By Alec Meer on April 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am.
Well, this is terribly gracious. The complete score for Relic’s divisive RTS sequel can now be had for no pennies. I can’t say it struck me as either wonderful or terrible whilst I played the game, but the track names are certainly spectacular – f’rinstance “There Is Only War“, “They Come In Waves And We Push Them Back” and – oh yes – “Show Me What Passes For Music Among Your Misbegotten Kind“. The world would be a better place if all songs were called that, frankly.
It’s all dark, lavish orchestral fare, composed by one Doyle W. Donehoo, and if you want to wander through the supermarket whilst pretending you’re really stamping on Xeno skulls with your size-48 steel jackboots, it’s probably just the soundtrack you’re looking for.
You can stream the tracks (and admire those oh-so-macho titles) here, or download DRM-free MP3 versions from the link at the bottom of this Steam page – no account necessary, surprisingly.
30/04/2009 at 00:09 jalf says:
I’m gonna rename all the songs on my playlist right away! Making the world a better place one song at a time, since 1873!
30/04/2009 at 00:10 Sunjammer says:
All games that aren’t likely to have their music commercially released should share theirs in this way. There’s so much brilliant music that becomes forgotten when the game it’s made for becomes outdated.
30/04/2009 at 00:12 Je Suis Un Bear says:
Awesome, thanks for the point to it alec.
30/04/2009 at 00:14 Mad Doc MacRae says:
I doubt it’ll be very remarkable – I played the demo and never once thought “I’d like to listen to this while not meeting interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture and killing them.” But I’ll DL it because it’s free, I have college bandwidth, and the titles are pretty cool.
30/04/2009 at 00:29 subedii says:
Did they ever release the soundtrack for the first game? IIRC there were a few tracks in there that I liked.
30/04/2009 at 00:32 Andrew Dunn says:
The track labelled For The Craftworld is the one that stuck out for me while playing the game. Just the right level of epic.
30/04/2009 at 01:20 Pstonie says:
“Show Me What Passes For Music Among Your Misbegotten Kind”
Where’s the vodka? Where’s marinated herring?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTFufbcx8DI
30/04/2009 at 01:54 Psychopomp says:
@Pstonie
You’re awesome.
30/04/2009 at 01:57 Tworak says:
Sweet. Thanks Reric!
30/04/2009 at 05:15 Bjbrains says:
I love the genre listed on the downloaded MP3s:
“Pure Epic”
30/04/2009 at 08:36 Wolfman says:
For some reason listening to the DOWII soundtrack I am reminded of the Mechwarrior 2 music.
30/04/2009 at 09:41 PC Monster says:
I have all the Mechwarrior 2 music on my HD, including from the expansions. It’s amazing. The better of the two composers involved was a guy called Jeehun Hwang. (www.jeehun.com). Man’s a frikkin’ genius. His site has lots of stuff to listen to, if you’re interested, Wolfy.
Game soundtracks RULE. I totally agree with Sunjammer; if it’s not getting a commercial release then put it into the public domain. If nothing else it helps keep people linked to your game in a small way. GOG are very smart to include these as bonuses for buying the games from them.
30/04/2009 at 09:51 Rei Onryou says:
Haven’t gotten around to DoWII yet, but I can’t say no to a free soundtrack. Total Annihilation is still the reigning champion of Pure Epic though.
Thanks Relic. Thelic.
30/04/2009 at 10:01 phil says:
If I was forced to name a band, “Show Me What Passes For Dancing Among Your Misbegotten Kind,“ would definitely be in my top five options.
30/04/2009 at 10:29 SwiftRanger says:
It’s one of the best soundtracks ever imo, who needs Soule or Zur when you have Donehoo as a composer? Great thing they’re releasing this as a freebie.
Best track has to be “Hunting the Hive Tyrant”, that’s just so… Tyranid.
30/04/2009 at 12:01 theleif says:
Should be an album by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
30/04/2009 at 14:07 Spenot says:
Bolt Thrower should be the only music used in DoW:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiA7viqt0hQ&feature=related
“Spent the ammunition of faith
Weaponry exhausted
Now reduced in numbers
Numbers reduced
To the Last!”
30/04/2009 at 14:08 Andrew Dunn says:
The Meridian Nights track that closes the album is hilarious.
30/04/2009 at 16:35 Dizet Sma says:
This music pales in comparison to “Kiss My Axe (While I Drink My Beer)” from Warhammer Online, mainly due to the presence of Eric ‘Blue Oyster Cult’ Bloom, of course.
Oh, and ‘Angels Of Death’ was done better by Hawkwind!
30/04/2009 at 18:29 HansZimmer says:
Holst’s “Mars” ripoff.
30/04/2009 at 19:06 Crispy says:
This would be a really good way to get Spyware onto my PC, because for me it was a complete no brainer.
30/04/2009 at 21:06 meatpeople says:
Ooh, this looks like it’ll be interesting indeed.
I’m reminded of a surprise I got browsing through Discogs once (being as I am a big techno loving type) – three CD compilations of “The Sound of Warhammer 40,000″. CD1, CD2, CD3.
All techno/electro though, be warned. There was also apparently a run of 12″s for it too. I’d never heard of them at all and was pretty surprised. Must get around to picking up copies.
30/04/2009 at 23:18 jonfitt says:
The only Relic game where the soundtrack stood out for me was Homeworld (2).
01/05/2009 at 09:39 SwiftRanger says:
“Holst’s “Mars” ripoff”
Sure, why not compare a partial tune of a song to the main recurring tune in No Mercy No Respite (also just one of the 20 songs of the OST) instead of listening to the whole soundtrack? Oh, wait… Besides, even then, it’s a better version here.:)
02/05/2009 at 05:52 Crispy says:
@HansRimmer: I can only assume you are referring to ‘No Mercy, No Respite’. So both tracks contain heavy strings staccato, therefore they are the same. Get a musical education (get any sort of education), seriously.
P.S. Gogol Bordello is facile tripe. The song is supposed to be comedy, but when 75% of the lyrics consist of ‘dadadadada’ you’ve got to ask yourself in the first 30 seconds ‘Why am I still listening to this song?’.
P.P.S. Meridian Nights: Something C&C leads with, but Relic only include as a bonus (and joke) track.
17/11/2009 at 01:44 paul smackit says:
wicked thanks for the help
20/04/2010 at 23:56 Brenda says:
fun fun *loads it up now*
07/07/2010 at 12:31 Watch cartoons says:
my elite warrior will slice you down in no time