After perusing this week's new soundtracks (via email from Intrada) and seeing Brad do his own review of one over on Chilled Monkey Brains, I thought I'd do my own salute. Personally, I can't DM an adventure without some kind of music. My soundtrack collection isn't "vast" but it serves its purpose. Favorite module cds are anything by the three "J"s--Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, and James Horner. As I think of them, I'll post my some of my most-used soundtracks (maybe you'll discover something new for your collection!). Here's a few to get you going...
Goldsmith: I may not be much for watching the trilogy, but the Rambo movies produced some fantastic music by this recently-deceased composer. Rambo III is especially good considering that the soundtrack was not even used in the movie! According to the liner notes, if memory serves me, the executives instead used tracks spliced from Rambo II. I don't know what they were thinking. Rambo III has some of the best cues for action you can find. Link: http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.ACCT67745/sc.2/category.2003/it.A/id.774/.f
Williams: You can go with the classic Indiana Jones trilogy here but let's try to get off the beaten path. Williams' recent offerings have left me a bit cold. I'd have to recommend something like Jurassic Park (the first over the second, although #2 does have one hell of a great action cue) or Superman. Like many of the composer's pre-2000 stuff, melodies are key and action is admirably handled. Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002OOY/qid=1138841927/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6376094-1377722?s=music&v=glance&n=5174
Horner: Like Goldsmith, I'm a big fan of this guy's work. If you keep an ear to the soundtrack community, you know Horner is considered a hack in some circles, accused of repeating melodies and/or rythmic structures. Even if it's true (and it is in some cases), the man can still write damned good music. For a great sampling, try this Essential disc set: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000009Q0I/qid=1138842098/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-6376094-1377722?s=music&v=glance&n=5174
As for RPG news, this week's Behind the Spells release is now up for sale. Grab Temporal Stasis here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=6438
1 comment:
Excellent list. I've decided I enjoy the scores from Star Wars Episodes I-III more than the movies.
I hope we get double disc sets of Episodes II and III. The one for Phantom Menace has some good stuff that's not on the single disc version.
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