Essential Games Music Collection Vol. 1 by London Music Works - Review

Essential Questions
Review by Richard Buxton

Compared to the mighty film industry Gaming is still in its infancy, constantly shifting and developing in its strive to discover its identity. With each generation, the gaming industry takes another step towards an all-encompassing grip entertainment, be it through hardware capabilities or online functionality. From humble beginnings, games have grown at a breathtaking pace in not only concepts and visuals, but in audio. Long gone are the days when the sounds of a video game were dismissed as mere “bleeps and bloops”, and today the industry can boast musical journeys that can stand proudly beside their motion-picture counterparts.

The evolution of video game music has been punctuated by a number of pivotal achievements that have defined the growth up until each of these groundbreaking moments. Sticking in the memory are the likes of KOJI KONDO’S early and forever-iconic themes for SUPER MARIO BROS. and THE LEGEND OF ZELDA, TAPPI IWASE’S controversial METAL GEAR SOLID theme, MARTIN O’DONNELL and MICHAEL SALVATORI’S platform defining HALO scores, and NOBUO UEMATSU’S library of music for the FINAL FANTASY saga. These examples, among countless other scores, can all be argued as monumental works in the history of video game music, and so deciding what is truly an essential theme is an almost impossible challenge to be tasked with. Nonetheless, it is a challenge that LONON MUSIC WORKS has elected to tackle.

The biggest question one faces when compiling such a collection is what makes a theme or score essential? Is it simply the quality of the composition? Is it the theme’s effectiveness when heard in context? Or is it the influence the composition had on other composers and developers in the industry? A glance at the tracklist will reveal suggestions that LONDON MUSIC WORKS struggled with a similar question when the video game themes to be recorded were discussed. The tracklist presents a collection of both the classic and the new, offering a healthy balance of the refreshingly modern, and nostalgically aged. As one ventures into the “classic section” of the album, it becomes clear that a number of these themes are deserving of a place in any essential collection, but it is the recordings of more modern video game themes that are somewhat questionable choices for such a collection.

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Music from the Transformers Trilogy by London Music Works - Review

Reinterpricons!
Review by Richard Buxton

The music of the TRANSFORMERS trilogy is probably not what one might expect to be given a re-recording and compilation treatment, especially seeing as the final part of MICHAEL BAY’S trilogy is merely months old. Yet here is LONDON MUSIC WORKS own interpretation of JABLONSKY’S music for the trilogy.

MUSIC FROM THE TRANSFORMERS TRILOGY consists 17 tracks in total, and those who have followed JABLONSKY’S work in the series will immediately notice that the tracks chosen are certainly the highlights of the three films’ musical offering. This is perhaps the greatest incentive for anyone deliberating over whether to purchase the album. The compilation stands as a useful overview of the music across the three films, enabling listeners to hear the high points and providing assistance in generating an overall opinion of JABLONSKY’S work should one be needed before taking the plunge into the trilogy’s individual soundtracks. Therefore it comes as no surprise that this album is perhaps unsuitable for those who have already experienced the previous three score albums in great detail. As pleasant as the recordings on the album are, they offer very little beyond JABLONSKY’S original recordings and are subsequently a concrete recommendation only for the most devout of Transformers music fans.

One of the pitfalls of re-recordings in film music is the failure to live up to the original. The recent release of HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED ANNIVERSARY is an example of the reinterpreting of a strongly established original musical journey that brings with it legions of dedicated fans. Such was the strength and iconic nature of the HALO score; it was always going to be difficult to live up to the original. This is not the case for MUSIC FROM THE TRANSFORMERS TRILOGY however. There are distinctive differences that are immediately noticeable, but the orchestral performances on offer are consistently sufficient in resurrecting vivid mental images of the Autobot’s clashes with the Decepticons.

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