The video game music cover band The Travelers VGM, who focus on arrangements done in a European folk style, has released a tribute EP to celebrate the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series titled Prelude to a Fantasy.
The original Final Fantasy, composed by Nobuo Uematsu and released on December 18th, 1987 for the Famicom, kickstarted a franchise of RPG fantasy games that continues to go strong to this day and has a powerful legacy and a strong fan following in both its game style and is music.
“The music of all the early Final Fantasy games heavily influenced the beginning of my unique composition style. Their lush but powerful melodies still inspire my music to this day. I hope to continue to create beautiful covers and original pieces of music based on those wonderful game scores. I want the Travelers VGM to keep exploring the high quality composition tradition seen in both old and new Final Fantasy soundtracks.” – Masha Lepire, Co-producer
Prelude to a Fantasy, produced by Josh Barron with assistance from Lepre and fellow co-producer Ian Martyn, features five tracks that offer tribute to specific songs within the Final Fantasy series, including franchise mainstay “Prologue”, which began with the first game and has persisted through the series within its three decade tenure. Certainly the music of the Final Fantasy series has inspired many past and present composers to enter into the realm of video game music.
“Final Fantasy music got me to pay attention to game music. My first was Final Fantasy VII and then after that I have been hooked on game music. It even made me want to become a composer. I am who I am today because of listening to Uematsu-san’s music back when I was thirteen years old. It is a pleasure to be able to revisit the classics and give them unique arrangements and performances!” – Josh Barron, Producer
Prelude to a Fantasy can be purchased for about $5 on The Traveler’s VGM Bandcamp and iTunes as well as streaming on Google Play and Spotify. You can check out the album’s full credits on their Materia Collective page.
