There is absolutely no contest. I love Final Fantasy VIII, but its soundtrack is one of the weakest in the series. Meanwhile, Bravely Default packs a powerful punch with pretty much every track. Absolute no-brainer
To be fair, I don't know Bravely Default's music that well, but it's definitely FFVIII. FFVIII might be somewhat limited and have a number of similar sounding songs, but there are some really standout greats like The Oath, Premonition (actually all the variant sorceress themes are great), FH. Not my favorite FF soundtrack, but definitely up there. Even Blue Fields, while it isn't really the first thought for top world map themes, it's a pretty nice mellow track. I love me some FF8 music. Bravely Default.....sorry, can't say I even remember any of the music.
Say what you want about VIII, but the music is fantastic. Man With a Machine Gun, Maybe I'm A Lion, Force Your Way, The Extreme, Blue Fields.
They used Force Your Way for the current raid tier in XIV.
Bravely Default's music is good too. Serpent Eating the Ground is an intense final boss theme. And your party member's theme kicking in when they limit break is great touch. I love Edea's battle theme, Baby Bird. And the most memorable part of the game for me was the fight with Praline and she was singing Love in the Crossfire. Song still gets stuck in my head.
Not sure I feel qualified to vote on this one. FFVIII has one of my favorite OSTs period and definitely the best in the series, *but* I have listened to Bravely Default's OST and even lacking context for its tracks, it's pretty damn great as well. As it is I wouldn't put it over FFVIII's, but eh, I haven't played BD in the end.