I'm fairly new to VGM, so I don't know a lot about the 'best' songs and albums. Though I have heard a lot of talk about how good the Final Fantasy albums are.

However, there are a lot of them, and it takes a while to download from download sites. My question is, what are the best FF albums? You can list any number of them you want.

Most people will tell you VI, VII, VIII, or IX. Final Fantasy IV also has many fans. Try these songs for a taste-test of each:

Final Fantasy IV � Theme of Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iPQeYUgVVE), Main Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKqFz5IZSvM), Cry in Sorrow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6nLfKZ3ktg), Goblez Clad in Dark (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQSQSv521V8), Troian Beauty (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6DSCriinkw)

Final Fantasy VI � Terra�s Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joRZL671Esk), Decisive Battle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZqazbULRRA), Aria de Mezzo Carattere (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtqXb2FDK0Q), Dancing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ios6zLDR8AI) Mad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MRGt_PvyT8), Devil�s Lab (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMK-y8w6YhA)

Final Fantasy VII �Still More Fighting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-EH6r9sSmQ), Main Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-HBnhhtSmo), One-Winged Angel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7wJ8pE2qKU), Aerith�s Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q85KIhPXrIQ), Cid�s Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2WYkfGYD8k)

Final Fantasy VIII � Liberi Fatali (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5f_VBd_17M), Balamb Garden (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_pJ0UsmZXM), The Extreme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVkcmx2l3WA), Silence and Motion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXD5tJl30q0), The Castle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqtGBR80NWw)

Final Fantasy IX � The Place I�ll Return to Someday (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHLBrtpZ5gY), Battle 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxQgbTRbT8o), Crossing Those Hills (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNOTJ-v8xnk), The Darkness of Eternity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghSi6_hbpo8), Bran Bal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai4mbIP4vbM)

Unfortunately, I'm ashamed to say, as a Final Fantasy fan, I've had limited contact with the "old-school" games (I-VI), but I can safely say that, of the new games, FFIX and FFX have the best overall soundtracks. Also, although it's not a mainstream Final Fantasy game, Dissidia cannot be overlooked. It has a PHENOMENAL soundtrack, but fantastic remixes of classic battle themes. For more specific tracks, my personal favourites are (although I've been told I have odd taste in music, so you may not want to trust me entirely):

FFVII: One winged Angel (of course!), J-E-N-O-V-A, Electric de Chocobo, Uutai Ruins, Still More Fighting.

FFVIII: Eyes on Me, Liberi Fatali, The Extreme (a fantastic, and often overlooked, battle theme), The Successor, Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec

FFIX: Oh gosh, where to begin? The Place I'll Return to Someday, Kuja's Theme, Battle 2, Battle 1, Quina's Theme, Oeilvert, Ipsen's Heritage, Gurugu Volcano, Melodies of Life. There's just too many to name; the entire soundtrack is just wonderful!

FFX: Otherworld, To Zanarkand, This is Your Story, Warping to a Different Dimension, Song of Prayer (any; there are several), Attack, Hurry!!, Those Who Come Closer, Summoned Beast Battle, Enemy Attack. Like FFIX, there are just too many to name, so it's worth just downloading the entire soundtrack of FFX and FFIX. It's, without a doubt, the most modern-sounding one to date, but amazing all the same.

FFXII (although I've yet to play it): Theme of the Empire, Esper Battle, Battle For Freedom, Speechless Fight, White Room.

Dissidia: Chaos Last Battle, Battle Scene FFI, Battle Scene I FFII, March, The Order That Must Be Protected, Cosmos.

it depends what u like. if u like old school than try ff 1 to 6.

if u prefer a more complicated sound than try ff7 to 9.

and if you like orchestral and modern sounds try ff 10 to 13.

than u have a bunch of arranged albums. like the piano collections and orchestral concerts. everyone should give those a listen.

a good website is here:

http://www.ffdream.com/downld-musiques.html

From FFXII tracks I especially like are:
1. Boss Battle
2. The Royal City of Rabanastre
3. Giza Plains
4. Nalbina Fortress Town Area
5. The Skycity of Bhujerba
6. Esper Battle (epicness!)
7. Seeking Power
8. The Salikawood
9. To The Place of the Gods
10. Time For A Rest

For 1, 8 and 9, there are remixes of these three on FF Tactics A2's OST.

Voice acting forced me to play Final Fantasy X on mute, and I haven't kept up with the series since then, but I think Final Fantasy VI is probably Uematsu's best work. IV had the catchiest songs, and if properly remade would I think easily surpass the others, but when it comes to a combination of good song writing and proper use of the technology available, VI as it stands tops my chart. VII, IX, and Tactics, in that order I suppose, also had great music. V and VIII never moved me (with the awesome exceptions of Gilgamesh's theme in the former and the demo-version intro song of the latter.)
Tactics is uniquely ambient, a collaboration between Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata with no Uematsu involvement to the best of my knowledge. IX has some really pretty melodies, but by then technology was starting to improve too much for its own good. In IX you hear only the faint remnant of that tinny classic videogame low-bit limit that really forced artists to stretch the boundaries of their creativity.