Great albums with surprising origins

Music
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There are a lot of great albums but some of my favorites are the ones that found me when I wasn’t even looking. Two albums in particular come to mind right away, one from a video game and one from a Japanese anime.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Sound Track
Composed by Jeremy Soule.

If you enjoyed the scores for either The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, this will be right up your alley. It’s bold, epic, and adventurous.

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The soundtrack for the Cowboy Bebop dropped my jaw the first time I heard it. It’s classic big band, jazz, and blues. The sound is spacious and the imaging is amazing, easily allowing the listener to picture the exact placement of each band member. The opening track Tank! is my number one go to for testing imaging.


(My apologies for not being able to find a better quality link than youtube.)

Thanks for reading and I would really enjoy hearing your stories about albums that snuck up on you or just surprised you in general.

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In the gaming genre,

Try also World of Warcraft 2 CD box set.

Try also Spyro soundtrack (by Stewart Copeland)

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@Rhythmatist I totally agree the World of Warcraft soundtrack is amazing. Come to think of it, most fantasy based videos have a pretty good sound track. I’ll have to go back double check the track listing for the 2 cd boxset just to make sure I’m not missing anything.

Also, I have never listened to the Spyro soundtrack so you can bet I’ll be checking that out today. Thank you for some awesome recommends.

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I love the associations our brains build with music and experiences, and game soundtracks can really tap into that.

For me, the soundtrack from Ocarina of Time makes me so damn nostalgic. Great memories and some beautiful music. Plus the Slovak National Orchestra performed the music from the game - https://www.turntablelab.com/products/slovak-national-symphony-orchestra-hero-of-time-music-from-the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-180g-colored-vinyl-vinyl-2lp

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@Schroedster

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Not an album, but a single tune. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, by Steely Dan. Listen to the intro of the tune, Song For My Father by Horace Silver.

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There was that one album in the 70s that was pretty popular where everyone was screwing everybody else during a series of divorces and breakups…what was that called again? Hmm. Where they wrote songs about going your own way and sang harmonies across from each other…

You know the one…:wink:

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I heard a rumor about that one…

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Same here. My collection of the „ambient/electronic“ category in the Jazz and Pop genre grows…

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Try iam8bit for a nice collection of game soundtracks, many in limited edition vinyl.

https://store.iam8bit.com/
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Also the Monument Valley games series OSTs. Beautiful, lighter stuff.

And Hyperlight Drifter by Disasterpeace is another;

Russell Brower left Blizzard after the WoW, Diablo, and Starcraft soundtracks and put out a great Myst inspired music set.