The Black Mages is the title of this album, and most people seem to
refer to the performers themselves as "The Black Mages" as well. This album is
ten songs from the Final Fantasy games, all of which were used in battle
scenarios, arranged and played with live instruments.

The band is comprised of a drummer, a bassist, a guitarist, and two
keyboardists. One of those keyboardists is none other that Nobuo Uematsu
himself, the person who wrote the original songs and arranged them for this
album.

Unfortunately, the addition of a second keyboardist (or perhaps just Mr.
Uematsu's arranging decisions) is the downfall of this album. This could
somewhat accurately be described as progressive metal, assuming you note that
the album has progressed beyond metal and into the realm of keyboard. . .ness.

But to be honest, calling this progressive metal isn't entirely
inaccurate--plenty of prog-metal bands are pretty light on the guitar, after
all. And there is some actual progressiveness in the form of time signature
changes (i.e. the 7/4 bit on the final track) and technicality (the solos in the
third track).

Song-by-song review:

1. Battle, Scene 1 (Final Fantasy 1)
The intro features some heavy muted guitar rythyms, followed by some guitar
noise on top of a nice bass line. This makes one think a nice rock song is in
store for them, but shortly afterwards the keyboards take over the song,
alternating with a wah guitar that isn't meaty enough. A guitar/keyboard duet
begins later on, and while the guitar parts are nice, it's just very difficult
to get past the keyboard tone.

The source material is good, but not absolutely incredible.

2. Clash on the Big Bridge (Final Fantasy 5)
Also known as Battle With Gilgamesh. First of all, they ruined the intro--it
was the best part of the original song, a driving, triumphant, frantic melody,
which would have been perfect as an introductory guitar solo. But instead, it's
a slow keyboard mockery.

After that, the song picks up. . .BIG TIME. Lots of guitar work, and strong
original material to work with. At a little over two minutes in, the tempo
drops and the keyboards take over again, but with better sounds and melodies
than in track 1. After a minute of that we get a nice, meaty guitar solo ending
with an excellent harmony that leads right back into the main melody.

3. Force Your Way (Final Fantasy 8)

Generic keyboard intro including one of the more annoying synths used on this
album leads into an amazing version of the original melody on guitar. This
section is unfortunately short, but sweet while it is here. Following that is
an extended guitar and keyboard "dueling" section that seems to have some pretty
flashy guitar work from a technical standpoint, but doesn't really have anything
incredible melodically.

Following this, another, more triumphant guitar-heavy section takes over,
driving the piece around back to the intro. Finally, the song ends with a
simile of that first amazing guitar melody, but only a few seconds long. I
would've liked to hear that whole thing again, or to have the song end before
the repeat.

The source material is pretty damn good, so it's easy to see why this wound up
as a track with so many good sections to it.

4. Battle, Scene II (Final Fantasy 2)

The only song on this album which I'm not really familiar with, as far as source
material goes. On its own, it's not a bad song. Nothing incredible either.

5. The Decisive Battle (Final Fantasy 6)

First, clean guitar playing a happy little melody to make the heavy guitar
immediately following it seem heavier is a lame trick.
Second, I would have preferred if the intro from the original song were used
here, instead of the metal riffing they used, assuming they did it on guitar, as
the intro to the original song was superb.
Overall, however, this song features guitar much more prominently than any other
song on this album. Aside from a too-long keyboard solo (which has the intro
from the original song underneath it, at least), this is an all-guitar song, the
source material is pure gold, and the arranging and harmonizing work very well.

6. Battle Theme (Final Fantasy 6)

An interesting interpretation. The original song was basically a metal piece,
and they slowed it down into an 80's arena rock war march type song. Some very
nice drum work on this song.

7. J-E-N-O-V-A (Final Fantasy 7)

Some cool industrial-ambient synth sounds lead into the original descending
background melody, which breaks way into. . .techno drums? That's right, the
drummer was apparently in the can for this one. And the guitar is very far in
the background on this, though it is pretty constant, and it does take over for
a bit in the second half of the song.

The source material, however, is strong enough that it actually isn't too much
of a travesty. It's an enjoyable song, but (like most electronica) is
repetitive.

8. Those Who Fight Further (Final Fantasy 7)

Like the FF6 battle theme, this song was begging to be metal. It wasn't.
However, as with J-E-N-O-V-A, the song is similar to the source material (in
fact, the original version of this song had guitar samples underneath synth,
just like this one--excluding the solos), making for an enjoyable song. Beyond
that, the keyboard tones which were grating at the beginning of this album are
becoming more familiar and tolerable at this point.

9. Dancing Mad (Final Fantasy 6)

Possibly the most recognizably progressive song on this album, clocking in at 12
minutes long (but with only slight addition to the original material). Quite an
epic.
Much like the last few songs, the guitar is very much in the background here.
However, this song was NOT begging to be turned into metal. This song was meant
to have brooding organs at the forefront, and it does.
The crash-and-fill-happy drums during the section 3 minutes in would have to be
the best part of this song.
Unfortunately, the small section of this song that was clearly meant to rock was
ruined with keyboard work where there clearly should have been guitar work.
This is partially made up for by a guitar solo following the 'rocking' section,
which lasts for over two minutes!

10. Fight with Seymour (Final Fantasy 10)

The intro is a very happy, blissful keyboard flow. It's not a lame trick like
used on Decisive Battle, though there is a rough transition into a more
energetic section. Very keyboard-drenched, but the more grating tones are
avoided for the most part. An interesting section played in 7/4 time begins at
2:20. Unfortunately, the overall track is kinda dull. . .it's "just there",
like a few of the other songs on this album.
In the fashion that's become all too typical for this album, the guitar gets its
time to shine with a solo a little more than halfway through. It's nice, but
doesn't make up for the rest of the song and even seems a little out of place.

Overall, the guitar is too low in this mix at points, and the drums are too low
in the mix altogether. The bass is just right and they overdosed on keyboards.
A good album, none of the songs in particular are bad, but there are bad
sections to every song, so nothing about this album is really spectacular.
Tracks 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9 are my personal favorites.

Is it worth a purchase? Well, if you have to pay extra to have it imported, no.
If you can find it for twelve bucks, sure.