Final Fantasy VII : Original Soundtrack The Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack is a four - disc compilation of the music contained in " Final Fantasy VII " . There are 85 tracks split over the four CDs with music composed , arranged , and produced by Nobuo Uematsu . Development . Called by Uematsu his " greatest harvest " in terms of creativity , the soundtrack , despite its length , was composed in a period of eight months , as opposed to the bi - annual period of producing that had become the standard regarding the previous original soundtracks . The " Final Fantasy VII " soundtrack was innovative in that it was the first game in the series to include a track with digitized vocals , " One - Winged Angel " , which has been described as Uematsu ' s " most recognizable contribution " to the music of the " Final Fantasy " series . Uematsu has said that the transition from SNES to PlayStation made him look forward to what he could do with the new hardware , and was happy they were able to experiment with things they hadn ' t been able to do prior to the development of " Final Fantasy VII " . One thing that came up in the early stages was that the developers wanted to include a theme song with lyrics , but it never really happened , apart from " The One - Winged Angel " , but Uematsu doesn ' t consider this song as the game ' s theme song in the sense they had originally envisioned . Uematsu has also noted the part of experimenting with new ways to insert and apply music was the best thing to happen with " Final Fantasy VII " to him personally . Despite it being possible to record CD quality music for PlayStation games , Square decided to do the music for " Final Fantasy VII " with the PlayStation ' s internal chip because as far as sound quality goes , the developers felt the hardware was more than capable with its higher dynamic range than the Super Famicom , and 24 simultaneous music output channels ( the Super Famicom had 8 ) , allowing for more complex compositions . Eight channels would be reserved for sound effects , leaving 16 for the music . The sound effects were recorded in the studio , but the music is all the console ' s internal chip putting less demand on the read access time of the CD - ROM ; faster load times were prioritized over better sound quality . The team wanted to have a soundtrack with no repeated music to mimic movies , although depending on the scene the tempo or the intensity might change . As " Final Fantasy VII " is a long game some music is repeated , but the overall goal was to make it as cinematic as possible in that regard . From the first " Final Fantasy " up to " Final Fantasy V " the music had a European atmosphere , but " Final Fantasy VI " had started to break away from that , and " Final Fantasy VII " had a whole new image , one of " a dirty city of the future . " Uematsu personally likes many different styles of music , and saw " Final Fantasy VII " as a chance to show parts of himself he hadn ' t been able to express before . The field music ( titled " Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII " ) has a unique flavor compared to Square ' s RPGs of the past . Uematsu intentionally eliminated the uptempo meant to encourage the player to embark on a journey . Instead , some parts rise melodiously and some parts make the player feel insecure , creating various expressions within the same field of music . Uematsu hoped players would get a different feel from it compared to previous RPGs and has described it has this his own " experiment . " A music theory analysis of " Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII " was written by Video Game Music Academy in 2014 . He used keyboard and guitar for the basic compositions , and read the story and script as he composed . Due to the volume required of the soundtrack Uematsu worried he would run out of time . He ' d first compose a theme , then program it in , and then revise it . There was no guarantee the PlayStation hardware would have the kind of sound he was looking for , and the sound quality was sometimes very different . For that reason there ended up being many unused songs . " Final Fantasy VII : Original Soundtrack " peaked at # 3 in Japanese music charts , the first time music from a game placed in hit charts in Japan . The " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " greatly expands the body of musical works of the " Final Fantasy VII " universe . Nevertheless , the most popular themes among fans remain a part of the original soundtrack , which include " Those Who Fight " , " Aerith ' s Theme " , " J - E - N - O - V - A " , and the previously mentioned " One - Winged Angel " . Liner notes ( translated from the original Japanese ) . There is one thing common in all the " Final Fantasy " games . None of them are complete . All of the games are results of staffs from all around the world trying their 200 % effort and ambition . Too much ideas are packed in , while the game becomes blurred and unfocused . New ideas are being incorporated , but only dry and arid works come out . I think that is what we need to focus on to improve right now . Still , as a staff of SQUARE , I really don ' t think it is a big problem in the long run . If I were to compare it with a plant , the FF will be a plant given premium nutrition , water , and light without the care of a gardener . The branches will just extend in their own way , in any direction . A spring clean - up is necessary . The " Final Fantasy " series is nearing its spring clean - up . The flower might blossom in the next work , or maybe later . Though , we are confident that we will someday present you a COMPLETE work . Well , speaking about the incompleteness of " Final Fantasy " , the music in it is not an exception . Still , I have put out everything I have right now so I began to see what I really need to work on in the new environment . It think that was the greatest harvest this time . Let me thank every staff , every SQUARE member , my family , and friends . I am also grateful to you fans , from the bottom of my heart . Thank you very much . Limited edition . A limited edition of the " Final Fantasy VII : Original Sound Track " was also released . The set includes illustrated liner notes with several pictures of Uematsu ' s workspace , various CG and battle shots from the game , messages from Nobuo Uematsu , Square producer Tadashi Nomura , and Digicube music director Kensuke Matsushita , and a discography , alongside several pages of text . The set comes in a black box with the " Final Fantasy VII " logo engraved on a thin metal plate . The " Final Fantasy VII " limited edition soundtrack is one of the rarest " Final Fantasy " soundtracks . Sheet music . Published by DOREMI Music Publishing , the book contains Asako Niwa ' s piano arrangements for the music on the " Final Fantasy VII : Original Soundtrack " , arranged to sound as much as possible like the originals on the piano . The difficulty level is beginner to intermediate .