It seems that the musical score for video games, at least in many cases, are taken as seriously as film soundtracks. I’m curious to know more about the people who make these tunes.
What instances are there of well known musicians supplying music for games? Homeworld, for example, may be the only CD where you can find music by Yes and Samuel Barber.
Any cases of artists who are well-known today, who got their start in music for video games? All in all, not a terrible way to pay your dues…
I’m curious to know the names of artists who supplied music for a few specific games:
– The Sims. Obviously somebody had a lot of fun with the Simlish music, and the electric guitar tunes aren’t bad.
– Civ Call to Power (both 1 and 2). There’s a few bits, like “Celtic Winter” that are almost good enough to pop in my cd player (perhaps if they weren’t so durned short…)
– Civ III. There’s a track labeled FullStars.mp3 that transcends the usual “not bad” of video game music.
– Homeworld. I’m talking about the music that was composed specifically for the game…
Any of y’all care to share some of your faves? Come on… I’ve already taken the chance of getting thrown into the Pit for my bad taste in music, video games, or both… ;j
I also loved the music for Homeworld. The score music (other than the Yes song and Barber’s “Adagio” of course) is attrubuted to Paul Ruskay. It’s one of my my favorite game soundtracks ever. Very moody and atmospheric. I’m hoping Homeworld 2 manges a similar feel; I was rather disappointed in the music for HW: Cataclysm.
A couple of other favorites that I listen to pretty regularly, is Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: Tides of Time, both composed by Spencer Nilssen.
I want to know who did the music for Simcity 3000. The tracks on that are so awesome that I paid 15 bucks for an MP3 recorder so I could rip them from the game. I now listen to them every day. My favorites are Urban Complex, City of Dreams, and City Lights. Urban Complex especially.
I have an affinity for old NES and SNES tracks also. I found this great website where they archive all the old video games tunes. I especially love the Mega-man and Chrono Trigger tracks.
In CTP, I love Arabian nights. Very haunting and moving. I also love Electric Varanassi(sp?). Another haunting track. The tracks on CTP II were awesome too. Civ II(Sid Meirs’s) has a great track that melds Glory Hallelujiah and Dixie together in one song. Genius.
A long time ago, there was a game put out by Microprose called “This Means War” which was a Command and Conquer knockoff. The game itself sucked, but that soundtrack was amazing!
The best game soundtrack I’ve come across is Sonic the Hedgehog Battle for the Gamecube, not sure if the Dreamcast version had the same soundtrack. I listen to the soundtrack option on the game more than I play it.
Oh lord… see what wonders can be accomplished with just two hands and too much time on them. When I was 14, playing Contra, I never woulda guessed that someday I’d be twice that age, listening to the same music on my laptop during my lunch break, and savoring a bittersweet nostalgia.
Many bigger geeks, a few geekier geeks, and no geekier freaks.
Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo) did the soundtrack for several of the Crash Bandicoot games. I think Rob Zombie did an original music for some 3d0 fighting game and his album stuff has been used for other games as well (Jet Grind Radio for starters). Tommy Tallarico is probably the biggest name (at least in the US) in video game music, I don’t know if he’s done any regular albums- not that I’d buy 'em, I don’t care for his wailing guitar style.
My all-time favorite soundtrack would have to be Namco’s Soul Edge. And I’m a big fan of the Minibosses.
True, Super Metroid rocks. I loved that video game, and the music was great. I also loved Super Castlevania IV for the SNES. The music in that was awesome too.
I adore Matt Oelman’s soundtracks to the Diablo series … I’m still trying to find out whether he did any work on Warcraft III, which has such great music I’m thinking of buying the Limited Edition just to get the soundtrack CD.
The problem I’ve seen with a lot of the Homeworld soundtrack is that it’s beautiful and ethereal … so you start kicking back, listening to it, grooving along while you build a few things and then AAAUGH NO THEY’RE ATTACKING RUN RUN awww I’m dead.
It’s funny the lack of attention that Video game scores get. These days it’s hard enough to find out who wrote the score for a movie; with video games you generally have to hunt through the small print at the back of the manual and hope they mention it. Video game voice actors are generally the same way, unless they’re already famous. (I’ll admit, I used to know the name of the guy who voiced the Necromancer and Warriv in Diablo 2 but I’ve already forgotten)
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) did the music for the original Quake.
One of the best soundtracks is the one for Wipeout XL for the playstation. It contains tracks by Future Sound of London, Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Fluke, Prodigy, and some others. It’s a good mix of electronica, I do wind up putting that one in the cd player from time to time.
Jeremy Soule is making quite a name for himself in the video game music field. He’s done the scores to several RPG’s including Icewind Dale, Dungeon Siege, Morrowind, and Neverwinter Nights. Good stuff.
I always thought Sonic Mayhem did a terrific job on Quake II (which also had some music by Rob Zombie.)
Ditto on the SimCity recommendation. I’d also recommend most of the other Maxis games, even if some of them only have incidental music (But damn GOOD incidental music)
I also recommend the soundtrack to “Nightmare Creatures” for the Nintendo 64 (Which, as I remember, has a different soundtrack than the Playstation version) It’s very "Young Sherlock Holmes)-ish.
Another favorite of mine is the music from most of Bungie Software’s games…I think they have an in-house band called “The Power of Seven.” And I’ve always considered “Flowers in Heaven” from Bungie’s “Marathon” my favorite song.
Interstate '76 Funky 70’s tunes. Theres a soudtrack availible,I highly recommend it.
Interstate '82 The sequel to I’82 which takes place in the 80’s. Has 3 unreleased tracks by Devo. My favorite is “Moderate Life” (well thats what I think the title is anyway)
Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now Several Iron Maiden songs. Rock on!
Jet Set/Grind Radio has an incredible soundtrack; it’s the only videogame soundtrack that I listen to in the car.
Gitaroo-Man is all over the place, but the good songs are really, really good. I like the song during the fight against the Sanbone Trio the best. I wish I could find a copy of the soundtrack; I’ve looked all over with no luck.
Space Channel 5 is another good one, but it gets grating and repetitive after a little bit.
I really like the music from Final Fantasy Tactics, but I can’t tell if it’s because the music is good or because I played it so much that it just got ingrained in my brain.
And pretty much any original title from LucasArts (back when they still made original titles) had great music. Michael Long, Clint Bajakian, and Peter McConnell made some excellent stuff. My favorites soundtracks were from Outlaws, Grim Fandango, and The Curse of Monkey Island.
Didn’t Sonic Mayhem also do the music for Quake 3? Anyway… I have the music from Quake II and Descent II compiled onto a single minidisc, and I listen to it all the time. Descent II was done by Ogre from Skinny Puppy, and it’s EXCELLENT music. Especially the ending (credits) music… my guitar-playing buddy calls it “the best video game music ever” (and he’s played his fair share of video games).
Oh, I also loved the soundtrack from Mechwarrior II. Does anyone know if that was synth, live orchestra, or a mixture of the two? Some songs I can’t tell.
