Video Games Live Volume 1 Review

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Final Thoughts

As I write this, I’m listening to the Advent Rising Suite once again. It, along with the Myst Medley and God of War Montage, are the best tracks on the disc, followed very closely by the Warcraft Suite. They all work perfectly for the games they were in, and they are excellent pieces without the game’s information as well.

However, the Advent Rising Suite is such an excellent portrayal of the game that it made me actually remember scenes I would have otherwise forgotten. No other track in this volume has sparked such memories, even the Tetris piano piece.

In short, Kingdom Hearts sounded too Disney and will turn off many listeners. Medal of Honor was acceptable, but nothing special. Anyone listening to the piece without knowledge of the game would be missing very much. Tetris is simply too short, and it feels like the type of music to set on repeat play for hours at a time; the track captures what it set out to, but essentially grabs listeners’ ears and tosses them aside just as the listener really starts paying attention.
 
A completely full show, just like every one there is.


The Tron Montage almost makes no sense. Why it is even in this list is questionable, considering it is a movie that had videogames made from it (not very good ones). The piece itself is horridly confusing to anyone who isn’t familiar with the film, and when it plays, it is like that song that you hate that always plays after a really good one. It’s too loud, too dramatic, and feels like the composer is forcing the music into our ears.

The Halo Suite was essentially ruined. When the soundtracks for both Halo 1 and 2 were released, they sold well and featured very prominent music. What was on the Halo Suite was just that, but washed over with hyped-up marketing, cumbersome guitar riffs and what felt like a disdain to fans of the original soundtracks. It literally destroyed whatever reputation Marty O’Donnell has, if he allowed it to be played in such a way. Curiously, his name is not listed by the track.

Finally, Castlevania Rock is a bit of a weak ending, but what was interesting was that even live it felt right. The fans were in the right place to give that energy that was so needed for the song to really make it feel like it belonged on the album. Live music may always be worse than pre-recorded, but in the hands of professionals like the VGL Orchestra, even the live music sounded spectacular.

The disc as a whole is a good one. With three excellent tracks, three good ones, three decent and the rest not worth listening to, Video Games Live Volume 1 is an excellent start to what will hopefully be a growing trend; a resurgence of classical music, through videogames.

Verdict: Buy

It should be noted that it is available on iTunes with a bonus track Fallen (from Earthworm Jim), that is not on the disc, nor will it be on Volume 2.  Also, while all the songs are listed as live, they are in fact identical to the disc tracks, with only three live tracks.

DO NOT buy this on iTunes, Amazon or online. It is classical music, and any MP3, AAC or M4a file will leave much of the music out. Buy the CD and listen to it on disc, or copy it as a WAV or AIFF (if you use a Mac), or if you’re an audiophile, FLAC. If you’d like to buy Fallen, then go ahead since there are no current plans to release it on disc.

Article by James Pikover.

Sep 19, 2008
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