Ananchronistic Soundtracks, do they work?

[sXeth]

Anachronistic may not be the exact word I'm actually looking for, but for reference, I'm referring to some of the "out of place" music that tends to pop up from time to time in games (often in Fantasy or Sci-fi)

For some reference, the mostly-lauded Blues-rock saturating recent space-sim Rebel Galaxy, or the Destiny trailers with Led Zeppelin, that J-rock song in Dragons Dogma, or going out into other media, the Guardians of the Galaxy mixtape, or the rock songs in medieval France during "A Knights Tale".

Even in those examples, it seems to be a pretty wide range of critics saying the music ruined the experience or greatly enhanced the experience, with no seeming trend of why it works in one case and falls flat in the other.

Personally I don't mind it. It can get a bit dodgy if they jump between the anachronistic music and more traditional scoring (which is probably Destiny's issue. They don't have the Zeppelin songs ingame, but if the Tower bar jukebox spits out the Paul McCartney song everyone just kind of groans)

 

[False Messiah]

I think "out of place" is subjective and usually regarded as a negative thing. So maybe the critics who think it enhances an experience don't think of the music as out of place and vice versa.

And an anachronism is not really out of place, more out of time (like having a watch in a historical movie is an anachronism).

 

[Rabish Bini]

Personally, I love it. When done right it adds another layer that I can't describe, but I absolutely adore. The GotG mixtape is brilliant.

 

[lacktheknack]

Sometimes it works.

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[Something Amyss]

Depends. Movies like GotG and A Knight's Tale are already absurd.

The Rock soundtrack to Dynasty Warriors makes it feel more epic.

"Sabotage" playing in Star Trek was dumb, and its presence in the trailer for 3 is also dumb.

 

[CaitSeith]

It's a pretty vague question, like asking if color red works for the sky in a Fantasy/Sci-fi setting.

 

[Spider RedNight]

I think it tends to work better in movies than video games but then again, I'm not a fan of J Pop or J Rock or K any of that stuff so anytime a song like that plays in a video game during a serious or action-y sequence (mostly fantasy), it just feels completely ridiculous. I wouldn't even mind it so much if the entire soundtrack was like it but its' not - Dragon's Dogma is very rooted in fantasy and medieval lore with a soundtrack that tends to match; making the opening title a K-Pop song is just foolish to me but it works in a setting like Final Fantasy (Final Modernity) or Resonance of Fate.

Maybe it's just when it has words - I tend to ignore it in the Tales games.

Sometimes I think it's kinda phoned in but generally, in movies, I don't really mind.

You know what was awkward? The song inserted in Dragon Age: Origins.

 

[default]

There are a couple of things to note here, because you're referring to two different sylistic choices. Sometimes a piece of fiction has an established, consistent style which utilises a contrasting and complimentary tone. Take a look at the hiphop theme of Samurai Champloo for instance, or the gaudy, indulgent but self-aware and fitting (and super cool) soundtrack of Revengeance. The old-timey musical style of Fallout is another good example, or haunting classical orchestral music for a cyberpunk dystopia. Or the classical soundtrack contrasted with electronic ambiance of 2001.

And then sometimes a piece of fiction has an established in-universe tonally appropriate theme, then during one or two points they break it and use an outside piece of media to almost 'refer' to it. See the Destiny trailers you mentioned and whenever a movie uses a pop song sequence or something similar. Think if Lord of the Rings had a Sting song play during a romance scene. Or in a Disney movie when the characters are triumphantly flying a plane and some song by Katy Perry comes on about 'flying high and no one is gonna keep me down'.

I tend to dislike the second one because it's basically breaking the suspension of the world, for lack of a better way to articulate my thoughts. It can be done well, and it can be very emotive and stylish, but often it just makes me conscious and frustratingly aware of the fact that the world being presented to me doesn't exist because it is being contrasted and compared with an unrelated piece of work within itself, which I think we can all agree is bad for any media. Plus it's usually really fucking cheesy.

 

[Zhukov]

In light-hearted, goofy, comedic and/or absurd stuff, sure.

In serious, heavy, more grounded stuff, not so much.

As someone who generally (although not exclusively) prefers the latter, I'm not a huge fan.

Although I wouldn't count things like the Guardians mixtape. That actually had a reason to be there.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Yes, yes they do.

Spoiler

 

[LetalisK]

My opinion is that the music either has to fit the tone to a T or be completely opposite in an almost ironic or humorous way. Of the former: Borderlands. I love that intro and a huge reason is because of how the music and the visuals match. I'd also put up Rebel Galaxy's soundtrack. You're essentially a space trucker with guns and the soundtrack fits. An example of the second: the radio music in Fallout. The nostalgic quaint music is a great contrast of just how fucked up the world is and to the normal Fallout music.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

They woked in BioShock Infinite. Boy did they work.

 

[Cowabungaa]

They woked in BioShock Infinite. Boy did they work.

Then again, they sort of re-fitted them to fit with 1910's music. So it ended up being not that anachronistic. Still fantastic though, and fitting with the lore as well.

In light-hearted, goofy, comedic and/or absurd stuff, sure.

In serious, heavy, more grounded stuff, not so much.

As someone who generally (although not exclusively) prefers the latter, I'm not a huge fan.

Well, I'd think that it's a tight rope to walk. Using anachronistic music carries the large risk of sounding silly, true. But one of the best examples I think is the soundtrack of The Knick which a very serious and grounded show. Even though it's set in an 1900/1901 hospital, its soundtrack is, in typical Soderbergh fashion, very electronic and minimalist:


And it actually works really well. It fits with the show's running themes of the march of modernity and science and compliments the show's sharply contrasted, clinical (hah) visuals, again in true Soderbergh fashion. Specific songs really invoke urgency, sometimes simulating a rapid heartbeat, ramping up the tension, drawing you in. On the surface there might seem to be a discrepancy between the music and the show itself, but when you go deeper you figure out they're pretty much made for each other.

I'll say that it's not easy to show by just linking one of the songs used. It probably wouldn't have worked if it weren't for Soderbergh's distant, naturalistic visual style.

I also think that in the not-superb-but-y'know The Great Gatsby movie the use of modern hip-hop and remixes worked pretty well. Despite being anachronistic it transferred this feeling of bloated decadence very well I thought.

I probably would not mind Zeppelin, but I absolutely hate the kind of american retro music they put into Fallout and Bioshock games if that counts. Yes, you're playing a cheesy song because shit is dead. Very fucking original. Next time try farting to create a similar effect on the viewer.

To be fair, the Fallout universe is sort of stuck in the idealized 50's Americana setting so that style of music never died (Fallout 4 has some original songs by that lady in Goodneighbor) and Bioshock is actually set in that era so it's hardly anachronistic there.

 

[astrav1]

Worked like a gotdamned charm in Bioshock. However they not only adjusted the music to fit the time period and blend in better(which would have already worked), but they also explained it. If we're talking Peeky Blinders, or American horror story, then it sounds absolutely forced and terrible. Also A Knights tale had a very weird charm so I think that is one of the few that pulled it off.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Which probably means that I'm quite fine with anachronistic soundtracks and not that okay with um... the retrofitted ones.

How do you mean retrofitted? If anything it's the other way around with Fallout at least. They've stuck with music from their setting, as even the new songs in Fallout 4 are still in that style because there hasn't been any cultural progress. Thanks to, y'know, the nuclear holocaust and all that.

BioShock Infinite, maybe that fits that label yeah (not the original BioShock though, that's just a 1960 game with some 1960 songs but mostly an original score), but they did that for story reasons. At one point there's even an audiolog in a music shop that delves into it. It saves quite a pretty penny when you can simply rip music from the future and sell it as the hottest new stuff. It helped that the covers were skillfully done too. In the end it's just lyrics though, the music itself is very much from that era. I don't see how that's like 'farting on the viewer for the same effect.'

TL;DR: I dun get eet.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

How do you mean retrofitted? If anything it's the other way around with Fallout at least. They've stuck with music from their setting, as even the new songs in Fallout 4 are still in that style because there hasn't been any cultural progress. Thanks to, y'know, the nuclear holocaust and all that.

BioShock Infinite, maybe that fits that label yeah (not the original BioShock though, that's just a 1960 game with some 1960 songs but mostly an original score), but they did that for story reasons. At one point there's even an audiolog in a music shop that delves into it. It saves quite a pretty penny when you can simply rip music from the future and sell it as the hottest new stuff. It helped that the covers were skillfully done too. In the end it's just lyrics though, the music itself is very much from that era. I don't see how that's like 'farting on the viewer for the same effect.'

TL;DR: I dun get eet.

Playing with words are we?
Well, Bioshock is a mass grave where all kinds of shit went wrong and it plays happy retro songs to create some kind of cheap dissonance.
Fallout is a mass grave where all kinds of shit went wrong and it plays happy retro songs to create some kind of cheap dissonance.
And it isn't that much different from adding farting noises to the scene. Or just adding Yakety Sax to everything.
The game kind of says: "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if everyone wasn't so DEAD? MWAHAHAHAHA!"

TL;DR: Unfitting music is not smart.

Unfitting? How?

Fallouts music fits both thematically and symbolically with the games retro futuristic 1950's motifs and established lore. The music chosen references aspects of the game and the worlds history. Nuclear bombs, surviving nuclear fallout, collapse of society, violent killers... you don't need to peel deeply to see the more somber tones in those tracks. What's more, these tracks all function as world building first and foremost. The games mood music is much different:


Bioshock on the other hand, has the themes woven more deeply in the soundtrack with era appropriate instruments.


The music in Bioshock is exceptional not because of "cheap dissonance" but because it's actually very harmonious with the setting and atmosphere. The music is haunting and melancholic. Again, there is no "happy" music. It's very much atmosphere driven.

I honestly can't see how came to these conclusions. I mean, taste is taste, so if you don't like it you don't like it and I'm fine with that, but your criticism seems almost entirely irrelevant to the games themselves. I mean, you say they are "happy" and "dissonant" to the world presented, but in reality they are actually very much harmonious. They don't clash whatsoever.

I'm genuinely curious now. What would you consider fitting or appropriate? What would you consider good and not "cheap"? What would you consider "smart"?