Doublehex
01-28-2011, 12:02 AM
Yes, it is another upload of Dead Space 2, but it has the advantage of combining both the collector's edition soundtrack and the iTunes/Amazon MP3 edition. I arranged it to the best of my abilities, but as I am still in the middle of the game (which is pretty damn good; it would be great if it was actually scary and not just very atmospheric and nerve wrecking...but that is for another post) it is not arranged in chronological order. Neither was it my intent! Instead, I went mostly for atmosphere, placing like minded pieces together and trying to tell a story through music. I also used titles as a way of helping me determine where I should place a file. The best example of this would be Titan Station Elementary/Say Hello to My Little Friends/Class Dismissed.
The collector's edition mp3s are ripped from my copy of the disc. It was done by dbpoweramp, is encoded in LAME at VBR 320. The iTunes/Amazon MP3 files are .M4A 256 CBR. I have included high quality images of both. Apologies about the rip on the Collector's Edition - EA thought it was a swell idea to use cheap cardboard sleeve instead of a jewel case. Despite me trying to be as careful as I could be, I managed to rip it. Not completely, but still. Bah.
The iTunes/AmazonMP3 folder image is included for your convience. Credit goes to VGMDB for hosting a 1500x1500 HQ for download. It is listed as folder_alt.
Dead Space 2
Jason Graves
Download (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0IKAGRE0)
So, enough of all that junk. Here is the important stuff - how is the music? The music for the first game was, to be frank, fantastic! Reminiscing Goldsmith's Alien, it was filled with atmosphere. The moment the opening cue started up, with those foreboding strings signaling the arrival of the stage of the original Dead Space, the USG Ishimura, you knew you were in for a musical treat. It put Jason Graves on the video game scoring map. The question wasn't if Graves could keep up the sense of quality - it was if he could step off the beaten path enough to differentiate the two games in terms of musical tone, but not stray enough so that the music had no cohesion with the last game.
TL;DR version: he did it. Dead Space 2 has a fantastic score, but it is also bred in line with the language of the last score. The dominant presence of strings, the low, long and brooding brass, the percussion that sounds as if it was anvils - it's all here, but used in new ways.
The long version: The major drawback of the score is that it does not have a dominant theme. The USG Ishimura of the last game, heard "Welcome Aboard the U.S.G. Ishimura", was the theme of the ship and was subtly alluded to all of the time. Now, this may be just because I have heard the first score a dozen times over, and only to the newer one a few, but I can't find a theme that is found all of the time.
The closest we have is Isaac's theme. It is first heard in "Issac, Are You There?" and it's final appearance is "Lacrimosa". It is what I would call "strings on drugs". There are few ways I can describe it. It can only be heard. You'll recognize it when you hear it, and especially if you play the game since it is first heard when you see Isaac for the first time, hallucinating of his dead Nicole and being "questioned" by a psychologist in the Sprawl's mental ward.
Jason Graves is obviously an admirer of Krzyzytof Penderecki, and perhaps Gyorgy Legeti. You could definitely hear remnants of that inspiration with the first game. With this, Jason Graves makes it so damn obvious there is no way you can argue otherwise. It's all here - the abstract way of strings and percussion, the uneven melodies, the way brass is played in reverse, the plucking of violin strings...
If you are a fan of the avaunt grade, there is no doubt you will admire Dead Space 2. That may explain why I think so highly of it: it fits my tastes like a glove. I'm not surprised that many people were not into the soundtrack: it is hard for many people to recognize this as music.
Silence has a lot to play here. It won't be recognized on the first listen unless you intentionally listen closely. The space between a series of percussion beats, the way the string is played...Graves has found a way to make instruments give the illusion of silence.
The action music is great as well. It is full of drums and harsh string usage. It personifies the fear of bloody, gorey death. The atmosphere music signifies the fear of the death from the unknown. Isaac doesn't know when a Necromorph will pop out of a vent or from a corner. But when the battle music plays, the Necromorphs are right in front of him. Those bloody scythes and claws will rip him into pieces if he doesn't act now. A single mis-shot will end him - he needs to aim now, or he is dead! And the music says that, note to note. Great stuff.
In conclusion, this is a great soundtrack. I can't call it excellent because it is lacking on themes, which is a real shame. It is so close in my eyes to being a score we would be talking about long after the game is out. But chances are it won't be remembered minus the fans of the franchise. Not because it is bad - far from it! But it just doesn't have recognizable themes. It may be played at a videogame symphony once or twice, but not in a decade or so.
If you are willing to buy the Collector's Edition of the game for the score, I encourage you to do so. It is worth the extra money for the soundtrack alone. In fact, it is the only redeeming part of the collector's edition! Art Lithograph which is nothing more than thinly printed cardboard? A cheaply made "MADE IN CHINA" plastic rendition of the Plasma Cutter? If it weren't for the soundtrack, I would easily say the Collector's Edition is a waste of $20.
In other news...I am working with a gamerip of Wrath Unleashed by Jack Walls. Balls to the wall action. Very fun - if direct - score.
The collector's edition mp3s are ripped from my copy of the disc. It was done by dbpoweramp, is encoded in LAME at VBR 320. The iTunes/Amazon MP3 files are .M4A 256 CBR. I have included high quality images of both. Apologies about the rip on the Collector's Edition - EA thought it was a swell idea to use cheap cardboard sleeve instead of a jewel case. Despite me trying to be as careful as I could be, I managed to rip it. Not completely, but still. Bah.
The iTunes/AmazonMP3 folder image is included for your convience. Credit goes to VGMDB for hosting a 1500x1500 HQ for download. It is listed as folder_alt.
Dead Space 2
Jason Graves
Download (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0IKAGRE0)
So, enough of all that junk. Here is the important stuff - how is the music? The music for the first game was, to be frank, fantastic! Reminiscing Goldsmith's Alien, it was filled with atmosphere. The moment the opening cue started up, with those foreboding strings signaling the arrival of the stage of the original Dead Space, the USG Ishimura, you knew you were in for a musical treat. It put Jason Graves on the video game scoring map. The question wasn't if Graves could keep up the sense of quality - it was if he could step off the beaten path enough to differentiate the two games in terms of musical tone, but not stray enough so that the music had no cohesion with the last game.
TL;DR version: he did it. Dead Space 2 has a fantastic score, but it is also bred in line with the language of the last score. The dominant presence of strings, the low, long and brooding brass, the percussion that sounds as if it was anvils - it's all here, but used in new ways.
The long version: The major drawback of the score is that it does not have a dominant theme. The USG Ishimura of the last game, heard "Welcome Aboard the U.S.G. Ishimura", was the theme of the ship and was subtly alluded to all of the time. Now, this may be just because I have heard the first score a dozen times over, and only to the newer one a few, but I can't find a theme that is found all of the time.
The closest we have is Isaac's theme. It is first heard in "Issac, Are You There?" and it's final appearance is "Lacrimosa". It is what I would call "strings on drugs". There are few ways I can describe it. It can only be heard. You'll recognize it when you hear it, and especially if you play the game since it is first heard when you see Isaac for the first time, hallucinating of his dead Nicole and being "questioned" by a psychologist in the Sprawl's mental ward.
Jason Graves is obviously an admirer of Krzyzytof Penderecki, and perhaps Gyorgy Legeti. You could definitely hear remnants of that inspiration with the first game. With this, Jason Graves makes it so damn obvious there is no way you can argue otherwise. It's all here - the abstract way of strings and percussion, the uneven melodies, the way brass is played in reverse, the plucking of violin strings...
If you are a fan of the avaunt grade, there is no doubt you will admire Dead Space 2. That may explain why I think so highly of it: it fits my tastes like a glove. I'm not surprised that many people were not into the soundtrack: it is hard for many people to recognize this as music.
Silence has a lot to play here. It won't be recognized on the first listen unless you intentionally listen closely. The space between a series of percussion beats, the way the string is played...Graves has found a way to make instruments give the illusion of silence.
The action music is great as well. It is full of drums and harsh string usage. It personifies the fear of bloody, gorey death. The atmosphere music signifies the fear of the death from the unknown. Isaac doesn't know when a Necromorph will pop out of a vent or from a corner. But when the battle music plays, the Necromorphs are right in front of him. Those bloody scythes and claws will rip him into pieces if he doesn't act now. A single mis-shot will end him - he needs to aim now, or he is dead! And the music says that, note to note. Great stuff.
In conclusion, this is a great soundtrack. I can't call it excellent because it is lacking on themes, which is a real shame. It is so close in my eyes to being a score we would be talking about long after the game is out. But chances are it won't be remembered minus the fans of the franchise. Not because it is bad - far from it! But it just doesn't have recognizable themes. It may be played at a videogame symphony once or twice, but not in a decade or so.
If you are willing to buy the Collector's Edition of the game for the score, I encourage you to do so. It is worth the extra money for the soundtrack alone. In fact, it is the only redeeming part of the collector's edition! Art Lithograph which is nothing more than thinly printed cardboard? A cheaply made "MADE IN CHINA" plastic rendition of the Plasma Cutter? If it weren't for the soundtrack, I would easily say the Collector's Edition is a waste of $20.
In other news...I am working with a gamerip of Wrath Unleashed by Jack Walls. Balls to the wall action. Very fun - if direct - score.