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!
“If Raynor can seem to pull his revolver a little faster, or if Tychus Finlay’s presence can feel more imposing due to a theme or flourish in the music, then the composers and musicians have truly called down the thunder.” – Russell Brower
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, arguably the most anticipated game of the year, arrived in stores and digital download this week and ActiBlizzard/Blizzardvision is sure to have another monster success on its hands. Although it is quite in fashion to bash the gaming evil empire, I must say that the treatment the soundtrack has received is exceptional from all fronts. The production values, sound quality, and iTunes LP treatment (digital liner notes with videos, track descriptions, etc.) are all top-notch and make the listening experience truly an experience. A tremendous amount of dramatic energy is added to the tracks as a summary of the contextual inspiration for the tracks is presented for each track.
But, even with all the pomp and circumstance of a wonderful presentation, a soundtrack is not much without quality music. So, do Russell Brower, Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, Neil Acree, an co. deliver us with a soundtrack of rich minerals? Or has it come and gone like a bad case of Vespene gas? Read on as we conquer the galaxy! (more…)
The wait is finally over. StarCraft II hits store shelves today, and to celebrate, we’ve got a special interview with Blizzard Entertainment Audio Director, Russell Brower, as well as composer Glenn Stafford. We get a run down of all the composers and session artists that are featured, talk about the soundtrack album that comes with the Collector’s Edition of the game, and discuss the music contained within the in-game jukebox We talk about the possibility of distributing new music along with other content on Battle.net, and jump into what Derek Duke has in store for fans in the Heart of the Swarm expansion pack that will be released in the future.
There’s a lot going on with this game and its lengthy soundtrack, so check out our interview after the jump. (more…)
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?
It appears as though 2008 was a successful year for a number of orchestral arrangement albums, as we mentioned earlier this month that that Symphonic Shades was getting a second printing. Now, another of our favorite releases of 2008 is getting a similar treatment, with a second printing of the Echoes of War: Standard Edition set for next month along with a price reduction to $19.95 for those who pre-order before the June 16 re-release.
Echoes of War: The Music of Blizzard Entertainment not only featured unique arrangements from the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo universes, but was also created by a large team famous arrangers and performers including Kow Otani, Go Shiina, Natsumi Kameoka, and the Eminence Symphony Orchestra. If you missed out on the legendary edition or the first print of the standard edition, I highly recommend picking it up at this discounted price.
If you’ve already picked up Echoes of War, were you thoroughly satisfied with the purchase? Did you have a favorite arrangement from the 2-disc collection?
Read the official press release from Eminence after the jump. (more…)
Well ladies and gentlemen, it’s here. Performed by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra (and other musicians) from Australia, the fully arranged album for Blizzard’s top-selling franchises finally comes to eager fans. And I am one of those eager fans.
Whether you choose to go with the bare-bones standard edition or the “all the bells and whistles attached” legendary edition, you are in for quite a treat. We’ve told you about Echoes of War before, and brought you director Hiroaki Yura’s comments, but now it’s time for a full, comprehensive review.
After the jump, you can read about the guest arrangers, the song selections, the frills that come with the legendary edition, and the excellence of the performances found on this two disc set. (more…)
It’s a big day in the world of game music. The Eminence Symphony Orchestra has just announced that it has recorded an entire album of arranged music from the classic Blizzard catalogue. The album, titled Echoes of War: The Music of Blizzard Entertainment, will feature music from Warcraft III, World of Warcraft (including music from the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King), StarCraft, StarCraft II, Diablo II, Diablo III, and even StarCraft: Ghost.
We’ve been fortunate to get an interview with Eminence director Hiroaki Yura, who we spoke with a few months back, regarding the project. We learn about the exclusive arrangements that will be featured on the album, including an appearance by Kow Otani, as well as Eminence’s close collaboration with the original composers of the music and the possibility of a second Echoes of War album in the future. Pre-orders are available now, so I recommend heading over to the official Echoes of War website to get your hands on this… after you read our interview, that is.
Hit the jump for the complete track list and for the down low on what’s looking to be one of the biggest game music albums of the year. (more…)
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