The Greatest Game Music

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Atlantis: The Lost Tales Soundtrack

Atlantis: The Lost Tales Soundtrack

Atlantis: The Lost Tales Soundtrack, Pierre Estève / Stéphane Picq, 1997

By the second half of the 1990s, French developer Cryo Interactive had found its niche: lavishly produced, Myst-style adventure games. The reception of these titles amongst critics remained somewhat ambivalent, but there’s no denying that Cryo’s approach was effective. Their most significant success might well have been Atlantis: The Lost Tales. Reviewers praised Atlantis’ visuals and intense atmosphere, bolstered by panoramic 360-degree first-person views of the pre-rendered environments and significant amounts of pre-recorded speech. At the same time, perceived gameplay flaws once again often resulted in average scores. That didn’t stop the game from selling more than 300,000 copies by late 1998, starting a franchise that would generate four more titles in future years and outlast Cryo itself.

Scoring duties for the Atlantis: The Lost Tales soundtrack went to Pierre Estève and Stéphane Picq. Picq had been Cryo’s main composer since the company’s very beginning, writing the entrancing music for its breakthrough hit Dune. Estève was a more recent addition to Cryo’s musical team, approaching the developer in 1995 after working as a rock musician and composer for French television and radio. His first project with Cryo turned out to be Dragon Lore II: The Heart of the Dragon Man. Estève would create the music and sound effects for several other Cryo titles in the years to follow, even remaining with the Atlantis franchise after the developer had closed its doors in 2002. His anthropological interest in a vast range of musical cultures – witnessed by his solo albums Bamboo and Metal – was a perfect match for Picq’s eclectic composition style.

Importantly, in 1996 Estève founded his own label Shooting Star, thus making an album release of the Atlantis: The Lost Tales soundtrack possible. And what’s more, the game’s music ultimately received a 2-CD release – quite possibly the first multi-disc Western game music album! Unfortunately, what that physical release did not include was any information on the inspiration behind one of game music’s most audacious scores (a list of the many unfamiliar instruments from around the world used on the soundtrack would have been nice too). The later Bandcamp release specifies that “the main concept behind this double album was to imagine what would have been the music of a pre-ancient age Atlantean civilisation – a culture from which all of the others would have originated after the Fall of Atlantis and the dispersion of its people.”

Atlantis: The Lost Tales Soundtrack

It’s fair to say then that the creators of the Atlantis: The Lost Tales soundtrack had lofty ambitions – and they manage to realise them successfully. What will strike listeners first and foremost about this score are its sparse orchestrations – and the immense effect the composers derive from such a limited number of ingredients. Compositions like “Awakening” and “Dream of the Dolphin” carry their substantial running times with nothing but a single woodwind instrument performing sparse melodies, backed by whispered hints of synth pads and various struck metal percussion, ranging from chimes to gamelans. That sounds like a recipe deployed by no small number of hackneyed new age-albums – but Estève and Picq manage to make the formula work, and there are two reasons for their success.

One is the superlative recording of the Atlantis: The Lost Tales soundtrack. Solo instruments are placed in a vast open space where their pensive, moving melodies – often with a ritualistic bent – can unfold the full impact of their quiet majesty. At the same time, the enormous amounts of echo added to the instruments don’t detract from the clarity of their melody lines. Instead, listening to these cues feels like sitting right next to the musicians, with every single emotional nuance of the performances and the striking sound of these often exotic instruments captured in vivid detail. Such is the quality of the album recording that just the alternately earthy and otherworldly qualities of the instruments can carry entire compositions.

The second pinnacle of the score’s artistic success is how the composers are able to harness their music’s minimalism into an expression of genuine awe and spell-binding spirituality. Key to this is their liberal use of dissonances and chromatic, unexpected progressions, particularly in the chiming metal percussion accompaniments. All of the music’s elements might be easily accessible and distinguishable, but it still retains its sense of mystery, remaining just out of reach. It’s an impression that’s only appropriate for a score that evokes an ancient, foreign culture, which Atlantis does with rare authority.

Atlantis: The Lost Tales Soundtrack

That same effect is heightened by those pensive solo melodies that at times seem to ring out from across epic temporal distances, indeed taking on the character of pre-ancient music – take “Spitzberg”’s flute solo that calmly reaches out to the horizon and beyond. As Atlantis approaches a zen-like state of meditative peace through its painstakingly fashioned elements, it achieves a sense of transcendence rivalled by very few other game soundtracks. The project brief called for music of almost mystical stature – precisely what the composers deliver.

None of this means that the Atlantis: The Lost Tales soundtrack is an extended exercise in serene asceticism. Estève and Picq vary their approach to not just signify a musical culture that is broad enough that many others could have sprung from it, but also to sustain the album’s significant length. “Rhéa” and “Stonehenge” are unexpectedly lush creations, using wordless, seductive female vocals (miked more closely now to evoke an enclosed environment) as their basis. The composers then weave the voices into a fairly complex, hypnotic tapestry of hand percussion, warm woodwinds and almost foreboding metal instruments. Far from immobile and merely repetitious, the music uses subtle harmonic and dynamic shifts to create satisfying dramatic arcs.

Towards the end of the album, the Atlantis: The Lost Tales soundtrack grows sombre, now turning monolithic through the use of fuller, menacing timbres. “La Tisseuse de Destins”’s ghostly female solo voice hovers above a massive bass drone of unfathomable origin – somewhere between a synthesiser and a didgeridoo. The score’s pervasive feeling of mystery comes to a head, turning the listening experience into something more overtly unsettling. “Metamorphosis” deploys similarly creative musical means that border on sound effects in the most effective way. Here, the dissonant nature of buzzing instrumental drones haunts the entire composition. Their abrasive sharpness provokes visceral unease as vaguely Egyptian-sounding woodwind melodies try not to get swallowed up by the encroaching darkness.

Such unsettled ambiences turn into outright agitation on “Sunriders” (the ear-catching album opener) and “Am Ma Eya”, both surprising with male warrior chants and ceremonial, pounding percussion. On “Sunriders”, the martial bombast evokes the grandeur of the game’s historical backdrop, while “Am Ma Eya” is a rougher, more furious piece. The same musical elements appear in a very different mood on “Para Nua”, where the vocals have now turned into joyful African choral chants. That the Atlantis: The Lost Tales soundtrack can accommodate such varied musical cultures and still bring them together in one cohesive listening experience is further proof of the composers’ creative genius. Their unlikely success cements the score’s status as one of game music’s most enrapturing experiences.

  1. 01 - Sunriders Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 2:15
  2. 02 - Awakening Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 6:45
  3. 03 - Rhéa Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 5:09
  4. 04 - Am Ma Eya Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 2:30
  5. 05 - Crystal Winds Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 4:38
  6. 06 - Para Nua Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 2:48
  7. 07 - Back to Atlantis Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 4:42
  8. 08 - Spitzberg Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 5:12
  9. 09 - Stonehenge Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 2:35
  10. 10 - Dream of the Dolphin Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 5:03
  11. 11 - La Lune... Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 5:20
  12. 12 - Dark Spirits Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 3:05
  13. 13 - La Tisseuse de Destins Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 5:13
  14. 14 - Metamorphosis Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 6:32
  15. 15 - Muria Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 4:57
  16. 16 - Aube Estève, Pierre / Picq, Stéphane 4:01

Tagged With: 1997, Adventure, Cryo Interactive, Mixed Music Genres, PC, Pierre Estève, Stéphane Picq

Dune Soundtrack (PC)

Dune Soundtrack

Dune Soundtrack (PC), Stéphane Picq, 1992

It feels like early media adaptations of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic Dune were doomed to run into equally epic troubles during their production. There’s, of course, the convoluted story of how Dune finally reached cinema screens in 1984 after more than a decade of failed attempts, only to disappoint at the box office and alienate its director. The first video game adaptation of Dune equally struggled to actually see the light of day – to the point where publisher Virgin Games cancelled the game (and launched the development of what would become Dune II), only to find out later that Cryo Interactive had secretly continued work on Dune. Thankfully, there was a happy ending to the story. Due to its innovative mix of adventure and strategy elements, Dune became a commercial hit, with 300,000 units sold by 1997, paving the way for Cryo’s expansion and prolific output throughout the 1990s.

In their assessments, contemporary reviewers put unusual emphasis on Stéphane Picq’s soundtrack for Dune. Picq’s work soon became part of game music history when Virgin Records released an arrange album titled Dune – Spice Opera. At this point in time, album releases of Western game music were nearly unheard of, so for a European game soundtrack to receive an arrange album was entirely unexpected. The work left its mark – when online game music criticism started to pop up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Dune – Spice Opera garnered rave reviews for its unusual and creative aesthetics. It remains a fan favourite, its official release in Europe making it one of the first pieces of game music available for purchase by budding fans of the art form.

Thankfully, it is not just the arrange album that deserves such high accolades, but the source material itself is worthy of praise. Picq had been writing scores for several French PC games since 1988, making his debut for Cryo Interactive in 1990 on the company’s first game Extase. Dune was doubtlessly his breakthrough work, heralding him as an exciting new voice in game music (a reputation he would uphold on future works for Cryo).

Dune Soundtrack

His vision for the planet of Dune is far more psychedelic and less militaristic than that of Frank Klepacki and other composers on future franchise scores. What Picq creates is remarkably similar to what Frank Herbert achieved with Dune. More than any other work of science fiction before it, Dune conjured up a believable fictional world in all its complexity, described in painstaking detail. Similarly, Picq devises a soundtrack that takes its cues from existing (musical) cultures but then twists these into something unique – authentic world music (if the term is permitted here) for an imaginary planet.

Consequently, the Dune soundtrack is an exceedingly skilful combination of contrasts. Familiar electronic sci-fi soundscapes mesh with acoustic elements in calmly monolithic compositions. Their gently surreal nature aspires to the same kind of mysticism that Herbert used to heighten the book’s narrative scope and impact (the word “Opera” in the arrange album’s title is no accident, such is the music’s breadth). It’s tempting to say Dune’s woozy nature is only the natural result of a work whose story ultimately hinges upon the harvesting of a drug. However trippy the music may be though, it harnesses its heady inclinations to concoct compositions that are both spiritualistic and earthy.

The Dune soundtrack’s best demonstration of these qualities is “Chani’s Eyes”. The cue distils the score’s minimalist, yet tonally rich brand of synth ostinati, chiming melody fragments and synth interpretations of middle-eastern music into an entrancing example of Picq’s unique soundscapes. Crystallising the soundtrack’s undercurrent of melancholia and freezing it in time, “Chani’s Eyes” is the score’s calmest composition and truly a trip into outer space. On the other end of the spectrum we find “Free Men”. Now the music turns into a colourful, quirky tapestry of musical activity, including wooden percussion, flutes and a mysterious harpsichord-like melody. The whole construct is held aloft by synth ostinati that take unpredictable harmonic turns, fraying at the edges in the unforgiving desert heat. Again, Picq takes recognisably terrestrial music styles and adds just enough sci-fi synths to tweak them into something alien, yet still embracing.

Dune Soundtrack

It’s this intermingling of technology and ancient tradition, set to unusually languid tempi, that sets the Dune soundtrack apart from so many other 1990s sci-fi video game scores, at times evoking the now retro-futuristic mood of 70s prog rock. “Opening” sets the score’s peculiar mood early on. Both futuristic and warm, its organ-like opening chords give way to irregular, full-bodied electronic (heart)beats, wooden percussion and harsher synths that subtly shift from interrupting the almost religious atmosphere to finally complementing it. Music fit for an extraterrestrial cathedral, “Opening” establishes both the soundtrack’s drifting atmosphere and its immense scale.

Like a prayer, the music’s import isn’t diminished by its understated nature – and so a track like “Dune (Variation)” requires no overt sonic bombast to achieve grandeur. Underscoring the Arrakis palace, the cue feels appropriately weightier than other pieces, but that’s solely due to its heightened sense of foreboding and wistfulness, conscious of the expectations placed upon Paul Atreides as heir to the throne. Synth pads and melodies feel more yearning than usual before a flute solo’s lonesome nature drives home the point and effectively contrasts with the lusher synth sounds.

For a game that’s ultimately about conquering a planet, the Dune soundtrack doesn’t deliver much in terms of outright action music, but it’s not without more pressing moments. “Too” carries a greater sense of urgency in its mix of wooden and electronic ostinati, while a four-note synth melody underscores scouring the endless deserts of Dune in solitude. Suddenly, silvery arpeggios turn those endless dunes into an unexpectedly magical place, contrasting brilliantly with the arid atmosphere of the track’s A section.

World map theme “Wake Up” is the closest that Picq comes to writing a march on this score. He steadfastly builds the cue over snare drums and electric bass rhythms into a composition that encompasses both the constant onward drive of conquest and the sheer majesty of gazing from above at a vast world. It’s a sensation that the music communicates far better than the game’s visuals. Indeed, as far as sci-fi game soundtracks go, few have evoked the enticing spell of living in another world as potently as Dune.

Conversation notes

Many of Dune’s ports ultimately didn’t eventuate, leaving only versions for the Amiga and the Sega CD. The Amiga port only includes three tracks, making it an inferior option by default – even though it includes a piece exclusive to this version (“Ecolove” – solid, but not a standout cue).

One might assume that the Sega CD port would fall back on the Red Book audio tracks from the Dune – Spice Opera arrange album, but that’s not the case. Instead, the game sticks to the original PC compositions, arranging them for the Sega Genesis’ YM2612 sound chip. The result is clearer and more forceful than what’s heard on the Ad Lib sound card version of Dune, which is most commonly referenced. However – as with the score’s Roland MT-32 version – more realistic and booming renditions don’t benefit music that thrives on its dream-like, hazy nature. As a result, Picq’s score feels heavy-handed and lacks that diffuse, all-enveloping ambience when rendered on a Roland MT-32 sound card or the Sega CD.

  1. 01 - Sign Of The Worm (Opening) Picq, Stéphane 2:52
  2. 02 - Spice Opera (Introduction) Picq, Stéphane 6:33
  3. 03 - Dune (Variation) (Arrakeen Palace) Picq, Stéphane 5:47
  4. 04 - Too (Ornithopter) Picq, Stéphane 2:18
  5. 05 - Wake Up (Map Of Arrakis) Picq, Stéphane 3:32
  6. 06 - Free Men (Ergsun Sietch) Picq, Stéphane 3:09
  7. 07 - Chani's Eyes Picq, Stéphane 4:57

Tagged With: 1992, Cryo Interactive, Dune (Franchise), Electronic, PC, Simulation/Strategy, Stéphane Picq

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