Games music and where my music likings began
Right, first things first, let me explain that the reason that I am doing this topic as a blog post is partly due to us needing to have a variety of mediums of blog post topics and because, as I said I'm listening to music as we speak and felt inspired to write a blog post related to it. So we begin my musical tour with the music of video games, from as far as I can remember the music in video games have always stuck out to me - from the second I first turned on my Sega Megadrive and played Sonic 2 and I heard the BGM (Background Music) of Emerald Hill Zone for the first time and thought 'This games is awesome!'
As I was only young (only about 5 years old) I didn't understand at the time the significance and joy that the music had but as I have grown older I realise that the BGM music that gets played in games is a crucial part of them, they can add to the emotional response that we get from pivotal story points, build up suspense in horror games or simply just be good music worth listening to. The music in games is not only well thought out for these purposes, if you listen to a lot of game music on its own your notice that it is just very well composed as well played music or simply very catchy tracks... it is an unappreciated genre of music really as the effort that goes into it is amazing.
Obviously, sometimes tracks do miss the point or just aren't fun to listen to, purely having their use in the game and thats it. Even so, the music in the games that I have played over the years has helped shaped my future musical likes as, listening back to music in games and noting my favourite tracks from various game soundtracks it should be noted that many of them are upbeat, rock-orientated tracks. This may just be coincidence, but as I discussed a week or so ago with some friends it does seem that many people who are considered 'Geeks' or like video-games heavily in general typically do prefer Rock and Metal genre - it is my believe that the music in the games itself may have slightly influenced this (obviously not immensely as that'd be stupid).
Looking at my personal preferences with game music, tracks from games such as Koei's Dynasty Warriors, Final Fantasy (I had to mention it right...), Super Smash Bros, etc feature heavily in my favourites. Tracks such as JENOVA, One-Winged Angel, Otherworld, Dark Messenger, Force You Way from Final Fantasy; Theme of Lu Bu, Power & Glory, Dual NRG from Dynasty Warriors; Fire Emblem (Melee), Multi-Man Melee 2 and Dreamland 64 from Smash Bros... All these are awesome tracks and all have rock-related styles (Links will be included at the end for those who wish to listen).
For a long period of time I listened to game music and not any 'regular music', it was only since I start 6th Form when I was 16 that I started taking an interest in regular music and, what a surprise, the type of music that I liked was rock. This goes to show that game music is important, it shapes how we play games and can even influence the music that we listen to in later life.
Real-Life Tracks in Games
Right, off the bat of BGM music in games we move onto tracks from real-life that appear in games. This has become more of a staple in recent years, with big games developers getting big names in the music industry to either record music tracks for games or use already made tracks in their games. These tracks go to show that even 'real-life' musicians and music can see the influence and appeal of games and their music. The music might not be needed in a game but people think 'Wow, band x put music in that game? It must be good then' this shows how music can have a powerful effect and how the worlds of music and games collide.
Again, a lot of the time the music that gets put in-games relates to the style of video games music but sometimes not and even these tracks still show that music is a powerful medium, and for games to incorporate it well shows real promise for engaging with players. Personal favourite tracks that have appeared in games or written for them are REDEMPTION by Gackt for Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars for Dragon Age Origins and Invasion From Within by Tsunami Bomb for Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (again, links will be below).
This also leads to real-life influences, even more-so than ordinary game music as people who play games hear tracks from well known bands and musicians and can start to like them through gaming - again, this also shows influence in musical styles that people can begin to like.
The Bands and music of today
Right, this section has little to do with games at all really, its just me talking about bands that I like - the element you have to remember is that my musical taste has been inspired from video game music... thus it makes it relevent.
So, the first band to talk about really with any significance has to be my favourite band Muse. I first heard Muse through my Step-Dad and Mum who also like it, though at the time I never cared for it or listened to it much but once I started to take an interest in music I remember certain tracks that had lodged themselves secretly in my mind, I listened to them again and then the musical obsession began to grow. I listened to them more and more and ultimately realised 'Hey, I actually quite like this music stuff' and from there I have gone on to get almost every song they've ever done and even go and see them live - the one and only bad I have been to see I'm ashamed to say.
Muse are a brilliant British Rock band with a very diverse style supported by the vocal talents of Matthew Bellamy and his use of Falsetto and Vibrato and the 'electrical' sound style they achieve. They are a true icon of the British music world winning numerous awards in various categories. Muse are the band that set me on my musical path and I don't regret it at all...
Onto other bands now, I'll try and bunch them together with those that are of a 'similar' style (as much as possible, and most are different in their sounds as a whole). The next group are more 'traditional' rock bands such as Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures and Bon Jovi. These bands are all well respected in the rock world and have been around for many years still going strong, they're the sort of bands where if you removed the lyrics from the songs they play you could imagine bits being used in games as BGM.
Alternative Rock is a genre of music that I like very much too, not as traditional as the groups above, having sounds more similar in style to Muse (as they are Alternative Rock too) and having a particular lyrical style (that often gets linked to Emo for no reason...). These bands include My Chemical Romance, 30 Seconds to Mars, Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy - all of these bands are very modern, emerging in the 21st century but becoming immensely popular and popularising the genre. The music of these bands are very diverse and varied but seem to popular among game likers for unknown reasons...
Punk Rock is another one of my favourite genres, having a very quick tempo they are generally very catchy and uplifting - Punk rock ultimately led to the rise in Alternate Rock too which is why I like it so much. The bands that fit this genre that I like are Sum 41, Green Day and Good Charlotte. Do the punk pre-cursor of these bands they generally are met with some form of antagonism due to the sterortype of 'punks' but this really isn't the case - just another set of Good music.
Finally, this last group is for oddities and the only one which contains Metal rather than Rock (I'm much more of a rock person than a Metal person - Metal is often too much for me...). There's Rammstein (German Metal), DragonForce (Power Metal) & Garbage (kinda Alternative Rock but a bit different). These bands are all very good but being a bit of a variety for me compared to my standard styles of music. Metal is often very heavy, has a very quick tempo and is very loud... this is why I tend not to like it as much, as I said, it's too much for me.
So there we go, a look at how I went from listening to game music and then how I started listening to ordinary music, a look at how game music is a heavy influence on this and ultimately the type of music that resulted from my experiences. Below will be links to all the aforementioned game music and also my favourite tracks (or two if I REALLY can't decide) from each of my favourite bands. So anyways, 'til next time that's all folks!
- Emerald Hill - Sonic The Hedgehog 2
- JENOVA - Final Fantasy VII
- One-Winged Angel - Final Fantasy VII
- Otherworld - Final Fantasy X
- Dark Messenger - Final Fantasy IX
- Force Your Way - Final Fantasy VIII
- Theme of Lu Bu - Dynasty Warriors 4
- Power and Glory - Dynasty Warriors 3
- Dual NRG - Dynasty Warriors 5
- Fire Emblem Melee - Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Multi-Man Melee 2 - Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Dreamland N64 - Super Smash Bros.
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- All My Life - Foo Fighters
- Long Road to Ruin - Foo Fighters
- Sick, Sick, Sick - Queens of the Stone Age
- No One Knows - Queens of the Stone Age
- Gunman - Them Crooked Vultures
- Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
- Bulletproof Heart - My Chemical Romance
- Helena - My Chemical Romance
- Attack - 30 Seconds to Mars
- The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage - Panic! At the Disco
- Trade Mistakes - Panic! At the Disco
- Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
- Take a Look At Yourself - Sum 41
- Screaming Bloody Murder - Sum 41
- American Idiot - Green Day
- Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous - Good Charlotte
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