PIPE ORGANS RANKED + REVIEWED
The professional opinion of a non-professional organist
201 Games
Rating: GREAT
Track: Mansion of Heresy, Mesia Cathedral
Absolutely astounding, breathtakingly beautiful, completely consummate. Shin Megami Tensei impresses again, and far from the last time. Unmistakably, unbelievably, unspeakably incredible. It's unfair to other games just how constantly these games use the pipe organ so immaculately...!!!
Track: Mansion of Heresy, Mesia Cathedral
Absolutely astounding, breathtakingly beautiful, completely consummate. Shin Megami Tensei impresses again, and far from the last time. Unmistakably, unbelievably, unspeakably incredible. It's unfair to other games just how constantly these games use the pipe organ so immaculately...!!!
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Sacred Capital, Elraine, Ancient Relics, Invitation to the Sea, A Resolution, Holy Place, Fortuna Shrine, Eternal Paradise, Utopia, Sacred Judgement, Zealot, Crooked Sight, Dona Nobis
Pacem, Wheel of Fortune, Wheel of Fortune ~ Last Judgement
This game was originally going to be a lot lower on this list, but then I came across Fortuna Shrine. Good lord. This is what it's all about, people. This soundtrack uses the pipe organ a lot, even in places I didn't expect it to be; it obviously has a deep love for the instrument, but Fortuna Shrine is the track where that love shines through the most sparklingly. This is a thick, babbling soup of some of the largest, most expressively emotional chords you can find in game music. The rest of the organ tracks don't especially impress too much, but the fullness of this organ's tone and the voicings of the chords manage to match and maintain the precedent Fortuna Shrine has laid throughout the soundtrack.
Tracks: Sacred Capital, Elraine, Ancient Relics, Invitation to the Sea, A Resolution, Holy Place, Fortuna Shrine, Eternal Paradise, Utopia, Sacred Judgement, Zealot, Crooked Sight, Dona Nobis
Pacem, Wheel of Fortune, Wheel of Fortune ~ Last Judgement
This game was originally going to be a lot lower on this list, but then I came across Fortuna Shrine. Good lord. This is what it's all about, people. This soundtrack uses the pipe organ a lot, even in places I didn't expect it to be; it obviously has a deep love for the instrument, but Fortuna Shrine is the track where that love shines through the most sparklingly. This is a thick, babbling soup of some of the largest, most expressively emotional chords you can find in game music. The rest of the organ tracks don't especially impress too much, but the fullness of this organ's tone and the voicings of the chords manage to match and maintain the precedent Fortuna Shrine has laid throughout the soundtrack.
Rating: BORING
Track: Last Battle
The organ here quickly pokes its head in every now and then to say a few words before vanishing from the arrangement altogether. They're neat little bursts to punctuate the piece with, but the organ doesn't really seem to have a justified place in the ensemble.
Track: Last Battle
The organ here quickly pokes its head in every now and then to say a few words before vanishing from the arrangement altogether. They're neat little bursts to punctuate the piece with, but the organ doesn't really seem to have a justified place in the ensemble.
Rating: BAD
Track: Nightmare Battle
The rest of this soundtrack is incredibly unique and sparkling with unusual applications of unusual instruments. So why is the single use of a pipe organ so typical and trite??
Track: Nightmare Battle
The rest of this soundtrack is incredibly unique and sparkling with unusual applications of unusual instruments. So why is the single use of a pipe organ so typical and trite??
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Organ Style, Horror
Organ Style is just a performance of the fifth movement from Charles-Marie Widor's Symphony for Organ No. 5. And a damn good performance at that! Bravo to Peter James Adcock for a brilliant interpretation of a brilliant piece. Is it unfair to have actual organ repertoire so high on a list of video game music? Only as unfair as it is to include this as part of a game soundtrack in the first place. It was French composers around La Belle Époque like Widor that really drove my interest in music to be something I pursued as significantly as I do now and I can't hide my biases. Top of the list just on principal. (Widor was never one I was specifically interested in though - hit me up if you want to hear more about French composers that actually inspired me, I've got a lot to say and not many people to say it to!!)
Oh uh, and Horror is alright too. It's an original piece and it's got some neat ideas. But I mean, come on. We're all here for Widor.
Tracks: Organ Style, Horror
Organ Style is just a performance of the fifth movement from Charles-Marie Widor's Symphony for Organ No. 5. And a damn good performance at that! Bravo to Peter James Adcock for a brilliant interpretation of a brilliant piece. Is it unfair to have actual organ repertoire so high on a list of video game music? Only as unfair as it is to include this as part of a game soundtrack in the first place. It was French composers around La Belle Époque like Widor that really drove my interest in music to be something I pursued as significantly as I do now and I can't hide my biases. Top of the list just on principal. (Widor was never one I was specifically interested in though - hit me up if you want to hear more about French composers that actually inspired me, I've got a lot to say and not many people to say it to!!)
Oh uh, and Horror is alright too. It's an original piece and it's got some neat ideas. But I mean, come on. We're all here for Widor.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Smooch of Divine Protection
Gorgeously honest little gospel-flavored organ playing. Fun harmonic movements, fun little performance flourishes - would easily skyrocket higher up the list if not for how solidly conventional it is. When I hear the name Hirofumi Taniguchi, "conventional" is the last word I think of - would have loved to see him push it a little more here!
Track: Smooch of Divine Protection
Gorgeously honest little gospel-flavored organ playing. Fun harmonic movements, fun little performance flourishes - would easily skyrocket higher up the list if not for how solidly conventional it is. When I hear the name Hirofumi Taniguchi, "conventional" is the last word I think of - would have loved to see him push it a little more here!
Rating: PERFECT
Track: Church
I'll go on to later explain that Suikoden I's pipe organ music reached my heart, and Suikoden II's reached my brain; this reaches both equally. Astonishingly thoughtful, evocative, deliberate, intelligent, heart-felt... In a word, unbelievable.
Track: Church
I'll go on to later explain that Suikoden I's pipe organ music reached my heart, and Suikoden II's reached my brain; this reaches both equally. Astonishingly thoughtful, evocative, deliberate, intelligent, heart-felt... In a word, unbelievable.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Prologue, Successor of Fate, Epilogue
"Harmony of Dissonance" is right! Very very strange harmonies in this, but never feeling unnecessary. There's a thoughtfulness behind it all that makes the lack-of-relation between chords still feel like they click into a meaningful place. Where most video game organ music leans more Baroque, this leans more Expressionist, which is a side of the organ that doesn't often appear in games. Great to see it show up here!
Tracks: Prologue, Successor of Fate, Epilogue
"Harmony of Dissonance" is right! Very very strange harmonies in this, but never feeling unnecessary. There's a thoughtfulness behind it all that makes the lack-of-relation between chords still feel like they click into a meaningful place. Where most video game organ music leans more Baroque, this leans more Expressionist, which is a side of the organ that doesn't often appear in games. Great to see it show up here!
Rating: BAD
Tracks: Chateau d'Oraguille, Castle Zvahl
Man! As far as organs sitting around not doing anything are concerned, this one is particularly lethargic. Literal minutes on end of just droning out a pedal tone and only every now and then does it shift to a different chord. The Chateau at least gets a few moments of, uh, actual writing, but it's so lacking in any meaning that it's still just as wearisome as anything else the organ does in this soundtrack. Shameful.
Tracks: Chateau d'Oraguille, Castle Zvahl
Man! As far as organs sitting around not doing anything are concerned, this one is particularly lethargic. Literal minutes on end of just droning out a pedal tone and only every now and then does it shift to a different chord. The Chateau at least gets a few moments of, uh, actual writing, but it's so lacking in any meaning that it's still just as wearisome as anything else the organ does in this soundtrack. Shameful.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Tracks: Legendary Inheritance, Shaman in the Dark
The Game Boy Advance certainly isn't doing this organ any favors... But even still, accepting this organ for its writing rather than its meek tone, there's something to appreciate here with Shaman in the Dark. It follows the tried-and-true Baroque structure of looping around the circle of fifths, which may be a little typical sure, but shoot, it's used a lot for a reason! It's just a great sequence that always satisfies. It doesn't really do too much besides that though, the melodic line just kind of walks around to different chord tones and calls it a day; there isn't any real intrigue with the accompanying arpeggios either. Even if this piece had a more dignified appearance on a console more accommodating than the Game Boy Advance, I still don't think it'd impress all that much.
Tracks: Legendary Inheritance, Shaman in the Dark
The Game Boy Advance certainly isn't doing this organ any favors... But even still, accepting this organ for its writing rather than its meek tone, there's something to appreciate here with Shaman in the Dark. It follows the tried-and-true Baroque structure of looping around the circle of fifths, which may be a little typical sure, but shoot, it's used a lot for a reason! It's just a great sequence that always satisfies. It doesn't really do too much besides that though, the melodic line just kind of walks around to different chord tones and calls it a day; there isn't any real intrigue with the accompanying arpeggios either. Even if this piece had a more dignified appearance on a console more accommodating than the Game Boy Advance, I still don't think it'd impress all that much.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Magical Holic, God Bless Prier!, A Heart Filled With Thought
A soundtrack where the organ is - like usual - playing a supporting role, but its texture and charisma are critical to the tone and structure of the pieces it's included in. Gorgeous music with the kind of organ excerpts that perk my ears up and make me say "oh, cool!"
Track: Magical Holic, God Bless Prier!, A Heart Filled With Thought
A soundtrack where the organ is - like usual - playing a supporting role, but its texture and charisma are critical to the tone and structure of the pieces it's included in. Gorgeous music with the kind of organ excerpts that perk my ears up and make me say "oh, cool!"
Rating: BORING
Track: Movie 5 (Collapse)
Pretty typical cinematic chords to help bolster the massive sound of an orchestra. The organ is at least pretty forward in the mix and is the source of a lot of the strength behind the sound being achieved, but it's not especially inspired.
Track: Movie 5 (Collapse)
Pretty typical cinematic chords to help bolster the massive sound of an orchestra. The organ is at least pretty forward in the mix and is the source of a lot of the strength behind the sound being achieved, but it's not especially inspired.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Theme of Sparda, Cathedral, Magic Sword Sparda Acquired, Hell's Great Temple, Awakening, Collapse of the Demon Emperor Mundus, Demon Emperor Mundus Again, Demon Emperor Mundus Battle 3 Underground
Simply looking at that track list should be a pretty good indication of how well the organ is being treated here. The writing is good and it is frequent; someone rented out a cathedral and wanted to get the most bang for their buck, and now we're the ones benefiting from it.
Tracks: Theme of Sparda, Cathedral, Magic Sword Sparda Acquired, Hell's Great Temple, Awakening, Collapse of the Demon Emperor Mundus, Demon Emperor Mundus Again, Demon Emperor Mundus Battle 3 Underground
Simply looking at that track list should be a pretty good indication of how well the organ is being treated here. The writing is good and it is frequent; someone rented out a cathedral and wanted to get the most bang for their buck, and now we're the ones benefiting from it.
Rating: GOOD
Track: The Crime
Evocative of the playful sound of when organs were used to accompany movies and theatrical productions in the early 1900's - very very cute! That's a section of organ history that often goes unloved, so it's nice to see a callback to it in a video game cutscene - it's scoring the scene identically to how they would have back in the day. This is one of those things where I can imagine the composer having this epiphany moment of "Oh, it'd be really cute if we scored this part like this" - and it is!
Track: The Crime
Evocative of the playful sound of when organs were used to accompany movies and theatrical productions in the early 1900's - very very cute! That's a section of organ history that often goes unloved, so it's nice to see a callback to it in a video game cutscene - it's scoring the scene identically to how they would have back in the day. This is one of those things where I can imagine the composer having this epiphany moment of "Oh, it'd be really cute if we scored this part like this" - and it is!
Rating: GREAT
Track: Tainted Lovers
The interplay here between the pipe organ and the guitar is seriously incredible - maybe the best actual blending of traditional organ writing and rock music I've seen yet, which is something a good amount of games tend to try for. The pipe organ isn't around for nearly as long as the electric organ is, but it uses its limited time on the stage to blast out some absolutely show-stopping riffs that perfectly blends the inherently technical run-on nature of both Baroque music and guitar solos without ever feeling disingenuous to either of them. Really, these are two styles that have a lot more similarities between each other than differences, but somehow a lot of games tend to get too stuck on those differences; this game understands their similarities in a gorgeously authentic way and lets it rip in one of the most exciting entries on this list.
Track: Tainted Lovers
The interplay here between the pipe organ and the guitar is seriously incredible - maybe the best actual blending of traditional organ writing and rock music I've seen yet, which is something a good amount of games tend to try for. The pipe organ isn't around for nearly as long as the electric organ is, but it uses its limited time on the stage to blast out some absolutely show-stopping riffs that perfectly blends the inherently technical run-on nature of both Baroque music and guitar solos without ever feeling disingenuous to either of them. Really, these are two styles that have a lot more similarities between each other than differences, but somehow a lot of games tend to get too stuck on those differences; this game understands their similarities in a gorgeously authentic way and lets it rip in one of the most exciting entries on this list.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: The God Tree, Sacred Precincts
The organ writing here is sparse, yet effectively striking. A luxuriously full tone and heavy chords. Can't complain about that.
Tracks: The God Tree, Sacred Precincts
The organ writing here is sparse, yet effectively striking. A luxuriously full tone and heavy chords. Can't complain about that.
Rating: BAD
Track: Cave Background
Used for some chromatic mediants right at the start before beginning to actually open up into some harmonic phrases that seem like they're going somewhere, but then stops dead in its tracks and lets a completely different ensemble take over. Sorry, Runescape: stagnant chromatic mediant block chords go at the bottom of the list.
Track: Cave Background
Used for some chromatic mediants right at the start before beginning to actually open up into some harmonic phrases that seem like they're going somewhere, but then stops dead in its tracks and lets a completely different ensemble take over. Sorry, Runescape: stagnant chromatic mediant block chords go at the bottom of the list.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Tracks: Dungeon of Torment (Intro), Alter of Skorne 1 (Intro), Alter of Skorne 2 (Intro), Alter of Skorne 2, Haunted Cemetary, Mausoleum (Intro), Mausoleum, Gates of the Underworld
Wow, this sure is a whole lot of organ music that sounds basically identical! Sometimes we'll get some more bespoke passages, but mostly we're dealing with some Bach-flavored scalar runs. Alter of Skorn 2 is probably the best use of the pipe organ on this soundtrack, but even then it's not doing things too terribly different from the other tracks, it's just a more structurally cohesive piece.
Tracks: Dungeon of Torment (Intro), Alter of Skorne 1 (Intro), Alter of Skorne 2 (Intro), Alter of Skorne 2, Haunted Cemetary, Mausoleum (Intro), Mausoleum, Gates of the Underworld
Wow, this sure is a whole lot of organ music that sounds basically identical! Sometimes we'll get some more bespoke passages, but mostly we're dealing with some Bach-flavored scalar runs. Alter of Skorn 2 is probably the best use of the pipe organ on this soundtrack, but even then it's not doing things too terribly different from the other tracks, it's just a more structurally cohesive piece.
Rating: BAD
Tracks: Witchy World - Haunted Zone, Witchy World - Dodgem Dome Lobby
The introductions to these Witchy World zones have some charm to them, but after that the organ is relegated to pure, flat, stagnant block chord accompaniment. Totally lifeless.
Tracks: Witchy World - Haunted Zone, Witchy World - Dodgem Dome Lobby
The introductions to these Witchy World zones have some charm to them, but after that the organ is relegated to pure, flat, stagnant block chord accompaniment. Totally lifeless.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Granas Sanctuary
An otherworldly pristine beauty. Not even disappointed that the organ is absent for half the track, because the half it is there for is positively mystifying. Cold and withdrawn, yet reflective and sensitive.
Track: Granas Sanctuary
An otherworldly pristine beauty. Not even disappointed that the organ is absent for half the track, because the half it is there for is positively mystifying. Cold and withdrawn, yet reflective and sensitive.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Tracks: Kingdom of Burmecia, Immortal Melody, Cleyra's Settlement, Master of Time, Pandemonium, The Darkness of Eternity
Knowing what Uematsu is capable of with the organ, the tracks here in Final Fantasy IX feel strangely empty... They're serviceable, I wouldn't call any of this writing bad at all, but there's a distinct lack of any significant character behind them. There's no guts. The Darkness of Eternity in particular seems to try and hearken back to the pipe organ/prog rock combination of Final Fantasy VI's Dancing Mad, but it just doesn't quite cut it for me. The only one I can see myself actively wanting to listen to again is Master of Time, and even then that piece only really has a few select glimmers of intrigue. There's just really nothing too special here - though Cleyra's Settlement is a cute application of an organ's flute stops.
Tracks: Kingdom of Burmecia, Immortal Melody, Cleyra's Settlement, Master of Time, Pandemonium, The Darkness of Eternity
Knowing what Uematsu is capable of with the organ, the tracks here in Final Fantasy IX feel strangely empty... They're serviceable, I wouldn't call any of this writing bad at all, but there's a distinct lack of any significant character behind them. There's no guts. The Darkness of Eternity in particular seems to try and hearken back to the pipe organ/prog rock combination of Final Fantasy VI's Dancing Mad, but it just doesn't quite cut it for me. The only one I can see myself actively wanting to listen to again is Master of Time, and even then that piece only really has a few select glimmers of intrigue. There's just really nothing too special here - though Cleyra's Settlement is a cute application of an organ's flute stops.
Rating: BAD
Track: Final Battle
One of the least convincing organ tones I've ever heard, absurdly quiet compared to the rest of the ensemble, hardly playing anything at all... It's a tried and true recipe for a poor ranking on this list. Sorry, Sakura Wars.
Track: Final Battle
One of the least convincing organ tones I've ever heard, absurdly quiet compared to the rest of the ensemble, hardly playing anything at all... It's a tried and true recipe for a poor ranking on this list. Sorry, Sakura Wars.
Rating: THE WORST AND IT'S NOT CLOSE
Context: The Happy Mask Salesman teaching Link the Song of Healing
You'll notice I had to write "context" there rather than "tracks" as I have been for the entire rest of the list. The reason for this is simple; There is no organ in the Majora's Mask soundtrack. In a classic scene, the Happy Mask Salesman seems to materialize a full organ console (three manuals, and six piano pedals? It's a strange configuration) out of thin air, which is hilarious and a great way to further characterize his mysterious absurdity. Unfortunately, the organ... Makes piano sounds? This organ is not an organ. It has pipes and several keyboards, but that sure sounds like a hammer hitting a string to me. And to make it worse, he never actually plays the thing, not in any kind of meaningful way; he plays a total of three notes four times, likely using just a single finger to plunk away at them one-by-one. This is also hilarious, to summon such a massive instrument for such a trivial application, but unfortunately it does make this the absolute worst instance of a pipe organ in video game history - and like how Final fantasy VI will likely stay at the top forever, this will likely stay at the bottom forever as well (at least, I sure hope nobody discovers a worse way to use one).
Context: The Happy Mask Salesman teaching Link the Song of Healing
You'll notice I had to write "context" there rather than "tracks" as I have been for the entire rest of the list. The reason for this is simple; There is no organ in the Majora's Mask soundtrack. In a classic scene, the Happy Mask Salesman seems to materialize a full organ console (three manuals, and six piano pedals? It's a strange configuration) out of thin air, which is hilarious and a great way to further characterize his mysterious absurdity. Unfortunately, the organ... Makes piano sounds? This organ is not an organ. It has pipes and several keyboards, but that sure sounds like a hammer hitting a string to me. And to make it worse, he never actually plays the thing, not in any kind of meaningful way; he plays a total of three notes four times, likely using just a single finger to plunk away at them one-by-one. This is also hilarious, to summon such a massive instrument for such a trivial application, but unfortunately it does make this the absolute worst instance of a pipe organ in video game history - and like how Final fantasy VI will likely stay at the top forever, this will likely stay at the bottom forever as well (at least, I sure hope nobody discovers a worse way to use one).
Rating: BAD
Tracks: God's Country, Fight with a Miler
The pipe organ in this game is... almost bashful? It uses principal stops but they're the quietest, most timid principal stops I've heard in my life. This is the gutsiest tone an organ can have, but here they're totally gutless. I've listened to this soundtrack many times in the past few years without even noticing it used pipe organs at all until I checked it for this list, that's how subdued its texture is. This doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing on its own - The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks ranks quite high on this list for doing something very similar, in fact. The issue here is that Popolocrois' organ is never used to accomplish anything meaningful. It's always hidden in the mix and just sitting on some accompaniment chords that are usually made redundant by the rest of the rhythm section. It's a shame; this soundtrack is gorgeous and its organ tone is fascinating. Had it only used the organ with a more deliberate hand this would easily place somewhere in the top half of this list, but unfortunately the pipe organ seems to be one of this soundtrack's few weak points.
Tracks: God's Country, Fight with a Miler
The pipe organ in this game is... almost bashful? It uses principal stops but they're the quietest, most timid principal stops I've heard in my life. This is the gutsiest tone an organ can have, but here they're totally gutless. I've listened to this soundtrack many times in the past few years without even noticing it used pipe organs at all until I checked it for this list, that's how subdued its texture is. This doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing on its own - The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks ranks quite high on this list for doing something very similar, in fact. The issue here is that Popolocrois' organ is never used to accomplish anything meaningful. It's always hidden in the mix and just sitting on some accompaniment chords that are usually made redundant by the rest of the rhythm section. It's a shame; this soundtrack is gorgeous and its organ tone is fascinating. Had it only used the organ with a more deliberate hand this would easily place somewhere in the top half of this list, but unfortunately the pipe organ seems to be one of this soundtrack's few weak points.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Outline of the Demon Descent Chain, That Guy's Name is Fear, Rise Above the World, To the Other Side of the Earth
In a mind-meltingly hot soundtrack, the organ here never really does all that much, but its presence in the background is always significant to the piece's texture. Hard and heavy, it's an imposing presence that contributes strongly to Valkyrie Profile's brutal desolation.
Tracks: Outline of the Demon Descent Chain, That Guy's Name is Fear, Rise Above the World, To the Other Side of the Earth
In a mind-meltingly hot soundtrack, the organ here never really does all that much, but its presence in the background is always significant to the piece's texture. Hard and heavy, it's an imposing presence that contributes strongly to Valkyrie Profile's brutal desolation.
Rating: GOOD
Context: A puzzle near the end of the game
Koudelka, despite being a horror-themed RPG, does not feature a pipe organ anywhere in its soundtrack. Which is pretty funny - RPGs and horror games are the genres people probably most expect to be using those!! Well, not Koudelka - at least, not in its music. Towards the end of the game is a large, decrepit pipe organ that is used to solve a puzzle, which when solved rings out a single cluster chord slam that reverberates out through the room. The puzzle, as the game describes it, involves looking at the "keys" on the organ and "pushing" the ones that have specified markings on them. The reason I use quotation marks is because there are some pretty incredulous errors here: the "keys" they're referring to are the pipe organ's stops, and stops are not "pushed," they're pulled!! For how hyper-attentive the descriptions are for everything else in this game, I simply do not accept that the localization team saw the word "organ" in some compiled spreadsheet of text and assumed it was referring to the keyboard. The entire rest of the game could not have been written so intricately if this was the case. The only conclusion I have to come to is that they simply do not understand how pipe organs work. To make matters worse, the puzzle has to do with markings etched and scratched into the pipe organ's stops, which along with its decayed state is a tragic, gory sight for any organ aficionado. The thing is covered in dust, all the pipes are bent, there's a massive plant growing all around it so it must be horribly humid in that room, warping the wood and metal the instrument is made out of which at best would make it horribly detuned or at worse completely inoperable, plus the aforementioned damage on the stops. Human corpses are littered around Koudelka almost as commonly as the very walls and ceilings the rooms are made of, but I did not expect to be faced with a corpse of something even more morbid.
So, then, you may be wondering: why is something so inhumane ranked so highly on the list? Well, the answer is quite simple. It's a really cool set piece!!
Context: A puzzle near the end of the game
Koudelka, despite being a horror-themed RPG, does not feature a pipe organ anywhere in its soundtrack. Which is pretty funny - RPGs and horror games are the genres people probably most expect to be using those!! Well, not Koudelka - at least, not in its music. Towards the end of the game is a large, decrepit pipe organ that is used to solve a puzzle, which when solved rings out a single cluster chord slam that reverberates out through the room. The puzzle, as the game describes it, involves looking at the "keys" on the organ and "pushing" the ones that have specified markings on them. The reason I use quotation marks is because there are some pretty incredulous errors here: the "keys" they're referring to are the pipe organ's stops, and stops are not "pushed," they're pulled!! For how hyper-attentive the descriptions are for everything else in this game, I simply do not accept that the localization team saw the word "organ" in some compiled spreadsheet of text and assumed it was referring to the keyboard. The entire rest of the game could not have been written so intricately if this was the case. The only conclusion I have to come to is that they simply do not understand how pipe organs work. To make matters worse, the puzzle has to do with markings etched and scratched into the pipe organ's stops, which along with its decayed state is a tragic, gory sight for any organ aficionado. The thing is covered in dust, all the pipes are bent, there's a massive plant growing all around it so it must be horribly humid in that room, warping the wood and metal the instrument is made out of which at best would make it horribly detuned or at worse completely inoperable, plus the aforementioned damage on the stops. Human corpses are littered around Koudelka almost as commonly as the very walls and ceilings the rooms are made of, but I did not expect to be faced with a corpse of something even more morbid.
So, then, you may be wondering: why is something so inhumane ranked so highly on the list? Well, the answer is quite simple. It's a really cool set piece!!
Rating: BAD
Track: Creepy Castle
The scary area has a pipe organ. How inspired! It rolls over on a small selection of chords then leaves the rest of the track to everyone else. I can't even pretend like there's any insight to be gleamed here. Trite and completely unoriginal.
Track: Creepy Castle
The scary area has a pipe organ. How inspired! It rolls over on a small selection of chords then leaves the rest of the track to everyone else. I can't even pretend like there's any insight to be gleamed here. Trite and completely unoriginal.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Mirror of Judgement
That classic Baroque balance of dignified, brilliant counterpoint and flowing passion finds its way into yet another climactic moment in a video game. Gorgeously weaving and interlocking phrases that expand on each other wonderfully. Such a tightly structured piece of music is a surprise in the Planet Laika soundtrack, and that sudden juxtaposition to the rest of the game scores its scene perfectly.
Track: Mirror of Judgement
That classic Baroque balance of dignified, brilliant counterpoint and flowing passion finds its way into yet another climactic moment in a video game. Gorgeously weaving and interlocking phrases that expand on each other wonderfully. Such a tightly structured piece of music is a surprise in the Planet Laika soundtrack, and that sudden juxtaposition to the rest of the game scores its scene perfectly.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Track 21
Intoxicating meandering that finds a direction in its own directionless to wind through some harmonic sequences that only seem to be concerned with one thing: is the phrase moving upwards or downwards? Conventional cadences and chordal relationships are foregone for surprisingly heartfelt passages that just seem to happen upon chords rather than intentionally arriving to them. A transient beauty that's characteristic of early FromSoftware titles.
Track: Track 21
Intoxicating meandering that finds a direction in its own directionless to wind through some harmonic sequences that only seem to be concerned with one thing: is the phrase moving upwards or downwards? Conventional cadences and chordal relationships are foregone for surprisingly heartfelt passages that just seem to happen upon chords rather than intentionally arriving to them. A transient beauty that's characteristic of early FromSoftware titles.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Virgo
Virgo is the only track in Ace Combat 3's soundtrack that uses a pipe organ, but it's used in the single most unique way I've found in a score yet. The organ itself isn't playing anything particularly incredible, but the way it's spliced and remixed re-contextualizes the sound of an organ to be something completely new. Being so big, organs ring out in the space of the room they're in, so splicing between samples also means cutting between different points of reverberation in the room. That physical continuity of the space (or lack thereof), matched with some twisting harmonic sequences crafted by jigsaw-puzzle-shuffling-around different points of the recording, results in a fascinatingly disorienting track that only manages to remain so meticulously cohesive thanks to an astoundingly delicate hand of an obviously experienced artist. One of the most innovative sounds I've heard not just from a pipe organ, but from a video game in general.
Track: Virgo
Virgo is the only track in Ace Combat 3's soundtrack that uses a pipe organ, but it's used in the single most unique way I've found in a score yet. The organ itself isn't playing anything particularly incredible, but the way it's spliced and remixed re-contextualizes the sound of an organ to be something completely new. Being so big, organs ring out in the space of the room they're in, so splicing between samples also means cutting between different points of reverberation in the room. That physical continuity of the space (or lack thereof), matched with some twisting harmonic sequences crafted by jigsaw-puzzle-shuffling-around different points of the recording, results in a fascinatingly disorienting track that only manages to remain so meticulously cohesive thanks to an astoundingly delicate hand of an obviously experienced artist. One of the most innovative sounds I've heard not just from a pipe organ, but from a video game in general.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Track: Propaganda
This is another one of those tracks where the organ is doing a couple short repeating ideas over and over again while the rest of the ensemble plays with those ideas around it. In this instance, the rest of the ensemble has some beautiful, powerful parts, but the organ is just kinda sitting there spinning around itself. The track is great; the organ writing, while crucially central to the structure of the piece, ultimately just doesn't have much going on.
Track: Propaganda
This is another one of those tracks where the organ is doing a couple short repeating ideas over and over again while the rest of the ensemble plays with those ideas around it. In this instance, the rest of the ensemble has some beautiful, powerful parts, but the organ is just kinda sitting there spinning around itself. The track is great; the organ writing, while crucially central to the structure of the piece, ultimately just doesn't have much going on.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Watchtower, Mysterious Coffin, First Struggle, Underground Waterway, Malus Reappears, Toothed Wheel, Third Struggle - Dance of Illusions, Melodies of Castlevania
Further down on this list I'll be complaining a lot about the pipe organ being used purely for accompaniment purposes - I need to express that those are examples of the pipe organ being used as an accompaniment instrument poorly. This is how to do it right. It's rare for the organ to have any solo segments for it to show off here (though they're great moments the few times it does happen) so most of the time it's simply a part of the larger ensemble. Though even when it's relocated to just these background textures, it still finds ways to poke through and add something to the conversation. Sometimes it's a strangely produced tone, sometimes it's rhythmically slamming down on chords to provide an extra layer of forward driving momentum, or sometimes it really is simply sitting square on some block chords - which still finds a way to be interesting just by the virtue of how the rest of the ensemble dances around the organ being so firmly planted in the ground. Oftentimes the pipe organ being in situations like this winds up feeling bland and inconsequential, but here it always plays a vital role and helps add to a sound that winds up being more than the sum of its parts. Some of the later entries in this list might make it seem like I despise the pipe organ being stuck as a supporting role - this is not true. It simply needs to be treated with the same consideration and respect in that role like any other instrument would be shown, as it is here in Castlevania 64.
Tracks: Watchtower, Mysterious Coffin, First Struggle, Underground Waterway, Malus Reappears, Toothed Wheel, Third Struggle - Dance of Illusions, Melodies of Castlevania
Further down on this list I'll be complaining a lot about the pipe organ being used purely for accompaniment purposes - I need to express that those are examples of the pipe organ being used as an accompaniment instrument poorly. This is how to do it right. It's rare for the organ to have any solo segments for it to show off here (though they're great moments the few times it does happen) so most of the time it's simply a part of the larger ensemble. Though even when it's relocated to just these background textures, it still finds ways to poke through and add something to the conversation. Sometimes it's a strangely produced tone, sometimes it's rhythmically slamming down on chords to provide an extra layer of forward driving momentum, or sometimes it really is simply sitting square on some block chords - which still finds a way to be interesting just by the virtue of how the rest of the ensemble dances around the organ being so firmly planted in the ground. Oftentimes the pipe organ being in situations like this winds up feeling bland and inconsequential, but here it always plays a vital role and helps add to a sound that winds up being more than the sum of its parts. Some of the later entries in this list might make it seem like I despise the pipe organ being stuck as a supporting role - this is not true. It simply needs to be treated with the same consideration and respect in that role like any other instrument would be shown, as it is here in Castlevania 64.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Praise Be To My Master, Passacaglia, Ceremony
These are masterfully crafted pieces of organ music, but it doesn't especially feel like anything besides "well-written music." I'm impressed, but I'm especially not moved. Compared to the first Suikoden's single organ track, these are certainly more accomplished pieces, but the first game's Requiem said something to my heart where these say something to my brain – but I can't stress enough that these are still marvelous pieces of organ music that I respect tremendously. My preference for the first game's single track does not detract just how immaculately composed these are.
Tracks: Praise Be To My Master, Passacaglia, Ceremony
These are masterfully crafted pieces of organ music, but it doesn't especially feel like anything besides "well-written music." I'm impressed, but I'm especially not moved. Compared to the first Suikoden's single organ track, these are certainly more accomplished pieces, but the first game's Requiem said something to my heart where these say something to my brain – but I can't stress enough that these are still marvelous pieces of organ music that I respect tremendously. My preference for the first game's single track does not detract just how immaculately composed these are.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Track: 弱い者は死になさい, 光と闇, 祈リ
The first organ piece in this game immediately quotes Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which hilariously sets the tone perfectly for exactly what we're dealing with here. Just some basic, bare-bones Baroque organing. Astonishingly normal. No risks or any kind of inspiration at all, we're running around the circle of fifths and laying down some plagal cadences. Maybe use a secondary function somewhere and we can call it a day.
Track: 弱い者は死になさい, 光と闇, 祈リ
The first organ piece in this game immediately quotes Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which hilariously sets the tone perfectly for exactly what we're dealing with here. Just some basic, bare-bones Baroque organing. Astonishingly normal. No risks or any kind of inspiration at all, we're running around the circle of fifths and laying down some plagal cadences. Maybe use a secondary function somewhere and we can call it a day.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Ganon's Tower
Working up the tower to the score of this organ music, only to reach the top and find that Ganondorf himself was the one playing it is the best use of a physical organ in an actual video game environment so far. The music is only so-so, but we're getting actual on-screen organ representation here, and it's a great scene at that. Fantastic moment.
Track: Ganon's Tower
Working up the tower to the score of this organ music, only to reach the top and find that Ganondorf himself was the one playing it is the best use of a physical organ in an actual video game environment so far. The music is only so-so, but we're getting actual on-screen organ representation here, and it's a great scene at that. Fantastic moment.
Rating: GOOD
Track: The Hilltop Mausoleum
Wow!! This one leaves quite an impression pretty immediately. By now you must be familiar with how much I love "big, juicy chords" on the pipe organ - well here we are again, with some big juicy chords to blow me away right at the start. Great opening!! This only lasts so long though; once the organ is finished establishing itself, it spends the rest of the track just outlining accompaniment chords for the rest of the ensemble to play on top of. As far as "organ as accompaniment" tracks go (which is a significant percentile of organs on this list), this one at least keeps some sense of momentum, and even gives the organ a few extra measures to shine on its own once again before too long, but it never even comes close to the height of the introduction passage. Sure is a shame it couldn't maintain that energy throughout the entire piece, but even when it gets dialed back, this is still a completely worthy piece of organ writing.
Track: The Hilltop Mausoleum
Wow!! This one leaves quite an impression pretty immediately. By now you must be familiar with how much I love "big, juicy chords" on the pipe organ - well here we are again, with some big juicy chords to blow me away right at the start. Great opening!! This only lasts so long though; once the organ is finished establishing itself, it spends the rest of the track just outlining accompaniment chords for the rest of the ensemble to play on top of. As far as "organ as accompaniment" tracks go (which is a significant percentile of organs on this list), this one at least keeps some sense of momentum, and even gives the organ a few extra measures to shine on its own once again before too long, but it never even comes close to the height of the introduction passage. Sure is a shame it couldn't maintain that energy throughout the entire piece, but even when it gets dialed back, this is still a completely worthy piece of organ writing.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Tracks: Opening/Alter of Skorn, Select Character, Desecrated Temple/Ending, Battle Fortress
I'm not sure how to describe this but the 3D Gauntlet games look and sound like they smell bad. I wish I could explain what that means. Anyways, the organ music here isn't that impressive. There's one melodic figure that keeps coming back between Select Character and the Ending that's pretty fun, and it's arranged very nicely in the Ending, but overall it just doesn't inspire very much. Inoffensive, sure; exciting, no.
Tracks: Opening/Alter of Skorn, Select Character, Desecrated Temple/Ending, Battle Fortress
I'm not sure how to describe this but the 3D Gauntlet games look and sound like they smell bad. I wish I could explain what that means. Anyways, the organ music here isn't that impressive. There's one melodic figure that keeps coming back between Select Character and the Ending that's pretty fun, and it's arranged very nicely in the Ending, but overall it just doesn't inspire very much. Inoffensive, sure; exciting, no.
Rating: BORING
Tracks: Mad Monster Mansion, Inside the Mansion, Cemetery, Church Door Opens, Inside the Church
The only track here with anything going on even remotely is Inside the Church, and even then I really struggle to say it's anything of much value. The ideas behind the composition are already extraordinarily dull, and their arrangement on the organ does not invigorate it in any way.
Tracks: Mad Monster Mansion, Inside the Mansion, Cemetery, Church Door Opens, Inside the Church
The only track here with anything going on even remotely is Inside the Church, and even then I really struggle to say it's anything of much value. The ideas behind the composition are already extraordinarily dull, and their arrangement on the organ does not invigorate it in any way.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Track: At The Great Cathedral
There's some neat ear-catching harmonic shifts, but the plodding introduction featuring the organ which quickly is swept underneath a larger ensemble to continue just laying out some chords doesn't take advantage of what intrigue the piece is close to having. I can tell there's some kind of inspiration here, it's just not a whole lot.
Track: At The Great Cathedral
There's some neat ear-catching harmonic shifts, but the plodding introduction featuring the organ which quickly is swept underneath a larger ensemble to continue just laying out some chords doesn't take advantage of what intrigue the piece is close to having. I can tell there's some kind of inspiration here, it's just not a whole lot.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Track: Ending
The organ shades the color of this piece excellently. The texture of this piece is fascinating, and the use of a pipe organ is an excellent choice that even I wouldn't have thought of – and I'm constantly trying to find places to use pipe organs!! The writing isn't too impressive but that's not really what the point is here. It's about the texture. The organ's clearly defined place in this slippery, dreamy ensemble speaks well to its deliberate and considered implementation.
Track: Ending
The organ shades the color of this piece excellently. The texture of this piece is fascinating, and the use of a pipe organ is an excellent choice that even I wouldn't have thought of – and I'm constantly trying to find places to use pipe organs!! The writing isn't too impressive but that's not really what the point is here. It's about the texture. The organ's clearly defined place in this slippery, dreamy ensemble speaks well to its deliberate and considered implementation.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Church
This track in Sanitarium is at once comforting and disquieting, warm and cold. It's one of the more nuanced emotions I've heard come out of an organ and greatly uses the sensitive characteristics of the instrument to its benefit in achieving this.
Track: Church
This track in Sanitarium is at once comforting and disquieting, warm and cold. It's one of the more nuanced emotions I've heard come out of an organ and greatly uses the sensitive characteristics of the instrument to its benefit in achieving this.
Rating: BORING
Track: Stage 1
I was shocked to see a game like this existed, and shocked again to immediately hear a pipe organ in the first stage. What I was not shocked by is how bog-standard the organ writing is!
Track: Stage 1
I was shocked to see a game like this existed, and shocked again to immediately hear a pipe organ in the first stage. What I was not shocked by is how bog-standard the organ writing is!
Rating: GREAT
Track: Pray for the People's Joy
One of the most pure, crystalline, beautiful organ pieces I've heard in a game. This piece isn't technically demanding, it doesn't use a unique combination of stops, it doesn't break genre conventions or use intense chromatic chords with tons of extensions, but it does have a heart the size of the moon and weeps with devastating compassion. There's an emotional honesty here that resonates so strongly because of its simplicity, not despite it. Simply put: a masterpiece.
Track: Pray for the People's Joy
One of the most pure, crystalline, beautiful organ pieces I've heard in a game. This piece isn't technically demanding, it doesn't use a unique combination of stops, it doesn't break genre conventions or use intense chromatic chords with tons of extensions, but it does have a heart the size of the moon and weeps with devastating compassion. There's an emotional honesty here that resonates so strongly because of its simplicity, not despite it. Simply put: a masterpiece.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Black Feet, Empire, Boxship
Many instruments in the Panzer Dragoon Saga soundtrack are more like an approximation of actual instruments than always being perfectly identifiable. Most of what's included here is, like some other entries on this list, close enough to a pipe organ both in tone and in writing to be considered as such.
Try as I might, there's very little I can muster up to actually say about the organ in this. I feel the same way about the music as I feel about the game itself; it's a feeling, it's an understanding, it's one of the most honest expressions I've ever seen of anything. Maybe to someone else the organ here will not seem much different from the "boring, lifeless" organs I place further down the list, but here I can feel such a strong and deliberate intentionality. The slowness is the point. The heaviness is the point. It is exactly what it wants to be. It is exactly what it needs to be.
Tracks: Black Feet, Empire, Boxship
Many instruments in the Panzer Dragoon Saga soundtrack are more like an approximation of actual instruments than always being perfectly identifiable. Most of what's included here is, like some other entries on this list, close enough to a pipe organ both in tone and in writing to be considered as such.
Try as I might, there's very little I can muster up to actually say about the organ in this. I feel the same way about the music as I feel about the game itself; it's a feeling, it's an understanding, it's one of the most honest expressions I've ever seen of anything. Maybe to someone else the organ here will not seem much different from the "boring, lifeless" organs I place further down the list, but here I can feel such a strong and deliberate intentionality. The slowness is the point. The heaviness is the point. It is exactly what it wants to be. It is exactly what it needs to be.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Solemn Castle, Sanctuary, Leon ~Victim of Fate~
Solemn Castle really takes the cake here; Sanctuary is little more than a bunch of scale runs and Leon's sitting on our tried and true long, stagnant block chord accompaniment technique. It's a good thing, in that case, that Solemn Castle is absolutely gorgeous; a little simple and predictable, and not really doing much that utilizes any unique qualities of the organ, but this little motive of constantly landing on then resolving off of non-chord tones really helps lean into the heart-squeezing largeness of this organ's sound.
Tracks: Solemn Castle, Sanctuary, Leon ~Victim of Fate~
Solemn Castle really takes the cake here; Sanctuary is little more than a bunch of scale runs and Leon's sitting on our tried and true long, stagnant block chord accompaniment technique. It's a good thing, in that case, that Solemn Castle is absolutely gorgeous; a little simple and predictable, and not really doing much that utilizes any unique qualities of the organ, but this little motive of constantly landing on then resolving off of non-chord tones really helps lean into the heart-squeezing largeness of this organ's sound.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Track: Church Prayer
Incredibly normal piece of video game organ music. It's good, but not good enough to inspire any particular feelings.
Track: Church Prayer
Incredibly normal piece of video game organ music. It's good, but not good enough to inspire any particular feelings.
Rating: BORING
Track: Mithra (4th ver.)
This is something you'd teach to an organ student to get them comfortable with using the pedal board.
Track: Mithra (4th ver.)
This is something you'd teach to an organ student to get them comfortable with using the pedal board.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Tracks: Feast of the Damned, Demitri Victory, Victor von Gerdenheim Victory
For a horror-themed fighting game, I'm surprised it took until the third entry to use a pipe organ. And then the just kinda don't do much with it... The typical Baroque-styled melismatic runs you'd expect are here, the heavy minor chords are here, it's exactly what a game like this calls for and nothing else. Many other games have found significantly more interesting ways of blending Baroque music with other styles.
Tracks: Feast of the Damned, Demitri Victory, Victor von Gerdenheim Victory
For a horror-themed fighting game, I'm surprised it took until the third entry to use a pipe organ. And then the just kinda don't do much with it... The typical Baroque-styled melismatic runs you'd expect are here, the heavy minor chords are here, it's exactly what a game like this calls for and nothing else. Many other games have found significantly more interesting ways of blending Baroque music with other styles.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Marriage & Cohesion
Similar to Xenogears, this is just such a beautifully heartfelt work. It doesn't need to be anything flashy; being honest means so much more.
Track: Marriage & Cohesion
Similar to Xenogears, this is just such a beautifully heartfelt work. It doesn't need to be anything flashy; being honest means so much more.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Catacomb of the Sage Ra'a, The Mad Priest Roein, Spirit Parasite Melzas
The highlight here is of course Spirit Parasite Melzas. The organ isn't around for terribly long, but it is an exceptionally inspired passage that leaves an indelible impression. The Mad Priest Roein similarly throws around some chillingly profound chords like it's no big deal. Could we expect anything less from Kohei Tanaka? One of the best in the business. It's just a shame the pipe organ isn't used more frequently; the themes in this game definitely could have benefited from it.
Tracks: Catacomb of the Sage Ra'a, The Mad Priest Roein, Spirit Parasite Melzas
The highlight here is of course Spirit Parasite Melzas. The organ isn't around for terribly long, but it is an exceptionally inspired passage that leaves an indelible impression. The Mad Priest Roein similarly throws around some chillingly profound chords like it's no big deal. Could we expect anything less from Kohei Tanaka? One of the best in the business. It's just a shame the pipe organ isn't used more frequently; the themes in this game definitely could have benefited from it.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Tracks: Battle, Scenario Clear
There's a lot of organs in this soundtrack, but the sound quality makes it pretty tough to tell which ones are electric and which ones are pipe. I think my selections of tracks here is accurate, but it says a lot about the tone and the writing style here that I'm not entirely confident; every organ here is pumping out some rock-flavored stuff no matter where it shows up, which is perfectly fun and suitable for the soundtrack, but it unfortunately foregoes a lot of the nuances of the pipe organ. No textural changes, no intricate part writing, just a bunch of fast licks and riffs. I get the impression that everything here was essentially written just for an electric organ, and was adapted to a pipe organ whenever the composer wanted a "larger" sound - which is not a problem, but it does feel a little shallow, and to some degree under-considered.
Tracks: Battle, Scenario Clear
There's a lot of organs in this soundtrack, but the sound quality makes it pretty tough to tell which ones are electric and which ones are pipe. I think my selections of tracks here is accurate, but it says a lot about the tone and the writing style here that I'm not entirely confident; every organ here is pumping out some rock-flavored stuff no matter where it shows up, which is perfectly fun and suitable for the soundtrack, but it unfortunately foregoes a lot of the nuances of the pipe organ. No textural changes, no intricate part writing, just a bunch of fast licks and riffs. I get the impression that everything here was essentially written just for an electric organ, and was adapted to a pipe organ whenever the composer wanted a "larger" sound - which is not a problem, but it does feel a little shallow, and to some degree under-considered.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Prologue, Moonlight Nocturne, Requiem for the Gods, Finale Toccata
If Final Fantasy VI introduced the pipe organ/prog rock marriage into video game music, Symphony of the Night is the next step in its evolution. I only wish it used the organ as effectively as Final Fantasy VI did; it often winds up being more of a background texture for other instruments to project on top of. There are some novel implementations of the organ here though, especially Requiem for the Gods' lowering the attack on the beginning organ chords so they gradually fade forward in a way that a real organ would not be able to do. When the organ does take center stage it's absolutely masterful; I just wish it did so more often.
Tracks: Prologue, Moonlight Nocturne, Requiem for the Gods, Finale Toccata
If Final Fantasy VI introduced the pipe organ/prog rock marriage into video game music, Symphony of the Night is the next step in its evolution. I only wish it used the organ as effectively as Final Fantasy VI did; it often winds up being more of a background texture for other instruments to project on top of. There are some novel implementations of the organ here though, especially Requiem for the Gods' lowering the attack on the beginning organ chords so they gradually fade forward in a way that a real organ would not be able to do. When the organ does take center stage it's absolutely masterful; I just wish it did so more often.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Track: なぞの礼拝堂
There's some fun doubling with the guitar to help layer this full aggressive sound, but like so many others on this list, most of the playing here comes down to just sitting on some chords or swirling around some arpeggios. Not especially inspired, but it is one of the finer instances of this overly-trodden pipe organ trope.
Track: なぞの礼拝堂
There's some fun doubling with the guitar to help layer this full aggressive sound, but like so many others on this list, most of the playing here comes down to just sitting on some chords or swirling around some arpeggios. Not especially inspired, but it is one of the finer instances of this overly-trodden pipe organ trope.
Rating: GOOD
Track: The Dark Church
A quiet, tranquil little ostinato figure shimmering around some soft synth pulses. Not much to say, it's just some pretty playing.
Track: The Dark Church
A quiet, tranquil little ostinato figure shimmering around some soft synth pulses. Not much to say, it's just some pretty playing.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Zod's Blessing
There's some neat harmonic motions and cute melodic phrases, but nothing too poignant outside of that. Just some solid, pleasant, non-challenging organ music. Gets the job done and has a pretty fun time doing it.
Track: Zod's Blessing
There's some neat harmonic motions and cute melodic phrases, but nothing too poignant outside of that. Just some solid, pleasant, non-challenging organ music. Gets the job done and has a pretty fun time doing it.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Track: Church
The organ only appears here in short little burst, but they are fascinating little bursts, though they're also just a little repetitive. It gets the job done though!
Track: Church
The organ only appears here in short little burst, but they are fascinating little bursts, though they're also just a little repetitive. It gets the job done though!
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Holy Radiance, Fallen Angel, Caught Between Hope and Despair
Nearly every instance in which a pipe organ simply squeezes out a melodic line and nothing else ranks considerably lower on this list, but Holy Radiance is such a beautiful melodic line that suits the tone and playability of the organ unbelieveably perfectly. The organ only playing a melodic line here does not diminish the instrument's use in this track at all since the part is so immaculately suited for it. All other organ tracks in this game are similarly incredible - and they apply more of the organ's full utility as an instrument, as well. It's tough to choose a favorite or say one is particularly better than the other; this is just a game with incredible music across the board, and every use of the organ is inspired and effective.
Tracks: Holy Radiance, Fallen Angel, Caught Between Hope and Despair
Nearly every instance in which a pipe organ simply squeezes out a melodic line and nothing else ranks considerably lower on this list, but Holy Radiance is such a beautiful melodic line that suits the tone and playability of the organ unbelieveably perfectly. The organ only playing a melodic line here does not diminish the instrument's use in this track at all since the part is so immaculately suited for it. All other organ tracks in this game are similarly incredible - and they apply more of the organ's full utility as an instrument, as well. It's tough to choose a favorite or say one is particularly better than the other; this is just a game with incredible music across the board, and every use of the organ is inspired and effective.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Title, The Great Union, Tranquil Hill, Servants of Granada, Staff Roll
I've been vindicated! Further down this list, I mention Paladin's Quest (or Lennus 1) had the potential for incredible organ music, but it just wasn't applying itself enough. Well, now in the sequel, here we are!! The organ music here is serviceable at worst, and stunning at best. Tranquil Hill blew me back in my seat with how ethereally dazzling these chords are. For my money, it's the most unique chords to come out of an SNES pipe organ - and hopefully you can tell by this list I'm saying that with an intense familiarity in that particular subject. There's never been anything else quite like this on that console. What an absolute pleasure to discover something so pristine hidden and tucked away in a game like this.
Tracks: Title, The Great Union, Tranquil Hill, Servants of Granada, Staff Roll
I've been vindicated! Further down this list, I mention Paladin's Quest (or Lennus 1) had the potential for incredible organ music, but it just wasn't applying itself enough. Well, now in the sequel, here we are!! The organ music here is serviceable at worst, and stunning at best. Tranquil Hill blew me back in my seat with how ethereally dazzling these chords are. For my money, it's the most unique chords to come out of an SNES pipe organ - and hopefully you can tell by this list I'm saying that with an intense familiarity in that particular subject. There's never been anything else quite like this on that console. What an absolute pleasure to discover something so pristine hidden and tucked away in a game like this.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Ultimate Koopa
This is a classic. It'd be easy to write this off as a generic pipe organ track being used for an evil character simply for the sake of itself (as I will often be doing further down this list), but the writing here is incredible! The motives are all clearly defined, developed on masterfully, and effectively utilizes the full extent of the instrument's range. As far as pipe organs being included just for the sake of the villain is concerned, this is as good as it gets.
Track: Ultimate Koopa
This is a classic. It'd be easy to write this off as a generic pipe organ track being used for an evil character simply for the sake of itself (as I will often be doing further down this list), but the writing here is incredible! The motives are all clearly defined, developed on masterfully, and effectively utilizes the full extent of the instrument's range. As far as pipe organs being included just for the sake of the villain is concerned, this is as good as it gets.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Is it Love? A
Gentle yet oppressive, smooth yet unrelenting; a fascinating expression for the organ. Not a particularly engaging piece musically, but the feeling of it is remarkable.
Track: Is it Love? A
Gentle yet oppressive, smooth yet unrelenting; a fascinating expression for the organ. Not a particularly engaging piece musically, but the feeling of it is remarkable.
Rating: GOOD
Track: The Last Battle
As far as SNES organs are concerned, this one is pretty weak. The tone is limp and the writing is straight and utilitarian - not bad writing by any definition, but compared to its contemporaries in Final Fantasy VI and Live A Live, it can't even find a candle to try and hold in the first place. We do at least get some fun interplay between the organ and the rest of the orchestra here - usually these pieces are written in a way where the organ winds up being separate from the rest of the ensemble. It feels like it really belongs in the space here and is engaging with the material in some kind of meaningful way.
Track: The Last Battle
As far as SNES organs are concerned, this one is pretty weak. The tone is limp and the writing is straight and utilitarian - not bad writing by any definition, but compared to its contemporaries in Final Fantasy VI and Live A Live, it can't even find a candle to try and hold in the first place. We do at least get some fun interplay between the organ and the rest of the orchestra here - usually these pieces are written in a way where the organ winds up being separate from the rest of the ensemble. It feels like it really belongs in the space here and is engaging with the material in some kind of meaningful way.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Hey You, What Time Is It?, Come Here! I Defend You, The Absence of My Father from My Childhood, This is Also Training, Of My Life I Regret Nothing, Winged Maiden
Another SNES game that absolutely knocks it out of the park. All of the organ music here is positively lovely - including Come Here's surprise appearance which shows up completely out of nowhere, bringing out this gorgeously lush solo in the middle of a piece that otherwise has absolutely nothing to do with the pipe organ at all, complete with exactly the kind of sparkling writing I'm always looking for. Whether the pipe organ is the main focus of a track or a background texture, its inclusion is never off-handed and always brings something to chew on. Every instance of it in the soundtrack is a delightful surprise that constantly indulges itself by doing things a little differently than how you'd expect, mirroring Treasure Hunter G's position in the SNES RPG canon.
Tracks: Hey You, What Time Is It?, Come Here! I Defend You, The Absence of My Father from My Childhood, This is Also Training, Of My Life I Regret Nothing, Winged Maiden
Another SNES game that absolutely knocks it out of the park. All of the organ music here is positively lovely - including Come Here's surprise appearance which shows up completely out of nowhere, bringing out this gorgeously lush solo in the middle of a piece that otherwise has absolutely nothing to do with the pipe organ at all, complete with exactly the kind of sparkling writing I'm always looking for. Whether the pipe organ is the main focus of a track or a background texture, its inclusion is never off-handed and always brings something to chew on. Every instance of it in the soundtrack is a delightful surprise that constantly indulges itself by doing things a little differently than how you'd expect, mirroring Treasure Hunter G's position in the SNES RPG canon.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Boss Battle
A pretty, floating chorale opens way to a toccata-styled groove. It's light on anything too intricate or engrossing, but there is a a fun honesty to it and it's well-executed for what it is.
Track: Boss Battle
A pretty, floating chorale opens way to a toccata-styled groove. It's light on anything too intricate or engrossing, but there is a a fun honesty to it and it's well-executed for what it is.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Koopa Castle, The Dungeon Is Full of Monsters, Geno Awakens, Celebrational Melody, Fight Against Smithy
What's incredible about Super Mario RPG is that, even back on the SNES, it utilizes a different combination of stops for every track the pipe organ is used in (several different combinations in Fight Against Smithy)! One of them is even exclusive to a quick little jingle - I have a sneaking suspicion Yoko Shimomura is an organhead just like me. Hell, composers now in 2022 hardly take the time to use different organ stops throughout their soundtracks! This alone would be enough for me to put this pretty high in this ranking of pipe organ representation, but on top of this, the music written for the organ is also sublime. It's not particularly prevalent throughout the entire soundtrack, but whenever the organ does show up it's always a treat - well, more like a meal, and let me tell you, we're eating good.
Tracks: Koopa Castle, The Dungeon Is Full of Monsters, Geno Awakens, Celebrational Melody, Fight Against Smithy
What's incredible about Super Mario RPG is that, even back on the SNES, it utilizes a different combination of stops for every track the pipe organ is used in (several different combinations in Fight Against Smithy)! One of them is even exclusive to a quick little jingle - I have a sneaking suspicion Yoko Shimomura is an organhead just like me. Hell, composers now in 2022 hardly take the time to use different organ stops throughout their soundtracks! This alone would be enough for me to put this pretty high in this ranking of pipe organ representation, but on top of this, the music written for the organ is also sublime. It's not particularly prevalent throughout the entire soundtrack, but whenever the organ does show up it's always a treat - well, more like a meal, and let me tell you, we're eating good.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Treasure Box, Theme of Kefin II, Crime and Punishment, Wicked Pleasure (Intro)
Once again, the SNES gifts us with one of the absolute best pieces of organ writing in the history of the medium. Crime and Punishment is a powerhouse of a track, constantly weaving between themes, tones, and emotions to build a sprawling tapestry of pure artistry and raw passion. The organ's role is less significant in the other tracks, but it's always beautifully incorporated, and Crime and Punishment more than makes up for those other less-substantial outings.
Tracks: Treasure Box, Theme of Kefin II, Crime and Punishment, Wicked Pleasure (Intro)
Once again, the SNES gifts us with one of the absolute best pieces of organ writing in the history of the medium. Crime and Punishment is a powerhouse of a track, constantly weaving between themes, tones, and emotions to build a sprawling tapestry of pure artistry and raw passion. The organ's role is less significant in the other tracks, but it's always beautifully incorporated, and Crime and Punishment more than makes up for those other less-substantial outings.
Ranking: GOOD
Track: Hotel Gomaden
As always, gorgeous counterpoint being displayed in a Shin Megami Tensei game. Something about this feels a little more dry and academic compared to other Shin Megami Tensei titles, it doesn't tug at the heart as much as the others, but it's still beautiful and impeccably structured.
Track: Hotel Gomaden
As always, gorgeous counterpoint being displayed in a Shin Megami Tensei game. Something about this feels a little more dry and academic compared to other Shin Megami Tensei titles, it doesn't tug at the heart as much as the others, but it's still beautiful and impeccably structured.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Requiem
V to ♭VI always gets me, man. I can't hide my biases. It's just such a powerful harmonic motion. The rest of this piece is excellent as well, but towards the end where it just keeps flipping between V and ♭VI, man, it is unrelenting. That struggle, that trudging, that longing for a conclusion and having it constantly give out into imperfect cadences. It's like it keeps collapsing under the weight of itself. Standing back up, collapsing, standing back up, collapsing... Even I am not immune to basic music theory practices!!
Track: Requiem
V to ♭VI always gets me, man. I can't hide my biases. It's just such a powerful harmonic motion. The rest of this piece is excellent as well, but towards the end where it just keeps flipping between V and ♭VI, man, it is unrelenting. That struggle, that trudging, that longing for a conclusion and having it constantly give out into imperfect cadences. It's like it keeps collapsing under the weight of itself. Standing back up, collapsing, standing back up, collapsing... Even I am not immune to basic music theory practices!!
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Perverse Religion, Who is Good or Evil?, I Miss You
One of the most shrill, unrefined organ tones on the Super Nintendo surely, which is why the absolute majesty and power of Perverse Religion in particular is so surprising. I'd have a hard time pointing you towards a worse organ sample in such a mainstream game, but I'd also have a have a hard time pointing you towards too much video game organ music better than this (though of course, by looking at this list, I suppose that's exactly what's happening). There's a lot of love being shown to the pedal board here, which is great to see - this pipe organ might be a little tinny but the sound down in that lower register is full and rich and massive. Perverse Religion is also one of the more technical pieces on this list, taking full advantage of just how much mobility an organ player has on such a large instrument. Magnificent.
Tracks: Perverse Religion, Who is Good or Evil?, I Miss You
One of the most shrill, unrefined organ tones on the Super Nintendo surely, which is why the absolute majesty and power of Perverse Religion in particular is so surprising. I'd have a hard time pointing you towards a worse organ sample in such a mainstream game, but I'd also have a have a hard time pointing you towards too much video game organ music better than this (though of course, by looking at this list, I suppose that's exactly what's happening). There's a lot of love being shown to the pedal board here, which is great to see - this pipe organ might be a little tinny but the sound down in that lower register is full and rich and massive. Perverse Religion is also one of the more technical pieces on this list, taking full advantage of just how much mobility an organ player has on such a large instrument. Magnificent.
Rating: BORING
Tracks: The Saint, Church, Save
Finally a Dragon Quest game that uses a pipe organ for something other than the church jingles! Too bad it's not much more interesting than those jingles either way.
Tracks: The Saint, Church, Save
Finally a Dragon Quest game that uses a pipe organ for something other than the church jingles! Too bad it's not much more interesting than those jingles either way.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Introduction
A premonition of great things to come when the first thing you hear upon booting a game up is a massive chord on a pipe organ! An even greater premonition when it develops into an absolutely show-stopping cantata with choir and string orchestra, with the pipe organ taking a commanding lead. Unfortunately, that premonition wound up being a lie - the pipe organ is absent for the entire rest of the soundtrack. However, this can be forgiven by just how powerful its presence is here right at the start. If only the actual game was as good as this...
Track: Introduction
A premonition of great things to come when the first thing you hear upon booting a game up is a massive chord on a pipe organ! An even greater premonition when it develops into an absolutely show-stopping cantata with choir and string orchestra, with the pipe organ taking a commanding lead. Unfortunately, that premonition wound up being a lie - the pipe organ is absent for the entire rest of the soundtrack. However, this can be forgiven by just how powerful its presence is here right at the start. If only the actual game was as good as this...
Rating: BORING
Track: Credits
You'd think a game about Dracula would use the pipe organ more often! Well, I suppose they normally do - just not D. It doesn't appear until right at the very end, about halfway through the credits, and then it just keeps repeating this little rock riff over and over again - and that riff isn't especially inspired, either. A poor display.
Track: Credits
You'd think a game about Dracula would use the pipe organ more often! Well, I suppose they normally do - just not D. It doesn't appear until right at the very end, about halfway through the credits, and then it just keeps repeating this little rock riff over and over again - and that riff isn't especially inspired, either. A poor display.
Rating: GOOD
Track: A Prayer to the Road That Leads
Interact with the pipe organ in the cathedral and Chrono will play these quick little chords. Well, "little" - they're gorgeous. The organ tone is rich and full, the chords are thick and creamy, it's a delight. Obviously would have preferred this to be a full piece rather than a quick little idea (and indeed, an incredible piece could be developed off this single idea alone), but it's still an excellent display of organ playing.
Track: A Prayer to the Road That Leads
Interact with the pipe organ in the cathedral and Chrono will play these quick little chords. Well, "little" - they're gorgeous. The organ tone is rich and full, the chords are thick and creamy, it's a delight. Obviously would have preferred this to be a full piece rather than a quick little idea (and indeed, an incredible piece could be developed off this single idea alone), but it's still an excellent display of organ playing.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Please God, God of Decadence
A pair of truly beautiful chorales. God of Decadence is what elevates this game to be so high on the list, but both are excellent in their own right.
Tracks: Please God, God of Decadence
A pair of truly beautiful chorales. God of Decadence is what elevates this game to be so high on the list, but both are excellent in their own right.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Opening, Legend of Firebrand, Beyond the Colosseum, Over the Demon Realm, Metropolis of Ruin, Catacombs of the Dead, Cursed Towers, Dance of the Snowy Barrens, Palace of Decadence, The Infinite Demon, Memorial of the Fallen Ones
Surprisingly beautiful and sombre tracks that apply the pipe organ exquisitely. Never would have expected a spinoff game focusing on one enemy from Ghouls n' Ghosts to take such a delicate tone, but it's delicious. Some of these tracks like Snowy Barrens could situate perfectly well as proper organ repertoire. Is this the earliest point in video game history I've said this? It's certainly true of other games as the medium matures, but most pipe organ music from the 90's – while being absolutely astounding – have a certain "je ne sais quoi" that still clues it off to clearly belonging to a video game. Someone with an ear for classical music wouldn't be fooled if an organist tried playing that stuff during a recital. I'm going to go ahead and make the claim that Demon's Crest is the first video game with pipe organ tracks which, were they to be performed with real instruments, would sound indistinguishable from authentic classical music. That person with an ear for classical music could feasibly be fooled by several tracks in this game.
Tracks: Opening, Legend of Firebrand, Beyond the Colosseum, Over the Demon Realm, Metropolis of Ruin, Catacombs of the Dead, Cursed Towers, Dance of the Snowy Barrens, Palace of Decadence, The Infinite Demon, Memorial of the Fallen Ones
Surprisingly beautiful and sombre tracks that apply the pipe organ exquisitely. Never would have expected a spinoff game focusing on one enemy from Ghouls n' Ghosts to take such a delicate tone, but it's delicious. Some of these tracks like Snowy Barrens could situate perfectly well as proper organ repertoire. Is this the earliest point in video game history I've said this? It's certainly true of other games as the medium matures, but most pipe organ music from the 90's – while being absolutely astounding – have a certain "je ne sais quoi" that still clues it off to clearly belonging to a video game. Someone with an ear for classical music wouldn't be fooled if an organist tried playing that stuff during a recital. I'm going to go ahead and make the claim that Demon's Crest is the first video game with pipe organ tracks which, were they to be performed with real instruments, would sound indistinguishable from authentic classical music. That person with an ear for classical music could feasibly be fooled by several tracks in this game.
Rating: PERFECT
Tracks: Journey to the Demon King, Hopelessness, The Demon King Odio, Armageddon
Live A Live ranks so highly here almost exclusively because of the track Armageddon. This is just a phenomenal organ piece. All the other tracks utilize the organ excellently as well, but Armageddon is right up there with Final Fantasy VI's Dancing Mad as one of the absolute best organ pieces the SNES - and indeed, video games as a medium - has to offer. A chillingly captivating piece of music with a distinguished air of dignity and gravitas gushing with passion. Absolutely astounding.
UPDATE: The 2022 remake of Live A Live beefs up and expands upon the game's organ repertoire. I will not be listing the remake separately from the original game, so instead I will mention it here; the new and extra work done in the remake bumps this entry up from "GREAT" to "PERFECT." Thank you, Shimomura-san.
Tracks: Journey to the Demon King, Hopelessness, The Demon King Odio, Armageddon
Live A Live ranks so highly here almost exclusively because of the track Armageddon. This is just a phenomenal organ piece. All the other tracks utilize the organ excellently as well, but Armageddon is right up there with Final Fantasy VI's Dancing Mad as one of the absolute best organ pieces the SNES - and indeed, video games as a medium - has to offer. A chillingly captivating piece of music with a distinguished air of dignity and gravitas gushing with passion. Absolutely astounding.
UPDATE: The 2022 remake of Live A Live beefs up and expands upon the game's organ repertoire. I will not be listing the remake separately from the original game, so instead I will mention it here; the new and extra work done in the remake bumps this entry up from "GREAT" to "PERFECT." Thank you, Shimomura-san.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Palace of Peace
One of the first instances of truly great organ music in a video game. The immaculate counterpoint and development of themes makes the underwhelming Genesis sound chip sing with an unmistakably Baroque sensibility, and it is beautiful.
Track: Palace of Peace
One of the first instances of truly great organ music in a video game. The immaculate counterpoint and development of themes makes the underwhelming Genesis sound chip sing with an unmistakably Baroque sensibility, and it is beautiful.
Rating: PERFECT
Tracks: Opening Theme, Dancing Mad
This is easily the most famous instance of a pipe organ being used in game music, and for good reason - Nobuo Uematsu has not only created the single most iconic organ riff since Bach's (or at least, it's attributed to him) opening theme in Toccata and Fugue in D minor, but also presents us with a full-course meal of luxuriously decadent chorales that punctuate throughout an otherwise brain-thumping prog rock final boss track which never fails to impress any listener lucky enough to stumble across it, whether in-game or out. The full spectrum of the organ is found here, with its powerful, chilling howls, its gently caressing beauty, and its sacred, enlightened profundity. This is the height of the pipe organ's appearance in the history of the medium, and it's unlikely to ever be topped.
Tracks: Opening Theme, Dancing Mad
This is easily the most famous instance of a pipe organ being used in game music, and for good reason - Nobuo Uematsu has not only created the single most iconic organ riff since Bach's (or at least, it's attributed to him) opening theme in Toccata and Fugue in D minor, but also presents us with a full-course meal of luxuriously decadent chorales that punctuate throughout an otherwise brain-thumping prog rock final boss track which never fails to impress any listener lucky enough to stumble across it, whether in-game or out. The full spectrum of the organ is found here, with its powerful, chilling howls, its gently caressing beauty, and its sacred, enlightened profundity. This is the height of the pipe organ's appearance in the history of the medium, and it's unlikely to ever be topped.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Fade Into Darkside, Carpet
Fade Into Darkside has a great little opening phrase with the organ, but then it's dropped for the rest of the piece; meanwhile, Carpet is all organ all the time, but it's pretty standard fare of a bunch of chromatic mediants signposting the typical dark, oppressive sound expected of a pipe organ for a final boss. Luckily, the absolute impact of those organ chords at the start of Fade Into Darkside are such a shock at the immediate tone shift the game goes through that it still winds up being an inspired inclusion, and the chord voicings and extensions in Carpet manage to be considerate and fulfilling. Monster World IV's soundtrack is incredible and though the organ very nearly falls into the typical pitfalls, enough charm still finds its way into these to maintain character - and indeed, they're quite iconic in their own right.
Tracks: Fade Into Darkside, Carpet
Fade Into Darkside has a great little opening phrase with the organ, but then it's dropped for the rest of the piece; meanwhile, Carpet is all organ all the time, but it's pretty standard fare of a bunch of chromatic mediants signposting the typical dark, oppressive sound expected of a pipe organ for a final boss. Luckily, the absolute impact of those organ chords at the start of Fade Into Darkside are such a shock at the immediate tone shift the game goes through that it still winds up being an inspired inclusion, and the chord voicings and extensions in Carpet manage to be considerate and fulfilling. Monster World IV's soundtrack is incredible and though the organ very nearly falls into the typical pitfalls, enough charm still finds its way into these to maintain character - and indeed, they're quite iconic in their own right.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Jakyou no Yakata, Devils Fusion, Terminal Point
Rich, powerful, profound counterpoint as expected of a Jakyou track in a Shin Megami Tensei game. The other two tracks unfortunately, while carrying an appropriate gravitas, are just a little on the grating side. Something about the tone of the organ and the pitches being sustained for so long just doesn't sit perfectly well.
Tracks: Jakyou no Yakata, Devils Fusion, Terminal Point
Rich, powerful, profound counterpoint as expected of a Jakyou track in a Shin Megami Tensei game. The other two tracks unfortunately, while carrying an appropriate gravitas, are just a little on the grating side. Something about the tone of the organ and the pitches being sustained for so long just doesn't sit perfectly well.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: The Prayer of a Tragic Queen, Pressure, Theme of Simon
I'll admit that these organs are not quite so clearly defined as Crusader of Centy's - they sound as if they could just as well be replaced with strings or a harpsichord or whatever else. With Crusader of Centy as a comparison, we can know this falls not on the Genesis' sound chip, but with the way these pieces were written. The music is great, but for this to have ranked higher they would need to be written and structured in a way more authentic and unique to an organ as opposed to anything else.
Tracks: The Prayer of a Tragic Queen, Pressure, Theme of Simon
I'll admit that these organs are not quite so clearly defined as Crusader of Centy's - they sound as if they could just as well be replaced with strings or a harpsichord or whatever else. With Crusader of Centy as a comparison, we can know this falls not on the Genesis' sound chip, but with the way these pieces were written. The music is great, but for this to have ranked higher they would need to be written and structured in a way more authentic and unique to an organ as opposed to anything else.
Ranking: NEUTRAL
Tracks: 竜の巣からの話, クリスタル・キャッスル, 避け得ぬ戦い, ファイナルボス
Before saying anything, I want to make it clear this entry is based on the PC Engine release of this game; other releases may vary on their inclusion of the pipe organ.
I gotta say, it hurts to keep Emerald Dragon so low. This is an absolutely otherworldly soundtrack, truly and completely phenomenal, but it's another one where it designates the pipe organ to be an arpeggio machine and not much else. Of course, they're great chords to be arpeggiating, thus the higher ranking compared to other subpar organ uses, but in the end it's just not interested in using the instrument too comprehensively at all.
Tracks: 竜の巣からの話, クリスタル・キャッスル, 避け得ぬ戦い, ファイナルボス
Before saying anything, I want to make it clear this entry is based on the PC Engine release of this game; other releases may vary on their inclusion of the pipe organ.
I gotta say, it hurts to keep Emerald Dragon so low. This is an absolutely otherworldly soundtrack, truly and completely phenomenal, but it's another one where it designates the pipe organ to be an arpeggio machine and not much else. Of course, they're great chords to be arpeggiating, thus the higher ranking compared to other subpar organ uses, but in the end it's just not interested in using the instrument too comprehensively at all.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Actos Shrine
Remarkable track that weaves in and out of languishing darkness and triumphant grandeur with a precise flippancy I've never quite seen before. Utterly entrancing and gorgeously structured.
Track: Actos Shrine
Remarkable track that weaves in and out of languishing darkness and triumphant grandeur with a precise flippancy I've never quite seen before. Utterly entrancing and gorgeously structured.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Bloody Tears
The classic theme from Simon's Quest is brought back, juiced up, and developed on gorgeously here. Gorgeous organ tone, excellent writing (as it was on the NES as well - the only reason the original Simon's Quest track is not present in this list is because the genre blending and limited NES sound channels make it difficult to discern what parts are really supposed to be an organ and which are not), just an incredible win for organ lovers. It's only a shame we don't see it much else in this soundtrack, they've obviously got a great hand for it!
Track: Bloody Tears
The classic theme from Simon's Quest is brought back, juiced up, and developed on gorgeously here. Gorgeous organ tone, excellent writing (as it was on the NES as well - the only reason the original Simon's Quest track is not present in this list is because the genre blending and limited NES sound channels make it difficult to discern what parts are really supposed to be an organ and which are not), just an incredible win for organ lovers. It's only a shame we don't see it much else in this soundtrack, they've obviously got a great hand for it!
Rating: NEUTRAL
Track: Spirits' Chapel, Rotting Forest
I'm really into how weird and meandering this is! I can imagine some Nostalgia Critic-imitator trying to punch up how "dissonant" this is (secretly revealing how boring their music taste is), but I mean, it works! It sets an excellently off-putting, uneasy tone. A pipe organ in a Dracula game isn't an especially novel idea but these unconventional progressions and voicings are pretty neat.
Track: Spirits' Chapel, Rotting Forest
I'm really into how weird and meandering this is! I can imagine some Nostalgia Critic-imitator trying to punch up how "dissonant" this is (secretly revealing how boring their music taste is), but I mean, it works! It sets an excellently off-putting, uneasy tone. A pipe organ in a Dracula game isn't an especially novel idea but these unconventional progressions and voicings are pretty neat.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Watch Out for the Giant, Perplexing Dungeons
Surprise banger out of nowhere from a silly little Data East platformer on the Genesis - this shit rules!! It's no Crusader of Centy but the pipe organ in this is not only clearly identifiable, it's also used a lot more dynamically here than a lot of other games manage to eke out. The music in this game is unreasonably impressive and it finds some real sweet places to employ great organ writing.
Track: Watch Out for the Giant, Perplexing Dungeons
Surprise banger out of nowhere from a silly little Data East platformer on the Genesis - this shit rules!! It's no Crusader of Centy but the pipe organ in this is not only clearly identifiable, it's also used a lot more dynamically here than a lot of other games manage to eke out. The music in this game is unreasonably impressive and it finds some real sweet places to employ great organ writing.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: Unused Track 7, Unused Track 8
I really wish I could rate this higher! These are two great pieces of organ music, but as you can see they're not actually used anywhere in the game. This poses an interesting question: can I really consider a game to "have" a pipe organ if its only inclusion is in tracks that are not in the final game? This is the first instance of needing to consider such a quandry for this list, and as such will set a precedent going forward. Since the organ music does indeed belong to the game I think yes, the game should be included in this list, though the fact that it doesn't actually exist in it means it can't contend with much fervor. Such a shame - I'm sure the composer of these must have been disappointed in their exclusion as well. It's clear some real passion and consideration went into these.
Tracks: Unused Track 7, Unused Track 8
I really wish I could rate this higher! These are two great pieces of organ music, but as you can see they're not actually used anywhere in the game. This poses an interesting question: can I really consider a game to "have" a pipe organ if its only inclusion is in tracks that are not in the final game? This is the first instance of needing to consider such a quandry for this list, and as such will set a precedent going forward. Since the organ music does indeed belong to the game I think yes, the game should be included in this list, though the fact that it doesn't actually exist in it means it can't contend with much fervor. Such a shame - I'm sure the composer of these must have been disappointed in their exclusion as well. It's clear some real passion and consideration went into these.
Rating: BORING
Tracks: Holy Sanctuary, Kaymat - Twisted Reunion
These organ tracks are so close to being phenomenal, but they just never exert themselves. Holy Sanctuary feels like it's constantly vamping towards something that would undoubtedly be beautiful, but it never quite gets there - and while that very well may be the point, it doesn't change the fact that the organ writing is completely void of any expression. Similar situation with Kaymat, where the intriguing organ introduction implies further development on this idea, but we never see the organ ever again. The music in this soundtrack is impressive, if it had only used the pipe organ more liberally it could have easily stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the many legendary SNES pipe organs.
Tracks: Holy Sanctuary, Kaymat - Twisted Reunion
These organ tracks are so close to being phenomenal, but they just never exert themselves. Holy Sanctuary feels like it's constantly vamping towards something that would undoubtedly be beautiful, but it never quite gets there - and while that very well may be the point, it doesn't change the fact that the organ writing is completely void of any expression. Similar situation with Kaymat, where the intriguing organ introduction implies further development on this idea, but we never see the organ ever again. The music in this soundtrack is impressive, if it had only used the pipe organ more liberally it could have easily stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the many legendary SNES pipe organs.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Jakyou, Fusion
Breathtakingly beautiful swirling counterpoint that restlessly pushes forward, ever-growing, never halting its momentum even for a second. Phenomenal.
Tracks: Jakyou, Fusion
Breathtakingly beautiful swirling counterpoint that restlessly pushes forward, ever-growing, never halting its momentum even for a second. Phenomenal.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Tracks: Magician's Tent, Shrine for the Worship of Chaos, Darwin - Treasure Hunter, Birth of a Hero
There's some organs here that are on the verge of sounding like electric organs, but due to the tone of the game and their place in the soundtrack I think they're all supposed to be pipe. Anyways, this ranking is hard carried by Magician's Tent and Birth of a Hero. Magician's Tent provides a cute little madrigal (not particularly great - just "cute") and Birth of a Hero boasts some neat twisting chordal relationships. Neither on their own would mean all too much - to say nothing of the other two tracks, where the organ is simply accompaniment - but as a total package, the pipe organ could do much worse than what Arcana offers. Not bad!
Tracks: Magician's Tent, Shrine for the Worship of Chaos, Darwin - Treasure Hunter, Birth of a Hero
There's some organs here that are on the verge of sounding like electric organs, but due to the tone of the game and their place in the soundtrack I think they're all supposed to be pipe. Anyways, this ranking is hard carried by Magician's Tent and Birth of a Hero. Magician's Tent provides a cute little madrigal (not particularly great - just "cute") and Birth of a Hero boasts some neat twisting chordal relationships. Neither on their own would mean all too much - to say nothing of the other two tracks, where the organ is simply accompaniment - but as a total package, the pipe organ could do much worse than what Arcana offers. Not bad!
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Sacred Space, Separation With God
I think it's up for interpretation whether or not Sacred Space is an organ piece (I could also see it being a string ensemble), but Separation With God is absolutely a pipe organ and it's downright incredible. Lovingly, hauntingly, atrociously emotional work that continues to unfold and reveal more of itself as it keeps pushing forward.
Tracks: Sacred Space, Separation With God
I think it's up for interpretation whether or not Sacred Space is an organ piece (I could also see it being a string ensemble), but Separation With God is absolutely a pipe organ and it's downright incredible. Lovingly, hauntingly, atrociously emotional work that continues to unfold and reveal more of itself as it keeps pushing forward.
Rating: GREAT
Track: Theme of Simon (Stage 1), Entrance Hall (Stage 6-1), Dracula's Death, Ending
Conventional, but lavishly decadent writing. Entrance Hall in particular stands out, with punching staccato phrases utilizing the whole range of the organ, weaving around steadily growing layers of secondary harmonic functions that creep with a breathless anticipation. Evocative, exciting, excellent.
Track: Theme of Simon (Stage 1), Entrance Hall (Stage 6-1), Dracula's Death, Ending
Conventional, but lavishly decadent writing. Entrance Hall in particular stands out, with punching staccato phrases utilizing the whole range of the organ, weaving around steadily growing layers of secondary harmonic functions that creep with a breathless anticipation. Evocative, exciting, excellent.
Rating: NEUTRAL
Tracks: Cockatrice, Death Crawler, Castle of the Emperor, Astaroth
Astaroth is alright.
...
...
IDK! There isn't really anything going on at all here. It's maybe the most bog-standard implementation of a pipe organ in a Halloween-flavored game out there. Astaroth is alright.
Tracks: Cockatrice, Death Crawler, Castle of the Emperor, Astaroth
Astaroth is alright.
...
...
IDK! There isn't really anything going on at all here. It's maybe the most bog-standard implementation of a pipe organ in a Halloween-flavored game out there. Astaroth is alright.
Rating: BORING
Track: Golbez, Clad in Darkness
This most generic iteration of "A Bad Guy Theme That Sounds Menacing With a Pipe Organ." It does what it needs to do, but what it needs to do is nothing worth paying attention to.
Track: Golbez, Clad in Darkness
This most generic iteration of "A Bad Guy Theme That Sounds Menacing With a Pipe Organ." It does what it needs to do, but what it needs to do is nothing worth paying attention to.
Rating: BORING
Track: Gaudy Church
The tone of the organ here is gorgeous for a SNES game, but unfortunately it's just not really doing much of anything at all. This piece in its entirety is great, but the organ just is not pulling its weight.
Track: Gaudy Church
The tone of the organ here is gorgeous for a SNES game, but unfortunately it's just not really doing much of anything at all. This piece in its entirety is great, but the organ just is not pulling its weight.
Rating: GOOD
Tracks: God's Baptism, Shrine
Wow! Surprisingly intricate, authentic pipe organ music on this very early Genesis game. It's nothing that especially blows me away, but it is very pleasant and excellently arranged - especially considering the hardware.
Tracks: God's Baptism, Shrine
Wow! Surprisingly intricate, authentic pipe organ music on this very early Genesis game. It's nothing that especially blows me away, but it is very pleasant and excellently arranged - especially considering the hardware.
Rating: GREAT
Tracks: Sky Palace, Fillmoa
Some of the juiciest chords you'll find for the organ in any game. Yuzo Koshiro really knows how to squeeze the sound out of this thing - the organ's place in this soundtrack is meaningful and deliberate. Incredible and effective writing.
Tracks: Sky Palace, Fillmoa
Some of the juiciest chords you'll find for the organ in any game. Yuzo Koshiro really knows how to squeeze the sound out of this thing - the organ's place in this soundtrack is meaningful and deliberate. Incredible and effective writing.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Prayer
Quick little tune that sets the tone of the game with a delicious chorale obviously invoking the distinguished sound of Baroque organ music. Liturgical, yet dramatic - yep, that's a pipe organ on the NES!
Track: Prayer
Quick little tune that sets the tone of the game with a delicious chorale obviously invoking the distinguished sound of Baroque organ music. Liturgical, yet dramatic - yep, that's a pipe organ on the NES!
Rating: BAD
Tracks: Confession, Healing
DRAGON'S QUEST!!!!!
Tracks: Confession, Healing
DRAGON'S QUEST!!!!!
Rating: GOOD
Track: Prayer for Love
These PC-88 games are pretty tough to pin down as far as their uses of the pipe organ (I decided to omit Ys I and II from this list because they were just a bit too vague) but this one feels pretty clear. The writing here is emblematic of typical pipe organ fare, though with the distinction that it was doing them before other video games had much of a chance to! Organ writing doesn't seem to be Yuzo Koshiro's particular strong suit, but he's such a phenomenal composer that this track wind up being great anyways even if it's not especially authentic or showcasing the nuance of the instrument.
Track: Prayer for Love
These PC-88 games are pretty tough to pin down as far as their uses of the pipe organ (I decided to omit Ys I and II from this list because they were just a bit too vague) but this one feels pretty clear. The writing here is emblematic of typical pipe organ fare, though with the distinction that it was doing them before other video games had much of a chance to! Organ writing doesn't seem to be Yuzo Koshiro's particular strong suit, but he's such a phenomenal composer that this track wind up being great anyways even if it's not especially authentic or showcasing the nuance of the instrument.
Rating: GOOD
Track: Lurking Enemy Castle 2
In a soundtrack so steeped in traditional Japanese culture (which is rendered lovingly even with such limited technology), I was surprised to find such a bouncy, authentic, Western-classical-styled toccata for what surely must be a pipe organ! Three-part counterpoint flying by and weaving around itself, each voice tossing points of interest between each other, this is just a wonderful piece of organ writing.
Track: Lurking Enemy Castle 2
In a soundtrack so steeped in traditional Japanese culture (which is rendered lovingly even with such limited technology), I was surprised to find such a bouncy, authentic, Western-classical-styled toccata for what surely must be a pipe organ! Three-part counterpoint flying by and weaving around itself, each voice tossing points of interest between each other, this is just a wonderful piece of organ writing.
9 Comments
8/26/2022 - just hit 150 entries....... PIPE ORGAN LIST WILL NEVER DIE!!!
1/11/2023 - 200 entries and going strong. PIPE ORGAN LIST WILL NEVER DIE!!!
As a fledgling composer, fucking incredible list and the best list I've seen on this website so far. Following for this alone so I don't lose this list.
this list fucking rules. LOVE your notes. amazing
@DIOXYRIBOSE thank you so much
This is it. The greatest list on all of Backloggd.
Funbil
1 year ago