It has its moments. But I am kind of bothered by the fact, that there is little variation or musical development within the underscore tracks, especially when you sit through all of the 4cd set. Lots of tracks are just well made atmosphere music that goes on and on for minutes while not much is actually happening musically. Good for the game, but a bore as a listening experience. Furthermore, lots of stylistic elements from the score are borrowed somewhere, for instance the choral chanting stuff is largely reminiscent of alan silvestris work on beowulf, while the general use of the choir is often just a nod to what howard shore did in lord of the rings. Thematically, the score draws heavily from the earlier elder scrolls scores by soule to a degree that certain tracks are just re-uses of melodies with extended orchestration. At times, i find the orchestration pretty lazy. There is certain action tracks that suffer from an overuse of synth snare drums.
I very much like Jeremy Soule's 4 CD Skyrim set, and the Oblivion download as well. Soule has been called 'the John Williams of video-game music', and that's just a wee bit hyperbolic, but much of his music is very enjoyable.
Bear in mind, with Skyrim, that the 4th CD is clearly labelled as 'Skyrim Atmospheres'. This is 43 minutes of ambient music and effects. Pleasant enough, in a background way (like Brian Eno's stuff, for instance), but probably not intended for active 'musical' listening.
For the rest, after ripping it into iTunes, I created a playlist of the standout tracks (about an hour's worth), and this works real well for active listening, but I do still go back and listen to the rest pretty often. At $30 for 4 CD's, entirely worthwhile, imho. The set's available through Soule's site, http://www.directsong.com.
Reign of the Septims Harvest Dawn Sunrise of Flutes Minstrel's Lament
From Skyrim:
Awake From Past to Present Secunda A Winter's Tale Far Horizons The Bannered Mare Ancient Stones Around The Fire Solitude Out Of The Cold Wind Guide You
At $30 for 4 CD's, entirely worthwhile, imho. The set's available through Soule's site, http://www.directsong.com.
Thank you so much for posting this, I almost paid three times that on Ebay, thinking that was the only way it was available!
Agreed...sherrill50, THANK YOU! I wasn't about to pay the ripoff Amazon prices on this one, but certainly didn't expect it to be out there for $30! Wonderful!
Not only that, but people who ordered early got signed copies!
I've been a fan of Soule ever since Secret of Evermore for the SNES...no one handles a sampled orchestra better, in my opinion. His stuff does tend toward the ambient side of things, but his best work has an ethereal beauty that no other game--or film--music can match. Naturally you can pick out some stylistic influences here and there--Howard Shore, for example--but it's generally top-notch stuff.
I highly recommend checking out Icewind Dale, Total Annihilation, Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, and Oblivion (the prequel to Skyrim). All are available either on his site or as a pack-in with cheap games.
Not only that, but people who ordered early got signed copies!
I've been a fan of Soule ever since Secret of Evermore for the SNES...no one handles a sampled orchestra better, in my opinion. His stuff does tend toward the ambient side of things, but his best work has an ethereal beauty that no other game--or film--music can match. Naturally you can pick out some stylistic influences here and there--Howard Shore, for example--but it's generally top-notch stuff.
I highly recommend checking out Icewind Dale, Total Annihilation, Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, and Oblivion (the prequel to Skyrim). All are available either on his site or as a pack-in with cheap games.
I plan on eventually getting Guild Wars 2 through the same website - looks like it's one of the very few still available on CD. I picked up Icewind Dale late last year and love it, but probably will refrain from Oblivion since I played upwards of 90 hours on the game. I'm a huge fan of the Diablo and Torchlight music also, too bad those aren't available on CD either (on that site at least).
And thanks for the link to the Kickstarter project - hadn't heard of that and need to do some research.
I plan on eventually getting Guild Wars 2 through the same website - looks like it's one of the very few still available on CD. I picked up Icewind Dale late last year and love it, but probably will refrain from Oblivion since I played upwards of 90 hours on the game. I'm a huge fan of the Diablo and Torchlight music also, too bad those aren't available on CD either (on that site at least).
Actually most of those scores *never* had a CD release, and are digital only. Guild Wars 1 is available as a pack-in CD only. Skyrim and Guild Wars 2 are actually the first CD releases Soule's label has ever done!
And, incidentally, Dialblo and Torchlight weren't Soule. They were written by Matt Uelmen.
Interesting to see this thread bumped up, as I revisited this set earlier today. I absolutely adore this album. To me, this is Soule at his finest. Hope he gets to kick it again like this soon.
