The Greatest Video Game Music - London Philharmonic Orchestra (OST) (2011)


[i]
The Greatest Video Game Music
Miusic by: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Genres: Soundtrack
Released: 2011
Format: M4A; 256Kbps
Size: 126 MB



Tracklisting


01. Advent Rising Muse [03:43]
02. Legend of Zelda Suite [04:21]
03. Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 Theme [03:34]
04. Angry Birds Main Theme [03:17]
05. Final Fantasy VIII Liberi Fatali [03:14]
06. Super Mario Bros Theme [04:12]
07. Uncharted - Drake's Fortune Nate's Theme [01:52]
08. Grand Theft Auto IV Soviet Connection [03:07]
09. World of Warcraft Seasons of War [03:12]
10. Metal Gear Solid Sons of Liberty Theme [03:57]
11. Tetris Theme [03:29]
12. Battlefield 2 Theme [04:41]
13. Elder Scrolls Oblivion [01:52]
14. Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare Main Menu Theme [02:17]
15. Mass Effect Suicide Mission [04:51]
16. Splinter Cell Conviction [02:49]
17. Final Fantasy Main Theme [02:44]
18. Bioshock The Ocean on his Shoulders [02:19]
19. Halo 3 One Final Effort [04:04]
20. Fallout 3 Theme [02:22]
21. Super Mario Galaxy Gusty Garden Galaxy [03:49]
22. Final Fantasy XIII Hanging Edge (Bonus Track) [02:36]


uploaded.to


http://ul.to/ps1fefrs

filesonic.com


http://www.filesonic.com/file/3182682302/TGVGM-LPO_forum.zip

wupload


http://www.wupload.com/file/1999968907

filepost.com


http://filepost.com/files/91caca49/TGVGM-LPO_forum.zip/




Enjoy and Please Say Thanks

Thhanks!

Thanks. A modern collection.

Thanks ! A good collection of game music, it's the LPO afterall.

BUT this is not the greatest video game music, I would rather say the most popular music for a western teenage audience who still can't accept or do not understand that Afrika or Outcast outclass almost every track on the album.
Seriously, only the obvious candidates for eastern games and they have been done to death already.
Where is LAIR, Killzone, Order of the Phoenix, Ni no Kuni, Kameo, Ace Combat, Secret Weapons over Normandy, Shenmue, Medal of Honor, Warhawk, Viva Pinata, StarFox, Metroid, Kirby, Dragon Quest, Valkyria Chronicles etc. ? Even most of the old Amiga and SNES synth scores had better music in them than Fallout 3, Call of Duty or Splinter Cell (You get the LPO and you waste them on THIS !?)

A few minor things: Battlefield 2 is actually the theme of Battlefield 1943, a little research wouldn't have hurt. Metal Gear Solid 2 sounds not as good as the original with the orchestra, same with Splinter Cell. Call of Duty 4 is an absolute joke (and there was even some good music in the game), Mass Effect sounds like a bad joke as well, it just doesn't work with a Symphony Orchestra.
One of the few good things is Nate's Theme, it sounds excellent.
Overall (and after a second listen) I'm not very fond of this work but I want to support the orchestra.

My best is Lair.

Thanks! I was really looking for this one ;)

same old mario, halo, zelda, mgs 2, ff7 shit. altleast pick something from mgs4, halo odst. they've played more interesting tracks at their concerts that's not made this cd.

Thank you very much ;D

This is a really diverse collection of game music. There are a few mediocre tracks on here, such as the ones klnerfan mentioned. I'm really puzzled as to why they included the CoD 4 Menu Theme. However, the Angry Birds track is fantastic, and the arrangement of Nate's Theme on this album is perhaps the best I've ever heard. Let's hope for a volume 2!

Some are good, some are decent, but Suicide Mission is fail, it needed more energy and it's slow compared to the original. But it's a noble effort and nice to see Jack Wall got some attention, maybe in the next volume they improve.
Thanks!!

interesting line ups, thanks!

Thank you - looking forward to listening to this collection of themes.

There is a distinct lack of Go Shiina, Kou Ohtani, Shoji Meguro, and Hideki Naganuma on this album for it to be called "The Greatest Video Game Music".

klnerfan pretty much summed it up best. What irks me as well about this album is that they kept the synthesizers that were used in the original pieces when creating orchestral versions. If you have the ability to arrange for orchestra (and you are talking the London Phil for God's sake), you should be able to represent each of those musical ideas without the need for synthesizers. Listening to the samples of this was enough to make me realize it was not worth a purchase.

Was this recording a part of a real concert for live audience? If so, where can I buy tickets? :)

Sirusjr: I'd say it's easily worth of purchase. Yes, there are some odd choices (mainly Modern Warfare, GTA), but the London Philharmonics' performance quality is so high, that the pure orchestral tracks are easily the best I've ever heard on any videogame music concert compilation. Just the tracks for Angry Birds, Uncharted 2, and Battlefield are easily worth the 3 dollars you pay for the whole album.

Take for example the album Play! a Videogames Symphony Live's butchered version of Guild Wars track - the orchestra is absolutely out of tune and out of tempo at the very end.
London Philharmonic is always spot on perfect.

Utter crap. And had the potential to live up to its title, but failed absolutely.

This is a studio recording. I believe this nonsense was performed in concert as well but it's all over now.

Utter crap. And had the potential to live up to its title, but failed absolutely.

This is a studio recording. I believe this nonsense was performed in concert as well but it's all over now.
I'd just like to know why you think this is "utter crap." Please explain.

Thank you ! Any chance of FLAC?

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to piss all over this. I'm very grateful for the upload. I was just expecting a lot more. This is the LPO for God's sake - playing Grand Theft Auto, Angry Birds, Metal Gear Solid, Halo, Fallout, etc? Really? Some of the worst scores in history - and some that aren't too bad but hardly need the London Philharmonic behind them. Nothing unexpected, no risks, just workmanlike orchestrations of pieces that aren't very good to start with. With a handful of exceptions - the quality of the orchestra (and recording - God bless Abbey Road, a beautiful studio with a beautiful acoustic) really shines through in the Zelda suite and a few others, but this could have been so much more.

Oh, well... It's still nice to see that the UK is doing this sort of thing now. And with such a prestigious orchestra, as well. Could it be our turn for the game music explosion?

I just figured it was worth my $3 for the few outstanding tracks that are on the album.

I agree with klnerfan and tangotreats, this was done based on popularity of the games and not on the quality of the scores, it could really have been something much better. Also, it bothers me that the majority of the western world, both in game related and in film score medias, seem to completely overlook game music from Japan. Like it or not, the masters comparable to John Williams and those that laid the foundations of game music are in Japan (with obvious exceptions like Jeremy Soule and Chris Huelsbeck, also responsible for this evolution). Is it really so difficult to make an arrangement for a game whose music hasn't yet been orchestrated? Jonne Valtonen made a 40-minute symphonic poem based on the music of Zelda, Roger Wanamo made a piano concerto with the music of Final Fantasy, and those are far more artistic, ambitious and original than the arrangements of this album. One thing that has to change in the game music world is not the music itself -it has always been there, and it has always been great- but people who deal with it. They have to first try and know it better, and really not be afraid of taking risks, and, please, be more critic. To put Fallout 3 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 as the greatest video game music is a very serious mistake.

With that said, thanks for uploading the album.

Wow, what a hate fest this thread turned into... I, on the other hand, am very grateful that the producers and orchestrators took some risks and tried to transform synth scores into the orchestra arrangements. The quality of the source material is questionable, yes, but at least they did try something new. I am personally sick of all the Zelda, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Mario music that is on EVERY other video game concert album. Yes, they are nice pieces, but when I hear them for "bazillion times" again and again and again, I wish the producers did something new. I understand the emotional link between this old NES games and their music, but for God's sake, try something new! Why can't they arrange some music from Gabriel Knight 3, Monkey Island, Bermuda Syndrome, Age of Conan etc.... they are so many of them!

London Philharmonic Orchestra really gives everything a classical vib, most tracks here are well orchestrated and grandish sounding! Hope big orchestras make more albums like this in the future!

Anyone have the Amazon Mp3 bonus Edition? Apparently it has a different bonus track from the iTunes version.

Wow, what a hate fest this thread turned into... I, on the other hand, am very grateful that the producers and orchestrators took some risks and tried to transform synth scores into the orchestra arrangements. The quality of the source material is questionable, yes, but at least they did try something new. I am personally sick of all the Zelda, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Mario music that is on EVERY other video game concert album. Yes, they are nice pieces, but when I hear them for "bazillion times" again and again and again, I wish the producers did something new. I understand the emotional link between this old NES games and their music, but for God's sake, try something new! Why can't they arrange some music from Gabriel Knight 3, Monkey Island, Bermuda Syndrome, Age of Conan etc.... they are so many of them!

I don't know why you consider our criticisms to be hateful. If you have read the posts on the Big Orchestral Action Music Thread and seen the sorts of quality orchestral albums that have been produced in the past with the music from a single show - gundam seed symphony, gundam seed destiny symphony, or gundam symphony - you can see why we have high standards.

Plus I think in the end we agree on this anyway, we all want to see arrangements of music that hasn't been given the orchestral treatment in the past. When an orchestra like the London Philharmonic is used, we want to see material worthy of their pedigree. Personally I think there needs to be an album of orchestral performances of music by Hitoshi Sakimoto that would include Final Fantasy Tactics (still miraculously has not been on any orchestral albums), Odin Sphere, Valkyria Chronicles, Deltora Quest, and maybe even some Vagrant Story.

I don't know why you consider our criticisms to be hateful. If you have read the posts on the Big Orchestral Action Music Thread and seen the sorts of quality orchestral albums that have been produced in the past with the music from a single show - gundam seed symphony, gundam seed destiny symphony, or gundam symphony - you can see why we have high standards.

Plus I think in the end we agree on this anyway, we all want to see arrangements of music that hasn't been given the orchestral treatment in the past. When an orchestra like the London Philharmonic is used, we want to see material worthy of their pedigree. Personally I think there needs to be an album of orchestral performances of music by Hitoshi Sakimoto that would include Final Fantasy Tactics (still miraculously has not been on any orchestral albums), Odin Sphere, Valkyria Chronicles, Deltora Quest, and maybe even some Vagrant Story.

Agreed. I believe anyone who enjoys game music will criticize, but not for the sake of doing so, but because productions like this can be much better and satisfying. No one is against this kind of effort, and the criticism is made with the intentions of seeing in the future more projects like this one, but with superior selections and arrangements.

Regarding Sakimoto, that would be awesome. The symphonic scores by Sakimoto are begging to be orchestrated. In that list we could add Final Fantasy XII (which remains without a single orchestral arrangement, the only main FF to not have one) and Legaia Duel Saga.

Come on, Sirus old friend, you know the drill these days; if you acknowledge fault in something, you're a hater. If something bothers you, you're being emo. If you dislike something other people like, you're a snob.

Absolutely agree with everything you said. There is nothing imaginative in this album at all. Taking music which is poor from the outset, giving it an unimaginative arrangement, and passing it to one of the world's finest symphony orchestras... There's something very wrong with that.

Mix that up with twenty year-old arrangements of tired themes (Super Mario Bros), atrocious music that's there only because it is attached to a popular franchise (GTA IV), and bandwagon-jumping cynical appeals to pop-culture (Angry Birds) and you have this album. The production values are EXCELLENT - which makes it twice as painful. Clearly this had a big budget attached to it, and was treated as a pretige project... So why the crap arrangements and crap music?

i know some people would love or hate this soundtrack.

but please: can somebody upload this via mediafire or other BETTER site? all of these upload sites just suck

tangotreats, I think you also have to take into consideration what audience this album was made for. I think its pretty obvious that it is more for "casual" game music fans, rather than us fanatics on this forum. Let's say they did put some lesser-known stuff (Dragon Quest, Odin Sphere, Valkyria Chronicles, Tactics Ogre, etc.). Who would buy it? Probably only hardcore fans, and thus the record company would lose money. Its sad but true. On the bright side, hopefully we'll see a volume 2 with a better selection!

Yes but even going for the mainstream they could have (1) done a better job with some new arrangements from the Final Fantasy, Zelda and Mario stuff and (2) done a better job picking music with recognizable themes from big western games.

I agree with klnerfan and tangotreats, this was done based on popularity of the games and not on the quality of the scores, it could really have been something much better. Also, it bothers me that the majority of the western world, both in game related and in film score medias, seem to completely overlook game music from Japan. Like it or not, the masters comparable to John Williams and those that laid the foundations of game music are in Japan (with obvious exceptions like Jeremy Soule and Chris Huelsbeck, also responsible for this evolution). Is it really so difficult to make an arrangement for a game whose music hasn't yet been orchestrated? Jonne Valtonen made a 40-minute symphonic poem based on the music of Zelda, Roger Wanamo made a piano concerto with the music of Final Fantasy, and those are far more artistic, ambitious and original than the arrangements of this album. One thing that has to change in the game music world is not the music itself -it has always been there, and it has always been great- but people who deal with it. They have to first try and know it better, and really not be afraid of taking risks, and, please, be more critic. To put Fallout 3 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 as the greatest video game music is a very serious mistake.

With that said, thanks for uploading the album.

*slow clap*

This couldn't have been said any better.

Yes but even going for the mainstream they could have (1) done a better job with some new arrangements from the Final Fantasy, Zelda and Mario stuff and (2) done a better job picking music with recognizable themes from big western games.I also wonder if they did try to use some music from other AAA western titles, but licensing issues wouldn't allow them to.

Hey, tks for this one!

Awesome and I'm so glad to have two Mario songs in the soundtrack! Way to go!

Someone requested the Amazon bonus edition, so here it is on Multipupload: hxxp://www.multiupload.com/IITENAFFEG

Genre : Soundtrack
Original Release Date : 2011
Source : Amazon MP3
DRM : None at all
Quality : 256 KB/s
Format : MP3

1. Advent Rising: Muse
2. Legend of Zelda: Suite
3. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Theme
4. Angry Birds: Main Theme
5. Final Fantasy VIII: Liberi Fatali
6. Super Mario Bros: Theme
7. Uncharted - Drake's Fortune: Nate's Theme
8. Grand Theft Auto IV: Soviet Connection
9. World of Warcraft: Seasons of War
10. Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme
11. Tetris Theme (Korobeiniki)
12. Battlefield 2: Theme
13. Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
14. Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare: Main Menu Theme
15. Mass Effect: Suicide Mission
16. Splinter Cell: Conviction
17. Final Fantasy: Main Theme
18. Bioshock: The Ocean on his Shoulders
19. Halo 3: One Final Effort
20. Fallout 3: Theme
21. Super Mario Galaxy: Gusty Garden Galaxy
22. Bonus Track: Dead Space: Welcome Aboard The U.S.G. Ishimura

Agreeing with everyone else here that this album was seriously lacking in variety. It shouldn't be called the greatest video game music, but rather, music from mainstream Western video games that brought in the most revenue... ever. And what the hell is Angry Birds doing on there? Has that crappy iPhone game gotten to the point where it displaces some of the real quality gems out there? Very disappointed in this junk. Also, while the orchestral talent is undeniable, being the LPO after all, I was very disappointed in ME2: Suicide Mission... one of my favorite Western game themes... and this version just felt flat. Build-up took far too long, and even at the end, there should have been more bass. I should be feeling the pound of my heart in the music! Instead, it sounds like Shepard's taking a sauna bath :/

This will be only about the tracklist, as I haven't been able to listen to the actualm album yet. I don't see the complaints about the selected musicl. It is, after all, a SELECTION, not to mention a 1-CD selection. To accurately represent video game music, this would have been a 3-CD or 4-CD release, but let's face it: Video game music isn't so popular one could afford to record 3 CDs of music with the frickin' LSO, perhaos the most famous (=expensive) orchestra on Earth. With 1 CD, there was bound to be stuff missing.
I agree that this is a selection aimed at a casual video game listener, and definitely not the "Greatest Video Game Music". But who can blame them? Of course they're strifing for the most common denominator on a niche market like this. And of course they're calling it "The Greastest Video Game Music" and not, while admittedly more appropriate, "The Most Popular Video Game Music". I think it's a rather good selection. It has good old stuff (Tetris, Final Fantasy VIII), good new stuff (WOW, Bioshock) and some stuff that is included to SELL this stuff (Battlefield 2, Angry Birds). And for the latter, again, wo can blame them? This release wouldn't have happened if there was only outstanding, but little-known music on it that nobody knows. This would be exactly the kind of album I would recommend to someone who says: "Hey, I would really like to get to know video game music, but I'm entirely new on this and know nothing about it." A perfect introduction into VGM. It's a good selection. It's just not for us.

What is the bloody password? D:

This is NOT the London Symphony Orchestra. It is the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

I know this thing has to appeal to the masses and make money. I could have come up with a selection that would have satisfied those requirements, sold a zillion copies, and contained good music in imaginative arrangements. I'd have put Angry Birds on there... but I would have expanded it into a genuinely symphonic tone poem... what better inspiration do you need? Angry birds. Respighi meets Vaughan Williams via Stravinsky. Imagine that. Nah, let's just make some drab lumbering arrangement and toss that on instead.

These albums should lure the mass audience by appealing to their interests - video games - and then educate them. Get them to understand the possibilities of the modern orchestra. Get them interested in exploring the classical repertoire, broaden their horizons, etc. I fail to see how they will achieve this with almost-indistinguishable-from-the-original renditions of insignificant cues from popular franchises that were never music-oriented or dependent in the first place. I love GTA IV. I'm running a bit behind but I've just started going out with Kate McCreary. I don't play it to listen to the score though!

If I had a spare �10,000 I'd record the album I have inside my head just to prove a point.

This will be only about the tracklist, as I haven't been able to listen to the actualm album yet. I don't see the complaints about the selected musicl. It is, after all, a SELECTION, not to mention a 1-CD selection. To accurately represent video game music, this would have been a 3-CD or 4-CD release, but let's face it: Video game music isn't so popular one could afford to record 3 CDs of music with the frickin' LSO, perhaos the most famous (=expensive) orchestra on Earth. With 1 CD, there was bound to be stuff missing.
I agree that this is a selection aimed at a casual video game listener, and definitely not the "Greatest Video Game Music". But who can blame them? Of course they're strifing for the most common denominator on a niche market like this. And of course they're calling it "The Greastest Video Game Music" and not, while admittedly more appropriate, "The Most Popular Video Game Music". I think it's a rather good selection. It has good old stuff (Tetris, Final Fantasy VIII), good new stuff (WOW, Bioshock) and some stuff that is included to SELL this stuff (Battlefield 2, Angry Birds). And for the latter, again, wo can blame them? This release wouldn't have happened if there was only outstanding, but little-known music on it that nobody knows. This would be exactly the kind of album I would recommend to someone who says: "Hey, I would really like to get to know video game music, but I'm entirely new on this and know nothing about it." A perfect introduction into VGM. It's a good selection. It's just not for us.Well said.

Thank you so much for both he M4A and the MP3 editions :-)

Okay, my bad on the orchestra mixup, sorry. Still, it's a very high-profile orchestra, which recorded the music for the Lord Of THe Rings movies, for example.

@tangotreats: Good points you made. My question, and I hope this is not too much OT: How would the tracklist of such a hypothetical album look like? No challenge, just honest interest.

Thank you so much!!

check out the video for this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HdEySg0-A0

I think we can all agree that generally calling something "The greatest video game music"

IS A BIG FUCKING MISTAKE.


It would have saved a LOT of HATE on this album.
Myself included.


You should never make an album titled as such.

It's just plain stupid.