Soundtrack Club Discussion - April 2021

I was familiar only with The Medium soundtrack, which I really enjoyed, it works great as a background when I'm at work. The Love That Was Lost I could listen to on repeat, great opening. I love how recognizable Yamaoka's music is. Few years back he contributed to a Brave Wave album called In Flux and even without credits you just instantly know which song he worked on when you give it a listen. Ys was a nice surprise, the length of the soundtrack was intimidating and at first I was also like "oh yes, classic Japanese music", haha, but it's not that generic and has it's own personality. And honestly it just flew by, suddenly I was back at the first track, so that was also nice. Metroid was a little pain to listen to on YouTube, haven't finished it yet as I got distracted several times but hearing bits and pieces during your conversation made me curious and I'll definitely go back and give it a proper listen. Plus I loved what you had to say about it, how it's connected to the previous Metroid music. Tbh my first Metroid game was Axiom Verge 😅 so my knowledge of the series is very basic. Overall it's a great start to this series, as a huge video game music fan this is a blessing really. Thanks, Blood! And props to Don for being awesome and caring enough to put in the extra work, much appreciated! <3

Monika

So happy you guys decided to do this, I live and breathe game music, so it's fantastic to see this sort of show. Great work!

Ciaran Lyttle

I think this is a good pilot. In terms of feedback, how about including links to places where we can buy/listen discussed soundtrack (or at least the name of the album)? Sometimes there are multiple versions of the soundtrack and it would be nice to know which one is the right one.

Alexander Zyryanov

Thanks for the feedback. I'm probably going to try a different approach next month, and I am hesitant about trying to do what Don did here every month. I think we got a bit lucky that it worked out when there's a whole list of hurdles that can keep that from happening. And also, it may be a bit idealistic, but I really do want this to be less of a show as it is part of a conversation among all of us. Ideally, people would listen to the soundtracks on their own and share what they feel about them here in the comments after listening to our perspectives. -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

Metroid Prime is one of the soundtracks suggested by patrons. Every month, there will be a soundtrack I bring, a soundtrack the guest brings, and a soundtrack suggested by patrons. I don't really want to go the poll route, particularly with such a wealth of suggestions in the welcome post. Plus, I also want it to be something that resonates with the guest, not something they're kind of forced to listen to because it won the vote. No plans for game footage. I honestly had considered not even including video for these discussions, but I know that a YouTube link is easier for a lot of people than just an audio file. -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

Super happy to have this sort of content on Easy Allies! This is an excellent episode. After listening through this one, I’m excited to hear you guys come back and talk Metroid Prime 2 at some point; it’s got a darker grittier feel than the first game, and feels like it has more of its own identity that comes through compared to the the first Prime’s callbacks. Both are excellent though! In terms of feedback: I don’t know if it’s actually feasible but isolated clips for portions you’re talking about just for a couple seconds would be great. But beyond that, and probably even less of an option is to have clips from the games to go along with some things you’re talking about, possibly with the aforementioned audio behind it. The latter probably is not a fair ask because it’s easier to obtain a soundtrack than a lot of the games you could potentially be talking about though. Will there also be a vote or way we can suggest a soundtrack beyond the discussion when we get closer to a monthly episode? If three soundtracks are brought each time, it could mean that Blood brings one, the guest brings one, and the audience picks one, or something along those lines. Then comments could be pulled from the discussions we had prior to picking the music. Could help bring the community into the episodes a little more than just discussing with each other. Sorry for the lengthy post! Excited to see next months episode already.

Happy Gaming

I really think moving forward the audio clips of the music needs to be in the discussion. I think its essential to making the soundtrack club work. As a listener i won't get the context of all the discussions without it Onto the episode: Very good first episode. I think Blood is a good fit for being the host of this show and the 3 soundtrack idea works well with me.

Greg Kettering

"We are going to discuss three soundtracks: one soundtrack that I choose (usually a recent release), one soundtrack that the guest brings, and one soundtrack that we both agree on from your suggestions." from the "introduction" post by Blood :)

Monika

Hey, just to your first point - you are aware of the fact that this is actually a part of a membership tier and not a one time thing..? :)

Monika

Very interesting discussion and good choices for the tracks. I really hope the series continues and maybe the patrons can suggest soundtracks to cover?

Renki

Couple quick thoughts--(1) this should be a series, maybe monthly or something; (2) editing in clean track samples really makes it feel right and that should be continued. MinnMax occasionally brings up soundtracks and Ben always edits in clips from the songs themselves. Without it, it feels like you're trying to describe something in words, but words alone don't capture the feeling or essence of what you're describing. A script tells the audience what to think; the soundtrack tells the audience what to feel, and it's hard to capture the feeling without putting in the additional work of actually playing the clips. Loved the discussion and would really like to see more!

Joe Holaska

Great start. Lots of potential for more :)

Alex_AI

Loved this!!

See You When I Get There

Really, really great first episode. I was especially interested in the brief point about Japanese game music generally having a clearly distinct style from western game music. If I’m listening to a playlist of various game music in the background while I’m working on something else, I feel like the first thing I often notice about a song is whether it sounds Japanese or not, even though I couldn’t define what that means. As a side note, the Metroid Prime soundtrack always blows me away. It just sounds so distinct from anything else to me. It’s weird to say, but Metroid Prime was probably one of the scariest games I played as a kid. So when I hear the music I feel a bit tense, even if the track is more soothing. I love it (and I actually may like Metroid Prime 3’s music even more...)

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was like a Frame Trap, but for game music and I'm looking forward to more! And I agree regarding Mr. Casanova: He did such a great job with pairing the music and at just the right level for me to focus on when a point was made, but not overbearing to where I couldn't pay attention to the conversation. It really added to the video, though if it's too much work, I hope he doesn't overwork himself. Regardless, great first episode!

Brandon K Gann

What a great first episode! I really enjoyed your insight into what makes the music special for each game. I loved hearing the music as context, so maybe in the future you could pick one or two songs from each that really stood out to you? That way it's still relatively easy to add them in.

Garrett Hulfish

It sounds like the music samples weren't planned but I think it was a really nice touch during the discussion. Would like to see similar edits on future ones if possible. I love video game soundtracks so glad you're doing this!

Keaton

Been looking forward to this the most, music has always been my favorite part of gaming. Thanks!

Jw Hampton

The audio clip was missing at first, but should be working now.

Easy Allies