Your Favorite Movie and Video Game Soundtracks

[F_Porsche]

Originally posted by curtybob
My first "love" for album art: The very front of the Warrant-Cherry Pie album. I know, that is a little dated, but I was like 14 when that album hit the shelves. And that woman was a real looker.

If you thought she was good looking, look up Drowning Pool's latest cd. I think it's called "Descensitized". It has a porn star in a bikini on the front cover. I also like the album art from "The Sickness", Disturbed's first cd. Metallica's cover art is pretty good, too.

[curtybob]

Yeah, it seems like everything now that is "normal" would've been considered very racy, or even obscene back then. It's amazing how fast things change.

I did think of a few more soundtracks I used to enjoy, however. I used to have the soundtracks to all 3 Back To The Future movies, and the soundtrack to the first Indiana Jones movie. The orchestrated music on Indiana Jones is some of the best out there. And Huey Louis and the News used to have some very cool music... before I decided that Heavy Metal would be my favorite, that is. But all of the music that was on those cassettes just reminds me of going to the drive-ins with all my family, and trying to enjoy the movies with all the squeaking going on in all the cars around us.

Those were the days...

[ashish]

i love the mafia soundtrack....... lots and lots of jazz...... i thkn i lot of it is by django reinhardt

[F_Porsche]

Originally Posted by ashish

i love the mafia soundtrack....... lots and lots of jazz...... i thkn i lot of it is by django reinhardt

I love Jazz, but I'm not very knowledgeable about the Artists. However It's very good music to relax too.

Originally Posted by CurtyBob

Yeah, it seems like everything now that is "normal" would've been considered very racy, or even obscene back then. It's amazing how fast things change.

Yeah, things have changed drastically! Remember how much rukus all of the religious people caused about all of the rock bands that made an international scene? Bands like KISS, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath made songs about partying or even religion/or evil and not having any intention to sound like satan worshippers and the religious would assume that they are satan worshipper's, desperately trying to tell the american people not to listen to
"the devil's music".
That was then, but now, no one hardly makes a peep about metal. It's all about 50 cent or Jessica Simpson. Times have changed dramatically.

[curtybob]

Yep, like all the churches saying that if you listened to the songs backwards that you could hear "messages". While I don't doubt that a few songs did have this, I think it was more of a retaliation to the accusations, just to spite the ignorance of the claims. The main point is, thank god (or the devil, whoever is responsible) that all the great music since then wasn't snuffed out by a bunch of bible-thumpin' tightshirts. The bible has great lessons entwined in it's stories, but none of them are about suppressing creativity or personal freedom.

...but not to get off on a bible thread.

[F_Porsche]

I'm also happy that The Government didn't make a big deal out of it, more specifically the FCC. But knowing that President Bush and the "mafia" as I call them is in office, history might repeat itself and they might attack fm radio and shut down all of the hard rock stations claiming that "they send a bad mesage to kids". As a matter of fact, IMO, this might really happen! Just look at the situation howard stern is in now.
Companies like clear channel and Viacom are breathing down his neck, bashing and putting down everything he says on his national radio show. I forget what this guys name is, but he censores Howard and his radio show just because he's leaving fm radio! He even got Viacom to censcor the word "Sirius" (as in Sirius sattelite radio) just because they think he's doing a 4 hour info-mercial! (lol). I think our freedom of speech and expression is being taken away from us.
But enough of this ranting, let's get back on subject. Or better still, let's change it up a little and make it easier for everyone, instead of favorite Soundtracks, let's post our all-time favorite cd's (plural).
Of course, me being a Metallica fan, one of my all-time favorite is Metallica's self-titled cd aka "The Black Album". The music has a great sound to it and the lyrics are excellent. Most of the lyrics are really signature worthy, too.

[curtybob]

If I had to come up with a top ten, it would be filled with Metallica... only I like ...And Justice for All. Mainly because I play guitar and bass guitar, and I think the music on Justice is awesome. But don't get me wrong, I like most of their stuff... even the new stuff. I guess I'm a Metallica fanboy.

[Tyrant]

There is a second OST for the Resident Evil movie, yet I have been unable to find any information on it on the internet (except for the site in which I downloaded the songs from, Bio-hq.com). I love the songs on this CD, and wish I knew what the name of the song for the Trailer Music was. (this CD has all the in-movie music, except for Spence's Memory, it has the alternate one though). This CD also has the Trailer Song (not featured with the rest of the songs on the OST mainly featured around the web. Examples of songs on that OST would be The Fight Song, Name of the Game, etc.), which mysteriously on the site, has no name. I've been searching rapidly to find out the name of this song and who sings it...but I have come up with nothing.

[Dunge]

Hi there everyone,

I recommand you to the following scores:

- Baldur's Gate (I,II + add-on) *hehehe*
=> That's a brilliant orchestral score, with live percussion performance (~ 30 membranophones altogether) and real brass recordings and a perfect synth-orchestra (sounds really authentic). There are many theme developments, of course with some kind of "musical complexity" (no standart string-triad-wailings á la Jeremy Soule).
The main motif (2nd, 2nd major 3th upward, then a 3th back and two 2nds down) is almost used in every cue, but in such an interesting and artistic way that it is a real pleasure to recognize it in each track.

- Ultima IX (and of course the extracts of U. X)
=> That score is the live recording of a 40-piece essemble with many strings, string-like instruments and mediavel flutes, called a "sweetening orchestra".
The soundtrack contains plenty of wonderfully composed themes for each location (mainly mediavel towns, castles and dark dungeons) the Avatar - the main character of the game's story - has to visit. Of course there are also some fighting cues and short suites for the game interrupting video seuqueces.
Two main/franchise themes dominate the whole score: The heroic Fellowship theme (for the Avatar's kindreds) and the dark, chant-like Guardian motif, which represants the absolutely evil antagonist of the Avatar.
The soundtrack itself is about 75 mintues long, the average length of each track amounts to 2-3 mintues.

The 6 tracks of Ultima X are good as well, because they're performed by the big Northwest Symphony and contain a little of the matierial of U. IX.

- Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (add-on)
=> that's a really nice performance of the popular (mostly metal) Diablo themes by the City of Prague Symphony Orchestra.
Not very long (only 5 tracks of 5-8 mintues), but quite interesting and - sonmehow - very moving.

- Jurassic Park - The Lost World
=> I don't know if you have this already. If not: JUST GET IT NOW!! *g* That's Giacchono's first live orchestra score. There very adventurous themes and cues in good and variative developments. The performance is perfect, because of the great Seatlle Philharmocis.

- Heroes of Might and Magic II
=> An epic fantasy score, such as Merlin or Willow, but more coherant and homegeneous (not so many emotional changes). The orchestra sounds very good but is sampled by big synthesizers. The opera-like voice performances (mostly tenor and sopran) are of course live recorded. ;-)

- Myst II: Riven
=> Not really an orchtral score, but still worth a listering!
It provides you with a dark, epic atmosphere that never really gets loud, so it also carries a bit of an ambient (almost new age) flavor to it. Perfect not just to go with the game (I have to assume, since I am not a Myst gamer myself), but to work, read or write. It's mellow, but it doesn't sound common or simple. It is one of those albums you wish you could get more of, so I end up playing it once and again and again in my stereo... ^^

- Super Smash Brothers
=> That's an orchestral suite containing 15 well arranged medleys of the most beautiful Nitendo gamemusic themes (the Super Mario Theme, or the Zelda Ouverture for instance).
The whole work is performed by the Tokyo Philahormonics in a perfect sound quiality. Although it's a live concert recording, there're no end clapping, ovation or other noises.
I have cut them away (thanks Audacity 1.5). All!!! ;-)

- Arcanum (only 4-piece string essemble, but wonderful renessaince-like music)
- Longest Journey (very atmospheric mediavel ambient music, with many cues for
classic guitar)
- Knights of Honor (full-ochestra score, exciting action themes and beautiful
melodies for harp and flutes, the style reminds a bit on Hanz Zimmer)

- Icewind Dale
=> Jeremy Soule's first soundtrack for a role-playing game. Very creative kind of (main)theme composing: Powerful brass fanfares for Dwarven mines and cute flute cues for pieceful moutain villages, based of course on the same leading motif, goes into another in a fantastic way of development.

- The Hobbit
=> This genial game score was written by three composers: Dave Adams, Rod Abernethley and Chance Thomas, who composed most of the ambient themes as well as the absolutely awesome main theme for this action adventure, which is the prelude to Tolkien's great The Lord of the Ring novel. The main part was performed by noone else than the big Northwest Symphony Orchestra. It's really good soundtrack, although the CD version is quite short.

-Warcraft III
=> Not as good as World of Wacraft, WC III has a very pleasing soundtrack, with epic-dramatic themes, as well as some very calm and beautiful cues. The "Cinematic Suite", a cut-together of the orchestral video sequences, is definitively the best!

- and - last but not least - WORLD OF WARCRAFT
=> That's a fantasic instrumental soundtracks. Most of the pieces, particularly the one of the main locations, are orchestral live recordings. The tracks are very long (average ~ 6-8 minutes) and all in all the scores measures almost 80 mintues.

Best regards from Germany

Dustin Naegel

[ashish]

welll pharaoh's soundtrack is not so bad as well.. plus i have started to like the AoE soundtracks now as well.. wierd