Awesome Music pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.
Opening and Ending Themes
- The very first opening to the 2003 series, "Melissa"
. - "READY STEADY GO", the first and main song [adult swim] used throughout most of its run, and the second opening overall. Zebrahead's English-language cover is pretty intense, too.
- COOL JOKE's "Undo" as the third opening is pretty amazing. It's pretty catchy, and it also fits the Elrics to a T.
- Opening 4: Asian Kung-Fu Generation's "Rewrite". One of the best-known songs from the anime. Darling Thieves' cover of it is a whole different flavor.
- The first ending theme song, "Kesenai Tsumi" ("Inerasable Sin") by Nana Kitade.
- "Tobira no Mukou e" ("To the Other Side of the Door"), the second ending by YeLLOW Generation. It's especially wonderful if you look up the lyrics.
- Crystal Kay's "Motherland", the third ending theme, is very touching.
- The fourth ending, "I Will" by Sowelu, is strangely catchy.
- "Link" and "LOST HEAVEN", the opening and ending themes to the Conqueror of Shamballa movie.
Others
- Michiru Oshima's score for the 2003 anime is regularly mentioned by anime critics as among the finest anime OSTs. This article by Anime News Network mentions it as one of the major reasons to watch the 2003 anime (and it's worth noting the author is a scholar of film music).
- Beaming Sunlight is what you email your grandmother when she's telling you all anime is porn.
- The song "Brothers" is heart wrenching and beautiful at the same time. How can I repay you brother of mine, how can I expect you to forgive... Yes, that is Ed's voice actor singing and playing piano. Actually, the song after that (Nothing I Won't Give) is meant to be an original Image Song for Ed, and it's quite badass.
- "Brothers" or "Bratja" has many versions of through the series. The harp and violin version is really heart-rending. It alone is considered one of the finest pieces of music ever written for an anime.
- "Aishou", Lust's theme. It's used in many ways in her focus episode, "Reunion for the Fallen," where she feels conflicted about her feelings about Lujon, the man she misled to help create a Philosopher's Stone who ended up falling in love with her. There's a scene where the scalar piano parts coincide with Lust's hair blowing in the wind as she spots Lujon that is just heart-stopping on a rewatch.
- Dante's leitmotif from the first series, "Dante."
- Or the waltz version used once near the end.
- The version with singing in it makes it sound like she's pleading for Hohenheim.
- Or the waltz version
- "Koukai" is easily one of the saddest tracks in the first anime. It's especially devastating when it's used in episode 15, where Ed and Al learn about the Ishbal massacre, and in various scenes that show Roy Mustang's actions during the massacre. Especially the flashback he has in episode 13 when Ed in the battle reminds him of killing an Ishbalan child, or Marcoh recalling Roy's suicide attempt after killing the Rockbells. Roy is a man traumatized by his regrets, and this music emphasizes that and adds to the sadness.
- Whenever Tsumi plays, you can be sure that something either awesome and awful (or both) is going down. Same with Gaika. Special points for its first appearance in the second episode: "You're not the only one who can't stand doubters preach. HERE'S THE REAL HAMMER OF GOD!"
- "Trance to Homunculus", an absolutely epic Villain Song for the Homunculi of the 2003 anime, even if the "lyrics" are just quotes by the Homunculi from the show.
- The track appropriately titled Philosopher's Stone is a haunting, mysterious piece, full of airy percussion, that's perfect for the scenes with revelations about alchemy, the homunculi and, of course, the Stone.
- A lot of the big brassy songs used for scenes involving the military. Fortify is used in a lot of battle scenes, and in revelations about the military's crimes, and make it clear just how powerful it is. "Invasion" also accompanies a lot of those scenes, but also some lighterhearted moments at Military HQ, which fits with how its mood is more ambiguous than the mightier, and angrier, "Fortify".
- "Kei," or "Devotion," which is used for a lot of the scenes in and about Ishbal, especially the ones involving Scar. The hymn-like sound to it represents Scar's devotion to his religion and his mission of revenge, and makes the whole thing feel very epic. Especially in the anime, which often omits the organ and just uses the choral track a cappella, which sounds very old and haunting.
- Greed gets an epic brassy theme that sounds like something from Mussorgsky.
- The use of Chopin's "Tristesse" Etude in the series finale. It's a really common choice in anime (used, among other places, in the finale of Baccano! and several scenes in Your Lie in April), but it's particularly well-placed here, especially given the title of the piece (French for "sadness") contrasted with its hopeful mood. It perfectly fits the bittersweet ending, where the brothers are separated but hopeful and fighting for their reunion, Roy and Riza are closer than ever even after he was seriously wounded in his attempt to overthrow the Führer, and so on.
- Kantou, the piece that plays during several of the more notable battle scenes, most significantly Ed's confrontation with the chimeras at the end of the first episode. It sounds like something from an epic fantasy film.
- Beyond the Gate and Requiem from the movie. The first is an epic piece that plays as the gate between the worlds is opened. The second is an upbeat, and at the same time, tragic piece for Heiderich's funeral.
- "Kelas (Let's Dance)", also from Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa, is considered one of the most beautiful Full Metal Alchemist pieces, even by those who dislike that particular film.
