NEWS - Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Special Edition Soundtrack For Halo
Sumthing Else Music Works Inc. through its recently expanded relationship with Microsoft Game Studios, proudly announces the release of a Special Edition of their best selling soundtrack for the hit Xbox video game, Halo: Combat Evolved. The Special Edition Soundtrack includes a Halo 2 Bonus DVD containing trailers and videos from the highly anticipated game from Bungie Studios, as well as previously unreleased Surround Sound versions of new music composed by Marty O’Donnell from the Halo universe. “It’s a pleasure to bring new music to the fans of Halo. Until now these Surround Sound versions could only be experienced in my studio. Consider it a taste of things to come.” The Halo score, composed by Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori, weaves a collection of tribal drumbeats, techno dance beats and breathtaking orchestral movements. The artistic accomplishments of the score (not to mention the game) continue to draw critical acclaim from musical artists who play Halo. Legendary rock guitar virtuoso Steve Vai calls "the melodies as haunting and ominous as the game’s characters." The Editors of Rolling Stone named Halo: Combat Evolved as the video game with the "Best Original Soundtrack" for 2001. The Special Edition Halo Soundtrack plus Bonus DVD is being sold in stores in the U.S. for a suggested retail price of $15.98 and may also be purchased online through the game website at http://www.xbox.com/halo. It is the sixth soundtrack this holiday season to be manufactured and released by Nile Rodgers’ Sumthing Else Music Works Label under its exclusive original soundtrack licensing relationship with Microsoft Game Studios. Distribution, sales and retail marketing of the soundtracks continue to be facilitated through Nile Rodgers’ national distribution company, Sumthing Distribution. Other new original soundtracks available on Sumthing Else Music Works for Microsoft Game Studios’ games include Crimson Skies®: High Road To Revenge™, Freelancer™, Voodoo Vince™, Brute Force™ and Tao Feng™: Fist of the Lotus™. Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge - This 54-track soundtrack CD contains a Bonus DVD with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mixes of the game trailer and select tracks from the CD. The soundtrack is an ode to 1930’s big band and modern day swing revival. The score for the Xbox video game was composed by Stan LePard and performed by Northwest Sinfonia and Grammy Award-winning conductor, Adam Stern. To order or listen to a sample of the soundtrack, visit http://www.xbox.com/crimsonskies. Freelancer includes a Bonus Video-DVD containing a Behind-the-Scenes Documentary, Trailers, Conceptual Artwork and previously unreleased versions of the Cinematic Intro. James Hannigan, who was nominated for the Golden Reel Award for his work on sound in Lost in Space and is also known for his brilliant score in Privateer: The Darkening, Sim Theme Park and many other games, composed the score for this PC game developed by Digital Anvil. James also contributed music to Brute Force (also on the Sumthing Else Music Works label). Visual Music Inc., a network of musicians led by composer Tom Seufert, tapped members Dean Grinsfelder, Osamu Kitajima, Tim Kelly and Cato for the game. Digital Anvil’s own Andrew Sega rounded out the list of composers supplying music for Freelancer. To order the soundtrack online or for more information, visit http://www.microsoft.com/games/freelancer/. The Voodoo Vince soundtrack for the Xbox video game is a blend of the Cajun, Dixieland and jazz music so characteristic of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou. Or is it? With over three hours of music contained in the game itself, a phantasmagorical and hysterical audio landscape emerges for gaming’s most unlikely hero, a voodoo doll named Vince. Gaming veteran Steve Kirk composed the score, whose previous credits run from Atari to THQ. What he brought to Voodoo Vince, though, was a decade’s worth of playing and scoring experience for Saturday morning cartoons (The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat), and silent film (Pandora’s Box, Sherlock Jr, Metropolis,) with the legendary Clubfoot Orchestra. To order the soundtrack online or for more information, visit http://www.xbox.com/voodoovince. Brute Force - This soundtrack for Xbox video game includes a Bonus DVD containing the Xbox video game’s cinematic intro and previously unreleased footage featuring the main characters. The score is made up of ambient, tranquil sounds and orchestrations mixed with tribal techno and was composed by James Hannigan, Mike Reagan, Jesper Kyd and T.J. O’Leary. To order the soundtrack online or for more information, visit http://www.xbox.com/bruteforce. Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus – This techno driven soundtrack composed by Myer for the Xbox video game delivers a hard-hitting music backdrop for the hand-to-hand combat sequences. To order the soundtrack online or for more information, visit http://www.xbox.com/taofeng.Source: http://www.xbox.com/halo
