Glenn-Stafford
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Jukebox Heroes: Wrath of the Lich King's soundtrack
After my so-so review of The Burning Crusade's score a few months ago, I'm sure a few of you thought I was barking mad. World of Warcraft is well-known for great orchestra pieces, but I stick by saying that most of the brilliant stuff stayed the heck away from Outland. Fortunately, the sound quality got a lot better when we went up north for Wrath of the Lich King in 2008. The score was composed and arranged by Russell Brower, Derek Duke, Matt Uelmen, Neal Acree, and Glenn Stafford. As to be expected by that name sandwich, the score features a lot of variety. While there are epic chants and the like that are to be expected from WoW, there's also a lonely, savage feel to the music that represents these far-off lands. There's also a lot of blowing wind that segues between tracks if you listen to the album straight through, and if that doesn't make you envision a snow-blasted landscape, I don't know what would. The liner notes say that "this is the music of ice and despair, a dirge and a call to arms." I couldn't put it better myself. Let's dive into my picks for the best tracks from this score, shall we?
Jukebox Heroes: World of Warcraft's soundtrack
Recently I cleaned out my closet and discovered, tucked away with several older storage mediums (i.e., CDs), my World of Warcraft collector's edition soundtrack. Honestly, I had completely forgotten it was there. Within minutes, I dusted it off and had it playing on my computer. Non-ironic wow, I thought. That takes me back. If you were one of the players who spent any amount of time in what's now referred to as "vanilla" World of Warcraft -- before the Burning Crusade released in 2007 -- then it's just about impossible to hear these tunes and not be transported back to those first couple of years of discovery and conquest. WoW's original soundtrack was composed by Jason Hayes, Tracy W. Bush, Glenn Stafford, and Derek Duke, each of whom brought his own take on this MMO version of Warcraft. I had a blast re-listening to all of these old tracks and wanted to share with you a few of my personal favorites.
BlizzCon Flashback: The Panels of BlizzCon 2008
Tickets are sold out for the day, and most of us are probably a little angry, but don't forget! There's another day of ticket sales on the 30th! If you haven't made your decision on whether you want to go or not yet, you're running out of time and it's probably a good time to look back on the BlizzCon that was. BlizzCon 2008 lacked any major World of Warcraft announcements, Blizzard's other franchises stole the spotlight last year, but that doesn't mean WoW wasn't there in spades. Let's take a moment to look back on that, shall we? The Opening CeremoniesBlizzCon 2008 kicked off with the opening ceremonies, hosted by Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime. Morhaime delivered many facts and figures about the World of Warcraft at the time (if WoW were a country, it would be the 75th largest in the world), and announced a new class for Diablo III: The Wizard.
BlizzCon 2008: Blizzard sound panel
I am, I must admit, one of those people who frequently plays World of Warcraft with the sound muted. I've been playing for a long time and, well, I've heard it all before. So, as a person who doesn't exactly consider sound an essential component of their gaming experience, I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting into when I attended the Blizzard Sound panel at BlizzCon, featuring In attendance were Russell Brower, Director of Audio and Video; Glenn Stafford, who founded the audio department; and Derek Duke, a full-time composer. But, presented with live musical performances accompanied by enthusiastic explanation from people passionate about making music a part of the game, I have to say I'm a believer.
The music of Wrath of the Lich King
Wrath of the Lich King is shaping up to be one hell of an expansion. It looks like Blizzard has pulled out all the stops with remarkable quest design, breathtaking landscapes, and even wonderful music that really sets the mood for adventuring in Northrend. Even though World of Warcraft allows players to access iTunes from within the game -- and I know a lot of players turn up their own music when playing -- I highly recommend playing Wrath with the music on and turned up when it finally hits retail. Music in World of Warcraft has always been a point of pride for Blizzard, with their work on Karazhan being widely praised for setting a great mood and being enjoyable overall. The music in Wrath continues that tradition with scores from Blizzard veterans Russell Brower, who composed the login screen theme for the new expansion. Brower was also behind the music for The Burning Crusade login screen as well as the affecting melodies of Eversong Woods and the Ghostlands (some co-written with New Age musician David Arkenstone and fellow Blizzard veteran Jason Hayes).
