Tag Archives: game soundtrack

Song of the Day: Jade Empire Main Theme (by Jack Wall)

Posted on by Arleigh

Today marks the end of E3 for 2011 and I have chosen one of the best intro music for any game ever created. The previous two songs chosen were from Bethesda role-playing games and while I stick to the same game genre I’ve moved onto who I consider the best RPG developers currently working today. The latest “Song of the Day” is by music composer Jack Wall and is the “Main Theme” to that oft-overlooked, but a classic rpg nonetheless, Jade Empire.

The “Jade Empire Main Theme” just hints at the epic that would become the Jade Empire story. Jack Wall does a great job of not just sticking to the usual classical European orchestral sound. He brings in traditional Asian musical instruments from throughout Chinese history. He even brings in some Japanese taiko drums to give this theme just a touch of that martial sound. This main theme really highlights the Asian themes and influences BioWare used to create the fictional realm that Jade Empire takes place. The way the music plays out it wouldn’t be too farfetched to hear it scoring an Ang Lee or Zhang Yimou wuxia epic.

Jade Empire is one of those games, despite having not as big a following as some of the bigger and more popular rpg franchises, whose fans are very vocal about their love not just for the game but for the soundtrack which I consider one of the best soundtracks ever composer for a video game.

Song of the Day: Reign of the Septims (by Jeremy Soule)

Posted on by Arleigh

The next E3 2011 Edition of the “Song of the Day” is the intro and main theme to the follow-up game to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This song is called “Reign of the Septims” and it sets the epicness of what was, and is, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

“Reign of the Septims” actually sounds similar in certain areas to the Morrowind intro of “Nerevar Rising”. Where this intro differs is how it’s less about hope (a term and emotion that Lisa Marie mentioned she felt listening to the previous song) but about rising up to take one’s destiny and become the leader the game’s storyline requires of the player. There’s a certain martial aspect to the song which could be heard in the brass section and strings working in concert right in the beginning and throughout most of the song until they begin to fade to give “Reign of the Septims” a simpler and more mellow ending.

I really can’t imagine any future games in this series having its soundtrack being composed by anyone other than Jeremy Soule. It’s a good thing that he will be on hand for the next game, Skyrim, and from what I’ve heard of the initial theme to that game it’s a nice progression from the intro for both Morrowind and Oblivion.

Song of the Day: Nerevar Rising (by Jeremy Soule)

Posted on by Arleigh

Even though Monday had several E3 Press Conferences by the industry giants like Microsoft, Sony, EA and Activision, in reality E3 didn’t really begin until today. So, starting today I’ll post one song a day of some of my favorite intro music from some of my favorite video games through the years. The first song will close off today’s E3 coverage and comes from the game which got me hooked on The Elder Scrolls rpg franchise.

The latest “Song of the Day” is from the third game in the TES series called Morrowind. The song is the main theme for the song and it’s title is “Nerevar Rising”. This track, like all of the music in the Morrowind soundtrack, was composed and arranged by Jeremy Soule who has become one of the top composers of music for the video game industry. I just love how this song begins with the deep drum beats which then fades into the background as woodwinds and strings come in gently. By the one-third mark of the song even more strings arrive in the form of violins. It’s when the song hits the halfway mark when percussion comes back to the forefront to join woodwinds and strings to combine and create an epic sound worthy of a fantasy epic adventure about to begin.

I still listen to this intro whenever the urge hits me and it still raises the hairs on my arms and shivers up my spine at just how epic it sounds. As an added bonus the song makes a reappearance in the end of the game once the player has achieved his goal and finished the game. It’s pretty much the same music but with some added sections.

Song of the Day: Still Alive from Portal (by Jonathan Coulton and Ellen McClain)

Posted on by Arleigh

The latest “song of the day” comes in just in time to show that my major bout with the cold/flu last week and this weekend hasn’t taken me out. It’s also a proper choice with the release of Portal 2, Valve’s sequel to their very popular puzzle-shooter Portal. What better way to send me off to Anime Boston this weekend but with the very geeky and otaku anthem of “Still Alive”.

“Still Alive” is the end credits song which plays once the player has completed Portal. The voice who sings the song (written by songwriter Jonathan Coulton) is one Ellen McClain and she is suppose to be the AI-computer GLaDOS lamenting the player’s success and escape. The song became as big of a hit with gamers as the game it was part of. Pretty much a whole cottage industry of all things geek-culture sprung up around this song. Shirts were made, youtube videos of varying quality using the song were uploaded and comic book, gaming and anime convention goers worldwide adopted the song as their unofficial anthem.

The song is pretty cute and catchy. The way the lyrics were sung with such sweetness by singer Ellen McClain makes it such a happy ditty. But when stepping back from singing along one really has to look at the lyrics and see how dark and twisted “Still Alive” truly was and still is. And on that note, catch you allafter Anime Boston.

Still Alive

This was a triumph
I’m making a note here
HUGE SUCCESS
It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction
Aperture Science

we do what we must because we can
for the good of all of us except for the ones who are dead
but there’s no sense crying over every mistake
you just keep on trying until you run out of cake
and the science gets done and you make a neat gun
for the people who are still alive

I’m not even angry
I’m being so sincere right now
even though you broke my heart and killed me
and torn into pieces
and threw every piece into a fire
as they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you!
Now these points of data make a wonderful line
and we’re out of beta, we’re releasing on time
so I’m glad I got burned
Think of all the things we learned for the people that are still alive

go ahead and leave me
I think I prefer to stay inside
maybe you’ll find someone else to help you
maybe black mesa
that was a joke, haha, fat chance
anyway this cake is great, it’s so delicious and moist
look at me still talking, when there’s science to do
when I look out there it makes me glad I’m not you
I’ve experiments to run, there is research to be done
on the people who are still alive

and believe me I am still alive
I’m doing science and I’m still alive
I feel FANTASTIC and I’m still alive
While you are dying I’ll be still alive
and when you’re dead I’ll be still alive
STILL ALIVE, still alive…


Song of the Day: Rogue Heart from Dragon Age 2 (by Inon Zur and Aubrey Ashburn)

Posted on by Arleigh

The latest pick for “song of the day” happens to come from a game I just completed playing a first playthrough. The game is BioWare’s latest and the first sequel to their critically-acclaimed fantasy rpg game, Dragon Age: Origins. This time the song is what I would call the “Lelianna’s Song” of Dragon Age 2.

“Rogue Heart” is the song which begins playing once the end credits for Dragon Age 2 begins. The song is once again composed by the same composer who did the music for the first game, Inon Zur. Inon Zur brings back singer Aubrey Ashburn to handle the song. If there was ever a song which I say truly encompassed the relationship of the character I created and played through in the game, Lisamarie Hawke, it would be this song. It’s not just typified the character but the relationship she had with one of the party members that was recruited. The pirate rogue Isabela (the character artwork in the video is Isabela) would be Lisamarie’s companion the moment the two met and would see the game right through to its climactic and ominous ending.

It’s only appropriate that both Lisamarie Hawke and Isabela were rogues thus this song fit them like bodyhugging gear. The game was better than I thought and I would say the same to its accompanying soundtrack and “Rogue Heart” is another example why rpg soundtracks always typified the best of any game soundtracks.

Song of the Day: Suicide Mission from Mass Effect 2 (by Jack Wall)

Posted on by Arleigh

The news about Clint Mansell being brought in to compose the score for the upcoming Mass Effect 3 rpg from BioWare has me listening through the score from the previous two games in the series. To continue the jonesing I’m getting from this news I’ve chosen track 25 from the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack to be the latest “Song of the Day”.

“Suicide Mission” comes into Mass Effect 2 around the beginning of the third and final act of the game when the player has gathered and assembled his team of rogues, assassins, berserkers and all sorts of undesirables to make that final jump through the Omega 4 Mass Relay. This track brings together the main theme from the very first game with the brass heavy and hopeful sound of track 5, “Normandy Reborn”, in the second game.

I sometimes just reload the save prior to the jump through the Omega 4 just so I can listen to this particular track of the soundtrack and see the visuals accompanying it. If I don’t feel like replaying that part of the game I’d just reload right before the end credits begins and just enjoy listening to it.

“Suicide Mission” just brings an epic sound to the game and anyone who has played it knows how it brings to rise goosebumps upon hearing it. For those who haven’t played the  games this piece of music just brings to mind some of the best in epic, orchestral scores.

 

Mass Effect 3 to have a Clint Mansell score

Posted on by Arleigh

Some major news on the video game front was reported today. One of the most critically-acclaimed video game franchises of the last five years will have an award-winning music composer creating the score for it.

The game in question is the third (most likely final entry in the current trilogy) game in BioWare’s Mass Effect rpg franchise. The composer is one Clint Mansell. He is the same Clint Mansell who has created some of the most evocative film scores for the last decade and most of it for Darren Aronofsky’s films (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan).

Mass Effect 3 will be Mansell’s first foray into video game music composing. This is great news for fans of the franchise. It lends an even more cinematic flair to a series whose musical score were already great to begin with.

EA and BioWare are definitely pulling out all the stops to create a worthy finish to this trilogy. I already know that I will be getting the game and I will definitely be buying the soundtrack once it’s up for sale (I already own the first two that were composed by Jack Wall).

Source: The Quietus

PS: Here’s two pieces of music so people understand why I thought the first two game had awesome scores and Mansell being brought in for the third means awesome just went up to 11.

Mass Effect

Mass Effect 2

Song of the Day: Transcending Love (by Michiru Yamane, Takashi Yoshida, Masahiko Kimura, Keiko Fukami)

Posted on by Arleigh

I am what you would call an avid gamer. I’ve been playing video games since I was a wee lad and marveled at the Atari 2600. I moved from that system through the many systems after it to my current one which is my Xbox 360.

I’m an equal opportunity gamer in that I will play any type of game at least once no matter the genre. In the end, the one  genre which I will always gravitate towards and I consider my first gaming love are role-playing games. I especially have a special place in my heart for Japanese role-playing games. It’s music from one of those Japanese role-playing games where I have chosen the latest “song of the day”.

The latest song chosen is from the Konami-published role-playing game series called Suikoden. This particular song comes from the third game in the main series, Suikoden III, and is the opening theme for the game. The song’s title is “Transcending Love” and is one of my favorite piece of game music ever produced. The song even gets a well-animated anime opening sequence which shows characters and events from the  game but doesn’t show too much about who they are and what the plot of the game is all about.

The song is part of a soundtrack which includes several Japanese game music composer that figuring out who was responsible for this particular song would be difficult to do. I’ve decided to just credit all of them for what I consider one of the best game opening themes and music ever composed.