Origin Soundtrack Series: The Music of Ultima VII and Strike Commander is the second audio CD collection to be released by Origin. Once again, this is only available from Electronic Arts UK, with Origin and Electronic Arts USA still claiming ignorance of this series. Unfortunately, EA UK has informed me that this CD is also out-of-print (as is Vol. 1), although this time yours truly did not pick up the last copy.
The CD contains 19 tracks, 13 from Ultima VII (both The Black Gate and Serpent Isle) and 6 from Strike Commander. The composers include Dana Glover, Nenad Vugrinec, Marc Schaefgen, Martin Galway, Kirk Winterrowd, Kathleen Jones, and David Watson. The pieces you hear are all created from the Roland MT-32.
The musical treat begins with the foreboding Ultima VII/Serpent Isle Combat piece. This is one of the longest tracks at 4:38, and the excellent drum sets of the MT-32 shines here. Having never heard the soundtracks from The Black Gate and Serpent Isle on a Roland card before, I can appreciate the richness and quality of the Roland instrument set. Most of the Ultima VII tracks are themes - Monks' Theme/Fellowship Theme, Love Theme, Emp Theme/Gwani Theme, Bane's Theme, Great Earth Serpent's Theme/Batlin's Theme etc. They have typical medieval/New Age motifs. Some of the longer tracks are actually several tracks pieces together, like Chamber Music/Love Theme/Passion Play. Two of the best tracks are Conversation with Gwenno and Dupre's Death/Love (a Virtue). Having played Serpent Isle, one can experience the emotions that accompany these scenes through these emotionally-charged compositions. The inevitable Stones is given a longer treatment (2:11) here than in volume 1. The shortest Ultima piece, Dragon's Flight (actually the music that accompanies magic carpet flight) at 1:37, rounds up the Ultima VII section.
The longest track of the collection begins the section from Strike Commander. It is none other than Strike Commander Combat (Fledgling), coming in at 4:40. This is the entire track from the take-off of your F- 16s from base, to aerial combat, bombing runs, and mission accomplished, with the music accompanying being in trouble and being shot down at the tail end of the track. Needless to say, with the glorious sounds of the Roland instrument set, this is the most exciting and fast-paced track of the collection. Next comes the catchy Selim's Bar, including the piece you hear when negotiating missions. This is followed by Jungle Strike Base and Desert Strike Base. In the former, there were even bird calls and lion roars, which were definitely not there when I played Strike Commander with my Wave Blaster in GMIDI mode. The CD rounds up with Columbia to USA Flight and the sentimental Closing Theme, my favourite.
This CD is a worthy collection for any Origin fan, and it once again captures the excellent music that is one of Origin's hallmarks. Included with the CD are some notes on Origin's philosophy to music and sound in their games. One hopes that this Soundtrack Series will see future volumes with music from Ultima Underworld, Shadowcaster, Privateer, Ultima VIII and others.
This review is Copyright (C) 1994 by Sir Launcelot du Lake for GameBytes. All rights reserved.