N/A: Ubisoft soundtrack sampler: Video Games Live London 2006 Limited Edition

[Blitz Lunar]

Ugh, I hate this stuff :P I only listened to it for the first time today. It kinda sums up my feelings and impressions about most western video game soundtracks, particularly these days with so many games sticking to the same tired unimaginative electronic/orchestral formula (because it's perceived as highbrow/quality/whatever.) I'll stick to my "bleeps & bloops" thanks Tommy

So I noticed this hadn't been put up yet, and I've had this sat around doing nothing the last couple of years. The scans are kinda weak unfortunately, particularly the tray/case scans; I couldn't get them any better quality than this with my scanner, but hopefully they're good enough.

I also wonder if any other promotional albums have been released at any of the other VGL concerts around the world?

[Chris]

It's definitely Tom Salta, not Tom Saita. He's quite a famous and interesting Western game composer.

[Rimo]

Originally Posted by Blitz Lunar

Ugh, I hate this stuff :P I only listened to it for the first time today. It kinda sums up my feelings and impressions about most western video game soundtracks, particularly these days with so many games sticking to the same tired unimaginative electronic/orchestral formula (because it's perceived as highbrow/quality/whatever.) I'll stick to my "bleeps & bloops" thanks Tommy

You bet! I also think that these 12 tracks totally sums up Western VGM and that it's intrinsically bad. And yeah, sound chips from yesteryear should be the only valid instruments in game music. Who needs realistic-sounding or live instruments anyway; they're so overrated and trivial.

Also, I think the two components in the album title should be inverted since it's really an Ubisoft compilation first (and not a VGL one) and that's how it is written on the cover.

[Blitz Lunar]

And yeah, sound chips from yesteryear should be the only valid instruments in game music. Who needs realistic-sounding or live instruments anyway; they're so overrated and trivial.

Well I don't agree with that so much but I understand your feeling, there's definitely too much value placed on live/real instrumentation (even in music in general these days, there's more of a back-to-basics approach, plus the arrangement on songs is often sparser.) I have however heard plenty of great soundtracks made with the same sound aesthetic (one of my favourites right now is Sigma Harmonics), but aside from the instrumentation and production values, the music is drastically different. Their superficial qualities are similar but I believe that's where it ends.

Also changed the title - I agree. That's also how it appears on the spine. Dunno why I switched them to be honest.

It's definitely Tom Salta, not Tom Saita. He's quite a famous and interesting Western game composer.

WHOOPS, how did I manage that? Must have been on auto-pilot there, though I guess it shows how familiar I am with the guy too. Thanks for pointing it out. His tracks weren't too bad relative to some of the other stuff.

[Liontamer]

Originally Posted by Blitz Lunar

Well I don't agree with that so much but I understand your feeling

Except that he LOLed you. :-)

[Blitz Lunar]

w0pz. I totally missed the damning sarcasm when I replied earlier, I'd just woken up. Now I'm fully awake, I can reply properly.

Just to clear something up, I never made that claim about sound-chips, and I certainly didn't claim western VGM is intrinsically bad; that's a fairly silly thing for anyone to believe, and it's certainly not something I believe... I could run off a list of western game soundtracks that I love right now for whatever that's worth. So I think there's a little bit of projection/reading between the lines going on there The music on this disc is the general trend right now though (and it is, not a lot of point even arguing that), and all I said was that it lacks imagination and I'm not a fan of it. Nothing too untoward there IMO, but if you want to be ultra snotty I guess that's up to you, not too bothered myself.

You could always recommend some great western game soundtracks from over the past few years, maybe there are some gems I have missed (in fact I'm sure there are.)

[BahamutZ]

Never listened it, but I know for a fact tracks 1,2, and 12 are awesome since I heard them elsewhere. Although the rest could be garbage like you say.

[Rimo]

Well yes, my post was meant to be sarcastic, yet not 100%. Your opinion was mostly negative and presented with generalizations that I do not agree with, so I thought I'd rephrase it by pushing it a little further to highlight the ridiculousness I perceived. Should not be considered as a personal attack though, but I'm glad my point got seized and that it was actually a misunderstanding.

I agree with you that the use of an orchestra or other live instruments doesn't mean that the music is better. It is actually often used to cover up poor compositions. But on the other hand, when compared to a retro sound chip or a synth alone, these instruments have much more potential. So I think that it's a good thing that game music is not limited to only "bleeps & bloops" anymore, yet this doesn't mean that old soundtracks suck by today's standards and that these types of sound shouldn't be used anymore.

You do have a point that modern trends in Western VGM are not so cool and that the music could be more enjoyable (at least from my point of view). Not everything sucks though, but yeah, there's a lot of music that does pretty much nothing to me, notably from soundtracks that aim for a cinematic approach with mostly ambient/non-melodic and usually orchestral material. I've not lost faith however, yet I hope more game producers and composers will find back the spark of creativity and desire to innovate and diversify in the (close) future. Or that the trends would change to something more akin to my personal tastes, hehe.

As for suggestions of good Western soundtracks, it could take a while and go in any direction, including ones far from your tastes, but if you'd like to learn more about the subject in general, it's the purpose of the VGM Rush website.

[TheMonkofDestiny]

Anyone know if they used the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra for the performances on this release or if it was another orchestra entirely?

[Fearin]

The Sasha Dikiciyan seems to be Sascha Dikiciyan