Matt-Uelmen
Latest
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: The Burning Crusade's soundtrack
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has always been a contentious expansion, with some remembering it quite fondly and others declaring it a blight upon the game. It was certainly a risk, with the relocation to a completely new world (sort of) and the addition of flying mounts. As far as this column is concerned, its greatest contribution to the franchise was to finally add the first new music to the game since it launched. So how did the score fare? As always, that's a subjective question based on taste, but for me, I'm not that much of a fan. I've always felt it's one of the weaker World of Warcraft soundtracks -- not horrible, mind you, just weaker, with fewer standout selections and a lot more filler that I could just as well never hear again. Derek Duke returned to help compose, along with Russell Brower and Matt Uelmen. The physical CDs of these soundtracks shipped with the collector's editions, although you can easily find it on iTunes these days. Unfortunately, the released soundtrack is incomplete, as we'll soon see. So what were the best songs of The Burning Crusade? Let's find out!
Torchlight 2 soundtrack goes free to hear, right here
Runic Games is celebrating the impending launch of Torchlight 2 with the release of the game's soundtrack, which is available to download at Joystiq, free of charge. The soundtrack features 28 tracks and is composed by Matt Uelmen, who also crafted the music for Diablo 2.Uelmen recorded a live symphony for the game's soundtrack in Bratislava, Slovakia, according to a May 2011 blog. Torchlight 2 will launch in two days, giving you plenty of time to listen to Uelmen's music before you hear it in the game.
