Music, to me, is one of the most important and immersive aspects of a game when executed properly.
I realise that a lot of people find some soundtracks to be arbitrary or in some cases, beyond annoying and would rather mute the music and stick there own preference of music on.
But what about the soundtracks that stick with you?
The ones that you still reminisce or hum in your head to this day?
The ones that still inspire fear or chills up your spine.
A couple of candidates for me include;
Akira Yamaoka's work on the Silent Hill series; Something about that guys work just creeps me the hell out but at the same time it draws me in to the point where I actually went and bought the whole collection of soundtracks for some ridiculous amount of money off eBay.
He used a perfect mix of industrial and distorted samples for most situations in the games, especially for the Pyramid Head encounters, hearing those tracks always make me look over my shoulder just to make sure no ones about to swing a 3 metre sword into my torso. The best tune I remember was the part towards the end of Silent Hill 2 *spoiler alert* where Maria is slaughtered by one of the Pyramid Heads and you are forced to do battle with 2 of the remaining Pyramid heads.
Secondly, Chris Vrennas' work on American McGees' Alice; Once again a creepy collection of originality that inspired me to actually purchase the soundtrack, a lot warmer than the sterile cold of Akiras work, but at the same time a gothic chill reminiscent of Danny Elfman in parts running through the string sections whilst also incorporating an archaic industrial feel to the (if it can so be called) percussion work.
Well that's my 2 cents, Those 2 works definitely stuck with me over time and I still enjoy them to this day =]
I realise that a lot of people find some soundtracks to be arbitrary or in some cases, beyond annoying and would rather mute the music and stick there own preference of music on.
But what about the soundtracks that stick with you?
The ones that you still reminisce or hum in your head to this day?
The ones that still inspire fear or chills up your spine.
A couple of candidates for me include;
Akira Yamaoka's work on the Silent Hill series; Something about that guys work just creeps me the hell out but at the same time it draws me in to the point where I actually went and bought the whole collection of soundtracks for some ridiculous amount of money off eBay.
He used a perfect mix of industrial and distorted samples for most situations in the games, especially for the Pyramid Head encounters, hearing those tracks always make me look over my shoulder just to make sure no ones about to swing a 3 metre sword into my torso. The best tune I remember was the part towards the end of Silent Hill 2 *spoiler alert* where Maria is slaughtered by one of the Pyramid Heads and you are forced to do battle with 2 of the remaining Pyramid heads.
Secondly, Chris Vrennas' work on American McGees' Alice; Once again a creepy collection of originality that inspired me to actually purchase the soundtrack, a lot warmer than the sterile cold of Akiras work, but at the same time a gothic chill reminiscent of Danny Elfman in parts running through the string sections whilst also incorporating an archaic industrial feel to the (if it can so be called) percussion work.
Well that's my 2 cents, Those 2 works definitely stuck with me over time and I still enjoy them to this day =]
