Topic: Super Castlevania IV soundtrack

[Rugal]

I just re-downloaded the entire soundtrack from that game from this website, and listened to the entire thing again.

Is it normal to get chills from listening to this stuff? It brings back so many memories of my childhood. If someone were to ask me to explain to them in one word my childhood, I'd say Super Castlevania IV.

This soundtrack is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion, and is one I can listen to over and over again, and never ever get bored of it. Listening to Dracula's theme just now sent me into a kind of shock, and the ending theme nearly brings me into tears. I dunno, man. I've never had a soundtrack have such an influence on me.

I really do hope that the developers, and composers of the music for Lords of Shadow can get it right.. I just want to relive this experience again.

Super Castlevania IV and your amazing music. Oh will you always have a place in my heart.

[Abnormal Freak]

It's certainly a solid score. It still amazes me to this day how they got those sounds out of an SNES sound chip. (Not a knock on the sound source--it's amazing--just saying it boggles my mind, is all.)

That ending theme is beautifully emotional to me as well.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

The composition is very complex, too.  If you examine the chords and the melodies, they're very hardcore, from the organ riffs and flute runs of "The Submerged City", to the almost Tango-like Pianoforte in "Chandeliers".  And, of course, as mentioned before, the start-up bass clarinet in "Dracula's Theme" that leads into the Organ/Strings/Bassoon melodies.

It's very deeply moving.

[shelverton.]

The only track I actually don't like is Simon's Theme. I have absolutely no idea why but it never felt very Castlevania-ish to me, not even back in 1992 when the game launched in Europe. Today I appreciate it more, perhaps out of pure nostalgia, dunno... But I'd take any other "signature" CV tune over it, any day. Other than that the soundtrack to this amazing game is flawless. My personal favorite is the much overlooked library theme. Or the treasury. Or the chandeliers. Or the forest. Or... or.. or...

[Ralph]

In Reply To #1

Try listening to the soundtrack in the dark if you haven't already. It's a pretty good experience.

In Reply To #3

Yeah Jorge, the first time I heard "Chandeliers" and Dracula's theme, I had goosebumps. I appreciate music that can be complex without getting stale, and it's refreshing to find it in video games.

[Eric Roman]

It was definitely a tough act to follow.

In my opinion, Dracula X and Bloodlines failed to deliver.  Sure, both had great songs (and Bloodlines a superior variety), but aside from the guitar pickin' of Richter's theme, the sound of the music just wasn't as seriously phenomenal as what Super CastleVania was able to pull off.

It wasn't until the '64 CVs that we got something nearly as good.

[Xain]

CV4's soundtrack is really one of the best on the system. Some how they managed to make the instruments sound organic. Also, I love how the three songs in stage 3 have a completely different tone from the rest of the soundtrack.

Damn it, just thinking about the music makes me want to play again.

It wasn't until the '64 CVs that we got something nearly as good.

Hmm...my memory is a bit fuzzy on that. Looks like a fine excuse to go looking for those Soundtracks.

Edit: Eh...can't say a completely agree with you but some tracks really shine. Also, found something interesting. What would the first stage of CV4 sound like if it was made for the Genesis---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCHuoQAqrUU&feature=related

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Awesome link, Xain.  Theme of Simon Cv4 on the YM2612 chip sounds better than the Genesis version of the same tune!

[Abnormal Freak]

"Theme of Simon Belmont" is like the staple CV tune for me--more so than "Vampire Killer", "Bloody Tears", or any other popular song. But that may have something to do with Castlevania IV being the first in the series I ever fell in love with.

Gotta disagree on that YM2612 version of the SNES version being better than the Bloodlines tune. It sounds kinda soulless--like a soundtrack to an old Sierra computer game.

[The Silverlord]

Is it normal to get chills from listening to this stuff?

Absolutely.  We were given some rich aural treats early on in the SNES lifetime between that soundtrack and Actraiser's (Yuzo Koshiro/Quintet).  I used to just sit with the Options screen open, playing through each BGM (aye, it's sad but true).

Die to hear a simple, unadorned recording of the Ending Theme (and others) with the Lords of Shadow orchestra.

Actually, just done a bit of research and found that a chap named Óscar Araujo is handling the score of the game.  One site states that Araujo has had 220 musicians, including choirs, for recording the soundtrack for the game.  So . . . the recording process may be complete?  Wonder what gems they picked . . . ?

[Xain]

In Reply To #8

You know what...i totaly forgot that bloodlines had the theme of simon when i posted that link. lol.

[Mobius]

I have commented on many occasions how SCV IV is still a game I can play over and over again repeatedly without once getting tired of it, and how a huge factor in this enjoyment comes from the musical score. It took me a few years, but I finally nabbed a copy of the soundtrack album and it's treated with utmost reverence on my CD shelf. - Has its own private space and everything. Yes, it never fails to impress me just how much pathos the game programmers were able to pump out of the SNES's audio software. The end theme (I will always faithfully refer to it as "Awakening Earth" on my playlists) is a beautiful, haunting, and deeply emotional piece that has not quite been topped in the series as an ending theme. -Though CV 64's grand finale cues and "Repose of Souls" from Circle of the Moon certainly come close.

Surprisingly, "Theme of Simon" does come off as one of the weakest songs in comparison to the rest of the score. But it felt like an immediate Castlevania-flavoured tune the moment I first heard it. It took a few years until the arranged version for Castlevania Chronicle really took the piece and blew me away with a properly fitting, heroic treatment. The melody itself though is unforgettable. Definitely ranks up there with the classics for sheer catchy-ness.

All in all, this is a soundtrack that I think will forever be regarded -- and rightly so -- as a milestone of video game scoring, a spot-on mood enhancing score for Castlevania, an ideal representation of the mythos this series stands for, and a benchmark that games in the franchise do and should aspire to. Bravo.

[Belmont Stakes]

IMO, SCVIV has the best music in the series period. If you look at the cover of the first Castlevania and listen to Dracula's Battle you see what the game is and should always be: dark, brooding, subtle creepiness, and damn evil. One of the things that the music makers did in 1,2 and 4 that made it a particularly haunting experience is the use of fading the music out (ie. a boss encounter or night/day transistions) . That is probably if not the biggest and most successful gimic. But this is the best music and the Dracula Battle is tits. It's screams Castlevania and from my standpoint is the quintessential Castlevania theme (over Vampire Killer, or Bloody Tears or any other song fucking period!!!) To quote AVGN, "it blew my fucking balls off!" The only music that comes close is the arranged music from Castlevania Chronicles which has a couple of songs worthy to be in CV4's company. Bloody Tears and the super haunting Etude for the Killer. I like just about all the songs on that game though. It's super bad ass and coooo!

[darkwzrd4]

That ending theme is beautifully emotional to me as well.

I agree. 

Hey does anyone know where I can find a copy of the sound track?  If so, where can I get one?  I tried iTunes, but all they have is SotN, CoD, DXC, and what they call "CV classic collection".

[Rugal]

http://www.castlevaniadungeon.net/Media/dracbest2.html