbelievable this work is actually from recent history instead of ages past. Then again, I'll be happy with any RPG -soundtrack you decide to delve into, I'm all ears with your insights! 👌

One Winged Angel hits like a bus the first time you hear it. Especially that arrangement. It's so freakin' cool. Glad you liked it! Subscribed!

You know you've got something good on your hands when a "Video Game" soundtrack is so bloody amazing that you go out and buy the CD - back when they were available - even though it was an import and cost a boatload of money...this soundtrack is one of the greatest of all time. Thanks for covering it, Doug!

"Nobuo Uematsu - Dancing Mad (FFVI)" You won't be disappointed.

In 2004, before the Electronic Entertainment Expo started that year, there was the Dear Friends Final Fantasy Concert performed by the LA Philharmonic Orchestra. Nobuo Uematsu was actually at the concert in the audience seats with his wife because the guy who voiced Tidus was the MC and he specifically introduced Uematsu to everyone in the concert hall. On top of that, Yoshitaka Amano and Hironobu Sakaguchi were also present and they also said their greetings to everyone in the concert hall. Then the concert wrapped up by playing ONE WINGED ANGEL as the final piece for the night. ONE WINGED ANGEL has a special place in my heart because my seat in the concert hall happened to be right in front of where the choir was so hearing "ESTUANS INTERIUS IRA VEHEMENTI ESTUANS INTERIUS IRA VEHEMENTI SEPHIROTH!!!" right behind me is a pretty awesome experience.

Love watching people discover the Final Fantasy catalog. I'd love to see a discussion on some of the older stuff like Dancing Mad or Maria and Draco.

This is the theme of a character named Sephiroth, you can hear the chorus chanting his name. He’s completely lost his mind & gone genocidal, but he wasn’t always that way. The bit at 9:54 has always felt like the composer showing just a little bit of the man the character once was, before that small light is quickly snuffed out & consumed by madness again.

FF8’s intro and entire soundtrack is also a brilliant masterpiece in melodic writing and diversity! Definitely worth giving a listen!

What I love about your channel, next to your musical knowledge, is how you always put in the time to research what you're looking at/listening to. It's no throwaway quick reaction content. Thank you for providing such a unique take on the reaction video type!

Love your reactions to this. Classic track. So sweet!

I've listened to this theme countless times but I still get goosebumps and a chill down my spine when I hear it

OMG, Christmas has just passed and now you're dropping this, making it feel like we're right there yet again already. Amazing, thank you for your work!! ♥

I’ve been listening to renditions of this price for 25 years and it still blows me away and can give me goosebumps

Great video as always Doug. Love to see you do more on final fantasy, hell the newest game alone, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, has 400 additional songs added to the game compared to the original game that came out in 1997 and their sheer variety is insane. Also I miss your Zappa videos bring them back please sir.

Doug, your eye sockets @5:40 😆😆 Best reaction! I was the same way when I first "experienced" this one. Great vid as always

How many video game soundtracks has he done now and FINALLY getting to the GOAT composer, Nobuo Uematsu. There need to be many more, btw. And then Michiru Yamane.

A reaction to One Winged Angel! It's always great to see people discover this theme; seeing your expressions made me remember hearing this piece for the first time and just how mind-blowing it was/is. I've always loved this piece as such a volcanic fusion of classical orchestral, heavy metal, and a Latin choir. It takes the best qualities of all of them and blends them into this piece that is pure fire and makes fighting Sephiroth feel so epic and iconic. It's fun, terrifying, epic, and powerful. So glad you enjoyed it!

Your research on Uematsu is so refreshing to hear as someone who watches a lot of reaction/analysis videos

Uematsu got me exited to learn about contemporary and classical composers in high school

First time viewer. I like that you researched into the history of the song and its connected franchise. I'm a big fan of this song and franchise and you taught me things about this song I didn't know. Your expertise in music definitely makes your content more interesting. Got a sub from me.

Nobuo Uematsu is a genius. Most of his music is heavily orchestral. This version of this song was a collaboration between his prog metal band The Black Mages and an orchestra for the Advent Children score. He's actually said that this is the "real" version of this song, and that it's what he would have done in 1997 if the Playstation had been able to play it.

As someone who grew up as a classically trained violinist and a huge video game nerd it makes me smile seeing someone with extensive music knowledge listen to one of the greatest musical compositions in video game history.

Was at the Final Symphony-concert and when this song was played, it was the best time of my life. The room and people were cooking, it was brillant! 😊 also got a signature of Uematsu-san himself, was a special day for me.

I've been waiting for this one for a while now and I'm very glad you enjoyed it! I can't wait for you to listen to more from Final Fantasy. I imagine Dancing Mad will most likely be next.