If I had to hear a Hyrule theme for several hours while travelling the overworld I'd probably have stopped playing before my 120+ hours. Full open world games like this tend to go minimal in their soundtracks for a reason - if they got repetitive even slightly, millions of people would be in for a bad time.

I do wish there were more custom songs for certain areas, of course - what we got is some of the best interest he series at times so naturally I want more - but the soundtrack to me nailed exactly what it was trying to do. Zelda fans just aren't necessarily used to what it tried to do!

I don't think that that's the case. Breath of the Wild will feel more empty, because it's 4 times as much game, for the same amount of music.

On the contrary I think it's the best sound track by a good margin, best arrenged, most original, always on point thematically.

Songs that I couldn't remember if you held a gun to my head.

There isn't enough in Breath of the Wild to match the others, and what is there, for the most part, doesn't measure up.
The Main Theme and Hyrule Castle, I agree, are up there, but that's pretty much it. And you hear them at the beginning and the end of the game. That is THE textbook definition of "Few and far in between".
Other main themes that can match those would be A Link to the Past's Overworld theme or the Final Fight with Demise.
And while you may think Lost Woods and Hyrule Field from Ocarina of Time are overrated, which you have a right to say they are, I won't argue with it, you can't deny that they are memorable and iconic staples of the series.
Those two themes are probably the first pieces of music people will think of when you say "Legend of Zelda" right behind the main theme from Zelda 1.

Breath of the Wild is great and amazing at a lot of things:
It's soundtrack is NOT one of them.
Pretty much the only flaw and problem I have with the game.

It suits the handheld mode of playing the game, kinda subdued on a surround setup. Zelda has always been more about melodies instead of grand orchestra. What music would not become annoying after 100 hours, halfway through the game. It's best to stay in the background but it could have build a bit more going to and finishing the 4 dungeons.

THAT'S the problem.

For the first open-world, HD, Zelda game. Expectations were sky high for everything, ESPECIALLY the soundtrack. And while Breath of the Wild meets those expectations and then some for the most part, the soundtrack was not one of those things.

Everyone was expecting something grand, incredible, and great and epic, not just in quality, but in quantity as well. Something that will set the new standard for music in the Zelda series, and what we got was..... Pretty good.
And for Breath of the Wild: Pretty good is disappointing.

There's around 200 tracks in BOTW (+50 jingles, or so). I'd say at least 1 in 4 could be described as "great". There's about 35 tracks total in Ocarina, many of which are more extended jingles than anything else.

You don't hear much of BOTW's music, not because it's not in the game, but because they use it so sparsely (a design choice).

My problem with many of the posters here defending the soundtrack is that you guys are just saying "You just don't appreciate minimalism!(complete assumption)" or "Nuh-uuhhh! You're wronnnnnnnnnnnnng"

Essentially nothing of substance is being said in defense of Breath of the Wild, except for a few points like minimalism fits an open world game, or the soundtrack should have been more customized for certain areas, or that the games minimalism is inspired by Ghibli, etc. The odd actual good point.

It's easy to deconstruct Breath of the Wild's soundtrack and see WHY they made it the way they did. The execution, is what's questionable.

It's hard for me to call it lackluster because the way Breath of the Wild uses its soundtrack is completely different compared to other games in the series. Are the songs as melodic and catchy? No, but I don't think the catchy melodies of previous Zelda games would suit the tone and setting of Breath of the Wild. The songs might not stand out on their own but when taken with the game as a whole I think they're excellent.

While it doesn't have as many tracks as some of the previous titles, I love all of them and it has my favorite tunes in the series, of all videogames even.