Music of Kingdom Hearts
Encyclopedia
The music of the Kingdom Hearts
video game series was composed by Yoko Shimomura
with orchestral music arranged by Kaoru Wada
. The original soundtracks of the games have been released on three albums and a fourth compilation album. The soundtracks to the Kingdom Hearts games feature several musical pieces from both Disney films
and Final Fantasy
games, including such pieces as "Mickey Mouse Club March" by Jimmie Dodd
, "This Is Halloween" by Danny Elfman
, and "One-Winged Angel" by Nobuo Uematsu
. They also feature several vocal songs, the most notable being the two main theme songs, "Hikari
" and "Passion". The two themes were written and performed by Japanese American
pop star Hikaru Utada. "Hikari" and "Passion" were originally in Japanese, but English versions were also produced, titled "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary", respectively.
Although the majority of the music has been released only in Japan, the first soundtrack was released worldwide and tracks from the Kingdom Hearts series have been featured in Play! A Video Game Symphony
at multiple venues. The music has overall been well received and several tracks have received particular praise. The two main themes were well received by both video game and music critics, and did well on Japan's Oricon
Weekly Singles chart.
; "Winnie The Pooh" by Robert B. Sherman
and Richard M. Sherman
; "This Is Halloween" by Danny Elfman
; "He's a Pirate" by Geoff Zanelli
, Klaus Badelt
, and Hans Zimmer
; and "Beauty and the Beast
" by Howard Ashman
and Alan Menken
. Other well-known tracks include "Night on Bald Mountain
" by Modest Mussorgsky
, and a remixed version of "One-Winged Angel" by Final Fantasy
series composer Nobuo Uematsu
. Each Disney world in Kingdom Hearts features corresponding music from their related Disney film. Original tracks include the title screen track, "Dearly Beloved", and the two theme songs, "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary". The soundtracks feature a mix of piano and orchestral pieces. The main themes differ from the other music in that they are pop songs
. The series also features several vocal songs—the most notable being the two theme songs. Kingdom Hearts II includes more vocal songs specifically in the Atlantica world, which features rhythm-based minigame
s set in the world of The Little Mermaid
. Such vocal songs include "Part of Your World" and "Under the Sea", both by Alan Menken
and Howard Ashman
.
sequel, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
, and the PlayStation Portable
prequel, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
, as well as the theme to Kingdom Hearts coded
. Its English counterpart, "Simple and Clean", is the theme song to the English release of the first game as well as the Japanese re-release, Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. Both songs were written and performed by Hikaru Utada. This marked the first time she had produced a song for a video game. Although the two songs share a similar melody and background music, the meaning of the songs' lyrics differ as "Simple and Clean" is not a literal translation of "Hikari". The single, "Hikari", was released in Japan on March 20, 2002 and proved to be very popular; it sold over 270,000 copies in a week. In addition to the first Kingdom Hearts soundtrack, "Simple And Clean" is included on Utada's single release of "Colors", which debuted on Japan's Oricon
charts at number one and stayed on the charts for 19 weeks. It was later included as a bonus track on Utada's 2009 English-language album This Is the One. Both songs have a "PLANITb remix", which are house
versions, and "Hikari" has a "Godson Mix". The different versions are used at various points in the game; the PLANITb remix is used for the opening sequence and the full version is used for the ending sequence.
as well as its re-release, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, and the Nintendo DS
title, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
. Its English counterpart, "Sanctuary", is the theme song for the English releases of the games. Like the first theme, Hikaru Utada wrote and performed both the Japanese and English versions, and there are two mixes. The "~opening version~" mix is played during the opening movies, and the "~after the battle~" version is played after defeating the final boss of the games. "Sanctuary" and "~after the battle~" were both used in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for DS. "Passion" was included in the Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack and a CD single was released on December 14, 2005. "Sanctuary" was first previewed on MTV
.com in early 2006. Both the "Opening" and "After the Battle" versions of "Sanctuary" were later released in May 2009 as bonus tracks on Utada's second American album, This Is the One.
composed the music for the three main Kingdom Hearts games and their remakes. She began composing video game music in 1988, and joined Square in 1993, but left in 2002 to work freelance. In creating music, Shimomura gathers inspiration from different things outside of her daily routine, like traveling or when she is emotionally moved. She has a respect for solo and orchestral pieces, such as Piano Sonata No. 7
by Ludwig van Beethoven
, Ballade No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin
, and La Valse
by Maurice Ravel
. Shimomura was initially hesitant to handle the music for the first Kingdom Hearts; the mix of a Square-style story and Disney characters made it hard to imagine what the game would be like, which made it difficult to compose the music. Many of the musical pieces are arrangement
s of Disney themes, which Shimomura stated she enjoyed arranging. Shimomura felt a great deal of pressure working on such recognizable tunes, and made an effort to maintain the original mood and atmosphere of them while complying with the technical specifications of the PlayStation 2
. For example, the original orchestrated tune to The Nightmare Before Christmas
was impossible to reproduce on the PlayStation 2's sound system. To keep aspects of it intact, Shimomura used a trial and error
method to arrange the piece.
In creating original music, Shimomura wanted to create compositions that would make players feel good while playing to accompany the action aspect of Kingdom Hearts. She played the game and looked over scripts and illustrations for inspiration. After coming up with ideas, she discussed them with director Tetsuya Nomura
and the game planners. For the PlayStation 2 re-release of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, she and her team spent much of their time working on the fight music; Shimomura wanted the different fight music to reflect different emotions such as happiness and sadness. To handle the large workload for Kingdom Hearts coded
, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
, Shimomura composed the most prominent themes, while the rest was created by other composers. In retrospect, Shimomura has stated that the Kingdom Hearts series combined the scenes and music well, and she felt very honored her music has entered into people's hearts. She has also commented that she enjoyed working on the project, despite its hardships, and is proud of the work.
The two main theme songs were written and performed by Japanese American artist Hikaru Utada. She wrote two versions for each, one in Japanese and one in English; the latter is used for international releases of the games. "Hikari" and "Passion" are the Japanese version theme songs for Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II respectively, while their English counterparts are called "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary". Utada was the only singer Nomura had in mind for the first Kingdom Hearts theme song. He considered Utada an iconic young singer whose music could break language and international barriers. Her involvement, along with the first song's Japanese title, was announced in January 2002. Utada's involvement with the sequel was announced in July 2005. Nomura chose not to have a different singer perform the second theme song because he believed fans associated Utada with Kingdom Hearts. Utada derived her inspiration from the worlds and characters in Kingdom Hearts; she also received written explanations of the stories from Nomura. Nomura stated that the vocals of the second theme tie in more closely with the game's story than "Hikari"/"Simple and Clean" did with Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Conversely, Nomura commented that Utada's theme songs influenced several factors in creating the games.
a week prior to the games' releases. Utada's 2009 album This Is the One features the theme songs "Simple And Clean" and "Sanctuary". Tracks from Kingdom Hearts series have also been played by Play! A Video Game Symphony
at various venues in the United States and around the world. Arnie Roth
arranged Kingdom Hearts pieces for the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in September 2009. Music from Kingdom Hearts is included in Yoko Shimomura's best works compilation album Drammatica.
, and later released in Europe on November 25, 2002 and the United States on March 23, 2003 by Virgin Records
. The soundtrack is a 2-CD set which contains most of music in the original version of the game along with two bonus tracks. The music was composed by Yoko Shimomura, with vocals done by Hikaru Utada for "Simple And Clean" and "Hikari". The orchestral music was arranged by Kaoru Wada and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. Because Kingdom Hearts Final Mix was released after the soundtrack, additional tracks from it were not included.
The soundtrack has met with an overall positive reception. IGN
listed the opening track for Kingdom Hearts, "Dearly Beloved", as number four on their top ten list of RPG title tracks. In their "Best of 2002" awards, Kingdom Hearts was nominated for the "Best Sound in a PlayStation 2 Game Editor's Choice Award" and was a runner up for "Best Sound in Game 2002
Reader's Choice Award". Allmusic rated the first soundtrack a 3 out of 5. GameSpy
described the soundtrack as "pleasant, melodious, and most of all fitting for the various situations in which it plays" and complimented the English translation of "Simple And Clean".
Track listing
. The new tracks do not include any newly composed music, but are arrangements by Yoko Shimomura.
. Vocals were performed by Hikaru Utada for the theme song, "Passion". The soundtrack was released in Japan on January 25, 2006.
The soundtrack received positive remarks from critics. G4TV
awarded Kingdom Hearts II "Best Soundtrack" at their 2006 G-Phoria
awards show. GameSpy complimented the soundtrack but stated it was not as good as the first game's soundtrack. GameInformer called the musical score "unforgettable". GameSpot
stated the "superb soundtrack" further enhanced the gaming experience and rated the sound a 9 out of 10.
Track listing
of the video game music from the three main games in the series, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II. The boxset contains music composed and produced by Yoko Shimomura, with the main orchestral tracks arranged by Kaoru Wada. The album features various unreleased tracks from the series, as well as new and rearranged versions of tracks from the two Final Mix releases and Re:Chain of Memories. The compilation boxset was released in Japan on March 28, 2007.
The collection has printed images on each disc and includes a deluxe booklet containing new illustrations designed by director and character designer Tetsuya Nomura
and comments from Yoko Shimomura. A special CD carrying case featuring artwork of Sora and Roxas was also released as a bonus. The soundtrack comprises nine discs with 229 tracks in total. Discs one and two contain unaltered tracks from the Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack while discs three to six contain lengthier and looped tracks from the Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack. Discs seven and eight contain tracks from Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories while disc nine contains bonus tracks from Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.
Track listing
, and released it in Japan on January 13, 2010.
. It was released on February 2, 2011. Discs one and two contain music from Birth by Sleep, and disc three contains music from 358/2 Days (tracks 1 through 13), Re:coded (tracks 14 through 20), and Birth by Sleep: Final Mix (tracks 21 through 27). Tracks from 358/2 Days and Re:coded are in pure orchestrated form, and are not digitized as they are in the original game releases.
Track listing
felt the background music was appropriate for each setting. However, he complained that the music loops were too short and repetitive. IGN
reviewer David Smith was impressed by the production values that went into the music of Kingdom Hearts, namely the use of the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and excellent arrangements of pieces such as "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Under the Sea". He also praised composer Yoko Shimomura's ability to maintain the atmosphere while keeping a "common thread of character running through the soundtrack". Daniel Kalabakov of SoundtrackCentral.com called Shimomura's orchestral composition sophisticated and stated that the score possesses unique qualities. He also stated that though the album is excellent, he considered it one of Shimomura's weaker albums overall. In reviewing Shimomura's compilation album Drammatica, SoundtrackCentral.com reviewer Adam Corn considered the Kingdom Hearts tracks one of the highlights of the album.
Jim Cordeira of Gaming Age stated the music was one of the best aspects of the first game and the orchestrated soundtrack is better quality than the "midi-sounding" tunes of previous Final Fantasy games. GameSpy
's Benjamin Turner had positive comments about the main theme, but found some worlds' background music weak. A second GameSpy reviewer, Gerald Villoria, complimented both PlayStation 2 game soundtracks, but stated Kingdom Hearts IIs soundtrack was not as good as the first game's.
Several tracks garnered extra attention and their own positive reception. "Hikari" debuted at number one on the Oricon
Weekly Singles chart in Japan. It stayed at number one for three weeks and stayed on the chart for thirteen weeks. "Hikari" sold more than 270,000 copies during its first week on sale, and by August 2002, it sold over 860,000 copies in Japan. In 2008, Guinness World Records
listed it as the best-selling video game theme song in Japan. Kalabakov complimented Utada's singing and the instrumentation of "Hikari", but commented that he was not a fan of pop songs. Turner was impressed by the translation of "Hikari" into English, and felt Utada's vocals were a good addition to the opening and ending segments of the game. "Passion" debuted at number four on the Oricon
Weekly Singles chart in Japan where it stayed on the chart for nine weeks. G4TV's Miguel Concepcion was particularly pleased by "Dearly Beloved", the track that plays during the title screen. IGN echoed the sentiment and listed it as number four in their top ten list of RPG title tracks. They commented that the track lifted the doubts they had about the game's potential. Kalabakov referred to it as a fitting "fairy tale-style" piece to the game's setting. He further stated that it was a simple piece that was "not short on emotion".
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
video game series was composed by Yoko Shimomura
Yoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
with orchestral music arranged by Kaoru Wada
Kaoru Wada
is a Japanese music composer, music arranger, conductor, music orchestrator and pianist from Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. He studied at the Tokyo College of Music. He is popularly known for his work on anime soundtracks. He became known to the West through his work on 3x3 Eyes and Battle...
. The original soundtracks of the games have been released on three albums and a fourth compilation album. The soundtracks to the Kingdom Hearts games feature several musical pieces from both Disney films
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
and Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
games, including such pieces as "Mickey Mouse Club March" by Jimmie Dodd
Jimmie Dodd
James Wesley Dodd was best known as the MC of the popular 1950s Disney TV show The Mickey Mouse Club, as well as the writer of its well-known theme song, "The Mickey Mouse Club March"...
, "This Is Halloween" by Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
, and "One-Winged Angel" by Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
. They also feature several vocal songs, the most notable being the two main theme songs, "Hikari
Hikari (song)
is Hikaru Utada's 10th Japanese-language single , and is also her 3rd single on the Deep River album. Its release date was March 20, 2002...
" and "Passion". The two themes were written and performed by Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
pop star Hikaru Utada. "Hikari" and "Passion" were originally in Japanese, but English versions were also produced, titled "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary", respectively.
Although the majority of the music has been released only in Japan, the first soundtrack was released worldwide and tracks from the Kingdom Hearts series have been featured in Play! A Video Game Symphony
Play! A Video Game Symphony
PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a concert series that features music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth...
at multiple venues. The music has overall been well received and several tracks have received particular praise. The two main themes were well received by both video game and music critics, and did well on Japan's Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
Weekly Singles chart.
Musical pieces
The Kingdom Hearts games feature music that ranges from dark to cheerful to sorrowful. Several musical pieces are included that have either met with a positive reception or were already well known—many of which from Disney films. Such pieces include "Mickey Mouse Club March" by Jimmie DoddJimmie Dodd
James Wesley Dodd was best known as the MC of the popular 1950s Disney TV show The Mickey Mouse Club, as well as the writer of its well-known theme song, "The Mickey Mouse Club March"...
; "Winnie The Pooh" by Robert B. Sherman
Robert B. Sherman
Robert Bernard Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical films with his brother Richard Morton Sherman...
and Richard M. Sherman
Richard M. Sherman
Richard Morton Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical film with his brother Robert Bernard Sherman....
; "This Is Halloween" by Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
; "He's a Pirate" by Geoff Zanelli
Geoff Zanelli
Geoff Zanelli is a composer working primarily in the medium of film music. His early career was notable for scoring additional music on roughly 30 film scores written by Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell, Klaus Badelt and Steve Jablonsky including several blockbuster films...
, Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt is an award-winning German composer, best known for composing film scores.-Life and career:Badelt was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He started his musical career composing for many successful movies and commercials in his homeland...
, and Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
; and "Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 song)
"Beauty and the Beast" is the Oscar winning leading single from the Academy Award Best Picture nominated animated film Beauty and the Beast film, and the first hit single from Céline Dion's eponymous album. It was performed in the movie by Angela Lansbury, and sung over the movie's closing credits...
" by Howard Ashman
Howard Ashman
Howard Elliott Ashman was an American playwright and lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University and Goddard College and then went on to achieve his master's degree from Indiana University in 1974...
and Alan Menken
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
. Other well-known tracks include "Night on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in, at least, two versions—a seldom performed 1867 version or a later and very popular "fantasy for orchestra" arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain , based on the vocal score of the "Dream Vision...
" by Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
, and a remixed version of "One-Winged Angel" by Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series composer Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
. Each Disney world in Kingdom Hearts features corresponding music from their related Disney film. Original tracks include the title screen track, "Dearly Beloved", and the two theme songs, "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary". The soundtracks feature a mix of piano and orchestral pieces. The main themes differ from the other music in that they are pop songs
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The series also features several vocal songs—the most notable being the two theme songs. Kingdom Hearts II includes more vocal songs specifically in the Atlantica world, which features rhythm-based minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s set in the world of The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (1989 film)
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
. Such vocal songs include "Part of Your World" and "Under the Sea", both by Alan Menken
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
and Howard Ashman
Howard Ashman
Howard Elliott Ashman was an American playwright and lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University and Goddard College and then went on to achieve his master's degree from Indiana University in 1974...
.
"Hikari" and "Simple and Clean"
is the theme song to the Japanese release of Kingdom Hearts, the first game in the series as well as the Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
sequel, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Japanese studio Jupiter and published by Square Enix in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. The game serves as an intermediary between the two larger-scale PlayStation 2 games in the Kingdom Hearts series. It was one of the first GBA games to...
, and the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
prequel, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix and Disney for the PlayStation Portable, serving as the sixth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series. The game was released on UMD in Japan on January 9, 2010, in North America on September 7, 2010 and in Europe on September...
, as well as the theme to Kingdom Hearts coded
Kingdom Hearts coded
is an episodic puzzle video game developed and published by Square Enix, in collaboration with the Walt Disney Internet Group for mobile phones. It is the fourth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series and is set after the events of the Kingdom Hearts II. The story focuses on a message written in...
. Its English counterpart, "Simple and Clean", is the theme song to the English release of the first game as well as the Japanese re-release, Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. Both songs were written and performed by Hikaru Utada. This marked the first time she had produced a song for a video game. Although the two songs share a similar melody and background music, the meaning of the songs' lyrics differ as "Simple and Clean" is not a literal translation of "Hikari". The single, "Hikari", was released in Japan on March 20, 2002 and proved to be very popular; it sold over 270,000 copies in a week. In addition to the first Kingdom Hearts soundtrack, "Simple And Clean" is included on Utada's single release of "Colors", which debuted on Japan's Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
charts at number one and stayed on the charts for 19 weeks. It was later included as a bonus track on Utada's 2009 English-language album This Is the One. Both songs have a "PLANITb remix", which are house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
versions, and "Hikari" has a "Godson Mix". The different versions are used at various points in the game; the PLANITb remix is used for the opening sequence and the full version is used for the ending sequence.
"Passion" and "Sanctuary"
"Passion" is the theme song for the Japanese release of Kingdom Hearts IIKingdom Hearts II
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and published by Buena Vista Games and Square Enix in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console...
as well as its re-release, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, and the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
title, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
is an action roleplaying game developed and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS with assistance from h.a.n.d. It is the fifth installment in the best-selling Kingdom Hearts series, and serves as an interquel beginning near the end of the first game, Kingdom Hearts, and covering the period...
. Its English counterpart, "Sanctuary", is the theme song for the English releases of the games. Like the first theme, Hikaru Utada wrote and performed both the Japanese and English versions, and there are two mixes. The "~opening version~" mix is played during the opening movies, and the "~after the battle~" version is played after defeating the final boss of the games. "Sanctuary" and "~after the battle~" were both used in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for DS. "Passion" was included in the Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack and a CD single was released on December 14, 2005. "Sanctuary" was first previewed on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.com in early 2006. Both the "Opening" and "After the Battle" versions of "Sanctuary" were later released in May 2009 as bonus tracks on Utada's second American album, This Is the One.
Creation and influence
Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
composed the music for the three main Kingdom Hearts games and their remakes. She began composing video game music in 1988, and joined Square in 1993, but left in 2002 to work freelance. In creating music, Shimomura gathers inspiration from different things outside of her daily routine, like traveling or when she is emotionally moved. She has a respect for solo and orchestral pieces, such as Piano Sonata No. 7
Piano Sonata No. 7 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3, was dedicated to the Countess Anne Margarete von Browne, and written in 1798. This makes it contemporary with his three string trios opus 9, the violin sonatas of opus 12 and the violin romance that became his opus 50 when later...
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Ballade No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, and La Valse
La Valse
La valse, un poème choréographique pour orchestre , is a work written by Maurice Ravel from February 1919 until 1920 ; it was conceived as a ballet but is now more often heard as a concert work...
by Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
. Shimomura was initially hesitant to handle the music for the first Kingdom Hearts; the mix of a Square-style story and Disney characters made it hard to imagine what the game would be like, which made it difficult to compose the music. Many of the musical pieces are arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s of Disney themes, which Shimomura stated she enjoyed arranging. Shimomura felt a great deal of pressure working on such recognizable tunes, and made an effort to maintain the original mood and atmosphere of them while complying with the technical specifications of the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. For example, the original orchestrated tune to The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas, often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a 1993 stop motion musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to...
was impossible to reproduce on the PlayStation 2's sound system. To keep aspects of it intact, Shimomura used a trial and error
Trial and error
Trial and error, or trial by error, is a general method of problem solving, fixing things, or for obtaining knowledge."Learning doesn't happen from failure itself but rather from analyzing the failure, making a change, and then trying again."...
method to arrange the piece.
In creating original music, Shimomura wanted to create compositions that would make players feel good while playing to accompany the action aspect of Kingdom Hearts. She played the game and looked over scripts and illustrations for inspiration. After coming up with ideas, she discussed them with director Tetsuya Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura
is a Japanese video game director and character designer working for Square Enix , best known for his work on both the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series.-Time before Square:Nomura was born in Kōchi, Japan...
and the game planners. For the PlayStation 2 re-release of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, she and her team spent much of their time working on the fight music; Shimomura wanted the different fight music to reflect different emotions such as happiness and sadness. To handle the large workload for Kingdom Hearts coded
Kingdom Hearts coded
is an episodic puzzle video game developed and published by Square Enix, in collaboration with the Walt Disney Internet Group for mobile phones. It is the fourth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series and is set after the events of the Kingdom Hearts II. The story focuses on a message written in...
, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
is an action roleplaying game developed and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS with assistance from h.a.n.d. It is the fifth installment in the best-selling Kingdom Hearts series, and serves as an interquel beginning near the end of the first game, Kingdom Hearts, and covering the period...
and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix and Disney for the PlayStation Portable, serving as the sixth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series. The game was released on UMD in Japan on January 9, 2010, in North America on September 7, 2010 and in Europe on September...
, Shimomura composed the most prominent themes, while the rest was created by other composers. In retrospect, Shimomura has stated that the Kingdom Hearts series combined the scenes and music well, and she felt very honored her music has entered into people's hearts. She has also commented that she enjoyed working on the project, despite its hardships, and is proud of the work.
Releases
Aside from being featured in the Kingdom Hearts video games, the music has been released via a variety of methods. Soundtracks for the first and third game were released shortly after the games' release. These were followed by a compilation set which featured unreleased tracks from the series, as well as new and rearranged versions of tracks from the re-released versions of the games. The first soundtrack was released in Japan, United States and Europe. All other albums were released only in Japan. Though the two main themes were released as part of the game soundtracks, they were officially released as singlesSingle (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
a week prior to the games' releases. Utada's 2009 album This Is the One features the theme songs "Simple And Clean" and "Sanctuary". Tracks from Kingdom Hearts series have also been played by Play! A Video Game Symphony
Play! A Video Game Symphony
PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a concert series that features music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth...
at various venues in the United States and around the world. Arnie Roth
Arnie Roth
Arnold "Arnie" Roth is an American, Chicago-based Grammy Award-winning conductor, composer, and record producer, best known for conducting numerous video game concerts. He is also a classically-trained violinist and a member of the Grammy Award-winning music group Mannheim Steamroller...
arranged Kingdom Hearts pieces for the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in September 2009. Music from Kingdom Hearts is included in Yoko Shimomura's best works compilation album Drammatica.
Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack
Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack for the video game Kingdom Hearts. It was first released in Japan on March 27, 2002 by Toshiba-EMIToshiba-EMI
(formerly , is one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. in June 30, 2007 after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. The current CEO and president is San-e Ichii. When EMI Music Japan was trading as Toshiba-EMI, it was...
, and later released in Europe on November 25, 2002 and the United States on March 23, 2003 by Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. The soundtrack is a 2-CD set which contains most of music in the original version of the game along with two bonus tracks. The music was composed by Yoko Shimomura, with vocals done by Hikaru Utada for "Simple And Clean" and "Hikari". The orchestral music was arranged by Kaoru Wada and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. Because Kingdom Hearts Final Mix was released after the soundtrack, additional tracks from it were not included.
The soundtrack has met with an overall positive reception. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
listed the opening track for Kingdom Hearts, "Dearly Beloved", as number four on their top ten list of RPG title tracks. In their "Best of 2002" awards, Kingdom Hearts was nominated for the "Best Sound in a PlayStation 2 Game Editor's Choice Award" and was a runner up for "Best Sound in Game 2002
Reader's Choice Award". Allmusic rated the first soundtrack a 3 out of 5. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
described the soundtrack as "pleasant, melodious, and most of all fitting for the various situations in which it plays" and complimented the English translation of "Simple And Clean".
Track listing
Kingdom Hearts -Final Mix- Additional Tracks
Kingdom Hearts -Final Mix- Additional Tracks is a separate CD that features new tracks from the re-release of the first game, Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. It was released in Japan on December 26, 2002, by Walt Disney RecordsWalt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records is a family music record label owned by the Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Records was formed in 1956 as Disneyland Records. Before that time, Disney recordings were licensed out to a variety of other labels such as . It was Walt Disney’s brother Roy O...
. The new tracks do not include any newly composed music, but are arrangements by Yoko Shimomura.
Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack
Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack for Kingdom Hearts II video game. The album contains musical tracks from the game, composed and produced by Yoko Shimomura, with the main orchestral tracks arranged by Kaoru Wada and performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic OrchestraTokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
The claims to be the oldest classical orchestra in Japan, having been founded in Nagoya in 1911. It moved to Tokyo in 1938 and has some 166 members as of 2005....
. Vocals were performed by Hikaru Utada for the theme song, "Passion". The soundtrack was released in Japan on January 25, 2006.
The soundtrack received positive remarks from critics. G4TV
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
awarded Kingdom Hearts II "Best Soundtrack" at their 2006 G-Phoria
G-Phoria
G-Phoria is an annual video game awards show started in 2003 and produced by G4. The awards are democratically voted on.Formerly the event was formatted like a regular awards ceremony taped in front of an audience, featuring celebrities such as Hal Sparks, Carmen Electra, Wilmer Valderamma and Anna...
awards show. GameSpy complimented the soundtrack but stated it was not as good as the first game's soundtrack. GameInformer called the musical score "unforgettable". GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
stated the "superb soundtrack" further enhanced the gaming experience and rated the sound a 9 out of 10.
Track listing
Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack Complete
Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack Complete is a compilation albumCompilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of the video game music from the three main games in the series, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II. The boxset contains music composed and produced by Yoko Shimomura, with the main orchestral tracks arranged by Kaoru Wada. The album features various unreleased tracks from the series, as well as new and rearranged versions of tracks from the two Final Mix releases and Re:Chain of Memories. The compilation boxset was released in Japan on March 28, 2007.
The collection has printed images on each disc and includes a deluxe booklet containing new illustrations designed by director and character designer Tetsuya Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura
is a Japanese video game director and character designer working for Square Enix , best known for his work on both the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series.-Time before Square:Nomura was born in Kōchi, Japan...
and comments from Yoko Shimomura. A special CD carrying case featuring artwork of Sora and Roxas was also released as a bonus. The soundtrack comprises nine discs with 229 tracks in total. Discs one and two contain unaltered tracks from the Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack while discs three to six contain lengthier and looped tracks from the Kingdom Hearts II Original Soundtrack. Discs seven and eight contain tracks from Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories while disc nine contains bonus tracks from Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.
Track listing
Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts
On May 27, 2009, Square Enix released a collection of Kingdom Hearts music arranged for the piano. The tracks are popular pieces chosen by members of Square Enix's music website. A mini concert was held on April 2, 2009 in Tokyo to preview the album, attendees of which were drawn from a lottery held on the Square Enix Members website. There, composer Yoko Shimomura described the album as consisting of easy listening piano solo arrangements. Tracks 5 through 8 are a sonata on the various themes of the series.Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts Field & Battle
Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts Field & Battle is the second compilation album of compositions from the Kingdom Hearts series arranged for solo piano by Sachiko Miyano and Natsumi Kameoka. Unlike the first album, which features mostly character themes and background music, this compilation features themes from battles and worlds. Square Enix announced it at the 2009 Tokyo Game ShowTokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
, and released it in Japan on January 13, 2010.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days Original Soundtrack
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep & 358/2 Days Original Soundtrack is a three-disc album containing music from the games Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, as well as Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, composed by Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
. It was released on February 2, 2011. Discs one and two contain music from Birth by Sleep, and disc three contains music from 358/2 Days (tracks 1 through 13), Re:coded (tracks 14 through 20), and Birth by Sleep: Final Mix (tracks 21 through 27). Tracks from 358/2 Days and Re:coded are in pure orchestrated form, and are not digitized as they are in the original game releases.
Track listing
Reception
The music of Kingdom Hearts was overall well received. Greg Kasavin of GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
felt the background music was appropriate for each setting. However, he complained that the music loops were too short and repetitive. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
reviewer David Smith was impressed by the production values that went into the music of Kingdom Hearts, namely the use of the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and excellent arrangements of pieces such as "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Under the Sea". He also praised composer Yoko Shimomura's ability to maintain the atmosphere while keeping a "common thread of character running through the soundtrack". Daniel Kalabakov of SoundtrackCentral.com called Shimomura's orchestral composition sophisticated and stated that the score possesses unique qualities. He also stated that though the album is excellent, he considered it one of Shimomura's weaker albums overall. In reviewing Shimomura's compilation album Drammatica, SoundtrackCentral.com reviewer Adam Corn considered the Kingdom Hearts tracks one of the highlights of the album.
Jim Cordeira of Gaming Age stated the music was one of the best aspects of the first game and the orchestrated soundtrack is better quality than the "midi-sounding" tunes of previous Final Fantasy games. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's Benjamin Turner had positive comments about the main theme, but found some worlds' background music weak. A second GameSpy reviewer, Gerald Villoria, complimented both PlayStation 2 game soundtracks, but stated Kingdom Hearts IIs soundtrack was not as good as the first game's.
Several tracks garnered extra attention and their own positive reception. "Hikari" debuted at number one on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
Weekly Singles chart in Japan. It stayed at number one for three weeks and stayed on the chart for thirteen weeks. "Hikari" sold more than 270,000 copies during its first week on sale, and by August 2002, it sold over 860,000 copies in Japan. In 2008, Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
listed it as the best-selling video game theme song in Japan. Kalabakov complimented Utada's singing and the instrumentation of "Hikari", but commented that he was not a fan of pop songs. Turner was impressed by the translation of "Hikari" into English, and felt Utada's vocals were a good addition to the opening and ending segments of the game. "Passion" debuted at number four on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
Weekly Singles chart in Japan where it stayed on the chart for nine weeks. G4TV's Miguel Concepcion was particularly pleased by "Dearly Beloved", the track that plays during the title screen. IGN echoed the sentiment and listed it as number four in their top ten list of RPG title tracks. They commented that the track lifted the doubts they had about the game's potential. Kalabakov referred to it as a fitting "fairy tale-style" piece to the game's setting. He further stated that it was a simple piece that was "not short on emotion".