ORIGIN SOUNDTRACK from Origin/Electronic Arts

In my review of the Sierra Soundtrack Collection (GameBytes 18), I implied that Sierra was the first to finally produce a soundtrack audio CD. I stand corrected, Origin was actually the first, with this collection from their software of 1990-91. Strangely enough, both Origin and their distributors, Electronic Arts USA, have denied any knowledge of this CD (or at least no one there wants to admit to its existence). Where did this come from then? Across the great Atlantic divide from Electronic Arts UK! Add the fact that this CD was produced and engineered by Martin Galway, Origin's audio director, and the plot thickens. No matter, probably just another incident to add to the case of two countries separated by a common language.

Note: it seems that yours truly has obtained the last copy of this CD from EA UK, who have informed me that it is now out of print and they have no plans to re-release it. Nevertheless, it may still be possible to obtain it from British or European mail-order houses.

Origin Soundtrack is a collection of 44 tracks from 6 of their games - Wing Commander II, Martian Dreams, Bad Blood, Ultima VI, The Savage Empire, and Wing Commander. Actually, your audio CD player will only show 6 tracks, as all individual tracks within each game has been recorded as one large track, although there are pauses in between most of the individual tracks to separate them. The whole collection will run to about 75 minutes, and was made using Digital Audio Tape and a Roland LAPC-1 soundcard installed on an IBM PC.

The collection begins with 11 tracks from Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi, which has the biggest representation and the longest running time at 26:01. 6 composers are featured here - The Fatman, Dana Glover, Flyod Domino, David Sanger, Martin Galway, and Nenad Vugrinec. I've never heard Wing Commander II on a Roland card before, and it was astounding to hear how powerful the tracks were with the excellent percussion sounds on the LAPC-1 compared to the FM soundtrack on the SoundBlaster when I first played the game. Most of the tracks make extensive use of percussions, as is typical of space opera soundtracks like Battlestar Galactica, although there are a couple of jazz numbers like Poker and Jazz's Storm Clouds. However, one piece was sadly left out - the track at your quarters where you either click on the cinematic sequences or go to the mission briefing, which is my favourite.

The next longest running collection is, suprisingly enough, Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams. Tom Hollingshead, the Fatman, and Dana Glover are the artistes with 8 tracks. The Main Theme is of course, typical of Victorian era music. I swear, however, that some of the motifs used in Daytime, the music that accompanies the party's wanderings, are also used in Wing Commander II! The rest of the tracks aren't typical of Victorian music, but are more typical of the Equinox artistes of the Narada New Age label. Probably this is because the tracks accompany the more surreal aspects of the game like the dream sequences.

Next comes 8 tracks from Bad Blood, all written by Steve Morris. Most of the tracks are all blended in together, so it is hard to tell them apart, and they also all sound the same. I remember the Main Theme - After the Holocaust, from the opening screen, but I don't really recall the rest from the game, which presumably accompanies your character on the quest. Nevertheless, the 9:44 run has a pretty catchy melody.

Ultima VI: The False Prophet, is hands-down my favourite, given my attraction to New Age and medieval music. Most of the tracks were written by Todd Porter (I wonder if this is the same Todd Mitchell Porter who wrote Knights of Legend for Origin and Renegade Legion: Interceptor for SSI?), and it is obvious that they were not specifically written for Ultima VI. His tracks are all copyrighted as early as 1974 for Black Forest (delightful piano!), up to 1987 for I Hear You Crying (at the gypsy caravan), and The Wander (music in the dungeons). Rule Britannia, which of course cannot be copyrighted, was arranged mostly with the organ by Herman Miller. No Ultima collection is complete without Stones, by David Watson and Kathleen Jones. My biggest complaint was that the 7 tracks were not given more coverage at 8:27 for all of them. I realize that most of the tracks are repetitious, but they should have at least played the verse and chorus 2-3 times before fading out. Some, like Fall Leaves (at the sacrificial alter of the Gargoyles) just went through once.

The shortest collection at 6:58 is Ultima Worlds of Adventure 1: The Savage Empire's 3 tracks, all by the Fatman. All 3 are typical of jungle music with native drumbeats having emphasis. The last 2 tracks volumes' are inexplicably soft, however. It may have been a glitch in the recording that was not caught.

The collection ends with 7 tracks from Wing Commander, by Dave Govett and the Fatman. Except for Fanfare - The Main Theme, the rest are blended in beautifully, from the jazzy tunes of Swing Commander (at the bar), to Briefing, Scramble!, Flying to Dogfight, Regular Combat, and Hero's Funeral. If you have played Wing Commander, it would be obvious which scenes these tracks are from.

This is a worthy collectors' item for all Origin fans. Hopefully, there will be more to come as Origin's soundtracks have always been excellent, and they boast some of the most talented artistes in the field in their audio team. One also hopes that Electronic Arts' operations on both sides of the Atlantic can be co-ordinated to avoid mass confusion.