Topic: Professional Opinion about Lords of Shadow's Musical Score

[Inccubus]

I'm a bit disappointed in the soundtrack because the few old themes seem 'over-orchestrated' to the point where if I'm not specifically trying to listen for them they're indistinguishable from the new tunes. Honestly, I was expecting the music to be more along the lines of Van Helsing's score which IMO was well orchestrated and still catchy.

Van Helsing - Journey to Transylvania

[bobby digital]

It honestly did feel a little bland and lifeless.  The good tracks were great-the waterfall, belmont's theme and whatever song plays in the map screen were all personal standouts.

There needs to be a little more variety next time and some more aggressive tunes during the levels themselves, rather than just boss battles.  If the land of the lycans, vampires, and necromancers all had different musical themes I think more people here would be satisfied, but we heard the same music at some point in almost every level.

[bucky]

I'm not attempting to invalidate the opinion in the article by any means, but I do hold some skepticism that you can point to one blog's post as "professional", and treat it as more valid than anyone else's opinion. My (real life) friends and acquaintances Zen Albatross and Audun are contributors to that site, so it feels like I'm reading the opinion of a peer. Although I haven't contributed to the site before, I don't see a reason why my opinion would be any more or less professional, which is made here in short..

That being said, Original Sound Version is a very cool site with lots of neat stuff on there...

Unrelated,

Woo, Fabio Frizzi. The Beyond and those other Fulci flicks have got some real eerie, moody sounds. I could totally see the Splatterhouse music being inspired by that.

'Cept there's no funky bass guitar in any of those games, lol.

There's this one PoR track that sounds like it's taken straight from a Goblin soundtrack (Tenebre, Dawn of the Dead, Suspiria, etc). Funky, jumpin' bassline and all...

MUSIC: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Gears Go Awry (DS)

I have no idea who composed it though. Based on the style I would assume that it's Yuzo Koshiro, but I'm not certain who-did-what.

[thernz]

Yeah it was Koshiro.

[Abnormal Freak]

It's certainly got a Koshiro sound, so it's gotta be him. And yeah, I'm hearin' the '70s/'80s Italian horror film music similarity, ha.

Forgot Goblin did the score for Tenebrae. I remember it bein' rockin', but just forgot it was Goblin. I should rewatch that soon.

Since we're talking film and game scoring, and how I find most orchestral scores really dull and generic: the first Ninja Turtles movie is one with a really cool score.

TMNT (1990) Soundtrack 8- Shredder's Suite

Man, I love that so much more than boring "epic" orchestral scores. Not that I dislike orchestral scores... They just often sound so uninspired, and I can rarely ever remember or hum a tune from them.

[Harrycombs]

Man, I love that so much more than boring "epic" orchestral scores. Not that I dislike orchestral scores... They just often sound so uninspired, and I can rarely ever remember or hum a tune from them.

The problem isn't just that they are orchestrated, its just that they are often orchestrated badly.

Look at Mitsuda's soundtrack for Xenosaga. That was incredible. So much better than the bland score we got in Lords. Its sounds beautiful and its still totally hummable. Why couldn't Lords have sounded like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAtXgpdKLHQ

[Dracgou]

it would be quite funny if the theme of Back to the Future had played in LOS and Zobek from the future suddenly showed up in a Delorean.

 Back To The Future Theme Song (HQ)

[corneliab]

The problem isn't just that they are orchestrated, its just that they are often orchestrated badly.

Look at Mitsuda's soundtrack for Xenosaga. That was incredible. So much better than the bland score we got in Lords. Its sounds beautiful and its still totally hummable. Why couldn't Lords have sounded like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAtXgpdKLHQ

You seriously think that stuff like that is hummable? That track was boring and repetitive at best, and cacaphonous at worst. Wtf.

There really wasn't a single interested thing about that track. Completely cookie-cutter. This tune at least manages to be melodic and memorable in comparison:
Castlevania Lords of Shadow Music - The Ice Titan

[Dremn]

Probably the best track next to the Waterfall theme

[Valtiel]

why are we insulting synths by saying monkeys blowing flutes is more like them. they're distinct sounds of their own. there's a perk richness to them i think. the way they are punctuated and crisp lets you enjoy the different layers more easily too imo.

how does valtiel feel about harmony of dissonance's music

I'm not "insulting" synths per se, I'm insulting the sound capabilities of the consoles such games were released on. Some of those songs became immortal once given room in other environments (once again Bloody Tears started on the NES and just listen to that guy I linked playing it on the piano) but while the tune is the same, the result is much different.

HoD's music isn't my favourite in the saga (I'm a classicvania guy) but it sounds like very good music... played by a guy blowing a leaf and hammering on a keyboard that only has 2 keys. The fault isn't in the music, but when you're working on a platform that is so limited in terms of musical reproduction, you're stuck with working on songs that hold their own thanks to the tune.
The genius in Castlevania's case was that Konami put a lot of resources in composing and they managed to get a consistent track of excellent tunes. But the NES/GBA's sound capabilities remain crap.

[Abnormal Freak]

Bah! Chiptune and Mitsuda bashing... What is the world coming to???

I vote all games and movies feature nothing but Foetus tunes, regardless of whether they fit the subject or scene.

Foetus - Lust for Death

[Valtiel]

A few observations on the tracks posted here:

I love most of what was posted (with the exception of the TMNT track, and boy, Mitsuda is awesome), but you're seriously undercutting Araujo's approach to the OST.

Listen to the Ice Titan track posted above, from 1.15 to 1.45. Or to the entire Gabriel theme. Or:

Castlevania Lords of Shadow Music - The Evil Butcher

or

Castlevania Lords of Shadow Music - Laura's Mercy


Notice the enfasis Araujo puts on strings and brass, and the way he uses choirs and percussions. He has great sensibility in handling strings in particular, making them go from epic to haunting to sad in a matter of a few seconds.

Everyone's free to dislike the OST, but some of the comparisons here are absolutely out of place. This is a first rate soundtrack.

[corneliab]

Mitsuda bashing... What is the world coming to???

Mind pointing me toward a more representative track?

Because the one mentioned here was definitely more "generic sounding" than anything I've heard out of LoS.

EDIT: Just listened to that Helsing track. That's an awesome tune. Movie was total shit though.

[Abnormal Freak]

I'm not too incredibly familiar with the guy, but my brother's pretty big into his music and I've heard tunes here and there that all sounded real cool.

'Course, the stuff I'm most familiar with isn't orchestrated but done with piano, synths, and some "real" instruments here and there.

[Dracgou]

IF Conan's theme  was playing when Zobek first zaps  Gabe, then Zobek would be screw,  cause when ever theme  played the badguys always got their asses kick

 Conan The Destroyer(Main Theme) - Basil Poledouris

edit: Golden axe was inspired by Conan

Golden Axe 1 Music - Path of Fiend

Golden Axe 1 (Genesis) Music - Death Adder

Golden Axe 1 (Genesis) Music - Showdown