When we heard that Video Games Live, the touring orchestra, was going to release a full scale gaming related album we just knew we had to be some of the first people to listen. Instead of just throwing their most recent tour onto a CD VGL came up with eleven of the most popular tracks and crammed them on one disc, leading the album to be called Volume 1 (hopefully more volumes will come later on). Each one of the song represents a different famous video game, for example on this disc there are songs from Kingdom Hearts, Tetris, Warcraft, Halo, and many more.
Video game soundtracks have been getting more and more popular recently, with big-budget titles such as Mass Effect getting the audio treatment. I have listened to more than a couple gaming soundtracks in my time so to be honest my expectations were not extremely high when Video Games Live: Vol. 1 showed up at the office. I have yet to see the show in person (it's coming to the south in October) so the only audible experience I have had with this orchestra was via a couple video/audio snippets found on the internet. It's came as no surprise that the people who have seen their Live show say it's the only way to truly experience VGL, but seeing as I have a couple months to wait I popped the CD in my Xbox 360 and sat back to listen.
Considering my history in classical music I was not expecting to enjoy this review disc whatsoever, boy was I surprised to find myself slipping it into my car player, downloading it onto my iPod, and basically listening to it every chance I got. Not only is it soothing and relaxing to listen to but the massive amount of memories it kicks up of me playing old-school video games as a child is nauseating. What makes Video Games Live different from other classical orchestra music is that not every song uses the same instrument makeup, some feature just string instruments, one is just a piano solo with nothing else mucking up the track, etc.
One common trait that most of the songs share is the beautiful-sounding and brilliantly cast choir, which truly lends these songs an epic narrative. The choir helps take what could be considered a simple instrumental and turn it into exciting music that can reach all types of listeners. I guess it only helps when you have such amazing source material as VGL has to work with. This brings me to my final point, I absolutely loved this album, enjoying every single minute of the listening experience (multiple times). My connection with the songs was pushed along because of my deep history in video games, in a place where the slightest tune can bring up decade-old memories. Don't worry, the music is good as well, with some of my personal favorite tracks being Halo Suite, Kingdom Hearts, and Civilization IV Medley.
Video Games Live: Volume 1 is for sale in stores everywhere now and if you are reading this you should probably pick it up. Most fans of video games will truely enjoy the experience that VGL offers and although attending live would be much better this disc offers the next best thing. Follow the link below to the official Video Games Live website where you can order the CD for yourself as well as check out where they are touring next.
Final Recommendation: Must Buy!
Click here to purchase the Video Games Live: Volume 1 official soundtrack.
