High Score! The New Era of Video Game Music - Relaunched

Just relaunched the feature HIGH SCORE: THE NEW ERA OF VIDEO GAME MUSIC. Included in the relaunch is a total redesign of the feature page, but more importantly a couple new additions:

First - a new interview with COMPOSER JESPER KYD centering around his work for the upcoming game, ASSASSIN'S CREED (the game looks incredibly engaging and Jesper Kyd's score is fascinating.)

Second - a full review of JOHN DEBNEY'S epic score for LAIR. If you thought I gushed over the 5-track promo then wait 'til you read the review of the soundtrack as released by iTunes!

More cool game-music-stuff on the way, but don't wait...

CHECK OUT HIGH SCORE! HERE

Lair Soundtrack Available on iTunes

In case you've been sleeping in a cave, composer JOHN DEBNEY's score crept onto iTunes a few days ago. My personal cave was the Adobe conference in Chicago, hence the tardiness of this post.

Anyway - to my shigrin the initial release of Debney's epic score has ended up being iTunes...but based on the tracks released on the promo (reviewed here) I personally can't wait for a physical release on CD. A work like this is deserving of a nicely packaged release though. Let's hope for one.

The iTunes release sports 26 tracks containing 70 minutes of musical goodness. And it's worth every penny of that $9.99. Still...if "the powers that be are listening" please give us a higher fidelity recording on CD, SACD, DVD-AUDIO!

For now, on this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend...we give thanks that we have what we have.

Go to iTunes now (and search for "John Debney")

Playable Cinema - The Fusion of Gaming and Movies

As I finished up both my review of BIOSHOCK and my interview with the composer of the game's score, GARRY SCHYMAN, that phrase "playable cinema" kept running through my mind. That is where the gaming and film industries have been moving toward for a number of years now. With the release of games like BIOSHOCK and perhaps even moreso, HEAVENLY SWORD, we might just be there. I can't say that I've ever seen any game like the visuals of HEAVENLY SWORD or been as enveloped by a games atmosphere like BIOSHOCK. I've been addicted to the short animated back-story shorts presented at the HEAVENLY SWORD site. I've been swept up in the depth of 2KGames' official sites for BIOSHOCK. Both of these games and LAIR as well, have created new, detailed worlds, that are as interesting as the games themselves. For as long as movies have been made, audience members have said to themselves "I wish I could do that!" ...and the day has come where they can.

If you look at the history of it - the two mediums have been on a collision course for decades. We first saw game-spin-offs of movies and more recently movie spin-offs from games. As processing power continues to exponentially increase, the merging of the two seems only natural...if not inevitable. I, for one, am ecstatic at seeing this media evolution continue. As I've remarked elsewhere, with the storage, bandwidth, and processing power available for game development ever on the increase, this affords game producers what they need to hire grade-A composers and grade-A orchestras for these game scores. And we won't even speak about the budgets. They certainly have plenty of bucks now-days.

Let's not underestimate the power of symphonic music in these games. While the visuals cause our jaws to drop, just how much less impacting would the game play be without the contributions of a MICHAEL GIACCHINO, INON ZUR, or JESPER KYD? As it's been said before "Audiences will put up with bad picture, but they won't put up with bad sound." 128-bit+ graphics with 16-bit sound would be unforgivable. So as we are witness to "playable cinema" emerging before our very eyes, I hope you'll join in the anticipation for where this will lead musically. If the music matters within film and it matters within a game - just how much more when the two become one? As gross as it sounds...my ears salivate at what's to come!

Track from John Debney's LAIR at Playstation Store

For those of you who dropped $500+ on the Sony Playstation 3, Sony has recently released one track from John Debney's popular score for the game LAIR...and you can get it through the Playstation Store.

The track that has been released is "Battle for Asylia." Apparently, there will be more tracks released through this same channel in the future. I have not heard the track released but, if you want a taste of JOHN DEBNEY'S score you can hear a few clips here...and read a review of the 5 track Lair promo disc.

Still no word on a more complete and official soundtrack release.

LAIR by JOHN DEBNEY (Promo Soundtrack)

What Layeth in Wait in Debney's Lair?
Review by Christopher Coleman

What layeth in wait in John Debney's LAIR? Be this a film? A concert? A video game dare?
Surely not such a work as this. A piece that none honest could easily resist.
Musical themes? A film score fan's dreams.
Yes for the gameplay itself,and, of course, the cut-scenes.
Doth today's orchestras blare with such bold fanfare?
Indeed they do...in John Debney's LAIR!

What is a poem doing here you might ask. It's simple. This 5-track promo of composer JOHN DEBNEY's upcoming score for the Playstation 3 video game, LAIR, has inspired this bit of spontaneous poetry. Now any score that can do that might just be worth a listen. But before you listen...read on.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE (w/ soundclips)

The LAIR of JOHN DEBNEY

(Originally posted on 7/29/07; updated 8/5/2007)

Composer John Debney has long been one of Hollywood's most versatile, not to mention prolific, and his first foray into the ever-growing, world of video games is the upcoming LAIR. In an earlier post you'll find some video of a live performance of score excerpts. Suffice it to say that fans of Shore, Williams, Elfman, and (dare I invoke the names of) North and Rozsa, will find moments a familiarity, but with great appreciation for the whole. The clip below is over 16 minutes long.

We should give thanks that the game genre is keeping alive this type of score. John Debney's work for LAIR goes beyond just about anything I've heard in a video game. This fantasy/action genre of game is certainly well populated, but not since Shore's work for SUN: SOUL OF THE ULTIMATE NATION, have a I heard a game-score with this amount of depth and richness. The original score for LAIR was recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London with a 90-piece orchestra. LAIR, the game, releases on August 14, 2007 (sadly) only for the Sony

Playstation 3.

UPDATE: 8/5/2007 - Having received a 5 track promo of the LAIR soundtrack, there's little doubt that this might be the must-have soundtrack of the year - game soundtrack or otherwise. The score for LAIR is as big or as bold as one could want, so hears hoping negotiations with interested labels will happen quickly and an epic release of the Debney's score is forthcoming.

First IRON MAN Footage from Comic Con

If you were wondering, like me, just how well Mr. Robert Downey Jr. would be pull of the famous alter-superhero-ego of Tony Stark...well wonder no more. Here is some YouTube footage from this year's Comic-Con.

If the rest of the film can hold form to what we see here, we just might be in for a treat. Currently, JOHN DEBNEY is linked to the film as composer. With past collaborations with director JON FAVERAU: ELF and ZATHURA, this seems plausible if not more-than-likely. Debney has yet to do a straight-hero score, but has danced around the edges of the genre with projects like: THE SCORPION KING and SPY KIDS among others.

Doubting DEBNEY'S ability to go all epic and heroic? Check out the live performance for his work for the upcoming game LAIR:

Ha! Yes...that's what I thought. That's good stuff. Everything seems to bode well for next year's IRON MAN....although some of the music in the clips above would seem to indicate that there will be a strong "music from and inspired by" component.

In order to get a proper score somewhere in the remote vicinity of the release of the film, someone ought to begin the campaign/petition right now.