XBox 360 Archives - The Greatest Game Music

‘Splosion Man Soundtrack

‘Splosion Man Soundtrack, Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley, 2009

You’ve just got to appreciate titles like ‘Splosion Man that take one particular, fun aspect of video games and build their entire gameplay around it. In this case, that common video game element is – of course – explosions. No matter if you’re trying to solve the game’s platforming puzzles, kill enemies, or simply jump – all it takes is an explosion from the game’s self-combusting protagonist.

In an unusual move, Twisted Pixel Games ended up dividing soundtrack duties along game mode lines. Joshua Mosley wrote the ‘Splosion Man soundtrack’s single-player cues, while John DeBorde wrote the multi-player tracks. The game’s audio lead Matt Chaney also contributed and performed ‘Splosion Man’s light-hearted ukulele theme song “Donuts, Go Nuts!” Both Mosley and DeBorde joined the project with a background in composing for various types of media (games, TV, movies).

At the time of its release, the majority of coverage around the ‘Splosion Man soundtrack focused on Mosley’s compositions. However, while Mosley’s 1960s-swinging-spy-brass-meets-metal-guitars melange is entertaining, his tracks are severely constricted by their format. Mosley’s sixteen cues all clock in between 40-50 seconds and have little room to really develop their invigorating sound. DeBorde’s job is more thankful – his multi-player cues are allowed to at least make it past the two-minute mark. That might not sound like much, but it’s all that DeBorde needs.

Keeping things consistent, DeBorde’s compositions don’t differ too much stylistically from Mosley’s tracks. With a game that’s all about explosions, the temptation must have been big to write a consistently intense, driven score. To his credit, DeBorde’s paces his contributions to the ‘Splosion Man soundtrack in smarter fashion than that. Of course, there are tracks that put the pedal to the metal straightaway to capture ‘Splosion Man’s single-minded focus and fiery character. These cues rely more heavily on the chugging metal guitars that DeBorde pushes further into the background on other compositions.

“Driven to Splode” is one such cue that straightaway announces the ‘Splosion Man soundtrack’s fierce intentions. While the heavy guitars deliver quality mid-tempo headbanging material, “Driven to Splode” also maintains a steady groove with its snappy lead guitar figures and syncopated rock drums. Capping things off in blistering style is a sizzling saxophone solo, while the lead guitars go wild in the background.

This is a strategy DeBorde applies on most tracks on the ‘Splosion Man soundtrack: throwing in rip-roaring saxophone or trumpet soli during the last third of a track to detonate the tension that the music has been building. What’s interesting is the relationship between the guitars and the brass solo instruments. This sort of instrument combination would suggest DeBorde goes for a funk metal approach, but that’s not quite the case. Instead of supporting the music’s rhythms (and each other), guitars and brass play somewhat independently of each other, creating an ever more forceful wall of sound.

Indeed, this is music that is not afraid to go for the jugular. Witness “Experimental Grinder”’s heavy guitar rhythms and the claustrophobia they emit, like a star contracting before it turns into a super nova – and then guitar and saxophone dive head first into a bruising, exhilarating stand off. If anything, album closer “The Scientist Slicer” somehow manages to end on an even more powerful note. White-hot soli from saxophone, trumpet and metal guitars collide in a gloriously ferocious finale that leaves listeners blissfully exhausted.

Between these outbursts of energy, DeBorde slows things down just a bit to give listeners some breathing room. These more relaxed segments also give DeBorde the opportunity to play with new genre combinations. “Scale the Shaft”’s pop-funk mix might be the soundtrack’s biggest stylistic surprise. The brass instruments deliver a catchy melody line that would be right at home on an 80s pop hit single. Meanwhile, drums and bass reliably keep things grooving – things might slow down, but the music certainly never drags. The guitar fittingly adds a confidently ascending melody, before guitar shredding meets brassy pop hooks – upbeat yet no less vigorous.

“The Lab Vac”’s opening brings the ‘Splosion Man soundtrack the closest this score comes to easy listening. Thankfully, the lively drumming keeps the music from ever relaxing too much. Even from such a relatively laid-back starting point, DeBorde manages to build the track to another showstopping close. This time, he even brings in surprisingly eerie synths and choir aahs to make the album’s sound bigger still.

If your soundtrack needs to race along at high velocity and you’ve got brass instruments at hand, it’s almost inevitable that ska sounds will feature at some stage. On “Ska-POW!”, trumpet and saxophone spring along a staccato line custom made to set the dance floor alight, before the saxophone gets to tear into the soundtrack’s most extended solo. The opening fanfare appears again, growing more and more urgent. Soon the customary metal guitars add a scolding melody of their own and it all ends in a raging bonfire of twirling sparks and embers. It’s emblematic for a soundtrack whose joyous ferocity has few peers.

01 - Driven to Splode Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley 2:20
02 - Party in Lab 5A Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley 2:23
03 - Scale the Shaft Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley 2:32
04 - Ska-POW! Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley 2:13
05 - Experimental Grinder Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley 2:07
06 - The Lab Vac Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley 2:18
07 - The Scientist Slicer Matt Chaney / John DeBorde / Joshua Mosley 2:10

Alpha Squad Soundtrack

Alpha Squad Soundtrack, Stemage, 2011

On the Alpha Squad soundtrack, Stemage – founder of metal band Metroid Metal – faced the same challenges as many artists who made their name in the game music arrangement scene and now embarked on their first original soundtrack. No longer able to rely on other composers’ works, can the new material still meet heightened expectations?

Alpha Squad was a deliberate throwback to the top-down arcade-style shooters from the 80s and early 90s. Stemage’s metal chops certainly marked him as a fitting candidate to score the action-filled mayhem. Developer Dragon Divide had acknowledged that much when they contacted Stemage to write music for Alpha Squad. At the same time, his soundtrack would need to strike a significantly more upbeat note than his Metroid Metal output to match the game’s tongue-in-cheek approach and no-frills gameplay.

Stemage rises to the occasion with assurance and ease. His approach mirrors that of the game itself, marrying old school virtues with an up-to-date presentation. That means: focusing on what was best about 8- and 16-bit run’n’gun scores, and present it with live instruments. Stemage duly observes the musical conventions of classic 2d action games and this brings about significant changes to his approach. His compositions on the Alpha Squad soundtrack are far more melodic than anything he had written up to this point. Not only does Stemage find a handful of short, punchy guitar melodies for almost each track. What’s more, he’s happy to play them over and over again, building each cue around such hooks to make the most of these catchy tunes and embed them deeply in listeners’ memory banks.

His approach pays off in spades from the start with opening track “Alpha Squad Theme”. Lovingly paying homage to its genre predecessors, it’s a theme that’s full of bravado and just the slightest bit cheesy. True, the song relies almost a bit too much on similar variations of the theme. But that won’t change the fact that you’ll be humming this melody right after the first listen.

There was never any doubt that Stemage also has the skills to pull off more complex guitar material than these ingratiating tunes. But Stemage never turns this solo outing into a mere shred fest. He always puts melodies and concise song-writing first, while leaving space to wrap his tracks in increasingly complex guitar textures. In short, it’s the perfect balance between guitar showmanship and melodic instincts. The latter often bring a distinct and welcome pop influence with them, best heard on “New City”.

That’s not to say that Alpha Squad is lacking in fiery power and steely riffage – far from it. “City” will have metal fans grinning and giving their neck muscles a good workout. Pummelling drums, aggressive rhythm guitars that are served well by a powerful album recording, and an edgy, yet melodic guitar solo: they all make for a track full of ferocious tension that grabs you by the throat from the first note and doesn’t let go — and you’ll be all the happier for it.

In interviews, Stemage professed to the daunting nature of writing music that had to address a certain location or mood. Of course, he easily clears this hurdle as well on the Alpha Squad soundtrack. Examples are plentiful. “Jungle” and “Haunted” both create a claustrophobic atmosphere through similar means, but still emerge as distinct tracks. “Haunted” takes the aggressive riffs of “Boss” and slows them down to establish an oppressive, suffocating mood. “Jungle” ratchets up the stifling attitude of “Haunted” and throws a constant barrage of pulverising riffs at the listener, as the unbearable humidity and walls of impenetrable foliage close in.

Other location tracks take a less fierce approach and audibly delight in painting their settings through colourful instrumentations. “Winter” follows a slightly more complex structure, moving from a calm opening to another vigorous guitar work out. Chiming, repetitive guitar phrases work their chilly magic on what is arguably the Alpha Squad soundtrack’s most subtle and best-developed cue. You wouldn’t expect metal’s raucous energy to gel well with the static nature of your typical ‘snow stage’ music. And yet, Stemage makes it work.

Indeed, the Alpha Squad soundtrack’s biggest artistic achievement might be this kind of variety. It’s a common assumption that metal is a fairly one-dimensional affair, with the volume and aggression levels constantly reaching 11. Stemage’s beautifully intricate, creative work here proves this stereotype wrong over and over again. His melodic metal formula adapts to the game’s different locations and scoring requirements with complete ease and unquestioned success, resulting in one of game music’s best – and most fun – metal scores.

01 - Alpha Squad Theme Stemage 3:36
02 - City Stemage 3:45
03 - Alliance Stemage 1:20
04 - Sewer Stemage 4:18
05 - Boss Stemage 2:08
06 - Secret Stemage 1:08
07 - Desert Stemage 2:19
08 - Haunted Stemage 3:20
09 - Arena Stemage 2:46
10 - Winter Stemage 5:26
11 - Jungle Stemage 4:27
12 - New City Stemage 3:44
13 - Final Boss Stemage 2:12
14 - Overworld Stemage 3:50

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Soundtrack

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Soundtrack, Mikael Karlsson, 2010

Battlefield: Bad Company’s soundtrack had turned heads through the involvement of classical composer Mikael Karlsson. As a successful writer of modern (sometimes avant-garde) classical music and with an impressive body of well-received orchestral works, ballets and operas under his belt, Karlsson seemed like an unusual choice to score a first-person shooter. The link between Karlsson and the Battlefield franchise was Stefan Strandberg, sound director at game developer DICE. Friends during their study years in Stockholm, they reconnected when Karlsson moved to New York and a demo tape of his made it into the hands of Strandberg.

Ultimately though, the Battlefield: Bad Company score album felt underwhelming. Its compositions were usually too short to develop meaningfully. Additionally, the music wasn’t as adventurous and refreshing as the references that Karlsson and Strandberg quoted in interviews (Rachmaninoff, Schnittke, Bartok) would suggest.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 soundtrack – while stylistically more conventional than its predecessor – is a considerable improvement. Ignoring some shorter tracks that feel like filler, the score album’s meat are four substantial orchestral cues. While they run for just over 15 minutes altogether, they are among Western game music’s best developed orchestral compositions. In fact, particularly “The Secret Revealed” and “The Ancient Weapon” feel more like small concert works than soundtrack compositions. Karlsson’s background in classical music is consistently manifest in his intelligent handling of orchestral forces and dynamics. It helps that according to Karlsson, “BC2 has a much more developed, cinematic story line than BC1”.

The fun kicks off with the robust “The Storm (Main Theme)”. Its opening gestures – a resilient, solemn trumpet solo over somewhat anonymously driving string ostinati and percussion – have become musical clichés of the FPS genre. But Karlsson establishes his credentials early on. His trumpet lead melody is more long-spun and less predictable than the vast majority of competitors in this field. Countless game (and movie) soundtracks have tried to mix traditional orchestral sweep with rhythm-focused modern action score writing – far too often to underwhelming results. “The Storm (Main Theme)” is one of the few game music compositions that gets the balance right. The piece never sacrifices carefully crafted dynamics and orchestrations for the constant forward surge that this type of composition requires. The track’s requisite sense of heroism never feels cheap and doesn’t have to rely on the tired, simplistic major chord progressions of other action games.

One of the surprising things about the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 soundtrack is that “The Storm (Main Theme)” is the only composition with the expected militaristic bravado. The other three substantial cues take more subtle approaches.

“Snowy Mountains” positions itself on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum to “The Storm (Main Theme)”. It’s a far more abstract, but still accessible composition, due to its immediately striking atmosphere. As the base for “Snowy Mountains”, Karlsson uses ear-catching layers of plodding, resonant string ostinati. The music’s motoric progression remains steady to suggest constant pressing forward to fulfill a mission in white, barren lands. At the same time, rhythmic subtleties and additions like busy string pizzicati keep the mood sufficiently unpredictable and tense. Massive French horn blasts underline “Snowy Mountains”’ stark atmosphere, which is alleviated through measured woodwind melodies.

If “The Storm (Main Theme)” is the barnstorming opening track and “Snowy Mountains” evokes a particular locale, the remaining two tracks deliver the bulk of the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 soundtrack’s cinematic drama – in remarkably mature and subdued fashion. Both “The Secret Revealed” and “The Ancient Weapon” surprise with their hushed, nocturnal atmosphere.

“The Secret Revealed” shifts gears after “The Storm (Main Theme)”’s swagger, opening with a rolling four-note piano motif on flute. The motif’s refusal to harmonically resolve sets the composition’s mysterious, agitated mood. A sense of foreboding flows from a high-pitched violin drone and ruminative deep string utterings. The melodic material is purposefully fragmented, but still developed smartly enough to tie the piece together. Composed with classical sensibilities and making judicious use of chamber music-sized orchestrations, all the tension that “The Secret Revealed” has carefully built up explodes in a towering brass variation of the four-note motif – suitably awe-inspiring to justify the track’s title.

“The Ancient Weapon” visits similar emotional territory, but with a more melodramatic flair. Karlsson writes a solo violin part that ranks among Western game music’s most fully-developed instrumental soli. By turns delicate, passionate, trembling, intimate, and always impeccably performed, the mesmerising solo violin is pitted against thumping percussion and hammering piano chords. Compositional subtlety once more leads to emotional ambivalence and intrigue. “The Ancient Weapon”’s solo violin part lacks any continuously flowing, comforting melody line. It refuses to deliver any definitive emotional payoffs, but offers constant allure and fascination. Karlsson’s background in modern classical music shines through once more, allowed to produce far more multi-faceted statements of intent than on Battlefield: Bad Company. Ultimately, “The Ancient Weapon” ends on the album’s most ambiguous, cliffhanging note, receding back into the darkness. It’s a welcome invitation to replay this anything but ordinary first-person shooter score.

01 - The Storm (Main Theme) Mikael Karlsson 4:30
02 - The Secret Revealed Mikael Karlsson 4:01
03 - Snowy Mountains Mikael Karlsson 3:03
04 - The Ancient Weapon Mikael Karlsson 3:50

Cthulhu Saves the World Soundtrack

Cthulhu Saves the World Soundtrack, Gordon McNeil, 2010

With the rise of indie games, the number of 8- and 16-bit styled titles has exploded. One of the most beloved genres from that era in gaming were JRPGs. It’s no surprise then that the retro game market has been flooded with titles that try to recapture the magic of genre classics like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Star Ocean, Tales of… the list goes on and on. One of the better JRPG throwbacks was Zeboyd Games’ Cthulhu Saves The World. For the game’s soundtrack, Zeboyd Games turned to Gordon McNeil.

McNeil had provided a couple of tracks to Zeboyd Games’ earlier Breath of Death VII: The Beginning. His contribution to Chtulhu would be significantly larger, clocking in at more than 70 minutes of music. McNeil’s stylistic approach to scoring this hybrid parody/homage was unsurprising. In his words: “Since I was a tod I’ve wanted to score an RPG of the J variety, so I jumped at the chance. The whole idea behind Zeboyd’s RPGs is to make as much an honest tribute as well as parody, and so I decided to go whole hog and put together as iconic a JRPG soundtrack as I could.”

Indeed, like the best parody scores, McNeil plays things entirely straight, never pushing the music to sound overtly jokey or self-aware. More importantly, McNeil manages to pen what indeed has every right to be called an iconic JRPG score. This might be Western game music’s best retro RPG score, the very rare example of a throwback soundtrack that is every bit as great as the classics that it references.

Listeners will know they’re in good hands from the moment opening track “Save the World (Hero Theme)” kicks in. Beautifully layered brass fanfares prepare the ground for a wonderfully enterprising, youthful French horn theme. With its refreshing swagger, the composition captures the requisite sense of adventure to perfection. Like most JRPGs, the Cthulhu Saves The World soundtrack liberally mixes classical and rock/pop influences. And “Save the World”’s lead melody certainly embodies the score’s mastery of both those genres. Beautifully developed and long-winded, the cue’s theme equally has the repetition and immediacy of a great pop tune.

While McNeil integrates rock elements into the orchestral ensemble consistently well, one aspect of this genre fusion deserves particular mention: the outstanding rock drum work. In fact, McNeil’s writing for the instrument is more creative than what you’d hear on most rock/metal game scores. Take “Conquer the Fire (Volcano)”’s fantastic variety of drum fills and rhythm changes. They help push the piece to one of the soundtrack’s most goosebump-inducing moments, when a magnificent, skyscraping string melody again combines classical gravitas with pop music’s catchiness.

As an exercise in pastiche, Cthulhu Saves The World necessarily follows genre tropes, but it always does so to perfection. Expect a peaceful town theme? That’s precisely what “A Moment of Clarity (Town)” delivers – no surprise here. However, with such gorgeous woodwind melodies atop acoustic guitar chords and warm string backing, there’s no reason to complain. And again, McNeil doesn’t fail to develop his composition, transitioning into a romantically swooning B section led by solo piano.

Other locations are scored as predictably and with just as much outstanding musicality. “Rust and Scrap (Factory)” is a junkyard stomp that mixes playfully industrial rhythms with clarinet leads and harpsichord riffs. “Into the Depths (Shrine)” opens with deep male choir, in its obviously synthetic nature a charming throwback to PS1-era soundtracks. One of the soundtrack’s most beautiful brass melodies – solemn yet aspiring – befittingly underscores this ecclesiastical location. And finally, mighty electric guitar riffs come rolling in to complete this picture of a mysterious, awe-inspiring place.

No classic RPG score would be complete without strong battle themes. Not surprisingly, the Cthulhu Saves The World soundtrack excels here as well. McNeil brings to bear his penchant for complex, dense instrumentations on these adrenaline-charged compositions. “Conflict (Battle)” is yet another track that seamlessly merges classical and rock (or rather metal) styles. Hugely energising, “Conflict” never lets up, but at the same time knows how to pace itself. Witness how its lighter piano lead is impeccably timed after strings, choir, guitar and drums have taken the track’s intensity to its peak.

And what of the big finale? A six minute miniature epic, “Existence Collapses” lets McNeil pull out all the stops – metal riffage, prominent choir and organ, show-stopping trumpet soli, fists-raised-to-the-sky orchestral drama. Of course, he combines it all perfectly to write a final boss track for the ages. “Existence Collapses” fully earns the hyperbole that its title promises and cements the status of the Cthulhu Saves The World soundtrack as a genre classic that even manages to surpass other outstanding JRPG throwback scores like Bravely Default.

01 - Save the World (Hero Theme) Gordon McNeil 2:02
02 - The Trial (First Dungeon) Gordon McNeil 2:56
03 - Conflict (Battle) Gordon McNeil 3:34
04 - Across the Crescent Moon, the Weeping Monster Sighs Once More (Victory Theme) Gordon McNeil 2:43
05 - Straying Into Darkness (Caves) Gordon McNeil 3:14
06 - A Moment of Clarity (Town) Gordon McNeil 3:17
07 - Into the Depths (Shrine) Gordon McNeil 2:29
08 - Limitless and Free Skies (World Map) Gordon McNeil 2:36
09 - The Mist Never Clears (Forest) Gordon McNeil 1:50
10 - Tighten Your Grip Gordon McNeil 4:27
11 - Push Through Once More (Boss) Gordon McNeil 4:20
12 - The Fling That Should Not Be (Umi's Theme) Gordon McNeil 3:39
13 - Surrounded (Dunwich) Gordon McNeil 2:00
14 - Eternal Terror Gordon McNeil 2:27
15 - Traversing the Endless Black (Spaceship) Gordon McNeil 3:28
16 - Rust and Scrap (Factory) Gordon McNeil 3:00
17 - Jazzhands (City) Gordon McNeil 2:22
18 - Conquer the Fire (Volcano) Gordon McNeil 4:11
19 - Descending Forever (Final Dungeon) Gordon McNeil 3:16
20 - Existance Collapses (Final Boss) Gordon McNeil 6:31
21 - Testimony of Memory (Old Dungeon) Gordon McNeil 2:45
22 - One Final Tight Spot (Old Battle) Gordon McNeil 4:13

Dead Space 2 Soundtrack

Dead Space 2 Soundtrack, Jason Graves, 2011

“The Same. But Different. Yet Better.” According to Jason Graves, those were the words that he stuck above his monitor when composing Dead Space 2. Considering the success of Dead Space’s aural aspects – two BAFTAs and a degree of media attention few game scores ever achieve – Grave’s goal was no doubt an ambitious one. Then again, no matter how ferocious Dead Space’s soundtrack was, there was room for improvement. Graves’ breakthrough work was the equivalent of a horror movie that tries to scare its audience with jump scare after jump scare. And at some stage, watching monsters leap at the protagonist for yet another “boo!” effect gets old.

Fortunately, Graves fixes this and other issues on the Dead Space 2 soundtrack. It is still unmistakably the soundtrack for a very scary game. But at the same time, through a more varied approach to creating unease and immersion, Dead Space 2 clearly surpasses its predecessor. It delivers a surprisingly multi-faceted exploration of the dark corridors of both a haunted space station and of its protagonist Isaac Clarke’s disintegrating mind.

Grave’s creativity and his improved judgment on how to let his music achieve maximum emotional effect are demonstrated right from the start on “Isaac, Are You There?”. Graves implements one key ingredient that allows his music to register with much greater impact than before – contrast. To put it in his words: “It’s the tonal versus the non-tonal, the calm versus the chaos.” And so, “Isaac, Are You There?” opens with the mournful sounds of a string quartet whose grip on tonality soon crumbles, giving way to tortured dissonances.

Arguably, the string quartet doesn’t appear as often on the Dead Space 2 soundtrack as the score’s more traditional components. However, these introspective interludes are of utmost importance to pace the album and they never fail to impress. They’re emotionally powerful, creepy and touchingly communicate Isaac’s loneliness. The first Dead Space didn’t have much more than the threat of someone being swallowed by the terrifying unknown. Now, Dead Space 2 makes us care about that someone.

This sort of emotional involvement is also anchored in the improved pacing of the album’s acidic action pieces. Sample a track like “Titan Station Elementary”, found on the soundtrack’s Collector’s Edition release. Its strategy to open with something decidedly non-horror related – a children’s song – and slowly move from innocence to terror all the more effectively is hardly new. But this measured approach is where Dead Space 2 triumphs over Dead Space and its nearly constant hyperactivity.

It helps these dynamic contrasts immeasurably that Graves’ writing for piano passages has much improved since Dead Space. Now these quieter sections are mesmerising and retain a sense of eeriness so that listeners’ attention never flags. “The Cassini Towers” only requires echoing bell strikes to shape an unfathomable space, before vocals intensify the music’s unsettling mood. Disembodied voices and whispered, indistinguishable words uttered from a close distance evoke tangible, yet uncontrollable dread that erupts into a violent orchestral outburst.

These engrossing stretches of relative calm form a foil against which the frenzy of Dead Space 2‘s action pieces can unfold even better. While fragile, this time Isaac is more in control than in the first game. Consequently, the action tracks on the Dead Space 2 soundtrack are less chaotic and more rhythmically focused than before. On Dead Space, the music often created a head-spinning effect by going in several different directions at once. This time, the pieces’ rhythmic foundation is steadier and more dominant to give the music a recognisable forward drive. Dead Space 2’s action tracks feel like hammers wrapped in barbwire, barbaric unisono rhythms mercilessly striking again and again.

Such rhythmic focus is the hallmark of much anemic contemporary soundtrack writing. Graves’ immense achievement here is to make this sort of thumping action music exciting. Often enough, his combat pieces have the confidence to simply rely on the sheer brutal force of their rhythms. Key to these compositions’ success is the fact that the chords which the orchestra hammers out with manic focus are fiercely dissonant and visceral. Even if this is music that doesn’t dazzle like its predecessor, its uncompromising focus is even more exciting. Rather than constantly trying to stun listeners with disorienting orchestral mayhem, Graves is happy to achieve more with less. And he does so in brutally effective fashion.

And when a funereal rendition of Isaac’s theme concludes the Collector’s Edition’s version of closing track “Lacrimosa” – one of Western game music’s most emotionally and harmonically complex pieces – Graves reveals that he has managed to move all the pieces of the puzzle into the right position to make the Dead Space 2 soundtrack both terrifying and emotionally devastating. It’s an achievement of rare maturity and easily Graves’ career highlight.

01 - Isaac, Are You There? Jason Graves 5:16
02 - Padded Room with a View Jason Graves 3:11
03 - Hospital Escape Jason Graves 2:21
04 - Much Ado About Necromorphs Jason Graves 4:36
05 - Canonical Aside Jason Graves 1:56
06 - Administering Control Jason Graves 2:46
07 - The Cassini Towers Jason Graves 3:59
08 - Fear of Flying Jason Graves 4:03
09 - It Had to be Unitology Jason Graves 5:16
10 - Isaac Get Your Gun Jason Graves 1:49
11 - Titan Station Elementary Jason Graves 3:45
12 - East of the Sun and West of the Solar Array Jason Graves 2:09
13 - Awesome Hulk Jason Graves 4:14
14 - Start Spreading the Limbs Jason Graves 2:31
15 - You Got Nill Jason Graves 4:13
16 - The Government Sector Jason Graves 2:41
17 - I Only Have Eyes For You Jason Graves 5:01
18 - You Got to My Head Jason Graves 4:14
19 - Convergence Delayed Jason Graves 3:46
20 - Lacrimosa Jason Graves 8:11

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Soundtrack

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Soundtrack, Jeremy Soule, 2002

The Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets soundtrack is easily the best of Jeremy Soule‘s five scores for the franchise. It also benefits from a better album presentation than Soule’s other Harry Potter soundtracks. Only eight minutes of notable material are missing from the album release, which thankfully excises a lot of ruminative underscore. In fact, Chamber of Secrets is Soule’s most satisfying fantasy soundtrack. Yes, that’s a big claim to make, considering his work on franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars. But Chamber of Secrets achieves a consistency of quality that Soule’s more bloated scores don’t accomplish. He doubtlessly deserved his 2004 win of the BAFTA Games Award for Best Original Music for Chamber of Secrets.

Soule’s designation as “the John Williams of game music” has always had more to do with hyperbole and facile comparisons than with actual musical parallels. For example, Soule seems almost entirely disinterested in the elaborate thematic structures that shape so many of Williams’ works. However, there’s no denying that at his best, Soule is able to create a lavish orchestral sound broadly reminiscent of John Williams’ works in the science fiction and fantasy genre.

It was this similarity in sound that landed Soule the gig on the first five Harry Potter games. On the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets soundtrack, he shows why he’s the right man for the job. Soule gets the necessary mix of adventure, menace and child-like wonder just right. He crafts the perfect soundtrack for a quest that is light-hearted, but not without dangers and dramatic encounters, set in a colourful world both homely and of immense scale.

All these impressions come together on the album’s opening track “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Title Theme”. The cue successfully evokes the requisite sense of both magic and majestic sweep essential to a Harry Potter score. A substantial choral component gives the music unexpected heft and scope, before the orchestration pulls back to solo piano only. With impressive ease, Soule shows his aptitude at handling these swift, fluid changes of orchestration and mood. At the same time, it’s obvious Soule has found his individual musical entry point to the world of Harry Potter, never coming off as a mere Williams rip-off.

What’s most refreshing about the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets soundtrack is its light touch, and a feeling of affability and charm that is utterly delightful. It also helps that the variety on display on “Title Theme” is present throughout the entire soundtrack. For example, the requisite comedy elements appear on “Washing”, which merrily bounces along without ever turning cloying or childish. In a similar vein, “House Point Theme” has great fun contrasting regal fanfares with tuba-driven, oompah-style humour. In the soundtrack’s liner notes, Chamber of Secrets‘ audio manager Nick Lavier claims that Soule “doesn’t seem to be able to […] very easily […] write light, playful music.” However, based on the winning evidence presented on this soundtrack, it’s an issue that Soule successfully overcame.

At the other end of the spectrum are the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets soundtrack’s action pieces. Despite the odd less than spectacular cue, they manage to outgun the battle tracks on pretty much all of Soule’s other fantasy scores. A comparison with his work for the same year’s The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind proves insightful. By comparison, Chamber of Secrets’ action cues are far more attractive, with no place for stale ostinato staccatos. They also have a real sense of rhythmic elasticity, never content to rest in one spot for long as the whole orchestra contributes to the light-footed compositions.

Most importantly, there’s a real sense of urgency and verve that turns even short tracks like “Draco” into energising interludes. It’s hard to overstate how much a live orchestra’s vivid sound brings to these compositions. For example, the full-throated, rasping sound of the brass section on “Draco” is immensely satisfying.

Many other tracks contribute to the variety of textures and moods that makes the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets soundtrack such a winning work. Take “Flying”, which shows Soule at his most spirited and effervescent. Here, the music truly cuts loose, unable to contain its excitement at the wide-open skies ahead. Then there’s “Willow Level 3”, a beautifully contoured string adagio with Wagnerian overtones that displays Soule’s classical inclinations. “Spell Atmos” and its calm solemnity and mystical gestures feel like a test run for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The cues’ feeling of otherworldly wonder and gazing finds its charmingly unassuming counterpoint in the gorgeously meandering “Day”. The composition’s hazy, sustained woodwind chords set against piano and celesta are something to savour. It’s a rare moment of absent-minded daydreaming that later Harry Potter scores with higher dramatic stakes don’t allow for.

01 - Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets Theme Jeremy Soule 2:23
02 - The Burrow Jeremy Soule 2:16
03 - The Washing Machine Jeremy Soule 0:58
04 - Fighting Imps Jeremy Soule 1:09
05 - Diagon Alley Jeremy Soule 1:04
06 - Stealth Pursuit Jeremy Soule 1:00
07 - The Leaky Cauldron Jeremy Soule 0:55
08 - Hedwig Jeremy Soule 2:14
09 - Fighting the Whomping Willow Jeremy Soule 2:08
10 - Return to Hogwarts Jeremy Soule 1:26
11 - Day Follow Jeremy Soule 1:29
12 - Day Wander Jeremy Soule 1:03
13 - Hogwarts Neutral Jeremy Soule 1:03
14 - Happy Hogwarts Jeremy Soule 1:06
15 - Fred & George's Shop Jeremy Soule 0:45
16 - Day Jeremy Soule 2:07
17 - Broom Lesson Jeremy Soule 1:09
18 - Flying Jeremy Soule 1:48
19 - House Points Theme Jeremy Soule 1:00
20 - The Library Jeremy Soule 1:16
21 - Spell Atmos Jeremy Soule 2:14
22 - Quidditch Anthem Jeremy Soule 1:03
23 - Bumping Slytherin Jeremy Soule 0:48
24 - Searching for Aragog Jeremy Soule 1:04
25 - The Chamber of Secrets Jeremy Soule 0:59
26 - Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets (Alt.) Jeremy Soule 4:37

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Soundtrack

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Soundtrack, James Hannigan, 2009

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix turned to be industry veteran James Hannigan’s breakthrough work – a delectably luscious orchestral game score that topped Jeremy Soule’s previous contributions to the franchise and could proudly sit aside John Williams and Patrick Doyle’s Harry Potter soundtracks. It’s no surprise then that Hannigan’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince soundtrack doesn’t change the winning formula. Hannigan’s follow up work is as riveting as Order of the Phoenix, but it does introduce a few noteworthy changes.

The most important thing first: Half-Blood Prince once again features near-symphonic depth in its orchestrations and counterpoint. And of course, once more its melodies are gorgeous, full-bodied creations. Like Order of the Phoenix, it’s a work that sits very near the top of orchestral game soundtracks. The most significant difference between Half-Blood Prince and Order of the Phoenix is a greater sense of scope and scale. Outside of its roaring battle cues, Order of the Phoenix mostly pivoted between light-hearted mischievousness and hushed nocturnal wonder. The Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince soundtrack tips the balance in favour of a sweeping sensation of adventure.

“Return to Hogwarts” begins proceedings with a soaring all-guns-blazing opening that catapults listeners into the skies above an immeasurably large fantasy world, bursting with joy and anticipation. As always on Hannigan’s first two Harry Potter scores, the composition rarely stays in one spot for too long. Order of the Phoenix’s Friendship theme is reprised and led through a number of permutations, from bombastic to a solo flute rendition against humming choir.

Arguably, Half-Blood Prince – like Order of the Phoenix – doesn’t feature much thematic coherence. Once caught up in the music’s orchestral splendour – an easy undertaking – such concerns matter little though. Following “Return to Hogwarts”’ spectacular curtain-raiser, “Quidditch Tryouts” bursts forth, full of youthful energy and a dancing mood that can still erupt into bombastic, more combative strains. Again, Hannigan and orchestrator Allan Wilson handle such changes of atmosphere with absolute ease through their dazzling instrumentations. “Race Ginny”’s whirlwind of orchestral colours is the most impressive display of their virtuosity.

From Half-Blood Prince’s more serious inclinations, Hannigan derives the license to indulge more often in long-winded, emotional string melodies. Compare “Hogwarts by Night” with similarly nocturnal tracks on Order of the Phoenix. As a calm string adagio with harp accompaniment, “Hogwarts by Night” is allowed to revel in its melodic beauty. Like on “Boathouse at Night”, this time Hogwarts’ nightly locations project restful serenity, rather than intertwined tension and bewonderment.

This greater melodic focus allows Hannigan to tug at listeners’ heartstrings effectively when the game’s narrative requires this. Witness how “Loss at Hogwarts” makes its statement with a sorrowful, yet noble variation of the Friendship theme. That sort of emotionality is the main reason why Half-Blood Prince’s album finale hits hard. “Sadness at Hogwarts” is one of the album’s melodic highlights in its calm sorrow and yearning. At the same time, it never makes the same mistake as Nicholas Hooper’s movie score – to underplay the tragedies at the heart of Half-Blood Prince’s story. Album closer “Friendship Theme” is even on par with the finale of Patrick Doyle’s Goblet of Fire. Both scores manage to convincingly snatch optimism and hope from the jaws of defeat and death.

Another difference between Half-Blood Prince and Order of the Phoenix lies in each soundtrack’s narrative arc, at least on album. The Order of the Phoenix album producers arranged its music clearly to move from light to darkness and then to a blazing finale. The Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince soundtrack is more flexible in its progression, but also less focused. Moving through the album, there is little sense of momentum or urgency building. The way “Wandering Day 1” segues into “Final Battles” is a bit baffling, so jarring is the transition and lack of build up to the soundtrack’s final battle cue.

However, one positive effect of Half-Blood Prince’s more varied running order is the earlier introduction of Hannigan’s outstanding battle cues. “Duelling Club” hits early on and announces the album’s greater rhythmic focus during its action tracks. On “Duelling Club”, it’s the ever-changing orchestrations that make such a focus on potentially repetitive material work. On “Slytherin Combat”, that job gets done courtesy of the awe-inspiring intensity that Hannigan forges from his relentlessly hammering ostinati. Hannigan avoids listener fatigue by turning these ostinati into catchy melodic hooks that push the composition with white-hot single-mindedness. It all culminates in a triumphantly gigantic climax that is impossible to resist.

Even “Final Battles” doesn’t quite reach the same monumental heights. Still, 99% of game soundtracks would be glad to call its crashing waves of brass, choir and percussion their own. And so it is with the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince soundtrack as a whole. It falls just short of perfection, but still outguns almost everything else in its genre.

01 - Return to Hogwarts James Hannigan 3:25
02 - Quidditch Tryouts James Hannigan 1:32
03 - Race Ginny James Hannigan 3:02
04 - Journey to Hogwarts James Hannigan 2:06
05 - Hogwarts by Night James Hannigan 1:46
06 - Duelling Club James Hannigan 2:31
07 - Wandering Day 5 James Hannigan 1:02
08 - Slytherin Combat James Hannigan 3:25
09 - Loss at Hogwarts James Hannigan 1:09
10 - Wandering James Hannigan 2:08
11 - Mixing Potions James Hannigan 1:59
12 - Quidditch James Hannigan 4:44
13 - Get to Quidditch James Hannigan 2:23
14 - Wandering Day 4 James Hannigan 1:36
15 - The Boathouse at Night James Hannigan 2:49
16 - More Potions James Hannigan 1:37
17 - Wandering Day 3 James Hannigan 1:47
18 - Wandering Stealth James Hannigan 2:20
19 - Get to Potion James Hannigan 1:59
20 - Wandering Day 1 James Hannigan 2:42
21 - Chase Draco James Hannigan 1:08
22 - Lovesick Ron James Hannigan 2:50
23 - Fred and George Return James Hannigan 1:29
24 - Exploring with Luna James Hannigan 2:30
25 - The Final Battles James Hannigan 3:42
26 - Sadness at Hogwarts James Hannigan 2:00
27 - Friendship Theme James Hannigan 2:14

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Soundtrack

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Soundtrack, James Hannigan, 2007

There is some irony to the fact that in several interviews, James Hannigan voiced his concern about film scores by default overshadowing the music written for the game adaptation. If anything, Hannigan’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix soundtrack is the opposite case. Nicholas Hooper’s movie soundtrack was largely deemed underwhelming. Meanwhile, Hannigan garnered praise for his game score that in the eyes of many was the superior work. Indeed, it hits almost all the right notes for a sweeping, yet relatable fantasy epic like the Harry Potter series. Hannigan achieves a perfect balance between humour, magic and gravitas, mixing moods and orchestral colours masterfully. The only thing missing might be a more pervading sense of adventure and romanticism. Fortunately, this is something that Hannigan would address on The Half-Blood Prince.

Stylistically, Hannigan’s lushly orchestrated and meticulously crafted compositions don’t deviate from a certain generic fantasy sound one would expect from a soundtrack like this. This is not a work like Everquest II, out to expand and subvert genre conventions. Then again, on an assignment like this – writing for the sixth entry in a game series with an established sound world – upending expectations was never the aim. Instead, Hannigan’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix soundtrack fits snugly into the franchise’s musical history. At the same time, it is most definitely not a copycat of its illustrious predecessors.

Hannigan pens three recurring themes of his own, although they are heard less often than “Hedwig’s Theme” throughout the game. Thus, Hannigan’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix soundtrack sits somewhere between John Williams’ heavily thematic work and Jeremy Soule’s largely theme-less franchise scores. Easily the standout among Hannigan’s thematic ideas is the Friendship theme, spectacularly setting the scene on “Welcome to Hogwarts”. The theme is a warmly ingratiating, malleable creation. No wonder it easily adapts to the various contexts Hannigan deploys it in: calmly inward looking on “A Gathering of Friends”; a love theme of sorts on the beautiful cello/flute duet that is “Cho and Harry”; surprisingly skittish on “A Task at Hand”. However, the theme’s most memorable appearance occurs on “To Catch An Owl”. Here, it turns into a majestically soaring melody – one of the score’s few instances of optimistic grandeur.

Hannigan’s imposing action cues deliver some of the most viscerally satisfying bombast game music has produced. Starting with “The Inquisitorial Squad”, Hannigan never makes the mistake of fashioning directionless sound and fury – a trademark of so much action game music. Instead, his raging battle pieces always retain a sense of melody that helps shape and direct the massive brass explosions, crashing percussion and insistent string ostinati. The album release bundles these pieces at the end of the album, raising stakes at precisely the right moment.

And even after all the orchestral outbursts that precede it, “Dumbledore & Valdemort” manages to outdo its album brethren. Its passage for unaccompanied fortissimo choir is a moment of hair-raising intensity. In their sombre, almost religious gravitas, Hannigan’s action pieces recall Patrick Doyle’s similarly heavy compositions for The Goblet of Fire. But the sheer elemental force possessing Hannigan’s battle tracks ultimately stands alone in the Harry Potter canon.

The second facet that establishes the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix soundtrack’s stylistic independence is the sense of sustained nocturnal wonder and mystery that pervades the album after its sunny first half – something not found on Williams, Doyle or Soule’s franchise scores. Feelings of hushed tension and loneliness run through these intriguingly brooding pieces. At the same time, Hannigan doesn’t neglect the necessary sense of magic and makes frequent use of harp and celesta. One might argue that the soundtrack album’s subdued second half moves further away from any sense of swashbuckling fantasy adventure. At the same time though, it’s here that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix deviates most strongly from common fantasy score tropes and evokes a surprising degree of intimacy.

This ongoing expedition into darker territories is a result of the soundtrack album sequencing, which follows a fairly obvious pattern. The first half of the album is stacked with playful, at times frolicking compositions. Signifying encroaching danger, the mood then darkens, before exploding in the turbulent home stretch of rousing battle pieces. Hannigan handles the shift from one emotional pole to the other with utmost aplomb.

During particularly busy sections of the album, Hannigan adopts the scherzo format often found on John Williams’ scores. The album’s whiz-bang agility hits its peak when Hannigan applies this scherzo format to his action music on “Wand Combat”. Combining the album’s magical celesta-aided sense of mystery with the brassy force of the soundtrack’s battle cues, “Wand Combat” is the most spectacular, virtuosic composition on a score that is hardly lacking these attributes at any moment. Imagine Raiders of the Lost Ark’s “Basket Chase” transposed into the world of Harry Potter – it’s that good. Arguably, here and elsewhere Hannigan follows a prescribed formula – but within these parameters, he comes enticingly close to perfection.

01 - Intro James Hannigan 1:56
02 - Main Title James Hannigan 1:10
03 - Fred and George James Hannigan 1:09
04 - Portrait Gallery James Hannigan 2:25
05 - Dolores Umbridge James Hannigan 0:43
06 - Invisibility - Stealth and Scurrying James Hannigan 2:47
07 - To Catch an Owl James Hannigan 2:13
08 - Witchcraft James Hannigan 2:03
09 - Cho and Harry James Hannigan 0:47
10 - The Inquisitorial Squad James Hannigan 2:12
11 - Dark Hogwarts James Hannigan 1:01
12 - A Task in Hand James Hannigan 1:58
13 - A Sense of Urgency James Hannigan 1:44
14 - Climbing the Owlery James Hannigan 2:16
15 - Darkness Falls James Hannigan 2:29
16 - Death Eaters James Hannigan 4:13
17 - Evading Filch James Hannigan 1:42
18 - Darkly Wandering James Hannigan 2:23
19 - Navigating the Grounds James Hannigan 1:21
20 - The Dark Acts James Hannigan 1:43
21 - Welcome to Hogwarts James Hannigan 2:43
22 - A Gathering of Friends James Hannigan 1:06
23 - Beware Umbridge James Hannigan 2:36
24 - Courtyard Frolics James Hannigan 1:31
25 - Navigating the Grounds Part 2 James Hannigan 2:00
26 - Wizardry James Hannigan 2:45
27 - Wand Combat James Hannigan 2:35
28 - The Department of Mysteries James Hannigan 2:18
29 - Exploring Hogwarts James Hannigan 1:13
30 - Dumbledore & Voldemort James Hannigan 2:32
31 - Ending James Hannigan 0:29

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Soundtrack

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Soundtrack, Jeremy Soule, 2009

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey arrived at the tail end of the World War II game genre’s huge popularity. As such, game music fans had witnessed many different approaches to underscoring this most devastating of armed conflicts. Especially Michael Giacchino‘s oeuvre had been a potent display of how to put war into music in various ways.

Jeremy Soule hadn’t worked on a WWII game before Birds of Prey and the same year’s Order of War. However, his fantastic action material on Total Annihilation had a militaristic ferocity and soaring momentum that made him a logical choice to score a flight combat game such as Birds of Prey. True, the game itself didn’t add anything new video games’ depiction of the clash between Allied and Axis forces. However, Soule’s IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey soundtrack found an approach both novel and rooted in the composer’s previous works.

What Soule attempts is to monumentalise the conflict he’s underscoring – even more so than Giacchino’s Medal of Honor: Frontline. In many of his previous scores, Soule displayed his classical ambitions, realised to varying degrees of success. The IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey soundtrack is Soule’s most obvious attempt to write a score in reference of classical music’s great masters. It’s a very lofty ambition, particularly for an artist whose oeuvre is characterised so often by atmospheric meanderings. However, Soule pulls off this unexpected feat and writes a work of astounding weight and import.

From “The Engagement” onwards, Soule shows that he is far more interested in achieving a sense of overwhelming awe and grandeur, rather than putting into sound the dizzying motion of combat planes darting through the skies (something that Giacchino’s Secret Weapons Over Normandy was concerned with). Birds of Prey moves at a comparatively slow pace, not trying to impress through agitated energy. Instead, it establishes a majestic presence that feels unstoppable in its heroic might. Such monumentalism comes with its own set of dangers though, as the border separating the sublime and the ridiculous is thin. Thankfully, Soule manages to stay on the right side of the divide.

What precisely is the shape of the classically-inspired sound Soule aims to emulate? Interestingly, on Birds of Prey he deviates from most other ambitious orchestral game soundtracks. These often dazzle with their complexity, be in their textures, themes or other areas. Soule walks down a different path. He bases the majority of the IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey soundtrack on constantly churning string ostinato rhythms. On top of these, he layers positively towering brass fanfares and melodies, interspersed with beautiful woodwind interludes. It’s an approach clearly derived from Anton Bruckner’s symphonies, whose influence is most clearly felt on “Theatre of the Delusionary”.

This method is a risky one to adopt. In the wrong hands, it could easily result in monotonous, dreary orchestral bombast. And it’s precisely here that Soule triumphs, as he manages to mimic his role models to perfection. In the way these compositions shape their motifs, melodies, rhythms and harmonic progressions, they do sound like the real deal – romantic orchestral works written for the concert hall.

While Birds of Prey lets the brass do almost all of the heavy lifting, this focus never becomes an issue. Soule manages to call upon a never-ending supply of genuinely rousing material. Actually, on few game soundtracks does the brass section get to shine as much as here. The difference is staggering when comparing the quality of the brass writing here to that of many Remote Control-inspired game scores, where this instrument group is often called upon to evoke drama and gravitas in disappointingly lazy fashion. The IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey soundtrack is nothing less than a master class in how to write for brass.

For proof of the enormous effect that Soule’s approach yields, head straight to “Valor and Triumph”. The piece confronts the listener with what might be the most memorable and bold theme of Soule’s career. His supremely powerful invention is a proud brass melody that has the force of a battering ram. “Valor and Triumph”, in its tremendous sweep achieved through its tidal rise and fall, points to another characteristic of classical music that Soule smartly adopts here: an unwavering sense of careful, unhurried development.

While Soule’s patience characterises the entire album, “Code of Honor” is the best demonstration of this virtue. The track builds over its entire running time from a faint choral opening and tentative French horn melody. It gradually becomes more and more emotional, before it reaches a solemn, deeply-felt climax. “Theatre of the Delusionary” paces itself equally well, quieting down after its thunderous start and building again. Still, the piece delays the big pay-off until the composition’s very end, to cathartic effect.

With this magnificently realised feeling for development also comes a true sense of dynamism, as Soule clearly realises that evocations of musical bombast also need downtimes to make their full impact. There are many examples of when Birds of Prey‘s robust action cues realise it’s best to temporarily quieten down. Take “The Hunt”, which surprises with tender passages for solo cello. It’s yet another example of the chances Soule is willing to take on this album, and the heights to which they can propel his work when he’s at his best.

01 - IL-2 Sturmovik March Jeremy Soule 3:29
02 - The Engagement Jeremy Soule 3:28
03 - The Hunt Jeremy Soule 4:05
04 - Code of Honor Jeremy Soule 4:34
05 - Rain Ghosts Jeremy Soule 3:30
06 - The Great Death Mistress Jeremy Soule 3:13
07 - Theatre of the Delusionary Jeremy Soule 5:28
08 - Chariots of Endearment Jeremy Soule 3:16
09 - Hammer of Defeat Jeremy Soule 2:41
10 - Valor and Triumph Jeremy Soule 4:45
11 - Lament for a Pilot Jeremy Soule 1:04
12 - Victory Jeremy Soule 0:41

Kameo: Elements of Power Soundtrack

Kameo: Elements of Power Soundtrack, Steve Burke, 2005

It’s hard to say whatever curse it might have been, but throughout the 2000s, developer Rare struggled with cancellations or lengthy delays on several of its games. This fate also befell Kameo: Elements of Power, which was in development for a full five years. Initially announced under the name of Ariel’s Quest for the GameCube, production was moved to the Xbox after Microsoft purchased Rare. Ultimately, Kameo: Elements of Power became one of the launch titles for the Xbox 360. Given its protracted development time, it was no surprise to see just how polished Kameo was, with its lavish fantasy visuals praised by nearly every critic. Views on the game’s playability and length were slightly more divided, but while Kameo didn’t manage to capture the magic of Rare’s classic Nintendo titles, it enjoyed strong enough sales and a generally warm reception.

Kameo’s graphics were not the only aspect of the game’s presentation that drew compliments – Steve Burke’s lush soundtrack was equally well-received. This was the first score that Rare decided to have recorded by a live orchestra – a decision that was made quite late during development. Composer Steve Burke chose around 80 minutes of his four hours of material written for the Kameo: Elements of Power soundtrack to be performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and King’s Choir, led by always dependable orchestrator and conductor Nic Raine. The experience clearly was a positive one – the following year, Rare composer Grant Kirkhope returned to Prague to record Viva Piñata with the same ensemble.

Burke himself had joined Rare in 2001 and soon started working on the Kameo: Elements of Power soundtrack after providing additional music for Star Fox Adventures. A graduate of King’s College London and the Royal College of Music, Burke had been interested in game music since the 1980s, starting with the C64 and the Amiga. Due to Kameo’s protracted development, Burke’s work went through several changes – from MIDI to streaming audio and from a light and playful approach during the Nintendo years to something more action-based and darker after Microsoft took over. Burke publicly documented the several iterations his work went through by releasing all the music he wrote for Kameo as a free download on Rare’s website (minus the contents of the official soundtrack album).

In other words, there’s a lot of material to work with when compiling the strongest compositions from the Kameo: Elements of Power soundtrack. After all is said and done, there’s about an hour’s worth of first-rate orchestral scoring to be found amidst Burke’s work – a magnificent fantasy score that stands out from the glut of Western fantasy game soundtracks of the 2000s. Burke doesn’t greatly innovate here, but while he largely follows genre stereotypes, he and Raine do so with obvious skill.

Case in point: the inevitable fantasy bombast which particularly comes to dominate the latter half of the score. Beginning with “Thorn’s Pass”, Burke unleashes a string of large-scale action cues that march forward with rhythmic single-mindedness, aided by an onslaught of heavy percussion and towering brass leads. It’s the kind of monumental battle music that most fantasy game scores reach for, but so often fail to pull off successfully, due to a lack of variation and strong melodic material. What’s so impressive on “Thorn’s Pass”, “The Badlands” and “Danger in the Sky” is how composer and orchestrator retain the constant march tempi and resulting overwhelming momentum, while ensuring that their pieces never become monotonous. Instead, a cue like “Danger in the Sky” only keeps gaining in stature and drama as it adds layered choir vocals, taking the piece to what’s indeed an epic conclusion.

This strong choral component is another defining characteristic of this score. Present from the start on “Kameo’s Quest (Title Screen)”, Burke deploys choral sounds – often split into male and female voices – on several compositions. Again, the music is reaching for that imposing fantasy gravitas and once more it gets there, thanks to Burke’s skillful handling of the choral material. “Hero’s Theme (Main Theme)” features a fairly stereotypical approach, but delivers its bombast successfully, thanks to its strong melodies, admirable amount of counterpoint – and details like the clever use of minor key choral harmonies around 2:00 that help create the required sense of vast scope. Where the choir truly shines is on “A Legend is Born” and “The Legend Unfolds (End Credits Part One)”. Bringing the soundtrack’s classically-inspired inclinations to a head, these majestic pieces wring every last bit of gravitas from their solemn melody lines and expert choral counterpoint.

Vocals feature on the Kameo: Elements of Power soundtrack in other ways as well. Burke uses female solo voices to underscore the game’s elven protagonists – again hardly an unexpected stylistic choice, but one that differentiates Kameo somewhat still from other fantasy scores. Performed by Rare colleagues Aisling Duddy and Eveline Fischer, these delicate soli make their mark on “Elf King Solon”, “A Lament for Solon” and “Kameo’s Song (End Credits Part Two)”. Their hushed, intimate tones are a welcome dynamic change from the score’s heavier stylings, underscoring the elven’s otherworldly nature rather than their awe-inspiring might. There’s no lack of scale on these moving compositions, as Burke manages to organically build the intertwining solo and ensemble vocal lines into quasi-operatic expressions. “Kameo’s Song (End Credits Part Two)” is earthier in its approach, happy to celebrate the return of piece with a touchingly simple, calm melody line.

The Kameo: Elements of Power soundtrack differentiates itself most obviously from the competition through its location scoring. Here Burke and Raine make impressive use of the orchestra’s colours, while also throwing in some touches of quirkiness that help ground the soundtrack’s high-flying ambitions. The standout track here is easily “Forest Glade”. If Viva Pinata was modelled on Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughn-Williams’ compositions, this is Burke doing his best Frederick Delius’ impersonation. For more than five minutes, “Forest Glade” enchants with an impressionistic, dazzling array of woodwind colours. Their harmonically ambiguous nature makes for the soundtrack’s richest and most complex piece, oscillating between idyllic, magical, forbidding and mysterious. “Dark Woods” continues this bewitching style of scoring with a greater emphasis on flowing melodies, while “Crystal Cavern” supplements its expectedly tinkling orchestrations with a delightfully rasping bassoon lead and deep string accents.

Finally, “Trainer Cave” and “Chillin’ in the Trainer’s Hut” allow Burke to indulge in more light-hearted tones – “Trainer Cave” through its tribal feel, cheeky woodwind melodies and effervescent string backing, while “Chillin’ in the Trainer’s Hut” charms as a gentle acoustic guitar ballad. These compositions round off a most auspicious scoring debut – a fantasy soundtrack that covers all the expected bases and still develops its own personality.

01 - Kameo's Quest (Title Screen) Burke, Steve 1:36
02 - Trainer Cave Burke, Steve 2:45
03 - Chillin' in the Trainer's Hut Burke, Steve 1:36
04 - Crystal Cavern Burke, Steve 2:20
05 - Elf King Solon Burke, Steve 4:23
06 - Elemental Warriors Burke, Steve 1:24
07 - Thorn Revealed Burke, Steve 1:02
08 - Hero's Theme (Main Theme) Burke, Steve 3:08
09 - Shadow Realm Burke, Steve 1:37
10 - A Lament for Solon Burke, Steve 2:14
11 - Theena's Sorrow Burke, Steve 1:33
12 - Forest Glade Burke, Steve 5:09
13 - Enter the Sacred Land Burke, Steve 2:41
14 - Lakeside Burke, Steve 1:18
15 - Fire Cave Entrance Burke, Steve 1:20
16 - Thorn's Pass Burke, Steve 2:49
17 - Dark Woods Burke, Steve 3:34
18 - Queen Thyra Burke, Steve 0:59
19 - The Badlands Burke, Steve 3:44
20 - Danger in the Sky Burke, Steve 3:08
21 - Final Showdown Burke, Steve 2:44
22 - A Legend is Born Burke, Steve 2:13
23 - Ortho's Theme Burke, Steve 4:17
24 - In the Huts Burke, Steve 2:31
25 - The Legend Unfolds (End Credits Part One) Burke, Steve 3:16
26 - Kameo's Song (End Credits Part Two) Burke, Steve 3:25