Neal Acree

Game Music

Varèse Sarabande Records To Release REVELATION OST

April 27, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Varèse Sarabande Records To Release REVELATION OST Share this

The Chinese-themed MMORPG REVELATION, known as “TianYu,” in it’s native China will not only be releasing soon in North America and Europe, but will soon see its soundtrack released both digitally and on CD. Composed with a distinctive Asian-flare by Neal Acree (World of Warcraft, Overwatch), the score features a cinematic tone and has earned the Global Music Award (Game Music and Original Score), the Scorecast Genius Choice Vote Award, and earned nominations for a Game Audio Network Guild Award as “Best Instrumental” by the International Film Music Critics Awards for “Best Score: Video Game.”

“The score for REVELATION called for a rich, cinematic sound but the game’s story and artwork called for a traditional Chinese palette. Orchestra blended with traditional Chinese and Japanese instruments was the natural approach and can make for some beautiful and evocative colors. Each Chinese instrument has its counterpart in the Western orchestra but brings a unique character to the overall sound. ” – Neal Acree

“Through the Gates” – REVELATION OST (Neal Acree)

Varèse Sarabande will release the REVELATION Soundtrack digitally on April 29 and on CD May 27, 2016. You can purchase both on the company’s website. You can also keep an eye out on their Twitter for additional announcements.
Game Music

CRAZY GAME MUSIC DEALS Just In Time For The Holidays

December 9, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | 1 Comment Share this

Are you looking to buy something for a game soundtrack fan this holiday season, or looking for ideas to pass on to others who might be buying for you? OSV has you covered with some pretty awesome deals, and will continue to post them as we’re on the look out for them across the Internet!

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Game Music, Reviews

Your Ears, Torn Asunder: World of Warcraft Cataclysm Soundtrack (Review)

December 13, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

The day more than 10 million people around the world have been waiting for is finally here. While there has been a lot of excitement about what the Cataclysm expansion pack would mean to the World of Warcraft experience, players were finally able to dig in last week to re-explore new areas, discover new ones, and enjoy over 8 hours of new music that was added to the game.

Included with the Collector’s Edition version of Cataclysm was a soundtrack album, and you probably know from our past reviews of these limited edition pack-ins as well as the BlizzCon exclusive albums that we’re huge fans of the music from the game. Cataclysm has a lot to live up to, not only in terms of being the newest addition to the franchise, but also in that it revisits several themes from the past.

Does the Blizzard Entertainment sound team live up to the challenge? Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Soundtrack Included in Collector’s Edition

April 12, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Dear Blizzard, oh how we love thee. It looks like there will be a soundtrack release for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty which will come packed in with the impressive collector’s edition of the game that will also include a 176-page art book, a 2 GB flash drive, a behind-the-scenes DVD, a comic book, an in-game pet for World of Warcraft, and exclusive Battle.net content. Sounds pretty sweet to me!

From what we know, the disc will contain 14 tracks mostly composed by Glenn Stafford, who’s handling the core Terran themes. With only 14 tracks, however, I do wonder if all of the music from the game will be featured, but we’ll have to wait and see. I also take the announcement of this disc to mean that there will likely be similar releases for the upcoming chapters in the StarCraft II series, and this announcement is made even more great by the fact that the original StarCraft didn’t even receive a soundtrack release until 10+ years later, and was distributed in such limited quantities that it’s one of the most sought after game music albums to this day. Not this time!

You can check out our impressions of some of the game’s preliminary music in our BlizzCon 2009 coverage along with an interview with Russell Brower that touches on the game. Are you looking forward to the game and its soundtrack?