Four Reasons You Should Listen to a Warcraft Soundtrack

“Four Reasons You Should Listen to a Warcraft Soundtrack”
By Thomas Midena

Since the first Warcraft game debuted in 1994, Blizzard’s fantasy universe has spanned 4 computer games and 6 expansion packs. Featuring the fictional continent of Azeroth, these games see the player assume roles as various races such as humans, orcs and elves, and fight to claim the world from one another. This unending war has been immortalised through the legendary music of Warcraft, which has, over the years, set the standard for orchestral video game music. You don’t have to be a gamer to immerse yourself in the humbling scope of Warcraft music, and here’s why you should.


1. Pure Epicness

17 years ago the Warcraft franchise was already proving its audio prowess. 1995 saw the release of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, a real time strategy game for DOS and Mac OS. This music might not be backed by the power of a full orchestra as we expect today, but the way it develops and has fun with its themes foreshadows Warcraft’s glorious musical future. No long term Warcraft fan can help resist feeling sentimental in a Warcraft II piece like “Human Level 2”.



Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos released in 2002 with a soundtrack that was less melodic than most music in the franchise. The soundtrack by Derek Duke builds an ethereal soundscape which was excellent in the context of the game, but struggles to stand on its own.

2004 saw the launch of the juggernaut online game, World of Warcraft, which took Warcraft music to another level. The first track from the game, “Legends of Azeroth (Main Title)” sets the stage for a huge fantasy game. The power of the orchestra is used to full effect, the rhythmic drums and swirling strings are pure fantasy adrenalin.



It doesn’t take long to fall in love with some of the musical themes throughout World of Warcraft. Notable pieces that highlight this include “A Call To Arms”, “Seasons of War” and “Stormwind” - a beautiful world-building track. In general, Warcraft music has a very romantic perspective on war and the world. Pieces like these make me fantasize about magical lands with castles and heroes. These pieces spark my excitement on every listen, proving that the music can stand on its own with no visual accompaniment.




2. Fantastic Composers

Over the years many incredibly talented composers have worked on Warcraft music. Some big contributors over the years include Russell Brower, Tracy Bush, Derek Duke, Jason Hayes, Matt Uelmen, Glenn Stafford, Neal Acree, Sam Cardon, Edo Guidotti and Jeremy Soule - renowned composer for the Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars series of games. These are some of the best composers in the video game industry, and the vast range of creative talent comes together to form unique styles in Warcraft.


3. Copious Quantities

Four games with six expansion packs means a ridiculous amount of music. Each expansion to World of Warcraft has built on the title track. And these pieces are long, with Cataclysm’s stunning title track reaching 12 minutes in length.



There’s so much to appreciate in these title tracks alone. From the audacity of “The Burning Legion (Main Title)” to the valiant mystery of “Wrath Of The Lich King (Main Title)” to the destructive madness of Cataclysm’s “The Shattering” to the beautiful Asian influences of Mists of Pandaria’s “Heart of Pandaria”.



The latest soundtrack release, “Mists of Pandaria” is arguably the best Warcraft score of them all. “Way of the Monk” is a heroic piece which succeeds in inspiring. A confident new theme triumphs in “Serpent Riders”, which has the fingerprints of Jeremy Soule and the emotional satisfaction of a blockbuster film.



Due to the long period of time that Warcraft has been growing and evolving, recurring themes and motifs have been allowed incredible amounts of room to develop and expand. Themes from Warcraft 3 were brought into World of Warcraft, as demonstrated in one of my favourite tracks, “Echoes of the Past”.



The mood and style of the music is allowed to change quite drastically from game to game, album to album and even track to track. An excitingly dark new sound appears in the “Wrath of the Lich King” soundtrack, exhibited in the understated heroic piece, “Assault On New Avalon”.




4. Recklessly Original

The composers on Warcraft have demonstrated that they are willing to try new things. The very broad and lively fantasy lore of the Warcraft franchise has assisted them in this, allowing them to flex their creative muscles in a variety of unexpected ways.

Occasionally these soundtracks verge on the side of utterly ridiculous. Mists of Pandaria’s “Stormstout Brew” is a playfully silly piece which plays to stereotypical Asian sounds. Also from Mists of Pandaria, “The Traveler’s Path” features a dreamily deep male voice singing an enigmatic Asian song.



Last but most certainly not least, a piece which has become incredibly popular amongst fans of World of Warcraft. Released as a part of downloadable content, Russell Brower’s “Invincible” is a haunting piece featuring a breathtaking choir. The track marks a significant moment in the Warcraft storyline, which I won’t spoil here. “Invincible” is a perfect example of the best of Warcraft music: splendidly majestic and delicately personal at the same time.



Warcraft soundtracks have led the way in regards to video game music for many years, proving that a game can sound just as good as a film. Don’t miss out on some of the greatest fantasy music of the last decade - delve into a Warcraft soundtrack today!

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria by Brower, Acree, Soule, et al - Review

Perfection in Our Mists
Review by Richard Buxton (@monkeybutlerman)

Having been a gamer for most of my life, it might come as a surprise that I have never taken a single virtual step in the WORLD OF WARCRAFT universe. Despite the seemingly limitless replayability that has been constantly enjoyed by millions throughout the years, the series has simply never appealed to me. It’s not as though I have never been a PC gamer - the likes of Battlefield, Counter-Strike, and countless others have kept me entertained for as long into each generation as my PC’s could manage. Yet, until recently, Warcraft was merely a statistical machine to me - a demonstration of the immense pulling power that gaming possesses. All that changed however, during London’s most recent Video Games Live show in 2008. Having gone in impatiently awaiting the likes of Metal Gear Solid, Halo, and Mass Effect, it came as a great surprise that as I departed through the crowds , all I could think about was when I would be able to hear the mesmerizing World of Warcraft medley for a second time. Fused with the beautiful CGI images, the themes of Warcraft were forever scorched into my musical memory, and the series has since provided several outstanding cues that stand amongst the greatest that gaming has to offer. The series has set such an impressive precedent, and MISTS OF PANDARIA is possibly the most captivating soundtrack to come from the long-running series’ musical library.

The music of the Warcraft series has always perfectly matched the games in terms of scope, providing musical backdrops, that of Wrath of the Lich King for example, that would not seem out of place in such blockbuster franchises as Lord of the Rings. Releases such as Wrath of the Lich King, Fall of the Lich King, and Cataclysm have had a typical dark and brooding quality to them, centering on the daunting task that each new adventurer faces. Mists of Pandaria certainly adds a little comedic flair to the lore, but still maintains that essential air of scale so often attributed to Warcraft. Musically, Mists of Pandaria is instantly noticeable as being a significantly different experience to the previous releases, but continues the Warcraft tradition of thrilling, large-scale orchestral action music - a tradition that those at Blizzard will no doubt be proud of, and rightly so. This comes as no surprise given the musical talent in Blizzard’s armory. RUSSELL BROWER leads an all-star cast of Blizzard stalwarts that make up the latest Warcraft’s musical clan. Wrath of the Lich King, Starcraft II, and Diablo III composers BROWER, NEAL ACREE, GLENN STAFFORD, EDO GUIDOTTI, and DEREK DUKE are joined by SAM CARDON, and JEREMY SOULE (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim). Mists of Pandaria is bursting with talent, and none goes wasted in this magnificent video game score.

READ THE FULL REVIEW

Order of War (Game Soundtrack) by Jeremy Soule - Review

New Order. Old World.

Review by Christopher Coleman

ORDER OF WAR is a real-time strategy game set in the latter stages of the European theatre of World War II. Some gamers say that the World War II foundation has been over mined as a game premise and environment and while I might tend to agree, I certainly remain open to something new and fresh that a developer can bring to the genre. In the case of developer's, Wargaming.net, and publisher's, Square Enix, ORDER OF WAR might just be that "something fresh.". No ORDER OF WAR is not another FPS (first person shooter) set somewhere in Europe, but a real-time strategy (RTS) game that takes a step beyond even in terms of that sub-genre. Interestingly, in ORDER OF WAR, the player is allowed to participate in the final thrusts of the European theatre on both fronts; controlling the Allied Advance or Germany's defense against the Russian counter-offensive in the East. Here we get much more than a few squads or divisions to control, but entire armies! ORDER OF WAR also allows the player to control just how these epic battles are viewed; allowing the game to become much more "cinematic" in experience than any other WWII strategy game. Given the scope and breadth of this game, the developers made an epic choice in bringing on veteran game score composer, JEREMY SOULE.

Composer JEREMY SOULE is no stranger to scoring video game titles requiring both dramatic depth and fast-faced action music; his best known works to date being from game franchises such as GUILD WARS, ELDER SCROLLS, WARHAMMER and HARRY POTTER. Soule has clearly proven his hand at capturing the sci-fi/fantasy sub-genre, but what about the more realistic realm of World War II? ORDER OF WAR is, in fact, not his first foray into these battlefields. With his 2006 work for the well received title, COMPANY OF HEROES, Soule proved that he could equally handle a real time strategy game set in the European theatre. Since it's release, Soule's original score for the game has been praised as highly as the game itself. And it is this score that ORDER OF WAR most closely compares to. While there have been recent attempts at putting a new musical spin on World War II shooters, JEREMY SOULE keeps to the more familiar palette used for this historic subject matter whether it be for a game, television documentary, or feature film. In ORDER OF WAR, we are treated to a powerful entrée of epic, orchestral engagements that occasionally bring to mind some of Hollywood's best-ever composers. No. ORDER OF WAR doesn't necessarily offer anything "new," but it does manage to return to that idealized sound associated with this world war. And somehow, while sticking to conventions, JEREMY SOULE is able to keep his score fresh and avoids becoming a second-rate, knock-off of some of the better known WWII games of recent years.

Read the full review here

Star Wars: The Old Republic coming from LucasArts and Bioware

Well, just as we complete our feature on LucasArts' most recent release, FRACTURE, they and Bioware make a big announcement regarding their next "biggie." As many have speculated about for months, LucasArts and Bioware are returning to the STAR WARS universe, but in MMO style.

STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC is under development. The official announcement was made today amidst much hoopla. This sequel (of sorts) to the KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC (KOTOR) franchise, is set some 300 after the events of THE SITH LORDS. Claims are that, while some tasks can be completed as a single player, others will take cooperative efforts to complete. So perhaps both the KOTOR faithful (which were RPGs) and the massively multiplayer online (MMO) crowd will be happy with the game.

The official site offers some concept artwork, backstory details, discussion forum, and the like, but it is early days yet. No official announcements have been made regarding the game's music. Well, we can always speculate...

I think we can rule out KEVIN KINER, as THE CLONE WARS appears to be his era. JEREMY SOULE did a nice job with the first KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC and of course we have gotten more familiar with the good work of MARK GRISKEY since KOTOR 2: THE SITH LORDS via his recent work for THE FORCE UNLEASHED...or perhaps resident composer and music supervisor, JESSE HARLIN will pen this one. We have quite some time to think about the possiblities as no release date for the game has been mentioned yet.

Who do you think would be the best choice to score STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC?


You can check out the official site here


Stay tuned...