Posted by iTZKooPA on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 - 32 Comments
Tags: collector's edition, foot in mouth, music, ost, soundtrack, streaming audio, wrath of the lich king collector's edition
Sometime in February my day job decided that it would be beneficial to the company’s bottom line to disable Internet streaming for audio and video. The IT department’s shenanigans lead me to go on the hunt for my own ear-pleasing cuts. Considering I haven’t purchased a CD since high school, I didn’t really know where to turn initially. Then I remembered that the Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition came with the official soundtrack. After ripping the disk to the hard drive and listening to the OST over and over, I can only say that Blizzard’s soundtrack is even more amazing than I may have lead you to believe in the review.
My new found appreciation of Wrath’s auditory pleasures kicked off my first infatuation for non-MIDI music in video games. Previous games have had fantastic music (BioShock), but I tended to overlook what the music, rather than sound effects or engineering, can really do for a title. The fact that BioShock’s - whose music is now part of my work collection - and Wrath’s OST can remain entertaining pieces outside the game, or even the universe, says a lot. If you don’t believe me, try firing up the Wrath cinematic while some friends are over. Just play the music and see what kind of responses you get. The first half of that track is flat out brilliant.
There has to be bigger video game OST audiophiles out there. What OSTs would you recommend? I am preferably looking for original music, not soundtracks like Grand Theft Auto’s. Currently my collection is fairly bare and very recent, the two aforementioned titles, The Witcher, Red Alert 3 (bad game, nostalgic OST), MadWorld and some random Final Fantasy CD I found.
For those of you with the Collector’s Edition, I suggest you add the CD to your digital library if you haven’t already. Seriously, play it for some none-WoW friends without telling them what it is, see what they say and report back to us. If you don’t have the cd, may I recommend a pair of e-tailers to you - Amazon and eBay?
Related Posts: What I Expected and Didn’t Expect In Patch 3.1, Is Wrath’s Collector’s Edition Worth It?, Patch 3.2 Call of the Crusade Trailer Released, Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition Review, 3.3: Background Downloading Has Begun,
By Shoogs on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
First
By Shoogs on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I’ll have to check it out, I work chat technical support and listen to music all day.
By Drawe on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
FIRST!
By Christian on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Blizzard’s music has always been fantastic.
I must get my hands on this record, I guess.
And Drawe..
Go burn in hell.
By kiley on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
i freakin’ love the music from wow.
By imbetterthanyou on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
First
By Aurofel on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I’ll never forget that first time I stepped into Stormwind… Not only did it seem like a vast city (not so much anymore) but the chorus I was greeted with blew me away.
When I got to Howling Fjord I actually turned down my sound FX to nearly nothing so that I could listen to the music on it’s own. I love it!
I should really invest in the WoW soundtracks… thanks for the reminder!
Also… any comment that solely says “First!” should automatically be deleted. *^_^*
By Wargkin on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
First! hahahaha nah jst pokin fun at imbetterthanyou
my dad came in while i was flying in storm peaks and he commented on how good the music was. said he really enjoyed it, and hes the type of bloke who listens to ACDC regularly
By admiraljustin on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I actually convinced a guildie who never listens to the music in-game that the wrath zone music was some of the most awesome in-game music he’d find.
He asked why I’d actually purchased the collector’s edition and I mentioned the soundtrack and artbook as being more than worth the extra cost, and that I often played the wrath soundtrack in my car.
He tried it, and then got angry because he’d been playing for months without hearing this beautiful music.
By PatrickD on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
You can also buy the music in the iTunes store. No need for eBay scammers.
By Schuoven on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
One of the original Mortal Combat collectors editions had a music disc with songs for each of the characters. It was an amazing disc, and I managed to lose it somewhere, much to my disappointment as I cannot find it anywhere.
By Villy on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I don’t have the soundtrack *yet*, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the soundtrack as I flew around exploring Northrend for the Explorer Achievement.
By Snaggly on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Subatai Defeats The Knights Templar - 30 minute song from age of empires (I believe number two, the age of kings). Definitely some nostalgia their
By Sean on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I recommend stuff by Nobuo Uematsu, he does the music for Final Fantasy games.
Also a band called The Black Mages, he’s basically responsible for them, and it’s really good stuff.
By Rogue4Life on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
i would not be able to get through a day without listening to music while doing some of the mundane job tasks I am required to do. I need to get a copy of WotLK since the Northrend music is just amazing. I sometimes hate VC/Vent while waiting for the raid to start and I am farming and the music turns down so you can hear people talk.
Anyway, you might look into Midnight Sindicate - Dungeons & Dragons Soundtrack (not from any of the movies). I think it fits right in with what you are listening to or wanting to listen to. Where would any RPG be with D&D.
Nice post.
By CrossmenX on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Off the top of my head, the game music that’s on my ipod.
Symphonic Music:
Elder Scrolls Oblivion
Legend of Zelda - Most of them
Warcraft - Most of them
Fable
Final Fantasy - Most of them
Castlevania - Most, but Symphony of the Night in particular.
Super Metroid
Mechwarior 2
Super Ghouls and Ghosts
Non Symphonic:
Grim Fandango
Interstate 76
Katamari Damacy
Lumines
By Gilgamesh on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
If u are looking for game music from all the schools of gamin whether if its old console or whatever u can go to a site called zophar.net and with winamp plugins listen to nes, snes, sega and much more to enjoy old school music.
By WML on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Seriously, no-one has mentioned the Soul Reaver soundtrack? OMG its gooood. Well, if you’re like me and you enjoy morose industrial inspired twisted animals sound music. You can get the main title theme on iTunes, called Ozar Midrashim, by a band called Information Society - the front man for the band is/was the sound designer for Crystal Dynamics; amazing.
By Littleraven on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
i got the soundtrack from iTunes and i love it…i listen to it in my car from time to time…
for soundtracks i have on my ipod/itunes…
kingdom hearts
final fantasy
legend of zelda
star ocean
warcraft
starcraft
diablo
if anyone knows where i can get the soundtrack to dragonquest 8..id love you forever lol…that game seriously has some of the best music i have EVER heard in a game
By Gilnid on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I love game soundtracks, WoW is good but imho it isnt the best. My personal favorite for original unadulterated soundtracks is Final Fantasy VI, but mostly I listen to covers by other bands. The Advantage, Minibosses, and Powerglove are all pretty good if you aren’t just looking for pure OST.
By Killmickey on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
I have to admit that I listen to iTunes when I play the game. I’ll turn up the music this weekend. But I do love some game soundtracks. In particular Final Fantasy VII, and Lunar 2.
By Naqaj on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 3:20 am
I can wholeheartedly recommend the OST to Gothic 3, by Kai Rosenkranz.
Just don’t play the game without the community patch
By Anibal on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 4:35 am
I dont found soooo amazing the wotlk ost… I love diablo 2 LOD ost.
By Ombrenoire on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Okay, so you asked to play the WotLK OST (or any WoW OST really) to non-gamers to get their reaction. Here goes:
Great test for this. We just had a family reunion here with Uncles and Aunts in their 70s and 80s, Sister, Brother-in-Law, neice, and my parents. Good food, nice drinks, great conversation, but I was lacking ambiance music. In a pinch I stuck the 2 OSTs from WoW I had (BC and WotLK) into my multi-disk player and let them play on repeat.
At one point conversation died and I noticed everyone was listening to the music. It was the Lament of the Highborn playing. Everyone started asking me who this singer was and where they could get this album.
I admitted these where game OSTs. They were floored.
Needless to say my CDs have passed many hands since then. Thank the Goddess I ripped copies of them onto my hard drive in case anythig should happen to them.
By Dajosh on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 9:35 am
On my mp3 i have loads of soundtracks. i would though recommend the Metal Gear Solid Sountrack to number 2 and 3. these are great and really goes with the story. reading this post im gunna start turning music up and sound effects down! thnx for great post!
By Vacant on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I always loved the sndtrk from MYST
Thnx so much for this post! All the sugestions from the other resopnders make a great list of new stuff to check out!
By Jeff on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Some of the WoW music has Zelda influences in it… I played Zelda 3 & 64 often enough I’d recognise it anywhere…
By Jeff on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
… and are these OST’s only available in the Collectors’ Editions…?
If so; that ’s SOOOOOOOO wrong.
By Magealitious on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 3:53 am
Definately listen to Final Fantasy VII’s OST, or Final Fantasy X for that matter - both are mind blowingly amazing.
I’ve got the Wrath OST on my ipod and I tend to listen to it at least once a week, especially on those days where I can’t be bothered doing anything in game, but I want to play the game - it gets me fired up for almost anything from leveling an alt to running some 25 man raids.
By Magealitious on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 3:54 am
@ Jeff
You can download the OST from the iTunes store.
By CappyG on Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
my fave game soundtracks are as follows
Diablo & Diablo 2
Guild Wars
EVE On-Line
Knights of the Old Republic
Baldur’s Gate
By Kreion on Monday, April 6th, 2009 at 3:21 am
maby not a pc sound but halo3,halo wars sound tracks are very good, my fav pices of music in wow are, the ones in HoL and the one used in the opening WoTLK cinematic