tangotreats's review / seal of approval :'D
For the following quote, I edited out the section when he mentions/reviews Sea Dogs . Go read them / download the score (also recently re-uploaded by RadeonX1950 (
http://forums.ffshrine.org/f72/sea-dogs-original-game-soundtrack-%5Bflac-mp3%5D-139185)) here (
http://forums.ffshrine.org/f92/big-orchestral-action-music-thread-57893/518.html#post2422280).
This scores may be the best kept secret in orchestral game scoring. Like Outcast, it is a mature, symphonic work that feel more like concert hall works than a game score. Performed by the the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, ladies and gentlemen, here is...
Composed and Orchestrated by
YURY POTEYENKO
Age Of Pirates - Caribbean Tales (2005)
Moscow Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Alexander Yedernikov
Choir "Kastalsky-Kapella"
conducted by Aleksey Rudnevsky
My rips. Scans and log included in FLAC edition; scans only in MP3.
MP3 Edition - ZippyShare - (these are my original rips from 2008, encoded with the then-current state of the art LAME 3.97; rips were verified accurate but no logs were recorded. Bitrate setting -V0)
Zippyshare.com - YP-AOP-MP3.rar (
http://www70.zippyshare.com/v/2698852/file.html)
FLAC Edition - MEGA - (New rips made today, also verified accurate, with EAC log included.)
https://mega.co.nz/#!hwgV1abS!Ga43yxe7jGphFMBZTmnyk2SComsM6SPvIdfU216 rjlw
Whew, where to begin with this? Yury Poteyenko has written an absolute corker here - about as far away from the current Hollywood pirate music as you can possibly get, and yet also not at all like the more traditional Korngold swashbucklers. The music is more sea-faring; grand, and highly melodic. The action cues aren't about high-speed orchestral acrobatics; they're precise and stately.
Age Of Pirates takes a slightly broader approach; the main theme is a grand piece that conjures up images of a beautiful sailing ship, coarsing majestically through the sea. This wonderfully versatile theme is used liberally through the score. There's another "Sunrise" cue, as well - this time a warm, romantic, sailing theme presented first on Cor Anglais and then later on flute, the rest of the woodwinds, brass, and finally with a choral accompaniment. The action cues are a little more... direct... than in Sea Dogs - and there's more of them; Fierce Close Fight, Mortal Combat, and "To Boarding" being some of the highlights.
All in all, a ridiculously good score - certainly conceived as concert music first and game scores second. This is music that just screams out "quality" - no shortcuts, no cheap tricks, no lowest-common-denominator Hollywood concessions to modernity. Only imaginative, exceptionally well written music - superbly orchestrated and beautifully performed.
Enjoy! :)
