Your Top Ten Favorite Songs

[Kilgamayan]

Posted this recently on Lunatic Red.

10. Heartfelt Fancy, SA
9. Higan Retour ~ Riverside View, PoFV
8. Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke, IN
7. Fires of Hokkai, UFO
6. Fall of Fall ~ Autumnal Waterfall, MoF
5. Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon, IN
4. The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky, PCB
3. Doll Judgment ~ The Girll That Played With People's Shapes, PCB
(2.5. Flowering Night, Touhou Battle Gaiden)
2. Wind God Girl (Full Version), BAiJR
1. Patchouli Fortress 1 & 2, MegaMari

Full story, as well as the opportunity to list other songs that deserve mention:

Boss Themes

1. Doll Judgment - I'm a cool kid because I loved this sans the annoyingly famous IOSYS remix. Combination of nostalgia and pure emotional pull.

2. Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon - Basically the exact same reasoning as #1.

3. Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke - This is the most genius piece ZUN has ever composed. Nowhere in any Touhou game will you find a song that does more to tell the story of the corresponding character, and it does an excellent job of portraying how truly tragic Mokou's life is.

4. Higan Retour ~ Riverside View - Unbelievably awesome laid-back theme. This song fits Komachi to a T. Think of all the other penultimate boss themes and you'll notice how dark and determined they all are, sometimes even frantic. Not this one. This one is a nice easy swing you'd expect to hear on a calm boat ride.

5. Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion - This song riled me up for the final boss battle like no Stage 6 Boss theme had before, and I doubt any that follow will equal its power. You know a song is awesome when the accompanying awesome sound effects play in your head manually while you listen to it, and there isn't a person alive that can listen to this and not hear the CAUTION alarms going off.

Honorable Mentions: Reincarnation (PoDD), Vanishing Dream ~ Lost Dream, The Grimoire of Alice, Lunar Clock ~ Luna Dial, A Maiden's Illusory Funeral ~ Necrofantasy, Wind God Girl, Faith is For the Transient People, Native Faith, Satori Maiden ~ 3rd Eye, Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind

Stage Themes

1. The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky - This song seems built solely to make you cry. Love this so much for reasons similar to Doll Judgment.

2. Fall of Fall ~ Autumnal Waterfall - A brilliant guided tour up MoF's beautiful waterfall that accompanies one of the most enjoyable stages I've ever played.

3. Fires of Hokkai - This was UFO's "holy shit" moment and the thing that single-handedly saved the entire game from being one huge letdown. I have to believe 90% of the effort ZUN put into UFO went into this one song (and the other 10% are distributed evenly between Kogasa, Rural Makai City Esoteria and Cosmic Mind). I'm a big fan of Genesis, especially their Phil Collins days, and this sounded like it had been pulled right from them.

4. Heartfelt Fancy - Stage 4 sure is well-represented, isn't it? This has a lot of emotional pull as well as Nuclear Fusion's "manually inserting the sound effects" property with Rin's meows.

5. Lullaby of a Deserted Hell - Pretty much the same as Heartfelt Fancy. The only reason it's lower is that I slightly prefer Heartfelt Fancy's pull to this song's soothing.

Honorable Mentions: Too many to list...uh, Chinese Tea, Centennial Festival, Ancient Temple, Charming Domination, Night Bird, Kagome-Kagome, Voyage 1969, Dark Road, Primal Scene, Grave of Being, Tomorrow Will Be Special, Rural Makai City Esoteria

Bonus Fave 5! Songs That Appeared in Fangames

1. Patchouli Fortress 1/2 (MegaMari) - This song defines epic. I actually like it more than anything ZUN has ever produced(!). There is no adequate way to describe this song, other than saying that it does Megaman 2 Wily Fortress 1/2 proud.

2. Flowering Knight (Touhou Battle Gaiden) - An intense remix of Sakuya's PoFV theme that will kick your ass six ways 'til Tuesday. The one fault I can find with the song is that it doesn't exactly fit in a Tetris Attack clone.

3. Hakugyokurou (Super Marisa World) - This was very, very well-crafted as a mix of the Ghost House and Fortress themes from Super Mario World and Ancient Temple from PCB. Easily the most atmospheric song in the game, and arguably the most likely to stick in your head.

4. Forest 1 (Koumajou Densetsu Scarlet Symphony) - The theme to Cirno's stage. This does a fantastic job of setting the mood for the entire game while simultaneously perfectly matching the environment it's in.

5. Boss Battle (MariAri) - Incredibly cute and catchy with a little bit of darkness thrown in (c'mon, it's a boss battle theme). The repetitive nature of this song actually benefits it because of how catchy it is - you can't fight a boss for more than 3 minutes without singing along.

Honorable Mentions: Underground (Super Marisa Land), Intro/Final Battle (MegaMari), Scarlet Devil Mansion (MegaMari), Bamboo Forest (MegaMari), Eientei  (MegaMari), Sanzu River/Endless Staircase (MegaMari), Worlds 2 & 5 (MariAri), Worlds 3 & 6 (MariAri), World 7 (MariAri), Lunar Megalopolis (Touhou Battle Gaiden) (sorry for the gameplay video, but the song isn't anywhere else on YouTube), Entrance (Scarlet Symphony), Battlefield (Scarlet Symphony), Clock Tower (Scarlet Symphony), Forest of Magic (Super Marisa World), The Sky (Super Marisa World)

EDIT: Just for shit-stirring fun, have a Top 10 Most Overrated Touhou Songs. (Note that I do like several of these.)

EDIT 2: Expanded to Top 15 because Letty couldn't stand me not listing 3rd Eye, and as much as I love the song I really have to agree with him.

15. Bad Apple!!, LLS
14. Native Faith, MoF
13. Heian Alien, UFO
12. Phantom Ensemble, PCB
11. Satori Maiden ~ 3rd Eye, SA
10. Akutagawa Ryuunosuke's "Kappa" ~ Candid Friend , MoF
9. Deaf to All But the Song, IN
8. The Fantastic Legend of Tohno, PCB
7. Love-Coloured Master Spark, IN
6. Locked Girl ~ The Girl's Secret Room, EoSD
5. Septette for the Dead Princess, EoSD
4. The Venerable Ancient Battlefield ~ Suwa Foughten Field, MoF
3. U.N. Owen Was Her?, EoSD
2. Hartmann's Youkai Girl, SA
1. Necrofantasia, PCB

[Formless God]

8. The Fantastic Legend of Tohno, PCB

I have no idea how that song got #1.

6. Locked Girl ~ The Girl's Secret Room. EoSD

This. It's good like every other Touhou songs, but nothing too special

[Tinari]

Because I don't know names, here's my list.  The top ten in no particular order.


EoSD Ex-stage.
EoSD Flandre's theme.
PCB Yuyuko's theme. (Either)
PCB 5th stage.
PCB Ran's theme.
PCB Prismriver Sisters
IN Mokou's Theme
SA Yuugi's Theme
SA Parsee's Theme
UFO Ex-boss's theme.

[Janitor Morgan]

Just as a note, some of you need to remember that Top 10 lists go backwards.

Also, IaMP and SWR remixes can't be eligible for the list, because they are remixes of pre-existing Touhou themes.

Fixed my list accordingly.

[TheMasterSpark]

My list of favourite songs is actually only 5 long, but I'll post it anyway.

1# Amakasu Barley Tenji's theme, A Drunkard's Lemuria, from Uwabami Breakers (I count this one as a Touhou song)
2# Stages 6, 7 & EX theme, Sleepless Night of the Eastern Country, from Shoot the Bullet

The following three are in no particular order (3-5#)

Marisa Kirisame's theme, Oriental Dark Flight, from Phantasmagoria of Flower View
Komachi Onozuka's theme, Higan Retour ~ Riverside View, from Phantasmagoria of Flower View
Shikieiki Yamaxanadu's theme, Touhou Judgement in the Sixieth Year ~ Fate of Sixty Years, from Phantasmagoria of Flower View

I can't really provide you with many solid reasons for why I like these ones the most. I just do.

[Grand Octopus]

So recently I did my first major comparison of all the

Spoiler:

Windows

tracks, contrasting and eliminating until I ended up with my favourites. Took way too long.

10. Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind
Possesses a self-evident class that lifts it out from amongst UFO's general drudgery.

9. Ghostly Band ~ Phantom Ensemble
Inspiring instrumentation, culminating in a delightful din.

8. Fires of Hokkai
Something about this piece in tandem with the seemingly infinite stream of 'Space Invader' fairies affects me deeply. I suspect I was an Arcade Machine in a past life.

6=. Last Remote
Furious and frantic, save for one beautifully contrasting period of calm and collectedness.

6=. Lullaby of Deserted Hell
Noticeably different from much of ZUN's other work, but a very welcome departure in my opinion. A wonderfully melodic piece.

5. Satori Maiden ~ 3rd Eye
A deliciously haunting backdrop to an exquisite battle. Intense, intimidating and I SEE YOU LIKE CASTLEVANIA

3=. Fall of Fall ~ Autumnal Waterfall
Again, excellent instrumentation, and perfectly suited to its scenery. It's a shame you don't usually hear the best part of it in-game.

3=. The Venerable Ancient Battlefield ~ Suwa Foughten Field
An imposing, awe-inspiring climax to the heroine's ascension of the mountain. So this is the difference between gods and humans, eh?

2. Septette for the Dead Princess
Still the greatest thing ZUN's ever composed, but it suffers at the hands of EoSD's technical limitations.

1. Illusionary Night ~ Ghostly Eyes
Gloriously atmospheric, an enchanting whole far greater than the sum of its parts. Webster defines 'underrated' as...

---

I want to give Lunate Elf an honourable mention, because it'll never show up in this topic otherwise.

[Sen]

Why does everyone like Phantom Ensemble, I always thought it was a terrible song to accompany a terrible boss battle. Same goes for Tiny Tiny Clever Commander, that song bores me to tears. )=

Annnnnnyway:


10. Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind - Byakuren Hijiri's Theme
-- I just adore this song. It was all I listened to for about a week after UFO came out. It's just a wonderfully powerful song that echoes with determination and Byakuren's inner strength, how she will not let you defeat her, how she will achieve her dream one day. It's...well, frankly, emotional.

9. Spring Lane ~ Colorful Path - Reimu Hakurei's PoFV Theme
-- Going from the powerful determination of Cosmic Mind, we go to Reimu's PoFV, pretty much the total opposite. I can't find a single intense moment in the song; it's just a very mellow song that moves to its own calming beat. It shows quite well how Reimu's not really concerned about what's happening, she's only doing this because she has to, she's relaxed and knows everything's going to be alright.

8. Ultimate Truth - PCB Stage 6 Theme
-- PCB was my first Touhou game, and Ultimate Truth was my first Stage 6 theme. It's still the best out of all of them, I don't care what anyone else says. I've never heard a song that made me truly feel "this is really it! This is the end!" outside of this. It's a short, sweet, and beautiful end to the journey that is PCB. I usually stall out the conversation with Yuyuko just so I can listen to this.

7. Interdimensional Voyage of a Ghostly Passenger Ship - UFO Stage 4 Theme
-- Aaaaaaand then we go from the seriousness and beauty of Ultimate Truth to Interdimensional Voyage, one of the silliest and most whimsical songs ZUN's ever made. IdV is just weird, there's no other way to put it. It's different from everything ZUN's ever made, but at the same time it just works so well.

6. Doll Maker of Bucuresti - PCB Stage 3 Theme
-- Oh, Alice. All your themes are wonderful (except your PCB boss theme, oddly enough), but this song stands out amongst most of PCB's soundtrack. It's a fast-paced song with a sense of mystery and almost panic; you don't know where you're going, and there's nothing to indicate where you're going. It's just a void of blue, and you have to find your own way through it (or in PCB's case, blow things up until Alice appears :V).
I feel like the jazz arrange of DMoB in SWR/UNL kinda takes away from the song. It's still pleasant to listen to, jazz suits Alice oddly well, but the jazz seems a bit too forceful and upbeat for the original song. ):

5. Reincarnation - Mima's PoD.D Theme
-- Ah, now we get to the PC-98 music. I personally don't think Mima's all that great a character, she's fairly boring in personality and design and I can't stand hearing people screaming WE WANT MIMA BACK WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. That being said her PoD.D track is great. It's got a bunch of different emotions in it, going from playfulness to seriousness and everything in between and then going all the way back around at the loop. It's just fun to listen to.

4a. Alice in Wonderland - MS Extra Theme
4b. Grimoire of Alice - Alice's MS Extra Theme
-- I really had a hard time deciding if I wanted this spot to go to the intense battle in Grimoire of Alice or the calm before the storm of Alice in Wonderland. I decided to go with both :V
AiW is very calming, almost with an air of sadness as you stumble through the extra stage, wondering what's at the end. Then all of a sudden, Alice! You've basically destroyed her home and she's pissed. She's not gonna take any shit from you anymore. Both songs are fantastic farewells for the PC-98 series, so different yet somehow working so brilliantly together.

3. Alice Maestra - LLS Stage 4 Theme
-- Words cannot describe just how beautiful this song is. It's a quiet path through a mysterious mansion and you are utterly lost. It's like a mixture of sadness, mystery, quiet determination, and...it's just beautiful. I've said that a lot but AM really is probably the god damned prettiest thing ZUN's ever made. I've never heard an arrange that comes even close to the original; it's amazing how well the chiptunes capture the mood of the song.

2. Hartmann's Youkai Girl - Koishi Komeiji's Theme
-- Oh, Koishi. You are just one of my favorite things ever: your character is lovely, your boss fight is ridiculously fun, and your theme is the second-best song in the series. It starts out so chaotic, being in 7/8 time (apparently that's unusual, I don't know, I'm quoting a friend on this :V), and so off-beat. Then an escalating few bars, building up the emotion and tension in the song and then...!
...a fairly calm break at the end.  Koishi's playing around, she's not worried at all. But then the calm part grows in strength, swells in power. Koishi's not letting up, but she never stops having fun, she's going to play and she is going to kick your ass.

1. Faith is for Transient People - Sanae Kochiya's Theme
-- And here we are. I rather like Sanae as a character; she's new in Gensokyo, she's from the outside world, she's just finding her place in this strange new place, and she's a lovably naiive Nazi girl. But her theme is another thing entirely. FifTP is all the power and determination (I need a thesaurus) in the world, packed into one incredible melody. It's her way of establishing herself, denying you passage, asserting that she will not let you by. While Kanako's a god and her theme definitely gives that impression, Sanae's theme almost makes me think she's doing this to make Kanako happy. Sanae wants to make her (and later, Suwako) proud of her by doing her best, and her theme manages to capture all her emotions into one song.
And it's really damn awesome to dodge bullets to. Sometimes I do a pacifist Sanae battle just to hear this song :V


Honorable Mentions
Tabula Rasa ~ Empty Girl - Ellen's PoD.D Theme
Bad Apple!! - LLS Stage 3 Theme
U.N. Owen Was Her? - Flandre Scarlet's EoSD Theme
Night Falls ~ Evening Star - Yukari Yakumo's CtC IaMP Theme
Flowering Night - Sakuya Izayoi's PoFV Theme
White Flag of Usa Shrine - Tei Inaba's PoFV Theme
Gensokyo, Past and Present ~ Flower Land - Yuka Kazami's PoFV Theme
The Gensokyo the Gods Loved - MoF Stage 3 Theme
The Traditional Old Man and the Stylish Western Girl - Ichirin Kumoi's UFO Theme
Heian Alien - Nue Houjuu's UFO Theme

EDIT: Just for shit-stirring fun, have a Top 10 Most Overrated Touhou Songs. (Note that I do like several of these.)
[...]
2. Hartmann's Youkai Girl, SA

:V :V :V

[triangles]

10) Lullaby of Demonic Hell (SA Stage 5): So peaceful and calming, yet doesn't let you forget where you are and who's going to be carting away your charred remains lest you trip up facefirst into a bullet.

9) Love-colored Master Spark (IN Stage 4 boss): This theme fits the bulletspam so well.  Frantic rainbow colored laser beams and stars falling from all directions.  Upbeat yet confident and in-your-face, you're not going to be able to ignore Marisa no matter how hard you try.

8) Shanghai Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea (EoSD Stage 3): When I hear this I can totally imagine strolling through a garden, stopping to smell the flowers and tiptoe past the sleepy groundskeeper to refill my tea.  Beautiful is the word for it.

7) The Venerable Ancient Battlefield ~ Suwa Foughten Field (MoF Stage 6 boss): I gotta admit, this one took a while to grow on me because I struggled with Kanako for far longer than I care to admit.  But now that I actually can beat the game (and even 1cc'd it!) I see it less as the background music to my inevitable death, but as the climax of the fateful trip to a larger than life goddess of the mountain.

6) Gensokyo Millenium ~ History of the Moon (IN Stage 6a boss): It is both epic and wistful at the same time.  This is the song that embodies GOING TO THE MOON BRB and brings back all the nostalgia of reading classic pre-Apollo sci-fi novels that idealize moon and space travel.

5) Rural Makai City Esoteria (UFO Stage 5): The fact that I really dig this song is one of the reasons I haven't rage-uninstalled UFO yet since I can't beat Shou, so I hear it an awful lot.  It's got that familiar yet bizarroland vibe to it that works so well and makes me forget my stress over those goddamn side bullet spammers.

4) Ultimate Truth (PCB Stage 6): It's short, as Stage 6 themes tend to be, but really packs an emotional punch in getting you ready for the final battle and chatting with the ghost girl behind the spring.

3) Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion (SA Stage 6 boss):  This was the first final boss theme in my opinion that really let loose the HOLY SHIT GUYS THIS IS IT.  You really get the feeling that Utsuho's not just some misguided nice girl tossing some pretty rainbow bullets, she's pretty power crazy (or just crazy)  and going to nuke you to next Wednesday.  There's so much going on in this song, it really captures the manic feel of reaching the final level of hell and tackling head on what's there.

2) Walking the Streets of a Former Hell (SA Stage 3): It's so fitting for the stage itself - strolling through the underworld and OH HEY SUP YUUGI LET'S HAVE SOME SAKE.  If I could hang out with any Touhou it would be her no questions asked.  Even in the depths of hell, there's still some pretty rocking joints and fun times to be had, it's such a contrast to the rest of the game and the theme really reflects this.

1) Reach For The Moon, Immortal Smoke (IN Extra boss): If I find myself humming a Touhou theme, 9 times out of 10 it's this one.  It's also the only one on the list I've never gotten to hear legitimately, but regardless I feel it really sets the mood and tale of Mokou amazingly well in addition to being just so beautiful

Honorable Mentions:
Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind (UFO Stage 6 boss): If I can ever manage to stop raging at the UFO system and quitting in anger beat UFO Stage 5 and actually get to Byakuren this will probably move up higher.
Because Princess Inada Is Scolding Me (MoF Stage 1 boss)
The Fantastic Legend of Tohno (PCB Stage 2)
Flowering Night (PoFV Sakuya)

[Lexica]

10 Charming Domination / PCB Extra
The piano theme is very refreshing, befitting the strange colours of the extra stage. Fast-paced, in fact too fast-paced or otherwise it could've gotten higher.

9 Last Remote / SA Extra
The pressure is not really on in an extra stage, and the job is pretty much done. But still, rushing through a downpour and encountering Sanae en route was to be expected. The song sounded like a fight without the regular heat of battle, calming in nature.

8 Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17 / EoSD Stage 3 Boss
If it's a fight with Meirin, the fast-paced battle will just go on and on with the rainbow-coloured bullets. The fight had been elegant, but a little tiring. The music says exactly the same, though I couldn't associate that with whatever Zun had to say about Meiji and Shanghai... Maybe because it's a blissful place?

7 Satori Maiden ~ 3rd eye / SA Stage 4 Boss
It's below ground, there is no sun. But nothing in your heart can hide from the third eye of Satori. She is in control of everything in there, and this unseen pressure is conveyed properly through music.

6 Mystic Oriental Dream ~ Ancient Temple / PCB Stage 5
It does sound like a Japanese temple... An endless stairway, trees and fallen leaves in a quiet garden. --Until where a gardener apparently holding a sword appears, and slashes the peaceful scene apart. Youmu is not my best character but I appreciate the theme...

5 Lunar Clock 〜 Luna Dial / EoSD Stage 5 Boss
Time is ticking, but not for long. The maid who can stop time is on the opposite side of the corridor. The clock ticks, stops, ticks again and then rewinds without warning, locked in a loop of eternity. Zun didn't do a great job mixing this piece, but dBu's faithful reproduction had done the piece justice.

4 Gensokyo, Past and Present ~ Flower Land  / PoFV Yuka Kazami
Did not appreciate this theme until once I happened to walk in a field of sunflowers. I believe the opening was done in pipe organ but here the sounds come out with a different feel, a garden of endless sea of flowers, with no person in sight, only the flowers themselves moving with the wind. I have no feeling for Yuka but this theme fits the image of her standing in such a sunflower field. (Oh and those flowers hurt big time...)

3 The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky / PCB Stage 4
Flying above clouds all the way, swift, warm and sunny after coming out of the showering weather below. It's an elegant and simple composition that I can not grow tired of. [Oh and there is also the lovely LilyWhite

2 Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle / IN Stage 4A Boss
Likes Reimu a lot. Though she is a human, the theme just sounds out-of-this-world. You finish the dialogue and knew what's coming next: Reimu is not letting you off for good. There is an eerie echo before Reimu sets off, but even before finishing the loop it's already as though Reimu's unescapable spells are set all around the listener. Oh and that's why I frequently fail on her SC's... (Though I fail more frequently on Marisa's)
BTW this is one of the few tunes that's impossible to hum properly

1 Doll Judgment ~ The Girl who Played with People's Shapes / PCB Stage 3 Boss
The entry is like a world unfolding itself, and progresses to a varied yet methodical main theme. It's as if dolls keep appearing from behind Alice, fits her battle too well. IaMP's 5-beat remix gets a joint award. Downside is it's pretty hard to hum both the main theme and accompanyment at the same time.

Why does everyone like Phantom Ensemble, I always thought it was a terrible song to accompany a terrible boss battle.

I share the thought... I can never like that song apart from one piano remix version.

[non-lolicon Ange fan]

Let's see if I can narrow down my top ten favorite Touhou scores.

(For now, I'll just be using the original ZUN scores.)

10: Lunatic Princess: It has a very epic feel to it, like you're fighting someone of great power, which, of course, is what's happening.

9: The Road of the Apotropaic God (MOF stage 2): I swear, this is the most underrated Touhou score ever. It gets me pumped up every time I hear it.

8: The Fantastic legend of Tohno: The first time I heard this, I was like, "Whoa. I've never heard music like this in a SHMUP." It's beautiful, it's energetic, it's catchy as can be.

7: The Doll Maker of Bucuresti: It's a really dark piece, yet it's stunning to listen to. The midi version sounds better, I think.

6: Reincarnation: It's my favorite of the PC-98 scores. Also my favorite Mima theme. It gives the feeling that Mima is more than meets the eye, I think.

5: Lullaby of Deserted Hell (SA stage 5): When I first heard this, I thought, "Wait, this sounds more like a song from Odin Sphere than Touhou." (If you don't know, Odin Sphere is a game that has a good soundtrack.) Nonetheless, it's a gorgeous, almost tragic, piece.

4: 3rd Eye: Oh YES. I LOOOOOOOOVE this song. It's so evil, so gothic, and yet, Satori doesn't strike me as evil and/or gothic. Even so, it gives the feeling that you're in deep trouble just for picking a fight with her.

3: Wind God Girl: Who would've guessed that a professional fibber journalist like Aya would have such an epic theme? It has a fast beat that never lets up, and the last notes are just bombastic. I nominate Wind God Girl, "Best use of ZUN trumpets"!

2: Flowering Night: Don't get me wrong: Luna Dial is awesome too, but Flowering Night is my favorite Sakuya theme. It captures her elegant yet lethal persona perfectly, I think. That, and it's awesome to listen to in and out of the games.

1: Tie between Septette for the Dead Princess and U.N. Owen Was Her?: Alright, I know what you're thinking, "What? Your favorite song is Remilia's theme AND Flandre's theme? Too obvious!" However, you must remember, it was these two songs that made me a Touhou fan. Why do I love them so? Simple: Because both songs are just deliciously . . .  delightful!

Okay, if I listed every Touhou song I liked, the list would be like five times longer than this. I haven't even mentioned my love for Faith is for the Transient People, Heian Alien, Invisible Full Moon, History of the Moon, Alice in Wonderland, Mystic Oriental Love Consultation, Onigashima in the Fairyland ~ Missing Power, and Phantom Ensemble yet. And this isn't even mentioning the remixes yet.

I am a sucker for Touhou music.

[Kilgamayan]

Bonus fun! You got a Top 15 Overrated Songs, so here's a Top 10 Underrated Songs!

PC-98 songs disqualified since they're all underrated (aside from a select few) due to lack of people giving a shit about PC-98.

10. Retribution for the Eternal Night ~ Imperishable Night, IN
9. The Road of the Apotropaic God ~ Dark Road, MoF
8. UFO Romance in the Night Sky, UFO
7. Poison Body ~ Forsaken Doll, PoFV
6. The Centennial Festival for Magical Girls, EoSD
5. A Maiden's Illusory Funeral ~ Necro-Fantasy, PCB
4. Tomorrow Will be Special, Yesterday Was Not, MoF
3. Sleepless Night of the Eastern Country, StB
2. Song of the Night Sparrow ~ Night Bird, IN
1. Heartfelt Fancy, SA

[tjk]

well apart from the odd techno remix and IOSYS my touhou experience is mainly EoSD and PCB but here's my top 5

1. U.N. Owen was Her (flandre)
2. Phantom Emsemble (primsriver sisters)
3. Locked Girl (Patchouli Knowledge)
4. Sepette for a Dead Princess (Remilia)
5. Cinderella Cage ~ Kagome-Kagome (Imperishable Night Stage 5)

[Shizzo]

Oh well~


#1 - The Centennial Festival for Magical Girls
#2 - At the End of Spring
#3 - Interdimmensional Voyage of a Ghostly Passenger Ship
#4 - Shanghai Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea
#5 - A Flower-Studded Sake Dish on Mt. Ooe
#6 - Emotional Skyscrapper ~ Cosmic Mind
#7 - Deaf to All But the Song
#8 - The Gensokyo the Gods Loved
#9 - The Primal Scene of Japan the Girl Watched
#10 - Phantom Emsemble

I like beaty songs, but some of these are just so calm that they make me high~~  :V

[Flandrenonymous]

I definitely don't think I could put my faves in any particular order.  I used to be able to give a solid #1 at least until UFO came out.  I'll just justify why each particular one is in my top 10 at the very least.

• Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind - What can be said about the track many people haven't already said?  Well, one reason why it resonates with me is that it maintains the feel of the 'final boss' theme without any of the tension or aggression of past themes.  Not to mention it's just as beautifully arranged (and lacking some of the overwrought percussion of past themes)
• Septette for the Dead Princess - Said former solid #1.  It's a lot more measured than the final boss themes to come after it, but without feeling out of place.  It's...elegant in it's menace.  It's also the one track I'd love to see just a pure, straight live arrangement of, with an actual full Septet: two horns, two violin, cello or bass, piano/keyboard, drums, just playing it as is.
• Flight of the Bamboo Cutter ~ Lunatic Princess - I actually first heard the song from the 'Meiling, Meiling' flash, sadly enough.  Hooked on the song from the first go though.  I have issues with the percussion (not a real fan of the marching beat at the climax), but it's utterly energetic and memorable.  The sharp piano gives the whole song a sense of constant movement.
• Fall of Fall - A more recent favorite of mine, really.  One thing about MoF tracks is that they feel more like full songs than anything.  You can actually track the verse, refrain/chorus, codas, etc. before the whole track actually starts to loop.  I like that, especially on Fall of Fall.  I adore the pipes, and going back to my previous point, it makes me feel like someone's singing along.  It always gives me a sense that I could even feel the spray of the waterfall as the song plays.
• Faith is for the Transient People - Another more recent favorite of mine (you can tell I only really gave MoF's OST more of a chance lately).  This is less for the original song by itself, though, and more for the combo of the original and the UNL version.  Again, like Fall of Fall, I like the original actually having a full song progression.  I guess I was only really able to appreciate the melody after hearing the UNL version.
• Doll Maker of Bucuresti - It feels very ominous, and I love the quick piano in the middle.  It really does invoke a gypsy feel to me, and probably my favorite pre-SA stage theme.
• 3rd Eye ~ Satori Maiden - Instantly memorable.  Like I said about MoF's tracks in general, this feels like it has a recognizable song progression.  It's probably also one of the songs I really started to note ZUN taking a 'less is more' approach to the percussion and not going so overwrought on it like in previous games (obviously not the first, just the one I really started to notice).  It takes me back to the 8-bit days somehow, and I can't quite pinpoint why.
• The Bridge People No Longer Cross - This song stands out amongst all the ZUN tracks to me, just by how...different it sounds.  No signature e-trump.  No gothic inspiration or overtly Japanese feel.  I have a hard time pinpointing it.  It feels....tribal.  The song would feel just as home in a Jungle stage as it would in a subterranean cavern.  The unique instrumentation stood out immediately for me, and it's been an instant favorite of mine since SA came out
• Lullaby of Deserted Hell - Again, it stands out by just how unique it is.  Unlike "Bridge People No Longer Cross", however, it's not the instrumentation that's unique.  It's the fact that...it's a waltz.  It's...a literal lullaby (in a sense).  Again, it has a recognizable song progression as well.  It....dunno why, but I somehow think 'Robin Hood' when I hear it.  Something Medieval at least.
• Fires of Hokkai - It's not a masterpiece of complexity or anything.  What it is though is...atmospheric.  A perfect example of "Less is More".  The song is stunning in just how sparse it is.  Not in a bad way, but in an....ambient way.  It makes you feel the sheer emptiness surrounding you on your way to the end of the stage and sends a shiver up your spine.  And the heartbeats....cripes.