A thread to discuss soundtracks you've heard from games, animes, movies, and any other media you can think of.

There was this space colonization and war game similar to Master of Orion. It was called Pax Imperia and I hated everything about it except for one thing, one of the space battle songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tvcMp5NSxA

That song reminds me of one of the songs from the SC3KU soundtrack. Speaking of SimCity 3000: Jerry Martin - Desert Sand. Best song from the SIM series, IMO.

Morrowind Theme

The main theme reappears in Oblivion and Skyrim, but it was best done here. Takes me back to that world immediately. Excellent.

The Settlers: Heritage Of Kings, one of my first games ever and it STILL has one of the best soundtracks.

Dragon Age: Origins, of course.

Syberia II, my favourite game EVER.

I hate people who say video games aren't art.

I love the music from Morrowind, although I could never get into the game itself. My son would play it at his computer right next to mine as I played the Sims and I just always felt calm and content every time I heard it. I want it in my Sims game, but I don't know where the disk is.


The music from Super Mario and Zelda is also enjoyable. There have been a few concert renditions of Zelda which is amazing, amusing and wonderful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-29...feature=related

One-Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII is quite epic, no matter how overrated the game actually is.

It is used and remixed several times in the FFVII compilations, though my favorite is the Advent Children Remix.

I can't quite believe that an orchestra would actually perform a game's soundtrack in a concert. though.

The music from TES III: Morrowind is composed by Jeremy Soule. The maintheme is called Nerevar Rising. I like that song myself. I also like The road most travelled, which is played often when travelling on foot. I often travel by foot when i play the game.
Anyway, you can purchase the whole collection of the tracks over at directsong.
http://www.directsong.com/mobile/pr...?productid=2215
And then you can put it in your sims game.


I like Nerevar Rising myself.
I also like Sacred from Blind Guardian, the theme from Sacred 2 Fallen Angel.
And Believe from The Witcher is also good.

Last edited by candesco : 3rd Jul 2012 at 09:35 PM.

eee the majority of my ipod is scores O:
Being a music geek in general, I tend to pick out movies specifically for their music. And video games too...

I must say, one of the most emotional pieces for me is Rose's Theme from Doctor Who. It sends me bawling, it's so intense... it really reflects her character well by the end of the Bad Wolf arc! Murray Gold deserves every award he gets for that score, it's all phenomenal!! I don't even normally like piano because you can't tune chords on it...

There's also the theme of The Avengers. if you could describe the words "epic action movie" in a musical movement, I daresay this would be it...

From the video game world...this, 'nuff said.

I can! Anything to get butts in the seats! (Sez the occasional orchestral musician. ) I think that sort of thing became more popular when Howard Shore did the "Lord of the Rings" symphony, a compilation of the music he wrote for Peter Jackson's LOTR movie trilogy. Since then, it's not been uncommon to see movie soundtrack stuff on orchestral bills, especially for a "Pops" night or for a fundraiser kind of thing, since people these days are more apt to go to the symphony if there's more "popular" music on the program. I think it's kind of a sad commentary on today's society, but...there it is, alas.

That said, I am extremely fond of the soundtrack for the movie Star Trek: Insurrection. But that's for...*ahem*...very egotistical reasons. For non-egotistical reasons, one of my favorite soundtracks ever is Saturday Night Fever's. What? I LIKE disco, dangit! :p

Hey iCad - dish! What are the egotistical reasons for liking the soundtrack from Insurrection?


I enjoyed the music so much from The Thomas Crown affair that I got it on CD. I still love it and listen to it on long trips. I really love the music in O Brother, Where Art Thou, and might get that one someday, too.

Egotistical reasons? Why? were you one of the composers or something?

Can't believe I forgot to mention Akkadian Empire from Avatar.

Because I can hear me on it, naturally. The orchestra contractors for some of the newer (but pre-Abrams) Trek movies are friends of mine, so I did Insurrection, in which I got semi-solo parts, whee! I also did Generations, First Contact and Nemesis, too, but I can't hear myself, specifically, on those. Ah, Jerry Goldsmith. Wonderful composer. The world lost a great one when he died. And when his son died too young, as well.



Oh yeah! Not only is the soundtrack great, but the movie itself is one of my faves. And NOT just because I think George Clooney is hot. What a wonderful reinvention of The Odyssey.

Two favorite soundtracks (also they're the only two I have):
'Broken Flowers': includes tracks from Mulatu Astatke, an Ethiopian jazz musician; The Tennors (reggae); Marvin Gaye (one of my favorite singers) 'I Want You to Want Me' and the Greenhornes.

'Beginners' - old music (Jelly Roll Morton, Josephine Baker, Mamie Smith) mixed with original music.

Hope someone remembers this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXaPU3LlrWc&feature=plcp

Edit. Apparently someone does:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK1VIWy33js <- skip to 4:08
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0JX_G698i0

One of my favorite theme songs was from a niche simulation game from a few years back. Not very many people know about it, but you can hear the theme here.

Oh, I'm a soundtrack nut, it's ridiculous. I just watched Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows for the first time the other night, and am completely infatuated with its soundtrack. Hans Zimmer is a ridiculously talented composer. I think my favourite from Game of Shadows has to be It's So Overt It's Covert (for now) - I love that kind of busy, fast-tempo, intricate music; and of course you can't beat the original film's Discombobulate for precisely the same reasons, plus the fact that it's now signature Holmes and already has nostalgia value for me. :/ Both of these two consistently succeed in distracting me from whatever I'm supposed to be doing, and quite frequently result in me dancing around the room .

Bear McCreary's music is also absolutely amazing - he's responsible, among other things, for the masterpiece that is the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack. As you can imagine, the soundtrack for the entire four-season (or however long it was - how did BSG get so complicated?) run is pretty huge... but I guess I'd pick out Prelude to War; and although this next one is short, it's absolutely heartwrenching - even more so in context - Adama Falls.

Aaand there's more! In Bruges is a fantastic film, which you should watch if you haven't already, and it has some of the most sinister soundtrack music I've ever heard, such as the beautiful Thugs Passing in the Night (And no, I'm not choosing these tracks because of the common thread of violence in their names... I guess I just like dramatic moments).

Finally, while I realise this isn't such a, erm... sophisticated film, 300 has some brilliant music too. I don't think you can get much more magnificent than Returns a King, and I love the power and elegance of Goodbye My Love.

Y'know what - Youtube's related videos feature has just pointed out to me that I've barely ever listened to the LOTR soundtrack. Better go fix that!


MarlyMcMarMar - that Okami piece is fantastic!

Oh gosh I love soundtracks! A few favourites:

Well, basically all of Schindler's List. Seriously, absolutely amazing, but my favourite track is Jewish Town (Krakow Ghetto)

The Lion King. I don't normally like Hans Zimmer (though he is getting better, his The Dark Knight score has some interesting bits), but the unofficial complete score for TLK is just gorgeous, particularly the uncut Kings of the Past and ...To Die For

Spirited Away, great stuff by Joe Hisaishi. Can't find the track I like most, but that one is "Reprise".

Memoirs of a Geisha. The whole thing is fabulous (and lucky duck that I am, I saw it performed live by Yo-Yo Ma and John Williams at Tanglewood!) but I especially love Brush on Silk

Winged Migration. Possibly my favourite score of them all, hauntingly beautiful. Can't pick just one track, so here's Northern Bound, and Like a Breathe (performed by A Filetta).

Last edited by PharaohHound : 4th Jul 2012 at 11:54 AM. Reason: whoa, typos

The Black Mages is the definitive version. This is the most awsome performance for me but the Eminence Symphony Orchestra is cool

I don't know if it's nostalgia talking but I'm loving the Final Fantasy VIII soundtrack, it's now replaced VII as my choice listening in CAW and I just get the warm fuzzies to it.
Liberi Fatali is pretty epic too.

And of course again on Morrowind!

There is a neat set of all the Final Fantasy orchestral versions, done in a studio, so no more annoying mic problems or audience members coughing. It's also a domestic release, so no crazy Import prices. It's called Distant Worlds, it has two discs, and is available from sites like Amazon.

I also really like the soundtrack(s) from Fooly Cooly, with music by the Pillows.

Breaking Bad has a wonderful and varied soundtrack, which is just icing on the cake for such an awesome show.

Some personal favorites:
Apollo Sunshine - We Are Born When We Die
Apparat - Goodbye
DR Period - Money
The Silver Seas - Catch Yer Own Train

And, of course, this legendary piece.





I could get anything done during the longest Sherlock Holmes piece, "Psychological Recovery ... 6 Months" (sorry, can't find a good version on YouTube). That song is eighteen minutes of awesome. "Time" from Inception is also great for zoning out to.

I'm so impressed, I'm bowled over. I loved those films, especially Insurrection. It was beautiful, just beautiful and a totally believable prequel to one of my favorite tv series. It's the music that conveys all the emotional story telling. I've cried three times through the scenes involving Spock's losses, Kirk and his father, and then when Kirk faces his enemy at the end. Great work, iCad! You are talented on so many levels!


Yes, O Brother Where Art Thou is a most excellent retelling of the Odyssey. That's where I first learned of it - in an English class when the students were studying the Odyssey. I especially love the Old Timey music, which I mistakenly thought was Appalachian at first.

Awesome! Thanks for the tip!

Insurrection is actually my favorite "Next Gen" Trek movie....and not just because of the soundtrack. Yes, it feels like an episode of the TV show...but that's precisely why I like it. "The fate of the universe is at stake!" stories (Like First Contact) are all well and good, but I also like a simple story nicely told and with a bit of levity here and there as well as nice character bits...and that's exactly what Insurrection was. That I got to play for it is just a bonus.



You're talking about JJ Abrams's Trek movie here, yes? Actually, I didn't work on that one. I have done some Michael Giacchino work, but it was for TV, namely "Alias" and "Lost," and for a video game. (I want to say it was a "Call of Duty" one, but don't quote me on that. ) Haven't done any movie Giacchino stuff, although I would certainly like to! He writes some fine scores. He and Cliff Eidelmann are probably my favorite "young" people (although both are about the same age as me. ) who are currently scoring "big stuff" for the big studios...although I actually prefer to work on little indies. The per diem isn't nearly as big, but it's just SO much more relaxing. Generally no killer 18-hour days (or more!) in the studio.

As for Abrams-Trek itself...I sit kind of on the fence with it. I liked the movie a whole lot, and I look forward to the next one...if they ever manage to release it. (And yes, Giacchino's score for it was excellent; I WISH I'd worked on it. He has a true gift for cues and themes that are just spot-on, emotionally. Very much like Jerry Goldsmith that way, actually.) However, the movie itself just didn't/doesn't "feel" like Star Trek to me. I can't exactly pinpoint why, really. It's just...doesn't. I'm fine with seeing it as a "alternate reality" piece, but it just doesn't "feel" like part of the canon to me. It's probably the curmudgeon in me being...well, curmudgeonly. But as a stand-alone movie, if you will, I think it's fab. Zachary Quinto is just absolutely brilliant in everything that I've seen him in.



It's a VERY subtle Odyssey reference, but it's there if you look for it. (And I love The Odyssey, vastly preferring it to The Iliad.) But even if you don't catch the reference and/or don't appreciate it, it's an excellent movie all by itself, and it's definitely one where the music makes the movie...but yet it isn't a musical. That's a very fine line to walk, and that movie does it particularly well. It's been a while since I last watched it, actually. So, now I think I want to see it again. Maybe that will be my evening's entertainment...if I don't get sucked into my game that I've been away from for about 10 days. Withdrawl!

Oh, you're right - I was mixing up my Star Trek movies. Nonetheless, I'm still impressed. I did love Insurrection - that was a beautiful story and faithful to the ideal of the "Prime Directive". LOVED IT and am impressed that you played in it.


It says right in the opening credits to "O Brother Where Art Thou" that it is based on the Odyssey, but you're right, the reference isn't immediately evident from the story itself.