Where the writer realizes his folly in trying to fit his passion into one blog post.
Yesterday, I went on quite a yarn about
my love for video game soundtracks, and I managed to name some of my top picks for composers. But the sad truth is I just wasn't done. I simply felt bad for you, the reader, who would be forced to endure a year-long blog post, so I split it into two for your convenience. Without further ado, here are my remaining notable video game soundtrack composers.
Nobuo Uematsu
What I have heard:
Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
"Prelude." One could make an argument for many of his songs as iconic, but "Prelude," a repeated theme throughout the
Final Fantasy series (most of which, I have not played), not only acts as an introduction to some of the iterations, but hearing it invokes the spirit and memories of every
Final Fantasy game you've ever played. There are several versions of it, but oddly, my favorite it the live version, as performed by the Distant Worlds orchestra. If you ever get a chance to see them perform, it's amazing, and Nobuo is usually not far. Aside from the larger game themes, such as "Liberi Fatali" and "The Place I'll Return to Someday," many fans remember the smaller pieces clear as day. Some of my favorites include the latter portion of "The Planet's Crisis" (
FFVII) and "You're Not Alone" (
FFIX). Often, the best way to describe his work is very JRPG and very fantasy, but there's a reason he's famous. It may have something to do with the memorable tunes.
Michael McCann
What I have heard:
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Even if you have not played the game, you probably watched the first epic trailer that came out for the game, which revealed the main story arc. The background music is the vocally lush sci-fi piece called, "Icarus." This and the remainder of the soundtrack really make the case for orchestral music standing alongside electronic music. You are never taken out of the futuristic setting of the game as you peruse the tracks composed by McCann. Notable tracks include the exciting "First and Last" and "Return to Hengsha," which layer the action elements of the game successfully into the sounds you hear.
Andrew Hale
What I have heard:
L.A. Noire
If you listened to the
L.A. Noire soundtrack without knowing what it's from, you'd think you were listening to an old movie soundtrack. Emulating a time period without grotesquely mimicking it can sometimes be a challenge, but every track in this album is a trip to another era. You can feel the mystery and tension build with each track, and the navigation from sweeping orchestras to soft jazz successfully root the listener in the spirit of the late 40s crime dramas. What I also enjoy about this soundtrack is Hale's suites of songs, which serve as the background to specific chapters in the game. Although they waver through highs and lows, their tones are usually fitting for the moments in the story they represent.
Bill Elm & Woody Jackson
What I have heard:
Red Dead Redemption
This soundtrack is one of utmost quality. Like Andrew Hale's
L.A. Noire, it successfully invokes the era of the game's setting, but where it stands apart is in how it modernizes it. You'll hear authentically Western-sounding guitar arrangements and string movements, but they will be layered on top of drum-and-bass beats and jarring arrangements. The build of the drums and orchestra in "El Club de los Cuerpos" hook me every time I hear it, especially one the herd of trumpets chime in. I also adore the percussion-navigated trip of "Triggernometry," whose main brass melody served as my phone's ringtone for a number of months recently. All the tracks serve the Rockstar pulp fittingly.
Mike Morasky
What I have heard:
Portal, Portal 2
Although most of us only recall Ellen McLain's singing on "Still Alive" from the original
Portal soundtrack, there is so much more to take notice of with Mike Morasky's compositions in
Portal 2. There are obvious star songs like "Science Is Fun" and "You Will Be Perfect" to enjoy, but many of the tracks on the 3-disc score were procedurally generated in the game, meaning everyone's first experience with these songs was unique. Still, the composer, under the pseudonym, Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory, managed to bring all his samples together for an intriguing journey through the rundown puzzle gauntlet of the game. "Love as a Construct" and "You are Not Part of the Control Group" are two good examples of songs culled from these moments in the levels, and they ultimately add to the atmosphere of awe and wonder the player feels while trying hard not to die. Of the soundtracks I've mentioned thus far, it's worth noting that the orchestral work takes a back seat to seriously creative and compelling electronic musical structures. They typically return during larger story moments, but it is hard to miss them with all this good music being offered.
And the honorable mentions...
Without pumping out the theatrical writing for every soundtrack I own, I did want to mention additional selections from my library worth owning and listening to. (Also in no particular order.)
Tim Larkin
Songs of Note: "Villa," "Great Shaft"
Vincent Diamante
Soundtracks: Flower
Songs of Note: "Sailing on the Wind," "Purification of the City"
Solar Fields
Songs of Note: "Heat," "Pirandello Kruger"
Akira Yamaoka
Songs of Note: "Breeze - In Monochrome Night," "Room of Angel"
Adam Skorupa & Krzystof Wierzynkiewicz
Soundtracks: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Songs of Note: "The Path of a Kingslayer," "For a Higher Cause"
Tomas Dvorak
Songs of Note: "Mr. Handagote," "Gameboy Tune"
Normand Corbeil
Songs of Note: "Lauren Winter's Main Theme," "Before the Storm"
Jami Sieber
Songs of Note: "Maenam," "Tell It By Heart"
Thank you for indulging me in this journey through one of my many loves. Please let me know what soundtracks you love!
Images taken from Amazon, iTunes, and other Googled sources.
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