Western Game soundtracks are so underrated?

How come the majority of VGM OSTS are eastern japanese?

I mean when everytime there is a discussion forum about VGM’s mostly its from japanese game soundtracks.

Is it because people appreciate more the eastern VGM’s more than the western VGM’s?

I don’t get it.

Again i still respect japanese and VGM OSTS. I just don’t prefer it. thats why i upload as much western VGM as much as i can to remove it from the minority status that it has here and everywhere else.

The sad part is that it doesn’t get noticed as much and it sinks to the bottom of the poage with 100 views.

Most western games never even get an official soundtrack release. 🙁

Western music does get noticed, but the majority of game music is from Japan. Japan release many games and anime a year, and because of this many soundtracks are released for most of them. Not all soundtracks get released in Japan though, such as Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance.

I enjoy western music just as much, such as Heroes of Might & Magic IV, Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Fantasy General, Turrican, Icewind Dale etc..

Not all soundtracks get released in Japan though, such as Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance.

Huh? There’s a soundtrack for CV: HoD. It was released on the same CD as CV: Circle of the Moon. http://www.chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=KMCA-162

I’ve never found music from Western (aka. North American) games very impressive, because they sound like they were composed simply to fill the background.

It’s not just in video games. Take the music from the Spiderman movies. It’s just a big symphony. Exactly what part of it is supposed to say, "Spiderman?" Using a big orchestra is nice, as it costs a lot of money. However, more instruments making more noise does not equal better.

There are exceptions. Shawn Lee’s work in the Bully OST was excellent. David Wise did a good job with Star Fox Adventures. Regardless, I think the main reason Western music isn’t so impressive is that composers create it with the mindset that no one will listen to it outside the game, that it can’t replace mainstream music.

I’ve never found music from Western (aka. North American) games very impressive, because they sound like they were composed simply to fill the background.

And yet, that’s precisely what music in any game or movie is supposed to do. Set the mood and highlight whatever else is going on. Anytime the music takes center stage over on-screen events, it’s a failing.

It’s not just in video games. Take the music from the Spiderman movies. It’s just a big symphony. Exactly what part of it is supposed to say, "Spiderman?" Using a big orchestra is nice, as it costs a lot of money. However, more instruments making more noise does not equal better.

Why does Spider-Man need some big blaring theme in the first place? The music in those movies did precisely what it was supposed to. It established or emphasized the tone of each scene subtly without competing for the audience’s attention.

Regardless, I think the main reason Western music isn’t so impressive is that composers create it with the mindset that no one will listen to it outside the game, that it can’t replace mainstream music.

Again, you’re mistaken. It’s not that composers put in less effort because it won’t reach the mainstream. It’s that they know their place. They know what their role is and they stick to it, working with the rest of the team to create balanced games.

I respect certain composers for there work. Also not all western game music is unimpressive or just to fill the background. I mean check out the gears of war orchestral soundtrack. That has to be the best videogame music score out there besides halo!!, and thats getting a soundtrack release. I also think splinter cells score should be noticed more like in double agent.

Not all VGM music has to be filled with a bunch of instruments and a poppy-ish atmosphere like in the anime VGM soundtracks.

I’ve never found music from Western (aka. North American) games very impressive, because they sound like they were composed simply to fill the background.

And yet, that’s precisely what music in any game or movie is supposed to do. Set the mood and highlight whatever else is going on.

I believe the dudes at OC Remix put it best:

This website is dedicated to arranging video and computer game music. Our mission is to prove that this music is not disposable or merely background, but is as intricate, innovative, and lasting as any other form.
If you think it’s just background noise, good for you.

Anytime the music takes center stage over on-screen events, it’s a failing.
Do you have an example?

Why does Spider-Man need some big blaring theme in the first place?
Who said he does? I certainly didn’t.

The music in those movies did precisely what it was supposed to. It established or emphasized the tone of each scene subtly without competing for the audience’s attention.
So… the music shouldn’t strive to be as cool as the action? How about if I pay more for the ticket?

It’s not that composers put in less effort because it won’t reach the mainstream.
Never said they put in less effort. I only said I’m not very impressed by their efforts. I can only imagine how difficult it is to compose original music for an entire movie. But if it’s just background noise, I won’t like it very much.

It’s that they know their place.
They must be oh so flattered by this.

So your idea of a counterpoint is just a series of unimaginatively sarcastic comments and not a single attempt to prove anything I said wrong? If you disagree with me, at least make an effort to prove your case. It won’t prove itself, and trusting it to do so can only make you look like a numbskull. Of course, I’d be perfectly happy with that outcome also.

And your idea of a counterpoint is stating opinion as fact without proof and throwing in insults to prevent me from further discussion, for fear that I’ll point out the many flaws in your pathetic arguments.

I knew it; you have nothing. Listen sport, stick to tangling with other Transformer fanboys. Maybe you can finally prove to them that the old Megatron was WAAAAAAAAAAAY better than the new Megatrons, or vice versa.

Show me an opinion. Go ahead. Try it, you ignorant cunt. As for throwing insults, you made the first one in the form of your condescending non-argument. You invited a retort, so you have absolutely no right to complain.

Shame this. I was just beginning to think Lawrence was a newbie, capable of intelligent discussion, till I finished reading everything. 🙁

Don’t debate with Prack hes like 1,000,000 and 0.

Indeed, Giga. I was even giving him the chance to have a rational discussion. Alas, he is determined to live up to his name.

Japan puts out most video games. In a sense I’m glad they do. American composers tend to use symphony a lot. While I do enjoy orchestrated soundtracks…sometimes I just want to listen to megaman type music or something like that.

Here are some of the American composed OSTs I enjoyed.

Jack Wall (Jade Empire)
Russel Shaw (Fable)
Mark Mancina (Blood+ *yea i know it’s anime…but it’s damn good.*)

To Prak:
*Yawn*

This is sad. You have no ability to discuss anything rationally. The fact that other forum members agree with you instead of me proves only that they’re as immature as you. Anyway, I’m done with this topic, since it can only go downhill from here.

I will say this though: you’re skills as an internet asshole are impressive, but you’re nowhere near the level of the biggest internet asshole I’ve ever met. Compared to him, you’re just a pussy. Try being more sarcastic, and stress that the opinions of others are always bullshit.

Indeed, Giga. I was even giving him the chance to have a rational discussion. Alas, he is determined to live up to his name.

Sure seems that way. Still perhaps there’s hope for him yet. 😉

To Prak:
*Yawn*

This is sad. You have no ability to discuss anything rationally. The fact that other forum members agree with you instead of me proves only that they’re as immature as you. Anyway, I’m done with this topic, since it can only go downhill from here.

I will say this though: you’re skills as an internet asshole are impressive, but you’re nowhere near the level of the biggest internet asshole I’ve ever met. Compared to him, you’re just a pussy. Try being more sarcastic, and stress that the opinions of others are always bullshit.

Giga, I think this post proves that he does not have any hope of growing a brain anytime soon. Anyone who will go so far as to blindly insult anyone who agrees with me is a hopeless imbecile; and considering how self-centered this one seems to be, there’s little hope of reforming him with anything short of a cracked skull.

I’m also laughing over his lack of differentiation between "your" and you’re."

To Prak:
*Yawn*

This is sad. You have no ability to discuss anything rationally. The fact that other forum members agree with you instead of me proves only that they’re as immature as you. Anyway, I’m done with this topic, since it can only go downhill from here.

I will say this though: you’re skills as an internet asshole are impressive, but you’re nowhere near the level of the biggest internet asshole I’ve ever met. Compared to him, you’re just a pussy. Try being more sarcastic, and stress that the opinions of others are always bullshit.

BWAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA! The, "nuh-uh, I’m right. Everyone sux but me" and " U think you’re bad i’ve seen worse."

The fact that other forum members agree with you instead of me proves only that they’re as immature as you.

Or just maybe it’s to do with the fact that i’ve been a member here for much longer than you, and as a result know the community – Prak included – better than someone who’s only just registered. :rolleyes:

I will say this though: you’re skills as an internet asshole are impressive, but you’re nowhere near the level of the biggest internet asshole I’ve ever met. Compared to him, you’re just a pussy.

Your point being? It’s hardly surprising this discussion is going downhill as it appears all you’re after is a personal flame war. Get over yourself. There’s nothing impressive about it.

Giga, I think this post proves that he does not have any hope of growing a brain anytime soon. Anyone who will go so far as to blindly insult anyone who agrees with me is a hopeless imbecile; and considering how self-centered this one seems to be, there’s little hope of reforming him with anything short of a cracked skull.

It certainly appears to be the case. Must be the internet celebrity thing that does it! :p

lets not foget about jesper kyd, He also uses symphony but has other elements that he mixes it with.

lets not foget about jesper kyd, He also uses symphony but has other elements that he mixes it with.

From what I remember from an interview of Jasper Kyd I had watched a while back, He mentioned that what he was going for, especially with the Hitman series was music the would convey the emotions of the scene to the character. He conducted the various pieces of music so that it could be changed to sound more dramatic if you had been spotted or become more suspenseful when you encountered a major development in the story. He simply wanted his sound to be reactive to a scene, just like a movie soundtrack is.
Now that I think about it, Reactive soundtracks such as the Hitman, KotOR, and Medal of Honor series seem to be a distinctly Western idea. If anyone can think of a Japanese soundtrack that does this, please let me know.

Yeah i love jesper kyd, his music deserves a genre of its own.

I don’t see anything underated with American and wild west game soundtracks.

Western VGM really is underrated. I mean, compared to Japanese VGM discussion, how much discussion can you see about Western VGM? It’s probably because people think that Japan are "t3h gods of g4ming", and that anything Western is apparently, shit, and/or crap. It’s not that I don’t like Japanese VGM, it’s just that I think that Western VGM have a lot to offer to the field as well.

Some examples:

The Total War series (music composed by Jeff van Dyck) has always enjoyed a particularly robust music collection, especially the last two installments, Rome and Medieval. Rome’s good use of strings, soldier chants, and female operatic vocals really immerse you in the setting of warfare in the Roman Empire, while Medieval’s songs lean towards the Gregorian. The main menu track, Amen, really ties well into the setting of Medieval times.

The Command & Conquer series (music composed by Frank Klepacki) is well-known for its techno-rock soundtracks. The Red Alert spinoff series’ iconic Hell March, which use soundbytes that convey the inexorable advance of the Soviet war machine, is simply outstanding in its execution.

Michael Giacchino’s work in the Medal of Honor series is one of the most atmospheric, emotional, and gripping game soundtracks ever written. He makes a great use of orchestra to suggest a variety of moods, from stealthily infiltrating a Nazi fort, to all-out firefights. You can really just close your eyes while the music envelops you, and your mind imagines scenes of warfare, destruction, and the exotic lands of foreign shores. His best work, in my opinion, is the soundtrack toMedal of Honor: Frontline. The tracks Operation Market Garden, After the Drop, and Arnhem have, more than once, brought a tear to my eye. They are THAT eveocative.

Anything by Jeremy Soule is worth mentioning, but his highlights include the soundtracks to Icewind Dale, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Prey. Though he uses snthesized music, he works on a level where it is no longer noticeable, and music critics often cite his works as above and beyond most orchestral film scores.

There are much, much more I’d like to mention, but these should be enough to get anyone started, I think. If you’re asking all of the music I’ve mentioned are available in GH, so you should have no trouble in finding them

it would help if the thread starter added some western games that have decent music.

japanese game music blows me away.

As for western: i like the Tomb Raider games music. The game Vigilante 8 also had good music. Twisted Metal. Destruction Derby. I would say Burnout, but that music was just added and not ‘created’ for the game.

Okay, Jemeela, just because I’m extra special nice today, I’m going to give you a pretty good starter list of Western VGM that are really above par. Take note that this is not all of the tracks that I would recommend, nor is it all the games or artists. This is just a list to get you started.

Total War Series – composed by Jeff Van Dyck, this series always has music that is spectacular, and always captures the mood and setting of the time period, be it feudal Japan, ancient Rome, or medieval Europe. Rome: Total War’s soundtrack is, in my opinion, the most well made.

Samples:

Joruney to Rome Part 2 (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/1667/e605e4/Rome%20Total%20War%20Game%20Rip/18_journey_to_rome_part_2.mp3)
Melee Cafe (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/1667/70569f/Rome%20Total%20War%20Game%20Rip/06_melee_cafe.mp3)
Divinitus (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/1667/05460a/Rome%20Total%20War%20Game%20Rip/26_divinitus.mp3)
Forever (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/1667/139ab1/Rome%20Total%20War%20Game%20Rip/22_forever_(credits).mp3)

Icewind Dale – composed by Jeremy Soule, an award winning composer with a lot of titles under his belt, with many reviewers saying that it is on par (or indeed, above par) with many orchestral film soundtracks. So when many of his fans consider his work with Black Isle’s Icewind Dale to be his best work yet, it is a claim they do not make lightly. It captures the "epic adventure in a frontier land" feel of the game.

Samples:

Icewind Dale Theme (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/373/3f0c58/Icewind%20Dale/02_icewind_dale_theme.mp3)
Lysan’s Lair (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/373/8b00fd/Icewind%20Dale/12_lysan‘s_lair.mp3)

And while we’re at it, let’s plug some other Jeremy Soule tracks:

Watchman’s Ease (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/4805/e58188/The%20Elder%20Scrolls%20IV%20Oblivion%20Special%20 Edition%20Soundtrack/12_watchmans_ease.mp3)
Wings of Kynareth (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/4805/15cdce/The%20Elder%20Scrolls%20IV%20Oblivion%20Special%20 Edition%20Soundtrack/08_wings_of_kynareth.mp3)
Prey Overture (Prey) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/7130/56fd48/Prey%20-%20Volume%201%20Original%20Soundtrack%20(Jeremy%20 Soule%20and%20Julian%20Soule)/01_-_prey_overture.mp3)

Command & Conquer Series – composed by Frank Klepacki, a composer closely assosciated with developer Westwood Studios. As a general rule, fans of C&C are quick to describe that any music before C&C: Generals was great, which, for the most part, is a solid claim. Hell March and Hell March 2 are practically the themes/anthems of the Red Alert and Red Alert 2 games, and are easily one of his most famous and remembered music from the series.

Samples:

Hell March (Command & Conquer: Red Alert) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/923/41e269/Command%20%26%20Conquer%20Red%20Alert/09_-_hell_march.mp3)
Hell March 2 (Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/3795/a00703/Command%20%26%20Conquer%20-%20Red%20Alert%202/01_-_hell_march_2.mp3)
Drok (Command & Conquer: Yuri’s Revenge) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/3911/c5497d/Command%20%26%20Conquer%20-%20Red%20Alert%202%20Yuris%20Revenge%20Original%20 Soundtrack/006_drok.mp3)

Warcraft Series – composed by a bunch of guys whose names escape me just now, the series nevertheless continues to produce some wonderfully epic songs, even spilling into its latest incarnation, World of Warcraft. Most of my favorites come from Warcraft II and WoW.

Samples:

Human Battle 1 (Warcraft II) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/2506/c12562/Warcraft%202%20-%20Tides%20of%20Darkness%20(CDA)/02_-_human_battle_1.mp3)
Human Battle 2 (Warcraft II) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/2506/2ea257/Warcraft%202%20-%20Tides%20of%20Darkness%20(CDA)/03_-_human_battle_2.mp3)
Orc Battle 2 (Warcraft II) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/2506/9d8433/Warcraft%202%20-%20Tides%20of%20Darkness%20(CDA)/11_-_orc_battle_2.mp3)
Song of Elune (World of Warcraft) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/4024/e7c086/World%20of%20Warcraft%20Soundtrack/04_-_exclusive_track_~_song_of_elune.mp3)
A Call to Arms (World of Warcraft) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/4024/c2b36f/World%20of%20Warcraft%20Soundtrack/06_-_a_call_to_arms.mp3)

Max Payne Series – really don’t know the composers to this one, sorry. Just let the music do the talking. It has that film-noir style that the Max Payne series has always achieved, both in atmosphere, and sufficiently somber soundtrack.

Samples:

Max Payne Theme (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/710/a3fc66/Max%20Payne%20(PC%20Rip)/02_max_payne_theme.mp3)
Max Payne 2 Theme (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/3242/16c68b/Max%20Payne%202%20Original%20Soundtrack%20(Game%20 Rip)/01_-_max_payne_theme.mp3)

Medal of Honor Series – composed by Michael Giacchino, a composer who has worked on many major films. Say what you will about the series’ gameplay, you cannot deny that it has really good music. If I’m not mistaken, it was one of the first PSX games to have fully recorded orchestral music with a real orchestra. It’s a somewhat typical but still beautiful bombastic World War II type music. You can just close your eyes while listening to it and you can instantly picture the rifle fire and grenades going off.

Samples:

Attack On Fort Schmerzen (Medal of Honor) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/540/e978d1/Medal%20of%20Honor%20Original%20Soundtrack%20Recor ding/04_attack_on_fort_schmerzen.mp3)
The Radar Train (Medal of Honor) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/540/3acb24/Medal%20of%20Honor%20Original%20Soundtrack%20Recor ding/05_the_radar_train.mp3)
Merker’s Salt Mine (Medal of Honor) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/540/2031b7/Medal%20of%20Honor%20Original%20Soundtrack%20Recor ding/10_merker’s_salt_mine.mp3)
Panzer Blockade (Medal of Honor: Underground) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/541/bb2a3d/Medal%20of%20Honor%20Underground%20Original%20Soun dtrack%20Recording/05_panzer_blockade.mp3)
Operation Market Garden (Medal of Honor: Frontline) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/246/91651c/Medal%20of%20Honor%20Frontline/01_operation_market_garden.mp3)
After the Drop (Medal of Honor: Frontline) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/246/9d5005/Medal%20of%20Honor%20Frontline/05_after_the_drop.mp3)
Arnhem (Medal of Honor: Frontline) (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/246/7fb4aa/Medal%20of%20Honor%20Frontline/11_arnhem.mp3)

Emperor: Battle For Dune – another game with music by Frank Klepacki, and seeing as this is another Westwood game, it comes as no surprise. The music for each faction really fits them. Orchestral instruments with warrior chants for the (usually) altruistic Atreides, quirky techno for the sinister Ordos, and hard rock for Harkonnen. It just transmits information about the three factions and their motives much easier and faster than a paragraph of words could do.

Samples:

Ride the Worm (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/2022/5306d1/Emperor%20-%20Battle%20for%20Dune/210_-_ride_the_worm.mp3)
Not An Option (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/2022/412fc5/Emperor%20-%20Battle%20for%20Dune/404_-_not_an_option.mp3)
Tribute to Evil (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/2022/1b52fd/Emperor%20-%20Battle%20for%20Dune/306_-_tribute_to_evil.mp3)

Thos are all excellent choices.

Lets not forget the most recent ones.

Gears Of War Theme Lite by kevin riepl
http://www.kevinriepl.com/music/gow/Gears_of_War_Theme_Lite.mp3

Splinter Cell Double Agent kinshasa Fight Theme
http://www.behaviormusic.com/music/Michael_McCann/Kinshasa_Fight_Theme.mp3

I enjoy Final Fantasy music as much as the next guy but my all time favorite has to be the scores by Marty O’ Donnell in Halo, Halo 2 and possibly Halo 3.

So there you go, add one more person to the list that enjoys western VGM over J-Pop or whatever the hell these kids call it these days.

I just remembered Graeme Norgate-Timesplitters and Dave Wise-Donkey Kong.

I would rate western game soundtracks at the same level as japanese game soundtracks.

Few examples of great composers/soundtracks:

Marty O’Donnell – Halo Series
Jeremy Soule – Oblivion/Prey/Guild Wars (and many more awesome soundtracks)
Tom Saltsa (sp) – GRAW & GRAW 2
Bill Brown – Rainbow Six 1-3/ Ghost Recon 1-2.
Mafia soundtrack

goldeneye and perfect dark (also timesplitters) soundtracks (those were catchy)

Don’t forget Harry Gregson-Williams pretty much set the standard for video game soundtracks when he did MGS 2 & 3.

Variety is key here, no harm in enjoying sounds from both east and western cultures

I would have to say Western Game Osts are underrated because they are just not very good. Most of them are headache inducing rock or dance music. Where as with japanese music you are sure to find some gorgeous melodies, timeless orchestrations and exciting or innovative tunes. Western composers such as Giacchino or Soule are only just getting into this thinking in the last couple of years or so.

Idiot.

I would have to say Western Game Osts are underrated because they are just not very good. Most of them are headache inducing rock or dance music. Where as with japanese music you are sure to find some gorgeous melodies, timeless orchestrations and exciting or innovative tunes. Western composers such as Giacchino or Soule are only just getting into this thinking in the last couple of years or so.

Umm i would have to say that american game music are just as good as japanese music. You just aren’t looking hard enough. To say its not that good is very ignorant because you don’t give it a chance. I like some japanese game music devil may cry series.

I’m actually shocked that very few people appreciate just how good a composer Michael Giacchino is, which i think is one of the most talented composers, and is my personal favourite. How can so few ppl have him and the MoH soundtracks on their favourites lists?

Heroes of might and magic 4 soundtrack is quite very good. Lineage 2 devs took some music from it.

Heroes of might and magic 4 soundtrack is quite very good. Lineage 2 devs took some music from it.

are u kiddin me? heroes of might and magic 4 is one of the biggest materials thieves ever, it’s got tracks from a ton of other games, including the tavern theme from "pirates of the caribbean" when ur sailing, and it stole wallpapers from games like "zeus: master of olympus" and those are only the ones i know about so far, played the game only twice against a friend

I’m actually shocked that very few people appreciate just how good a composer Michael Giacchino is, which i think is one of the most talented composers, and is my personal favourite. How can so few ppl have him and the MoH soundtracks on their favourites lists?

Agreed.

Adding to Jeremy Soule, I was astounded by his music scores for Company of Heroes, I thought they were quite exceptional for accentuating the mood of each mission, despite the fact that the musical play list wasn’t defined in a numerical order. Perhaps it was better that way, though, as I kept hoping for certain songs to play that I enjoyed more than others.

Bjorn Lynne also manages to establish a connection between an environment’s ambiance, and a germane musical theme to accompany it, too.

Lastly, if one manages to hear the musical compositions from Ondrej Matejka’s Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, you’ll find them mediocre at the very worst.

I personally just don’t like Western game music. Jeremy Soule’s work is fine in games, but it’s not something I would listen to when I wanna listen to music. The only Western soundtracks I really like are American McGee’s Alice, Deus Ex, Beyond Good & Evil and the Prince of Persia trilogy.

All of the OST from the more modern Tom Clancy games have been epic such as Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six and especially the newest Ghost Recon.

And yet, that’s precisely what music in any game or movie is supposed to do. Set the mood and highlight whatever else is going on. Anytime the music takes center stage over on-screen events, it’s a failing.

I can’t agree with you on that, I recall the music the Rocky movies, brilliant and engaging music that molds perfectly with the scenes. Then there are anime, like the Guyver which had some great music, the OST series music was as memorable as the scenes, when they did the TV series, the music was more modest though beautiful didn’t work well half the time. Music is at it’s best when balanced with a great scene in a movie/TV/ and videogame. I can honestly say that games like Vagrant story and FFT and FF7 games gave a brilliant balance between these those two and that is why those OST’s as much as the gameplay and story telling have become so memorable.

Problem with videogame OST’s in America are simple, for the last few decades, videogames have always been viewed as children’s toys and gimmicks by the casual idiot in American even Europe. For this reason, the big heads don’t often release OST’s, instead, gamers such as myself found ourselves ripping out media with audio cassette’s as kids to carry around with our Cassette players, and we still do it today to listen to interesting tracks like the ones in some of Activision’s past games.

Meanwhile, Japan’s videogame market is a now a large part of the culture, and often big celebrities who do sound tracks and movies, often do work in videogames too. The few times we did that here in the USA (like Bruce Willis related games) were disasters. So by comparison, the Japanese public are likely to buy videogame OST’s while Western people wouldn’t because of the lack of interest, unlikeness of selling them, and general culture focused on horribly bad music Trends.

I’m actually shocked that very few people appreciate just how good a composer Michael Giacchino is, which i think is one of the most talented composers, and is my personal favourite. How can so few ppl have him and the MoH soundtracks on their favourites lists?

Love the guys music, I hacked into the MoH games just to rip and listen to it because I didn’t now they actualy made soundtracks for that one. ^^0

Oh and Darksteel, I’m glad you do listen to mostly the same Music I do. I can still practicly humm all of the warcraft II music even though I haven’t played it in years, same goes for Moh games. Other games that work great are Gun, though not as good as a stand alone, Gun has got to be on of the most refreshing sound Tracks I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening as I played the game.

I can’t agree with you on that, I recall the music the Rocky movies, brilliant and engaging music that molds perfectly with the scenes. Then there are anime, like the Guyver which had some great music, the OST series music was as memorable as the scenes, when they did the TV series, the music was more modest though beautiful didn’t work well half the time. Music is at it’s best when balanced with a great scene in a movie/TV/ and videogame. I can honestly say that games like Vagrant story and FFT and FF7 games gave a brilliant balance between these those two and that is why those OST’s as much as the gameplay and story telling have become so memorable.

Problem with videogame OST’s in America are simple, for the last few decades, videogames have always been viewed as children’s toys and gimmicks by the casual idiot in American even Europe. For this reason, the big heads don’t often release OST’s, instead, gamers such as myself found ourselves ripping out media with audio cassette’s as kids to carry around with our Cassette players, and we still do it today to listen to interesting tracks like the ones in some of Activision’s past games.

Meanwhile, Japan’s videogame market is a now a large part of the culture, and often big celebrities who do sound tracks and movies, often do work in videogames too. The few times we did that here in the USA (like Bruce Willis related games) were disasters. So by comparison, the Japanese public are likely to buy videogame OST’s while Western people wouldn’t because of the lack of interest, unlikeness of selling them, and general culture focused on horribly bad music Trends.

I totally agree with this guy. This is why I said what I said.

And you’re both ignorant blowhards who don’t understand half of your claims and are just outright wrong on the other half, but I honestly don’t care about the issue enough to debate it properly, so I’ll leave it with that.

How are they wrong?

Reading comprehension is not your strong suit, I see. If it were, you would not bother asking a question that is obviously not going to be answered.

Ahh okay nevermind then.

Shin’en makes great music for their shoot ’em ups.

I could care less which country the music is coming from as long as its good, but I do feel compelled on behalf of western (I.E. Non-japanese) OSTs. There have been lots of good gaming tracks, ranging from orchestral to pulse-pounding arcady.

I kind of feel that Western osts get dumped on rather unfairly, and get lots of criticism for not being as good or not complex as japanese OSTs; which is strange because I can think of plenty of western games with great soundtracks, even from the early dos days. The Wing Commander, Command and Conquer, and Warcraft series as well as the Diablo series are all western games with a great soundtrack to them that many people are familiar with.

If you’re having trouble naming a few good Western OSTs, first, Shame on you! :p [/jk]

Then, check out these games’ OSTs, most of which can either be bought, googled easily, found in the uploads, or found on GH:

Bard’s Tale (Modern Remake)
Betrayal at Krondor
Cannon Fodder
Commander Keen IV – VI
Curse of Monkey Island (A pirate I was meant to be…)
Dark Forces
Darwinia
Day of the Tentacle
Deus Ex
Escape from Monkey Island (Love the Scumm Bar music)
Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb
Doom I – II
Fate of Atlantis
Full Throttle
Grim Fandango
King’s Quest Series (ESPECIALLY number VI)
Jagged Alliance 1/2
Loom
The entire Mechwarrior series
No One Lives Forever series
Pirates! series
Quest for Glory Series (Especially II)
Sam and Max hit the Road
Secret of Monkey Island 1 – 2
Space Quest Series (III – V are the best)
Star Control II (GREAT stuff)
Terminal Velocity
Total War series
Total Annihilation
Tron 2.0
Tyrian
Ultima, Ultima Underworld series and Lazarus(You want good western RPG music? HERE’S your good western RPG music! :D)
Unreal Tournament Series
Wolfenstein 3d
Wing Commander Series

… not to mention COUNTLESS amiga and C64 tunes like Agony, and Moonstone to name a couple.

And as for composers, there are and were way more western composers than Michael Giacchino and Jeremy Soule out there! The Fat Man (George. A. Sanger) and Team Fat, Geoge Oldziey, Clint Bajakian (All Lucasarts Adventure games, Dark Forces, as well as Tie Fighter), Jan Paul Moorhead (did great early dos days work on Dynamix games), Alexander Brandon (did Tyrian), Kevin Manthei, Mark Seibert (pretty much all high-profile sierra adventure games).

Hope this piques some of your interests!

The novalogic games like comanche has some good tunes also.

Harry Gregson Williams did a great job on Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3.I know they’re japanese games.But it’s an western composer.

Most Western game soundtracks I’ve listened to tend to be more based off licensed music than anything original.

You know i think why that most people don’t like western game scores is because they really don’t give them a chance.

exellent post quicksilver. other forgotten OST’s well you choudl look no further then Disney games that were released on the SNES and Genesis era before they started spewing mindless videogames for 3 year olds.

Good examples are The Lion King for the Sega Genesis and that castle game starring Mickey mouse for the SNES (Sorry forgot the names)

There is also old school games like Double Dragon that deserve some praise, as well as Tetris games which borrows classic western music and remix’s it in various versions.

Also, people who prefer Japanese OST’s should remember one thing when listening to the tracks, that all those artists working on music have been influenced a hell of a lot by Western Musicians and pieces. Examples:

Daisuke Ishiwatari (Guilty Gear games) is a big Queen fan like many of us, and most of his game sound tracks and even characters are all tributes to various artists, virtualy all of them being western.

The guy behind the Y’s games was namely influenced by men like yngwie malmsteen. example of a track he copied off the artist called "A Test to Become Mighty" but comapred it to Malmsteen’s "Far Beyond the Sun" and see what I mean.

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nec/tduo/ys4boss.mid

Gee I’m not interested in this thread but I just can’t help asking what the hell’s wrong with Prak.

Hmm maybe i should do a western Game music Compilation CD with some of my fav VGM’s?

Good idea?

Or is it just gonna sink to the bottom?

Reading comprehension is not your strong suit, I see. If it were, you would not bother asking a question that is obviously not going to be answered.

I’m suddenly very intrested in your opinion here. Oh Well can’t be helped I guess.

Everyone, you should know that until a videogame soundtrack is used in a major Hollywood movie, we are not going to see a rapid trend in Western videogame composers music being released in OST’s. Someday though, things will be changed, but the culture would still have to finally accept and allow games to be integrated. I think the closest soundtrack to ever become known to the American public and be known above any other is Mario Bros. Games, which is sad since it’s such an old title. Meanwhile, people like jack Thompson and Hilary Clinton continue to degrade games and with so many people sharing their opinion about games, it may take a while before someone recognises not only a videogame OST for the beautiful work that it is, but video game’s too. Oh and someone shove Shadow of Colossus or Okami down Robert Ebert’s throat! If neither the gameplay, graphics, nor the OST can convince him that videogames are "art" then I may as well withdraw back to my native country.

After reading this topic, I look at my video game music collection and see that most of it is from JP. I don’t know why, but perhaps it might be because Japan releases OST for many of its games. Meanwhile, for some of the other games, you have to find rips, which is probably harder to come by. For example, Rachet and Clank and Timesplitter took me a while to even find, and I think Galbadia Hotel took a while before having them up. I think one of the issues is that it’s not as accessible as JP OST’s. I mean look at the Zipped Albums forum, and most of them are from JP OST’s and not from Western games.

Stephanie Picq for Dune and David Wise for Donkey Kong Country (2).

IMO, Western VGM is very underrated. Part of it is the general climate against video games in the west, part of it is the availability.

Reading this thread, There’s games that have been missed that really do sound awesome – Off the top of my head I’d recommend:

Assasin’s Creed
The Witcher
Portal
Heroes 5
Crysis
Supreme commander
Overlord
Titan quest
Arcanum
Bioshock
Fallout series

I really do not agree with the earlier post about western music is just "headache inducing rock or dance music" since a lot of the ones I listed are classical.. yes good Western game music does exist…

Having said that, I do listen to both Eastern and western, I’ve even went to Dear Friends and More friends… Just give some of the western VGM’s a try, it can’t hurt.

and that castle game starring Mickey mouse for the SNES (Sorry forgot the names)

Just taking a stab- Was it Mickey Mania?

possibly underrated.

David Wise has some good tunes. DKC2 is one of my favorite soundtracks.

i guess i’ll stereotype since i am western anyways, but most of the western video game soundtracks i’ve heard really have no melodic beauty to them. I found most of the Halo soundtracks to be nothing special melodically. the main tune and the menu screen music in Halo 2/3 (ha funny, they used the same tune untweaked….) are good, but that seems to be the only thing melodic in the whole series that is memorable to me! WarCraft III’s OST utilizes some unconventional instruments while providing the correct mood, but again nothing really melodic. and when they attempted to establish melody, it was usually stagnant/disappointing anyways. that’s merely two examples of big games though. obviously there are more. oh yes, some people prefer the music merely being there to set the mood while others like a melodic tune to be there. i’d say if the mood of the game matches the melody, for me, we have some memorable and lasting. then again, it’s merely taste. some like a melodic rich score while others like a minimalist and harmonic score. and i think for the most part, the melody lies in the Eastern VGM realm, and the harmony lies in the Western VGM realm. again, i prefer the melody.

That’s quite an interesting point. Though I’d say Halo is a good example of both harmony and melody. Some tracks just follow the same theme, while several others are unique. There are various tracks just in there to make up for the atmosphere (like ‘Suite Autumn’ which also features the main theme), while others do pretty good on it’s own (like ‘Perilous Journey’ (http://dl1.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/dl/6960/887392/Halo%20Zero/09_-_level_5.mp3)). I have to admit that the soundtracks of its follow-ups are less interesting, for they consist of either variations on it’s main theme, or are just there for the ambience.

Another good example is the soundtrack of the Timesplitters series. While the first two games are able to specifically set theme per level with the extensive use of themed music, meaning there’s a totally unique track for every level, the third game relies on a more atmospheric sound with a returning theme. Much credit to Graeme Norgate who can do it all 🙂

I think that while many western games tend to make a more consistent and atmospheric track, they still take enough freedom (here and there) to surprise. On the other hand, Japanese games aren’t much different. Soul Calibur II has a lot of different and unique tracks, though one could definitely notice a returning theme throughout the soundtrack.

What-so-ever, in my opinion there’s a lot of great western video game music. My personal favorites are Graeme Norgate who’s best known for his contribution to Timesplitters, and Mike Beckett who did a lot of great work for Pangea Software over the years. I also like classics like Age of Empires and Age of Empires II, the work St�phane Picq did for Lost Eden, the techno track from Future Cop: LAPD and the rock album Bone to Pick by the Gone Jackals which was extensively used by Full Throttle.

I’ll have to conclude: I’m quite fond of western music, and there’s a very very big lot of it out there. It’s just a fact that Japan always tends to attract a lot of attention to what it produces. Let’s just name manga and stop talking… And with it, people might forget that there’s more to discover. Well, lets be happy that at least everyone who visits this topic will know!

interesting. i suppose i will look into the first Halo again. oh, i have no problem with returning themes within a game or even series, but i was just getting at that the Main Theme seemed to be the only thing melodically memorable to me. regardless, i’ll check the soundtrack again. i’ll check Graeme Norgate and the Timesplitters soundtrack. sounds good. thank you. you have a point saying that there is more to discover. and there are some composers that are underrated.

and also, i forgot about Rob Hubbard. he really has some standout soundtracks/songs. "Monty on the Run" is just amazing. he carries that songs so beautifully hectic. Chris H�lsbeck is alright. Turrican 2 was pretty decent. "The Desert Rocks" is a good tune. seems to get better and better as the song develops. almost epic in a sense.

and the thing about David Wise that i forgot to mention is that he was quite atmospheric, but he was still melodic. quite diverse and it was successful as showed by DKC2.

Wow…Michael Giaccino does game soundtracks? I just know him from LOST.

Anyway, I only ever listen to western game soundtracks…when, that is, I choose to listen to a game soundtrack…
Yeah.
Something about the eastern ones I’ve heard feels so…artificial, if that means anything to you. Maybe I just don’t play enough Japanese games, and simply am unable to put the music into a context…but I’ve played Final Fantasy, and the music from those games is really too fairytale for my liking, and the stuff from Devil May Cry is just embarrassingly bad.

Good western games though…God of War, for starters. Freaking hell, that is some good stuff, right there; always gets my blood boiling. Then there’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (Greg Edmondson wins), Prince of Persia soundtracks are beautiful…but sometimes have that same artificial thing that puts me off. Then there’s Mass Effect, Heavenly Sword (beautiful), Gears of War, even Halo, a game I hate, but the music is awesome, Bioshock, (not oblivion. I tried downloading that, and I just couldn’t enjoy it) Crysis, Fable, The Darkness, American McGee’s Alice, and those are just games that I’ve played. There’s plenty more out there that rock.

However, just because I don’t listen to Eastern music doesn’t mean you should start recommending me any. Really; I’m happy in my little bubble.

The ones i feel that really makes my life happy are the darkness, assassins creed, Chronicles of riddick escape from butcher bay, there ae a couple others but i start my day off with those.

I really do not agree with the earlier post about western music is just "headache inducing rock or dance music" since a lot of the ones I listed are classical.. yes good Western game music does exist…

Having said that, I do listen to both Eastern and western, I’ve even went to Dear Friends and More friends… Just give some of the western VGM’s a try, it can’t hurt.

Why do people keep classifying things as "Eastern/Western", especially when a majority of the time it’s being used as a mysnomer?

When somebody says "Eastern" music, immediately my head fills with Arabian-sounding music or the tunes of Cryo’s Dune PC game.

"Western"…unless it’s Celtic in origin, I probably wouldn’t count it as much.

And yes, I do realize we are talking about music and composers of certain origin, although a bunch of American composers don’t simply count as the whole of Western music just like that…

omg quicksilver thank you for putting some classic adventures games on here. I swear if michael land and lucas arts loses their recognition it’d be a sad day.

Since no one has said it, I would add Diablo I & II + expansion by Matt Uelmen, FanTasTic instrumental work with everything from gongs to rain sticks. Tristram is an all time favorite for me.

I think the reason that Japanese soundtracks are more revered is because their games music are often more catchy. Just listen to any one Street Fighter, Megaman, Sonic the Hedgehog or Snk fighting game soundtrack. They don’t really sound like any other soundtrack thats been done in any other media. I myself haven’t played many games in recent years so i only go for the ones ive played or the companies that i know employ great talent. Our games just sound like the same soundtracks that you hear in movies from what ive noticed. Not that they’re bad, they just don’t offer any thing composition wise that i havent heard before.
Snk’s NEo Geo Performance group are very talented and can change up styles and composition without the sacrifice of being catchy. Even the Last Blade series, which has a more western orchestral vibe, is still quite catchy albeit purely orchestral. Its like they always put a more artistic vibe in their game soundtracks. B

Not to knock the America’s soundtrack,(I don’t even listen to Japanese music unless i recognize it from a series ive played or watched on tv.) but most of our gamers are actually casual gamers that don’t really give two shits about the music in the game. That’s what our Ipods are for…(Mines is filled wit Hip Hop and game music anyway;-) )
Our gamers don’t appreciate art that’s not accepted in pop culture as compared to the Japanese being open minded to new things for the most part.

haha I call bullshit on that. The Japs are notorious xenophobes.

If you want my opinion on this, I say look at a rising star composer named Jonathan Mak. The dude made his own games (Gate 88 and Everyday Shooter), and composed great tracks for both of them. (even though Gate 88’s tracks are mostly synthesized)

Hmm maybe i should do a western Game music Compilation CD with some of my fav VGM’s?

Good idea?

Or is it just gonna sink to the bottom?

Good idea, at least for me.

And yes, western game music is underrated. I would like to take this oportunity to thank you Orange C, for bringing so much of the western music to life in the form of gamerips. Jeremy Soule is so good, and I can’t forget about Kevin Riepl, Alexander Brandon, Michiel van den Bos, Rom DiPrisco, Paul Linford and others. I have to say that western gamemusic (at least to me) is as memorable as the eastern one. And I almost forgot, what about Michael Giacchino and Medal of Honor? Or the music of Call of Duty 2? It’s just a shame that western game music doesn’t receive the attention it needs.

Don’t forget about jesper kyd, this guys music is amazing.

haha I call bullshit on that. The Japs are notorious xenophobes.

This is true. The entire South-east Asian region is notoriously racist in general, including the Japanese. Just because they play nice to you in public doesn’t mean they want you anywhere near them. (I mean, they’re fingerprinting every foreigner that enters the country. They say they’re looking for terrorists, which is true, but they’re doing it to everyone because they think anyone non-Japanese is a criminal.)

I just came home from Video Games Live, and I have to say there was a nice balance of Japanese and North American composed music. While the N.A. composed music wasn’t as screamed over as the classic Japanese games, it was just as impressive. It was a debut of the music for Mass Effect as well, and that was certainly interesting (I haven’t managed to play it yet, so it was the first time I’d heard it).

I’m not sure if it’s a question of game soundtracks being overrated or underrated. If you’re talking about them, obviously you’re noticing the Western composed soundtracks, right? Even those who claim they dislike Western game music can still name at least a couple games with soundtracks they like.

this thread has become a flame thread and therefore should be locked.

Nobody is flaming anyone.

Well, a lot of western soundtracks are fairly mediocre to start with..the problem is also that they’re scored like movie soundtracks most of the time…which is an acquired taste and not as accessible to your average listener…I’ve found that in the past when I’m playing a soundtrack like Gears of war(I work at a cd store) or any other movie-ish soundtrack, the people who already listen too movie soundtracks eat it up…while the casual listener seems to respond more to a well written "traditional" videogame soundtracks…well, as long as the presentation is altered a bit.i.d., it’s played by a rock band, on a piano or by an orchestra.

What we should look at is the BGM budget for every game then we can do a decent and clear comparison.
What I find quite strange is Japan can do such awesome VGM and also created J-pop which IMO is just feces (not really the word I had in mind but I try to remain calm).
As for me the VGM I remember the most are from my Amiga games.
Turrican2
Apidya
Shadow of the Beast
Super stardust
…

Then comes our indivdual idea of VGM, does it have to stick to the game like a glove or should it be some awesome standalone tunes to put over the action. I personaly go for the first one.
The perfect match between action and sound is game’s nirvana.
Don’t need Orchestra, 50 chorus, or some fancy composer to make me love a game music. Just need the right alchemy.

But most of you are maybe to young to have known the real beggining of the VG era. That was so great!

What we should look at is the BGM budget for every game then we can do a decent and clear comparison.
What I find quite strange is Japan can do such awesome VGM and also created J-pop which IMO is just feces (not really the word I had in mind but I try to remain calm).
As for me the VGM I remember the most are from my Amiga games.
Turrican2
Apidya
Shadow of the Beast
Super stardust
…

Then comes our indivdual idea of VGM, does it have to stick to the game like a glove or should it be some awesome standalone tunes to put over the action. I personaly go for the first one.
The perfect match between action and sound is game’s nirvana.
Don’t need Orchestra, 50 chorus, or some fancy composer to make me love a game music. Just need the right alchemy.

But most of you are maybe to young to have known the real beggining of the VG era. That was so great!

Yes but remember when games become advanced in graphics and gameplay the need for an orchestra is kind of necessary, Devil may cry 4 is a japanese game and that used in orchestra on some of there tracks.

Yes but remember when games become advanced in graphics and gameplay the need for an orchestra is kind of necessary, Devil may cry 4 is a japanese game and that used in orchestra on some of there tracks.

I really beg to differ on that matter. As the graphics improved, so did the audio quality (sample rate) but it does not mean that using an orchestra is mandatory (and Devil May Cry is just a show off game from a very lacking talent company, so not really the cream of the crop example to give).
For example, Shadow of the Colossus needed an Orchestra type of sound to transcript the game’s melancholy and vastitude. Same goes to God of War and its epic action. But for figthing games or Shoot them up … I completely disagree!

Some games need an electronic sound and some a natural sound.

And Eastern and Western (I hate when people summarize games only between Japan and the US) game can get some pretty decent tunes.

Bon c’est pas tout �a mais j’ai les crocs, je vais manger un morceau moi!

Harry Gregson Williams did a great job on Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3.I know they’re japanese games.But it’s an western composer.

He made mgs3 tracks 3,4,6,7,9,10,13,16,17 arranged track 2 and made the cut scene part of track 12 from the first cd and from the second cd he made tracks 5,6,9,10,15, 2 with Norihiko Hibino, 3 with Shuichi Kobori (harry made the last cut scene part of it I believe).
I don�t own mgs 2 ost so I don�t know which tracks were made by Harry but he mostly makes only cut scene music.

I didn’t read all the thread but in my opinion I like music from every corner of the world if it sounds nice to my ears.
I can’t stand techno or electronic sounds only, I prefer orchestral one or a balanced mix.

Referring to the title of this thread, everyone should know that is not a matter of underrated/hyperrated…But style of music only that we like or dislike.

I can’t think of any except maybe Medal of Honor?

I just completed hearing the GUN promo by christopher lennertz and it is a materpiece, i just love the orchestra he uses and the harmonica with acoustic guitars, great job lennertz!!

I know its a bit late to start the discussion again but i really think that most people that says game music not composed from japan is lagging melodic themes are really not giving it a try, for instance Tony Williams made some great themes in Lemmings very memorabel and also very recognisable, althrough quite a bit of them are taken from a Classical music and just made into poor sounds it worked well to the game and i still listen to the music today.

I also want to stress one composer no one has mentioned, which i thought really did something unique and very impressed overall score.

Philippe Vachey which is responsible for the music from a few games made by Adeline Software (Little Big Adventure and Time Commando)
Now i really want to stress how much i was impressed with what he did with the little big adventure 2 score, because he did something i have never heard any game or movie do before he makes a orchestral score yes thats not new however he twist it so in a matter of a minut it brings another mood and after 3 minuts you have listened to a little story. my Conclusion says it best in my review of the score.

Taken from review

The composing of Little Big Adventure is done with an orchestral setting and a few synthesizing work. It’s very diverse and unique in that most of the melodies start out very slow paced then steps up and build upon that. This method is really creating some distinguished moods where you really feel the changes, and environments shift as it goes on.

a lot of people will properly like the score for what it does and its made quite clear in the review its a orchestral score, and that makes it pretty clear that if you have so much varied music, there are bound to be people who only like Electronical – Metal – Pop or what ever. but that does not really change the fact that if you enjoy something like Hitoshi Sakimoto this is a must in every sense because its different in a lot of ways you never heard a vgm soundtrack before.

Ofcourse thats my opinion but really this music Philippe does is not just background music its a little story kind off.

And there are tons of other western game music that have just as much focus on just appealing to melody minded people compared to the background movie-ish minded people. just pm me if you want a complete list 😛

I hope you can figure out what i say i am danish and as such my grammatical English is just very poor 🙂 PEACE \o/

No topic about Western VGM is complete without mentioning the Myst games. Robyn Miller, Jack Wall, and Tim Larkin all composed simply phenomenal scores for the series. And let’s not forget The Longest Journey; excellent job there by Bj�rn Arve Lagim and Tor Linl�kken.

LONG LIVE ADVENTURE GAMES!!!

I like my game music bleepy and bloopy, not orchestrated. This goes for music from any countries.
My fav composer are Chris h�lsbeck (The Turrican series of games etc)

Western Game soundtracks are overlooked because most people don’t think of the music as anything special. The perception is that western based music is mainly used for background. Also, Japanese composers made a strong foot hold in the gaming music market by many of the catchy tunes used in NES to SNES games. Back then only Tommy Tallarico was considered a good western game music composer.

Western Game soundtracks are overlooked because most people don’t think of the music as anything special. The perception is that western based music is mainly used for background. Also, Japanese composers made a strong foot hold in the gaming music market by many of the catchy tunes used in NES to SNES games. Back then only Tommy Tallarico was considered a good western game music composer.

I think it has something to do with the culture also, many western composers were on the Commodore and PC’s. I for once remember fondly all the Dos games having incredible catchy music and i am often wondering why others don’t listen to it but praise mario and zelda.

I can name a dozen of composers and games that use music as more than just background music in Commodore and PC games. However i won’t deny that most of the newly made western music is very movie like with few exceptions. But the influence of music is really done to the whole culture.

But i am still with OP music in games made in vest countries are really underrated and it has nothing to do with the music produced because its just as attractive as the music made in Japan. just find the right one that suits your tastes.

Super Stardust HD – Psychonauts – Tomb Raider – Beyond Good and Evil are good examples of newer games having a great melodic soundtrack.

I think it has something to do with the culture also, many western composers were on the Commodore and PC’s. I for once remember fondly all the Dos games having incredible catchy music and i am often wondering why others don’t listen to it but praise mario and zelda.

That’s a good point. Many people back then played videogames on Atari(which doesn’t count), Master System, or the NES. Not many people played computer games as much as console games. So maybe it was just the exposer or the medium of console gaming music over PC gaming music.

The machine which drives the idea that Western composers are somehow inferior runs on ignorance. This is evidenced (in this very thread) by the frequent use of articles and reviews from more enlightened minds to somehow lend credence to the shocking idea that a Western composer can actually compose! =O

It’s a little insulting.

But webcider’s right. Music can sound great no matter where it’s from. If you’re suddenly iffy about an OST just because the last name isn’t Japanese, consider yourself ignorant.

You know i dont think western VGM’s will never become the exact norm as the jap OSTS that you see around here, blame that for no OSTS and very little interests in Western game music ripping.

Well there are western artists who aren’t well known the USA unless you work in the industry. Like Michael Tavera who’s done countless movies like Beethoven (That dog movie) and cartoon music like Exosquad and the Land before time sequels (he did all the other but not the original).

So here’s a guy that most people will never name as an artist, but had done countless works. Now you can imagine an even worse situation with videogame composers from the rest. They just don’t get props for their work by the majority of gamers.

The Banjo-Kazooie series have/had a great soundtrack and it’s western (I think).

OrangeC, majority of eastern VGM came from that Japanese were first to have the idea producing OSTs separately and they weren`t understood by people who use games to play. What is this difference between East\West music? Japanese don`t create their own standard music in all projects. For example, Guilty gear XX-Isuka has absolutely the same type as Formula1 (97 by Bizarre), Japanese have their own orchestrations (RE5), electronica with riffs (Tekken3 – european Crackdown), quite mainstream rock (Lost child, Apocalyptica, Geneshaft) and even non-analogous genre like Ace combat 4,5,0.

A lot of unnecessary arguing and ignorance has been going on in this thread for quite a while.

Every country puts out both good and bad music. We can all agree on that, right? Right.

Yes.

But it still bothers me that theres no balance, its like eastern VGM is ruling over everything lately.

Im so glad ubisoft decided to release there soundtracks.

I would argue that most gamers tend to have Japanophillic tendencies and thus favor Japanese OSTs for that reason.

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of western VG soundtracks: Dead Space, Halo 3, and Gears of War 2. I can’t say I wholly prefer it over Japanese VG music but I’ve noticed they don’t recycle music from other games like Japanese composers do, specially those who work for Capcom seem awfully good at this… which is lame.

The machine which drives the idea that Western composers are somehow inferior runs on ignorance. This is evidenced (in this very thread) by the frequent use of articles and reviews from more enlightened minds to somehow lend credence to the shocking idea that a Western composer can actually compose! =O

It’s a little insulting.

But webcider’s right. Music can sound great no matter where it’s from. If you’re suddenly iffy about an OST just because the last name isn’t Japanese, consider yourself ignorant.

Well said my friend. music is a totally subjective art form and such as that it knows no limits. I personally love both weastern and eastern in this respect, although both have their weakneses. Japanese music tends to be more unique, but this doesn’t equal with better and most weastern soundtracks are fine, but a lot of them tend to emulate film scores, wich makes them sound repetitive and unoriginal. Nevertheless, I love both and each has something to give! Be open minded people, you’ll enjoy stuff more that way 😀

Yeah, I have a question. What is "western" in this case? What, North American? Huh?

You guys must be more specific than that, because I’ve heard so many definitions of what "western" is it doesn’t matter for me anymore. And I myself will never use such an definition, because it is made up bullshit of a case based generalization of supposed "like minded things".

Western world, . What, this bullshit?

Western culture. That Hellenic, Roman, Christian heritage?

Right, that said. Yeah, I’m clearly mad :p 😡

This is how I see this. There is no gaming market like Japanese gaming market and there will never be anything like that anywhere else. That shit (non offensive, just spitting) is exclusive or something, hundreds of developing teams developing games you will never hear about. Music in games, soundtracks, scores all that is heavily underrated in general despite the fact in my opinion, that the quality of them is often top notch in these days for most of the games. Original scores creating themes and atmosphere for games to be known and loved for.

This part of games misses critiques, reviewers, media attention in general and all that. Fucking awards or something, I don’t know anything that helps sexpot. What the hell you guys need anyway. I’m fine with reviews, interviews and full soundtracks. Realism is thought that the demand for all this is a niche at the best. That is why they don’t focus on that or bother to do anything like with Killzone 2.

Well, a lot of western soundtracks are fairly mediocre to start with..the problem is also that they’re scored like movie soundtracks most of the time…which is an acquired taste and not as accessible to your average listener…I’ve found that in the past when I’m playing a soundtrack like Gears of war(I work at a cd store) or any other movie-ish soundtrack, the people who already listen too movie soundtracks eat it up…while the casual listener seems to respond more to a well written "traditional" videogame soundtracks…well, as long as the presentation is altered a bit.i.d., it’s played by a rock band, on a piano or by an orchestra.

You’re only talking about your taste over here with that.

Meh, I think its because there are generally less Western games that are widely played than Japanese games? I personally play very few western games, and the soundtracks are pretty much never publicised. I dont dislike the music, (I love the music in Rayman, for example, Eric Chevalier is a genius) but it is rarely talked about simply because of the sheer mass of the music that is eastern. Thats my two cents, anyway. I wouldn’t say people here are biased or hate western videogame music or anything like that.

Also, Ruffneck, idk I would probably class anything, well, in the West in general as western, e.g aforementioned Eric Chevalier. Maybe im biased because I live in Europe.

There are a lot of good soundtracks on western side, but the fact that the majority never has an official release is a problem. It does not fit on my head.
If I was going to make a soundtrack fro a game, I would want a release for the people. Because worked for it, even if the game is bad, the soundtrack would be good.
There is a lot of bad games on western side too, but some have soundtracks that it’s just one hit K.O… and DAAAAMMMMN I’m in love.

Western vgm sucks (In my opinion of course). No variety at all. It’s like listening to the same 5 songs on the radio 🙁

It depends i enjoy some western game tracks, at least the more recent ones like mass effect and such, but overall eastern tracks usually just fit my style more.

Personally, I kind of like the ‘Outlaws’ soundtrack by Lucas Arts. I know it’s rather dated (1997), but it completely reminds me of the old spaghetti westerns that Clint Eastwood and Lee van Cleef starred in. I believe I have a copy of the soundtrack somewhere….

My little list of ‘western’ recommendations:

– Alien Trilogy
– Deus Ex
– Jazz Jackrabbit
– Mass Effect
– One Must Fall 2097
– Quake 1, 2 and 3
– Red Alert 1 and 2
– Silver Surfer
– Sonic CD (US VERSION) (in before US vs JAP shitstorm)
– Super Stardust HD
– Tyrian
– Unreal
– Unreal Tournament, UT2003/UT2004, UT3
– X-Com Apocalypse

I notice that I have way more of the Japanese stuff in my videogame music collection, but to disregard an entire region of the world is a stupid, stupid thing to do, because I think that Japanese OSTs can be boring as hell too. However, they usually have the most energetic music (can be both good or bad)…
I have to agree that modern western osts tend to be all movie-ish and plain boring as hell. I think that’s why the older games have better music.

Man, when I ever get to compose VGM I hope people won’t be like "too western" lol

– Alien Trilogy
– Deus Ex
– Mass Effect
– Silver Surfer

Ditto. Haven’t heard a lot of the others.

I was born with Western OSTS

Ratchet & Clank series has pretty damn good music thanks to David Bergeaud (my favourite composer next to Nobuo Uematsu).

Most western game music is nostalgic to me now but the Jak II + Jak 3 Ost’s were pretty good too.

Japan isn’t god of music no matter how good they can be.
They can make cheap shit too XD. Like us. XD (*Coughs* Gakuen Heaven *coughs*).

I cannot think of a list but East & west have different creative elements.
This is why I like ’em both.

In my childhood. I was obsessed with the Crash Bandicoot music (Mutato Muzika). No matter how simple it was. It was damn catchy for the appropiate audience XD. Yes. Music had an impact for me back then…
Same for Spyro The Dragon. The creativity flows within the music in the 1st music in that game <3.

And I still listen to various now and I don’t really care who made it and where. As long as it sounds great, I’m fine.

Ratchet & Clank series has pretty damn good music thanks to David Bergeaud (my favourite composer next to Nobuo Uematsu).

Most western game music is nostalgic to me now but the Jak II + Jak 3 Ost’s were pretty good too.

In my childhood. I was obsessed with the Crash Bandicoot music (Mutato Muzika). No matter how simple it was. It was damn catchy for the appropiate audience XD. Yes. Music had an impact for me back then…
Same for Spyro The Dragon. The creativity flows within the music in the 1st music in that game <3.

Agreed. I love those soundtracks (especially the Mutato Muzika stuff) dearly. What makes me lean toward the eastern side of the game music world, however, is that Japanese games to me seem to be more consistent in excellence. A lot of more modern Western games have awfully bland soundtracks in my opinion (with more than a few notable exceptions of course) and it really seems hit or miss to me. It doesn’t hurt that the quality of popular western games has been eroding greatly over the past few years (hello cookie-cutter next gen fps).

Halo’s music was quite interesting, and if I remember correctly it was recorded in Europe at some famous studio.