2008 Archives - The Greatest Game Music

Afrika Soundtrack

Afrika Soundtrack, Wataru Hokoyama, 2008

You wouldn’t necessarily expect that one of the best orchestral game scores of the new millennium was written for what’s essentially a photography simulator. But that’s precisely what Afrika, an early PS3 title, achieved. The game itself garnered a fair amount of pre-release hype. The prospect of traversing the majestic landscapes of the African steppes and carefully ligning up shots of its exotic animal inhabitants had a fair amount of gamers and bloggers excited at the prospect of this relatively fresh gameplay idea. Ultimately though, Afrika’s reviews were fairly polarised. Some critics enjoyed the languorous gameplay, while others felt the game lacked substance.

Thankfully, there was little such ambivalence about the quality of the Afrika soundtrack – despite its scarcity. The score was only available as a pack-in bonus when purchasing the game, presented both on CD and in Dolby 5.1 on a supplementary DVD. Still, word among film music bloggers quickly spread, each new review praising the quality of Wataru Hokoyama’s creation. In the end, Afrika won Best Video Game Score at the 2008 Hollywood Music Awards, as well as three Game Audio Network Guild Awards.

Indeed, Hokoyama’s makes a most auspicious game score debut with the Afrika soundtrack. Born in Japan and musically trained in America, Hokoyama had worked on smaller TV and film projects prior to Afrika. Luckily for Hokoyama – and listeners – the game’s developers were clearly aware of how important music would be in successfully transporting listeners to the game’s faraway setting. Developer Rhino Studios made a sufficient budget allowance to have Afrika recorded by the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Pictures Studios Scoring Stage.

The money was well spent. Hokoyama writes the kind of grandly sweeping, gorgeously melodic score that soundtrack fans had more and more trouble finding in Hollywood movies around the time of Afrika’s release. According to interviews, Hokoyama’s ambition was to “make the music sound like a huge Hollywood movie score” and he definitely succeeded. As so often in these cases, John Williams’ influence – particularly of his late 80s and early 90s works – is hard to ignore. That being said, the Afrika soundtrack is less obviously shaped by this stylistic influence than say Medal of Honor and there are arguably traces of John Barry and Elmer Bernstein in Afrika’s musical DNA as well.

All these stylistic antecedents are an indication that Afrika isn’t breaking new musical ground. Ethnic instruments specific to the game’s location are somewhat sidelined. “Masai” and “Hatari” are brief percussion-only interludes that introduce some cultural authenticity to the score. However, these two cues don’t gel particularly well with the rest of the soundtrack, which is almost entirely rooted in Western orchestral styles. The two sound worlds – orchestra and local instruments – only mingle to a significant degree on “Base Camp”, one of the Afrika soundtrack’s most light-hearted pieces. Its unusual combination of timbres combines glockenspiel with various light percussion instruments. The result is a creative blend of sounds that is intriguing enough to carry the slightly repetitive track.

Otherwise (disregarding a few smatterings of percussive colour here and there), Afrika is a strictly orchestral affair. The score turns the game’s safari into an almost quaintly romantic, old-fashioned undertaking. Its stylistic familiarity invites listeners to readily marvel at the wonder of Afrika’s unusual (by Western standards) location and sights. What’s particularly striking here is Hokoyama’s brilliant handling of the orchestra. With the confidence and skill of a true master, Hokoyama makes striking use of all sections of the ensemble. He creates wonderfully colourful, dense orchestrations that carry his warmly flowing melodic material with the utmost brilliance. Particularly fun are “Savanna” and “Afrika”, where Hokoyama piles up such an amount of busy orchestral ornamentations that these turn into riotous counterpoint underlining the main melody.

Speaking of which, Hokoyama’s melodic skills are never in doubt either. Opening track “Savanna” quickly introduces the score’s main theme, a majestic, long-winded French horn melody that effortlessly evokes the wide open, awe-inspiring spaces of the African savanna. At the same time, this pastoral melody has sufficient forward motion to suggest adventure rather than just passive contemplation. Cycling through variations of the main theme, “Savanna” ends with a blast of orchestral colour and energy. It’s the most spectacular scene setter one could wish for.

The main theme returns in various disguises throughout the Afrika soundtrack, if not exactly on every track. The woodwind-heavy “Heaven” presents particularly lyrical, luxurious renditions of the theme, while “Jambo Jambo” is more animated. Here, Hokoyama graces his main theme with particularly florid, polyrhythmic counterpoint that feels like several competing musical lines playing at once. It’s as if the music can’t contain its giddy excitement, both rushing forward and clinging on to its majestic tune.

A marked contrast to the main theme and its measured progression is a secondary theme that Hokoyama introduces on “Safari”. This vigorous staccato tune has a far more adventurous streak and can’t help but recall Williams’ Indiana Jones scores in its audacious swagger. The theme – once more surrounded by wonderfully busy counterpoint – isn’t heard again on the Afrika soundtrack. That is, until final track “Afrika” uses the theme to take the score to a spectacular conclusion, pulling out every single stop Hokoyama can find within the ensemble. It’s impossible not to get swept up in “Afrika”’s whirlwind orchestral bombast that still moves lightly and with grace.

Other compositions that rely on new melodic material provide necessary variations of mood. The charmingly bumbling “Okapi” gives the Afrika soundtrack a comedic touch, with delightful writing for bassoon, trumpet and tuba that combines humorous intent with harmonic complexities. “Night Safari” predictably thins out textures and slows its string material down to a crawl, producing one of the few occasions where tension creeps into the score’s otherwise good-natured demeanour. And “Big Five” brings out a different side of Afrika’s epic tendencies with the score’s most imposing brass melody. It all adds up to what despite its short running time is one of the richest, most extravagantly orchestrated game scores ever written.

01 - Savanna Wataru Hokoyama 3:39
02 - Base Camp Wataru Hokoyama 2:56
03 - Safari Wataru Hokoyama 2:51
04 - Mission Wataru Hokoyama 1:47
05 - Jambo Jambo Wataru Hokoyama 2:02
06 - Heaven Wataru Hokoyama 2:10
07 - Okapi Wataru Hokoyama 1:29
08 - Night Safari Wataru Hokoyama 2:14
09 - Big Five Wataru Hokoyama 1:50
10 - Sunset Wataru Hokoyama 2:45
11 - Afrika Wataru Hokoyama 3:47

Nanostray 2 Soundtrack

Nanostray 2 Soundtrack, Manfred Linzner, 2008

Manfred Linzner remains one of Western game music’s better kept secrets – although his scores deserve to be much better known. His work particularly turned heads with the Game Boy Advance scores for Iridion 3D and Iridion II – and not just because of their catchy melodies. These scores were technical marvels, proving one could create high-quality sound on a console infamous for its lacking audio capabilities. Fortunately, the Iridion scores have seen an excellent release through a widely available arrange album. However, the vast majority of Linzner’s discography – including excellent work like Fix & Foxi 1 – Episode 1: Lupo – remains commercially unavailable.

Enter the Nano collection – a digital soundtrack bundle that includes the full scores for the four titles in the Nano shoot’em up franchise, as well as another very strong arrange album. Among the original scores included in this release, Linzner’s Nanostray 2 soundtrack is the strongest work. Significantly more fully-fledged and varied than its predecessor, Nanostray 2 closely mirrors the game in its general character. It doesn’t greatly innovate on tried-and-true shmup genre formulas, but polishes its components to an impressive degree.

From the moment the satisfyingly deep, full bass of “Main Menu” kicks in, it’s obvious that Linzner has once more pushed the sound capabilities of the platform he’s working on to their limits. Beats on this Nintendo DS title are robust and achieve exactly the impact they seek, electronic guitar riffs register with force and precision, and the melodic synth leads shine in bright shades of silver neon (although the Nano soundtracks have always been a less melody-heavy affair than the Iridion scores). Linzner brings all these elements together in complex layers, and the album mix presents them with satisfying clarity.

Fortunately, there’s loads of substance underneath the shiny layers of futuristic synth work. Linzner uses each track on the Nanostray 2 soundtrack to introduce some variation to the album’s overall style, which is located squarely in the same high-tech sci-fi environment like so many other shmups. “Daitoshi Station” perfectly captures the feeling of embarking on an adventure in space. Tinkling synth arpeggios and dramatic, but always optimistic staccato melodies complement deep bass drones that provide gravitas. A welcome variation to the genre formula are the R’n’B rhythms Linzner deploys. They power the music along and create a perfectly danceable, energetic contrast to the track’s sci-fi elements.

Next is “Kaikan Outpost”, whose pumping techno beat and grinding guitar riff raise the stakes after the carefree “Daitoshi Station”. A faint synth melody squares off against the bass-heavy undergrowth to great effect, almost subsumed by the relentless rhythms. Such flair for effective orchestrations and effects helps Linzner’s more repetitive melodic material to avoid turning stale.

The Nanostray 2 soundtracks then runs through several variations of this collision between electronic beats / layers and gritty guitars. “Naizoh Habitat” mixes howling guitar riffs with synth arpeggios to great effect. Again, Linzner confronts a wispy synth melody with forceful rhythms to achieve musical conflict and drama befitting the on-screen action. Things are more easy going on “Shinkai Bay”. It brings together high-energy techno with raging, buzzing guitars to create the album’s most restless, adrenaline-charged composition.

Linzner’s feel for finely etched atmospherics that never lack the necessary punch is most clearly displayed on those tracks where he dares to experiment. “Teppeki Dock” begins with a synth drone that remains unchanged for 30 seconds over beeping sound effects and light beats. After effectively confusing expectations, Linzner then brings in distorted guitars that flare up and churn away at drum’n’bass rhythms. The track’s second half features the album’s most striking melody – essentially a chain of quivering crochets trying to assert themselves by accenting each four square beat, suggesting barely controlled franticness through their forcedly rigid progression.

“Kigan Belt” initially holds back with its anxiously suspended high synth notes, as any melodies are hesitant to form. Electric guitar noises and shreds of single notes echo across an eerie soundscape, and the same sense of insecurity returns on “Kohai City”. Here, the lead melody is doubled by a ghostly echo and then torn to pieces and tossed across the stereo field.

As much as the Nanostray 2 score sounds like a constant thrill ride, it does come with one caveat. It’s hard to dispute that there’s a fair amount of filler material on the album. Including the Nanostray 2 soundtrack in a list of the best game scores might be a close call then. But ultimately, there’s enough quality and substance here to elevate Nanostray 2 to the level of genre stand out. Less cinematic than Rafael Dyll’s Söldner-X soundtracks and eschewing the extended track running times of REDUX: Dark Matters, while also foregoing the self-conscious retro approach of Sturmwind, Nanostray 2 still extols the virtues of old-school shmup scoring with its succinct, exciting cues that pack a small musical universe into less than half an hour of music.

01 - Main Menu Manfred Linzner 1:06
02 - Himuro Base Manfred Linzner 1:48
03 - Daitoshi Station Manfred Linzner 1:41
04 - Kaikan Outpost Manfred Linzner 2:37
05 - Kigan Belt Manfred Linzner 2:24
06 - Nrock Manfred Linzner 1:19
07 - Teppeki Dock Manfred Linzner 2:12
08 - Shinkay Bay Manfred Linzner 2:36
09 - Naizoh Habitat Manfred Linzner 2:00
10 - Kohai City Manfred Linzner 1:52
11 - Credits Manfred Linzner 2:20

Shiren the Wanderer 3 Soundtrack (Wii)

Shiren the Wanderer 3 Soundtrack (Wii), Hayato Matsuo, 2008

The Shiren the Wanderer franchise is one of those video game series that has generated a surprising number of titles, despite never being blessed with outstanding sales numbers. Upon its release in Japan in 2008, Fushigi no Dungeon: Fuurai no Shiren 3: Karakuri Yashiki no Nemuri Hime was the seventh game in the long-running franchise of roguelikes. Making matters somewhat confusing, Atlus USA released the game in the USA as Shiren the Wanderer (not to be confused with the 1995 SNES original). For the purpose of this review, we’ll stick with Shiren the Wanderer 3. Like more or less all other Shiren the Wanderer titles, the game generated respectable reviews and decent sales without leaving a particularly strong impression either way. What several reviewers did remark upon was that the game’s difficulty had been toned down somewhat from its predecessors, making this a more accessible entry in the franchise.

While the first Shiren the Wanderer game had been blessed by Koichi Sugiyama’s best work outside of the Dragon Quest series, Hayato Matsuo had taken over franchise scoring duties since 2001’s Shiren the Wanderer GB2. For that score and 2002’s Fushigi no Dungeon: Fuurai no Shiren Gaiden: Onna Kenshi Asuka Kenzan, Matsuo had relied extensively on material previously written by Sugiyama. Matsuo took a more individualistic approach on the Shiren the Wanderer 3 soundtrack, which features only a few reprises of Sugiyama’s melodies. The score came at a fortuitous time for Matsuo, hot on the heels of his magnum opus Hellsing Ultimate. Unfortunately, no soundtrack release has been forthcoming for Shiren the Wanderer 3 – maybe developer Chunsoft was wary of releasing a four disc-album for a Wii title that hadn’t been a commercial smash hit.

Yes, Matsuo’s score clocks in at four hours (looped), making it one of the most expansive Wii soundtracks. Thankfully, it also happens to be one of the best scores on the system – when all is said and done, this masterful work contains no less than three hours of excellent music. Matsuo’s skills as a creator of lavishly orchestrated and fluidly developed pieces full of exquisite melodies are on full display here. What might be most striking is how Matsuo manages to create a neverending stream of beautiful melodies (usually on woodwinds), while merging Japanese and Western orchestrations with stunning ease rivalled by very few other composers.

In this journey across soundworlds, Matsuo follows in Sugiyama’s footsteps and the template he had set back in 1995. Naturally, advances in technology and a longer run time allow Matsuo to explore his broad array of instruments in greater detail and variety. While he very rarely ventures outside of the realm of acoustic orchestrations on the Shiren the Wander 3 soundtrack, Matsuo teases a dazzling array of colours and moods out of his (synthesised) ensemble.

For example, an impressionistic piece like “Goten Kaguyagoryou”, with its contently glowing, slowly drifting melodies, reprises the mood of Shiren the Wanderer’s bucolic village tracks. When Matsuo focuses more strongly on Japanese influences – usually lead by shakuhachi and shamisen soli – the mood often turns strikingly ritualistic and austere. On “Toride 1” and “Toride 4”, Matsuo evokes a remarkably arid atmosphere through the use of traditional Japanese instruments, setting a scene that is lonesome but not bereft of hope or melodic beauty. Elsewhere, Matsuo uses his home country’s musical traditions in a more light-hearted fashion. “Goten Tenshu” turns into a nocturnal reverie thanks to its calm shakuhachi solo set against glistening synths. Like “Ryuugaike”, “Goten Tenshu” then surprises by moving from a serene opening to a lively B section that doesn’t interrupt the carefully conjured, enraptured ambience.

It’s on the more cinematic pieces that the Shiren the Wanderer 3 soundtrack wears his other prominent inspiration – Western classical music – proudly on his sleeve, again to excellent results. For example, you wouldn’t expect to find a harpsichord on a score like this. However, “Yashiki 1” effortlessly pulls this surprise off, before it develops into one of the soundtrack’s most complex, ambitious pieces, combining quiveringly dramatic string orchestrations with a thrilling shakuhachi solo. “Yagura 2” sees Matsuo having some fun with the format of a belligerent, brass-heavy march, slipping in some humorous undertones. “Warabeuta Kaguya” delivers an unexpected outburst of choir- and brass-driven bombast that takes an initially innocent flute melody to unexpectedly theatrical heights. And “Kaguya 3” surprises as a superbly written string adagio that might be the score’s most brilliantly melodic, heart-rending composition.

Matsuo’s most assured use of orchestral forces is found on “Epilogue 1” and “Epilogue 2”. The first composition is a delightful mix of gentle dance rhythms and light-footed call and response patterns between various solo instruments. Its successor seamlessly builds from its reflective start to a mighty brass climax that proves Matsuo to be at least the equal of Sugiyama when it comes to writing orchestral compositions of truly classically-inspired gravitas and splendour.

And like Sugiyama before him, Matsuo combines Japanese and Western instruments with commensurate skill – in fact, the Shiren the Wanderer 3 soundtrack might be one of the best amalgamations of Eastern and Western music in any medium. Again, there’s an embarrassment of riches to choose from. “Kaguya” mixes a warm romanticism derived from Western classical music with Japanese woodwind leads. “Yashiki 2” grafts a shamisen melody onto percolating orchestral woodwind lines to underscore a tense scenario in beguiling timbres. On the lighter end of the spectrum is “Touge”, one of the few compositions featuring the pipa more prominently as two woodwind lines intertwine blissfully against swooning strings. And of course, “Staff Roll” is the perfect spot to summarise Matsuo’s eclectic yet unified approach – appropriately upbeat and proud as it delves into a cornucopia of colours and melodies.

Not many soundtrack aficionados associate the Wii with the kind of sweeping, grand RPG score that attracted so many fans to game music in the first place. However, that’s precisely what Matsuo’s Shiren the Wanderer 3 is – a work of immense stature and a boundless supply of melodic delights that is both coherent and kaleidoscopic at the same time.

01 - Opening Matsuo, Hayato 2:08
02 - Chaya Matsuo, Hayato 2:24
03 - Dokodemo Matsuo, Hayato 3:19
04 - Fact Matsuo, Hayato 2:49
05 - Goten Butai 1 Matsuo, Hayato 3:48
06 - Goten Honmaru 1 Matsuo, Hayato 3:18
07 - Goten Kaguyagoryou Matsuo, Hayato 4:29
08 - Goten Tenshu Matsuo, Hayato 3:05
09 - Goten Zenigura 1 Matsuo, Hayato 3:34
10 - Goten Zenigura Matsuo, Hayato 3:32
11 - Hourai Matsuo, Hayato 2:51
12 - Hourai (Under) Matsuo, Hayato 2:52
13 - Izanami 2 Matsuo, Hayato 3:16
14 - Jofuku Matsuo, Hayato 3:10
15 - Juurouta Matsuo, Hayato 2:24
16 - Kaguya 1 Matsuo, Hayato 4:07
17 - Kaguya 2 Matsuo, Hayato 3:33
18 - Kaguya 3 Matsuo, Hayato 2:43
19 - Karakurihime Matsuo, Hayato 3:46
20 - Mizunoyama Matsuo, Hayato 3:48
21 - Monologue Matsuo, Hayato 3:24
22 - Monster Cottage Matsuo, Hayato 2:31
23 - Monster House Matsuo, Hayato 2:18
24 - Noumin Matsuo, Hayato 3:51
25 - Ootsutsukimura Matsuo, Hayato 2:48
26 - Ootsutsukimura (Past) Matsuo, Hayato 2:18
27 - Ryuugaike OYNZ50011512 3:34
28 - S30 Matsuo, Hayato 3:52
29 - Sanukinomori Matsuo, Hayato 3:07
30 - Sanukinomori (Past) Matsuo, Hayato 2:59
31 - Shishanotani Matsuo, Hayato 3:30
32 - Shop Matsuo, Hayato 2:02
33 - Tension 2 Matsuo, Hayato 2:25
34 - Toride 1 Matsuo, Hayato 2:56
35 - Toride 2 Matsuo, Hayato 2:55
36 - Toride 3 Matsuo, Hayato 3:18
37 - Toride 4 Matsuo, Hayato 4:14
38 - Touge Matsuo, Hayato 2:58
39 - Touge (Past) Matsuo, Hayato 3:19
40 - Warabeuta Kaguya Matsuo, Hayato 4:31
41 - Yagura 1 Matsuo, Hayato 3:53
42 - Yagura 2 Matsuo, Hayato 3:12
43 - Yashiki 1 Matsuo, Hayato 4:06
44 - Yashiki 2 Matsuo, Hayato 3:09
45 - Yomigoten 1 Matsuo, Hayato 4:27
46 - Epilogue 1 Matsuo, Hayato 3:37
47 - Epilogue 2 Matsuo, Hayato 2:19
48 - Staff Roll Matsuo, Hayato 3:34

The Abbey Soundtrack

The Abbey Soundtrack, Emilio de Paz, 2008

A murder in a Medieval monastery? A wise monk, accompanied by a young, inexperienced companion, investigating the crime? It’s hard not to assume that The Abbey’s plot was more than a bit influenced by Name of the Rose. Then again, it’s an intriguing, still original enough set up for an adventure game. The Abbey wasn’t as well received as Name of the Rose though, with reviewers handing out mostly middling scores.

Where The Abbey differed most clearly from its obvious inspiration was in its surprisingly sumptuous soundtrack. James Horner had scored Name of the Rose with a low-key, largely synthetic soundtrack that divided film music fans. The The Abbey soundtrack takes an almost diametrically opposed approach. The score utilises a full live orchestra, organ and two choirs (male and boys) to create the sort of gloriously melodic bombast one would expect from a historic movie epic, rather than from a relatively obscure adventure game. The surprise is even greater when one considers that composer Emilio de Paz wrote this outstanding score while also working on The Abbey as project leader and lead designer.

From the start, de Paz leaves little doubt as to where he is planning to take the The Abbey soundtrack. Once opening track “In Memoriam” begins with sweeping string and choral statements, it’s obvious that de Paz is going to milk the game’s religious themes for all the melodrama that they’re worth. “In Memoriam” also establishes the The Abbey soundtrack’s main thematic idea. In a clever take on musical tradition, de Paz appropriates the centuries-old Dies Irae motif – most befitting the game’s setting. But after quoting its opening notes, de Paz deviates from the traditional melody and guides his theme upwards. Harnessing its obvious ecclesiastical connotations, de Paz’ theme is a memorable idea that will return on several tracks. These include “God’s Domicil”, “Embracement of the Night” and “Kingdom of Dead”.

What’s crucial to the success of the The Abbey soundtrack is its endless stream of lushly glowing melodies. In fact, it’s no hyperbole to say that this is one of the most melodically beautiful orchestral game scores ever written, with a warmth radiating from its melodic statements that you don’t often hear. Witness how “God’s Domicil”’s weighty yet graceful nobility manages to paint a most intriguing picture of the location it underscores. Founded on ages of accumulated wisdom, there is grandeur here as much as the reassurance of safety found in knowledge. Equally subtle and multifaceted is “Abbot’s Theme”. Both the lead character’s gravitas and his more light-hearted side register, thanks to quiet church organ leads, charming woodwind melodies and an impassioned, violin-backed climax.

de Paz is obviously aware that a successful epic needs to draw upon more registers than just grandiosity. True, there’s no shortage of heavenly choirs and big orchestral gestures on the The Abbey soundtrack. But de Paz covers other emotional territory with just as much aplomb. For example, “Fire and Iron” carries the score’s melodic preoccupations into more period-specific terrain. A lightly scored medieval folk dance, “Fire and Iron” recalls the gentle busyness of the Anno game scores. One of the album’s prettiest pieces, “Benedicte Dominus” marries pastoral woodwinds with soothing choir, the idyllic with the monumental. Even more moving is “Healing Hands”, despite its brevity.

The Abbey being a medieval murder mystery, things inevitably turn dire at some stage. A chromatic cello line on “Embracement of the Night” introduces unease, which turns into outright horror on “Cadaver”’s sombre choirs. With the murder investigation and painstaking detective work under way, the The Abbey soundtrack expectedly moves into more subdued waters. However, de Paz manages this switch to more adventure game-typical music with ease and grace.

“Nazario of Milan” then returns the melodrama so prominent earlier on the The Abbey soundtrack, now more crepuscular than before. “Blaze in the Heart” harkens back to “In Memoriam”’s biblical bombast and at times fury. And with emotions all heightened now, “Requiem” takes the album’s arc to its peak. A beautifully impassioned string adagio, “Requiem” opens with a reprise of the Dies Irae-derived motif on solo violin. The composition then dives headfirst into a near-operatic outpouring of emotions, with string melodies that mourn, suffer and proudly rise in a way that epitomises the album’s best melodic qualities. A violin outcry that thematically recalls a similarly emotional outburst on “Abbot’s Theme” is the composition’s most memorable moment.

Finally, closing track “The Abbey Suite” successfully recapitulates the soundtrack’s thematic and emotional threads in one seamless composition that plays like a concert overture. It’s the perfect close to what might be game music’s most obvious love letter to the heart-on-your-sleeve melodicism of classic Golden Age movie soundtracks.

01 - In Memoriam Emilio de Paz 3:01
02 - Abbot's Theme Emilio de Paz 2:27
03 - God's Domicil Emilio de Paz 1:54
04 - Fire and Iron Emilio de Paz 1:51
05 - Segundo's Theme Emilio de Paz 2:01
06 - Benedicte Dominus Emilio de Paz 1:42
07 - Healing Hands Emilio de Paz 1:35
08 - Umberto's Theme Emilio de Paz 1:33
09 - Embracement of the Night Emilio de Paz 2:01
10 - Aegidius' Theme Emilio de Paz 0:50
11 - Cadaver Emilio de Paz 0:37
12 - Room of Wisdom Emilio de Paz 1:32
13 - Hand of Dead Emilio de Paz
14 - Sneaking Suspicion Emilio de Paz 2:11
15 - The Passage Emilio de Paz 1:46
16 - Holy Spirit Emilio de Paz 1:09
17 - Kingdom of Dead Emilio de Paz 1:41
18 - Nazario of Milan Emilio de Paz 2:28
19 - Blaze in the Heart Emilio de Paz 1:21
20 - Requiem Emilio de Paz 3:45
21 - The Confrontation Emilio de Paz 1:14
22 - Bruno's Theme Emilio de Paz 1:21
23 - Finale Emilio de Paz 1:35
24 - The Abbey Suite Emilio de Paz 3:45

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty Soundtrack

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty Soundtrack, Michael Giacchino, 2008

No doubt, Michael Giacchino‘s body of work includes some of game music’s best and most influential orchestral scores. Specifically, it’s the Medal of Honor soundtracks that secured his name in the annals of game soundtracks. However, Giacchino’s most fascinating and curious work of game music is another one: the Turning Point: Fall of Liberty soundtrack.

It’s surprising to see how little attention this score has attracted. Of course, the easiest explanation is the score album’s rarity. Never available commercially, the album came as a bonus item of the game’s Xbox 360 collector’s edition. Another reason why the Turning Point: Fall of Liberty soundtrack disappeared from view is the game’s commercial failure. But the most intriguing explanation for the obscurity of Giacchino’s work for Turning Point is the unusual nature of its sound world – both when compared with Giacchino’s other game scores, and Western game soundtracks in general. This is Giacchino at his most experimental and acerbic – both across his game and film scores.

True, “Main Title”’s French horn melody has the same sense of proud patriotism as the composer’s Medal of Honor scores. However, soon surprisingly dissonant violin tremoli attack the noble theme, which is one of Giacchino’s best melodic inventions. These harsh interjections are a harbinger of what is to follow throughout the Turning Point: Fall of Liberty soundtrack. Giacchino’s writing had already turned decidedly less melodic and overtly emotional on Call of Duty and Medal of Honor: Airborne. However, Turning Point takes these inclinations further and introduces a new sense of disorientation and chaos to Giacchino’s music.

Those who expect Giacchino to continue the emotionally gushing approach of Medal of Honor: Frontline are in for a rude awakening once “Skyscraping” brushes aside even the last bits of “Main Title”’s sentimentality. This fierce composition savagely hammers out heavy rhythmic accents and forcefully strident melody progressions. Fittingly, the pounding percussion rhythms – often doubled by brass and xylophone – keep abruptly changing direction and volume. And what little consonant, melodic material we hear almost desperately struggles to hold its own against the music’s jagged aggression.

Turning Point’s percussion onslaught is by no means a way to simply give the music an adrenaline kick. Instead, the percussion section’s biting, irregular patterns give the soundtrack a nervy edge and jittery energy that feels driven, never uplifting or empowering. Both harsh and invigorating, the music moves in enigmatic stops and starts, creating claustrophobic feelings of tension and fright. Giacchino’s material is purposefully fragmented, but in another display of his compositional skills, the music never loses the listener’s interest. The most impressive display of this quality is “The Tower of London”. After its edgy opening ostinato, the composition disappears into a twilight netherworld. Only hushed fragments of sounds float through the nocturnal ether for minutes on end – and it’s captivating all the way.

“The Tower of London” is the soundtrack’s most deconstructive moment, pushing the boundaries of Giacchino’s musical vocabulary. The way the composition willfully undercuts first-person shooter scoring traditions highlights one of Turning Point’s most exciting traits. At times it feels like Giacchino heightens the music’s already plentiful sardonic bite and turns it into open satire. Just listen to the way “The White House”’s ferocious brass attacks are almost frivolously imitated by flute and xylophone. The latter play the same supposedly commanding rhythms, mocking them through the xylophone’s inevitably light-weight timbres.

It’s no surprise then that for most of the album, there is no romantic sense of glory, of valiantly fighting against the odds. All that remains in these sometimes maniacally driven compositions is the breathless hope for survival. Remarkably, even when the music calms down during a few interludes, relief or maybe even encouragement remain elusive. The harmonic material on “Escape from New York”, “On the Trail to DC” and “DC in Ruins” is bleakly sparse. Their sustained string chords hover in limbo, mournful but not melodic enough to inspire grief or any particularly emotional reaction.

In the end though, the Turning Point: Fall of Liberty soundtrack – believe it or not – has a happy conclusion. Throughout the score, the main theme returns as a harbinger of safety, an ordering force amidst the continuous tumult. Giacchino’s careful thematic preparation finally bears fruit on penultimate track “The Zeppelin”. The composition opens with Giacchino’s most harmonically advanced string writing on any game project of his. Feelings of insecurity then slowly fade away as the main theme asserts itself, more and more forcefully, until it leads the piece to a triumphant, reassuring finale that minutes ago would have seemed out of reach.

Arguably, the Turning Point: Fall of Liberty soundtrack is the enigmatic culmination of Giacchino’s writing for war games. It’s fascinating to behold how Giacchino has found the most effective way to remove the glamour from first-person shooters’ depiction of war – not through sincerity as on the Medal of Honor games and Call of Duty, but instead through caustic near-mockery. There’s little else like Turning Point in the realm of game music, where composers use satire and parody far too rarely.

01 - Main Title Michael Giacchino 5:27
02 - Scyscraping Michael Giacchino 5:05
03 - The Barricades Michael Giacchino 4:03
04 - Escape from New York Michael Giacchino 4:21
05 - On the Trail to DC Michael Giacchino 2:00
06 - Rescuing Donovan Michael Giacchino 2:03
07 - DC in Ruins Michael Giacchino 2:14
08 - The White House Michael Giacchino 4:11
09 - Vigilante Justice Michael Giacchino 2:01
10 - The Tower of London Michael Giacchino 6:19
11 - London Bridge Is Falling Down Michael Giacchino 3:10
12 - Bullets & Strife Michael Giacchino 1:38
13 - The Zeppelin Michael Giacchino 3:49
14 - Axis on the March Michael Giacchino 1:16