Music to my Ears: Video Games Live Volume 1

Album Title: Video Games Live Volume 1
Composer/Band/Performers: Slovak National Symphony Orchestra & miscellaneous
Released: 22/07/2008

Final Verdict: 7.5/10

So I've had this written up for about a month, but was too lazy too make a header. So here it is!

So like the tech savvy tool that I am, I decided to finally sync my iPod to my laptop. I hadn't ever synced my iPod before (because I never really had a SINGLE computer that I always had access to), and my entire library of music was picked up from friends along the way. iTunes gives me a prompt and is like "Yo man, is this your home base?" so I'm like "Yeah" and then it's like "Your shit is way outta date, let's update this mofo" I'm like, sounds about right, okay. Next thing you know my iPod had been wiped clean and I was raging. iTunes was all "But you told me this was your home, so your library should be here to reload anyways, right?" and so I lost all my music.

Damn.

Next thing I know I'm out shopping a bit. Hit up HMV which now has a smaller assortment of CDs then vinyls and movies, because really, who buys CDs anymore? Being desperate for music, I picked up a few CDs, including this one, Video Games Live Vol 1. I had seen a show about 2 years back now in Ottawa, and I really enjoyed it and really it's not like I need a real excuse to buy video game junk anyways.

For those of you who don't know who Video Games Live are, I'll kindly provide you with a Wikipedia link so you can read up on what you're missing because I don't want this review to turn into a class on video game culture.

So now that my life story is over, let's start with a peek at the setlist:

1. Kingdom Hearts
2. Warcraft Suite
3. Myst Medley
4. Medal of Honor (Live)
5. Civilization IV Medley
6. Medley: Tetris
7. God of War Montage (Live)
8. Advent Rising Suite
9. Tron Montage
10. Halo Suite
11. Castlevania (Live)

Alright, the first thing that might strike you is how much shorter this set list is from the last album I reviewed, The Greatest Video Game Music. It's got a shocking 8 less songs, which is practically half the CD. There are a FEW long tracks, but not enough to even out the score. 8 more songs would have really upped the variety and playtime, 2 main keys in making a good gaming music compilation. Video Games Live is a production that travels from orchestra to orchestra and has an enormous set list to boot, so why is the album so restrained? As some of you might have noticed, this is Volume 1. Jack Wall mentioned he wanted to create a series of at least 4 volumes. As to the best of my knowledge (and use of Google) there seems to have been a stall in production after Volume 2... if the others never get produced, many of the VGL interpretations will go forever unrecorded, which is really a shame.

Moving on: let's take a look at the variety and quality of the set list here. I'm not really surprised by World of Warcraft's, Tetris' and Halo's presence, but I am a touch surprised to find Advent Rising in my 2 compilations out of 2. The balance of game types represented is pretty balanced, as are their music genres from the more gothic rock Castlevania to the upbeat soviet Tetris and the digital blips of Tron. The mix is good and fairly balanced, though I can't say personally that I'm completely blown away by any.

A variety I was NOT looking for however is the recordings. We have studio and live recordings mixed, and even, in the case of Advent Rising, an original track re-edit (not quite sure the implications of that one, but y'know! I thought it was worth mentioning). I'm not a fan of Live recordings myself, though I have to admit in this case the quality is fairly good and the only real alien noise is quiet, polite clapping at the end of the song. However, in Castlevania, Jack Wall (as I've seen other people mention he's the one you hear, though I wholeheartedly believe it is Tony Tallarico from my personal experience) screams out an introduction that I think only really bothers me in the universe because he annoyed me with his conceit when I saw him live, so you can disregard my opinion about that as soon as you've read it in this big run-on sentence.

 

A clip from the Blu-Ray of Video Games Live vol 2. Civilization IV Medley.

My favorite interpretation would have to be the Civilization IV Medley. The song is a mix of multiple cultures, the rhythm is so upbeat, the chorus beautiful and the soloists absolutely lovely. It's really encouraging to see how video games can go digging into much more then just it's own culture to reach a new level of depth and not to mention making gamers explore that culture as they are experiencing it.

Anyways, I seem to have ragged on this CD a lot more then I have praised it, yet it's not getting a bad rating at all. It's not unpleasant in any way. It's got a good mix of music from a nice variety of games, and the musicians are unquestionably talented. My gripe is that The Greatest Video Game Music did it better. The sound was more complete, more intense. The recordings were crisper with more boom. I guess this one just fell a little short for me, despite it being a great source of great music (from not such a great price I admit). I'm giving it 7.5 blips out of 10 for just not spending the time to polish it. I need more songs, more consistency in the recordings, and hell, if you're holding back to make more volume, THEN MAKE MORE VOLUMES.

Anyways, I'm going to go back to trying to make this site look like something. Peace!

Music to my Ears: The Greatest Video Game Music

 Album Title: The Greatest Video Game Music
Composer/Band/Performers: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Released: 07/11/2011

Final Verdict: 9.3/10

This is like music to my earholes.

Internet points if you can figure out who I'm quoting.

But this. Really.

Look, music in a game is something that stays with you forever, sometimes subconsciously, sometimes not. Sometimes it'll come up while you're on the bus, and you'll start humming, and then your day feels a little more epic because you have a theme song going.

BUT THIS.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra really did an outstanding job with the creation of this album, The Greatest Video Game Music though maybe not so much on the title. Points for originality there guys, it really means a lot. (Though I GUESS it does convey what the album offers in a pretty straightforward way.)

The song list is as follows:

1. Advent Rising: Muse
2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Theme
3. Angry Birds: Main Theme
4. Final Fantasy VIII: Liberi Fatali
5. Super Mario Bros: Theme
6. Uncharted - Drake's Fortune: Nate's Theme
7. Grand Theft Auto IV: Soviet Connection
8. World of Warcraft: Seasons of War
9.  Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme
10. Tetris Theme (Korobeiniki)
11. Battlefield 2: Theme
12. Call of Duty Modern Warfare: Main Menu Theme
13. Mass Effect: Suicide Mission
14. Splinter Cell: Conviction
15. Final Fantasy: Main Theme
16. Bioshock: The Ocean On His Shoulders
17. Halo 3: One Final Effort
18. Fallout 3: Theme
19. Super Mario Galaxy

I know what you're thinking. Or at least I hope I know what you're thinking, and it better be...

 

I know right? Actually, let me tackle a few of these points which aren't ALL as glorious as I've been putting them out to be. This album isn't flawless. Just nearly.  It titled itself The Greatest Video Game Music, but even that can be dissected. Is it supposed to mean the greatest video game music performance? Or the greatest music from games? Or the music from the greatest games? But really this is about a CD so I don't know why I'm so stuck on the title.

As for the playlist. I enjoyed that they didn't stick exclusively to the classics, but incorporated some underloved game music along with the classics, even giving odd and interesting swings to unexpected additions. Like Angry Birds.

All of you get this straight. I HATE Angry Birds. I get it, it's a nifty game, the physics are great, it's addictive and simple and fun. Why do I hate it? Because it's being crammed down my throat at every turn! I've seen Angry Bird shirts, plush, toys, board games, keychains, mouse pads.... It's just. A little. Meaningless. App! It's nothing compared to the modern works of art being released on our current generation of consoles, but for some reason it overshadows all of them! HOWEVER. I have to say how pleased I am with the orchestral production of the theme. It's fun, and simple and iconic enough to bring those frustrated fowls to mind. At the same time it helps lighten the mood from the often darker, more 'epic' themes making up the rest of the album.

Other then that I really don't have many complaints. I was neither surprised nor overly thrilled at seeing the Super Mario Bros, Tetris and Zelda Themes that seem to haunt EVERY SINGLE video game music compilation of any sort, but it's always a comforting sound to hear, and usually opens up for the flow of memories, especially with such beautiful interpretations.

There is also two Call of Duty Modern Warfare pieces (because it's clearly impossible to updo CoD in artistic performance, amirite?) and a Battlefield piece, which makes for an awful lot of war-type epic music. Same goes for Final Fantasy. The variety may have been upped a tiny bit by substituting some of the clones for very different titles. Like something from Street Fighter, or Metroid might have been welcomed. But I digress. We can't all share the same taste in games and there's always bound to be someone unhappy with the outcome.

One last little tick I have is the Bioshock song. For those who don't know Bioshock is my bible when it comes to games. I compare everything to it, I use it as an example of a wonderfully interpreted game, it's my beloved #1. Although my feelings for Bioshock are honest and pure, the song they picked just falls short. It's just not as impressive as the rest. It kind of just sneaks in there unnoticed. This could have been so grand, but it just... missed.

This album brings the cheerful bird slinging in with the soviet gangsters, it makes you want to run and gun as much as skulk around in the dark nooks, stalking your enemies. It makes you want to be a part of a grand adventure, it makes you want to go galloping in the breeze... It'll give you chills and take you away to wonderful and exciting lands. So you might not want to listen to it on the bus, because when I did people looked at me like I was crazy. I was just pretend sword-fighting. Only a little.

I am going to give this 9.3 gothic chants out of 10 because as much as I can bitch about Call of Duty getting a spotlight they really did a bang up job interpreting every single piece on that album and it really does make you feel all sorts of things. Except Bioshock, because it was bad.