We Are the Music Makers, and We are the Players of Games: Alternative Soundtracks to Video Games
Shadow of the Colossus – The Fountain: Music from the Motion Picture
httpv://youtu.be/PhjKbynCUkE
This one is also not a huge stretch from the original soundtrack for the game, but I especially like this pairing because of the particular commentary between the two works of art. I won’t get all spoilery for anyone who hasn’t played Shadow of the Colossus or seen The Fountain, but for those who have—there are obvious parallels. Even better, Clint Mansell’s score has a driving rhythm that adds a lot to the parts of the game where it’s just you, Agro, and the wind.
There are also several deliciously scary moments that add just the right amount of tension to a colossus battle when you’re lucky enough to have the game and the tracks line up.
Tasting notes: bouquet of moss, stone, and earth; metallic acidity up front; lingering, bittersweet mortality on the finish.
Amnesia – Every Great Motown Hit of Marvin Gaye
httpv://youtu.be/jPnZZTVp_2A
Here’s an example of me going in the complete opposite direction of the game’s soundtrack with the hope that I could tamp down my own fear. I get terrified playing horror games, and Amnesia is one of the most ridiculously terrifying games I have ever played. Music plays a huge part in generating fear, I thought to myself. So how about I change the music, I thought. What if I used Marvin Gaye, the guy I (shamefully) associate more with the California Raisins than Motown, I thought. That will work like gangbusters, I thought!
What I didn’t think about was the education I just paid out the ears for, the education that taught me both as an actor and sound designer that there’s this thing called “playing the opposite,” where you play the opposite of whatever emotion the text or situation calls for. Need to play drunk? Try to act sober. Need to cry? Try not to cry. Using this technique, you end up EMPHASIZING THE ORIGINAL EMOTION WITH YOUR OPPOSITE ACTION.
Now I can’t even walk through a department store playing “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” without breaking out in a cold sweat.
Not pictured: A friendly anthropomorphized raisin from the West Coast.
Tasting notes: sharp tang of blood on the nose; viscous texture; hearty structure courtesy of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Journey – Don’t Even Try
httpv://youtu.be/zKovsl_xKa4
Seriously, you cannot improve on this soundtrack. I may be saying this simply because I am currently madly in love with this game, but I heartily challenge you to find any music that will make me want to turn Austin Wintory’s genius all the way down so I can listen to another option while playing. Really, go for it. I’m listening to the Journey soundtrack right now. I’ve been listening to it the whole time I’ve been writing this piece.
This is the part where I died. Me, Sara. Dead. When a video game makes you squint from the beauty of its sun, you can tell people who don’t believe it can ever be art to go fuck themselves.
Tasting notes: light scent of spring water and spice; unadulterated exuberance up front tempered by a melancholy body; simultaneous sorrow and joy throughout. Best swallowed with a lump in one’s throat.
I know I’m not even close to being the first gamer to do this, so let me know your favorite alternative soundtrack and game pairings. You guys have never steered me in a wrong direction when it comes to your recommendations, and I don’t suspect you’re about to start now.
One thing I haven’t seen on youtube that I’ve done an infinite amount of times: Synced up Deltron 3030 with Halo 2. I’m not joking when I say that they were meant to be together and sync up to the point where explosions match beats, cuts scenes match the tones of the music at the time, etc.
It’s insane and if I knew how to, and I could properly sit down & sync it up, I would jump at the chance.
Sara, this is the greatest single article I’ve ever seen on this site. Possibly of all the interwebs. Any excuse for me to play through SotC again is welcome, so I’m going to have to try that.
Back in the day, me and my bro spent an afternoon playing “Siphon Filter” while listening to “Licenced to Ill”. I don’t know why, but when “Paul Revere” came on, everything just fit so perfectly.*
I also have very strong memories of listening to “Whatever and Ever, Amen” and playing Zelda 2 for the NES. I don’t know if they actually fit together in any way, but I can’t play or listen to one without being drawn back to them together.
God, I love music.
*Please don’t take this as encouragment to play Siphon Filter and do this now. I in no way condone that.
Clemens, you’re killing me, lady. I want to play Journey so much after seeing you write about it and I’m sitting here with only an xbox 360 to my name. I remember when the original xbox came out I used to looooooooooove making my own custom soundtracks for games. It’s part of the reason I switched from Playstation. Tony Hawk was probably my biggest success given my large punk and metal collection tinged with ska, reggae, and rap, but I remember some serious epicness involving fighting and adventure games syncing up with my stuff too. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee was partly built with custom soundtracks in mind as it would start and stop the songs in time with the beginning and end of each round. The character introductions at the beginning of the round synced up perfectly with the intro riff to Ministry’s “NWO”, which was already the perfect soundtrack for smashing up Tokyo. Win.
At some point I just stopped doing it, though. I think it was partly due to my soundtracks distracting other gamers through my headset when I played online and waking up my wife (I tend to game in the middle of the night), and partly due to the fact that gaming soundtracks have gotten much better. It seems kind of messed up when so many people work hard to get the the music in a game just right only to have me blast Killswitch Engage and Cypress Hill over it. Awesome article, though. I always look forward to your pieces.
I had a blast replaying Super Metroid paired with the Flaming Lip’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
Also this is a given but any early Ennio Morricone while playing Red Dead Redemption is fantastic.
J5, I haven’t heard of that combo. Sounds killer. Is there a particular point you sync up in the beginning when you play?
DocDoom, thanks for the boss compliment, and the hilarious asterisk. I’m with you re: ridiculously loving music. Sometimes it seems there’s nothing better on Earth.
trashcanman, it’s a two hour game. Two hours that can shake you to the core. You don’t know anyone with a PS3?! Borrow it! Play while they watch! Whatever you gotta do, just play it! I also hear you about the original musicians/designers/developers needing to have their work recognized. I tend to only do this once I’ve played through games many, many times, as a way of freshening up the joint.
Sullivan, Ennio Morricone with Red Dead Redemption! Obvious? Maybe. Well, totally. Have I tried it, though? NOPE. Am I gonna? YUP.
I haven’t done it in a while, but if I remember correctly, the mome nt you are in the FPS perspective, hit play. It’s a trip, if you’ve ever heard Deltron 3030 before the 3030 track starts peaking with the chorus right as you walk through all the people cheering you on and cuts out and swtiches to the next track almost exactly when your ship gets attacked.
Oh man, for years now I’ve always played racing games and air combat games while listening to hard rock and techno. Yes, I would play Air/Ace Combat games while listening to the Top Gun soundtrack, and still do to this day. I have various cds (now playlists on my ipod) that are simply titled “driving music”. I’ve made it it’s own genre on my ipod as well so I know exactly where to find it.
One little experiment I’ve messed around with in recent years is, using the OC remix versions, or any cover versions of videogame songs, and playing said game with the new/alternate soundtracks that fans have made over the years. It really is one of the best examples of “For fans, by fans”.
– watch the intro to Super Metroid (when Samus is narrating) to the one remix that gives the song an orchestral sound. It makes the game even more epic than it already is.
– play Sonic 3/and Knuckles with the Michael Jackson songs that the songs in the game are based off of.
And I think I speak for everyone here when I say “Guile’s theme goes with everything” lol.