Silent Hill 2

The only thing better than this is the original music to Silent Hill. The driving beat and distorted mandolin strings send shivers. This is a more professional offering to be honest- it's just so atmospheric and what games or movie soundtracks should be. One of the greats.

Not a lot of game soundtracks have been submitted so far all thing considered, and this is a well-picked selection. A classic smorgasbord of sounds

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Theme of Laura, Promise, Magdalene, Love psalm, The reverse will, True

Yes. I would say that it's either Silent Hill 2, Minecraft or Chrono Trigger for the most essential video game soundtrack if we had to (and should) have one on the list. Even outside of the context of the game, I think this is just a really awesome dark ambient album. Definitely hits way, way harder if you know the context (see "Theme of Laura (Reprise)", "True"), but I think even if you don't know anything about the game, you can still feel that cold, dark loneliness from the music alone. Close your eyes and maybe, in your restless dreams, you will see that town. Silent Hill. Strong 4/5.

There's a lot – both the more conventional, rock-esque songs and the ambient tracks – that intrigues here. The opener (which seems to have been something like a hit) and "Love Psalm" and the closer are probably the strongest of the former, while "Null Moon" is on the top shelf of the latter category. The basic issues is that, like too many STs, the record lacks a sense of context and continuity, and is not optimized for the odd adjacencies of style, mood, etc. Still, good and most interesting choice and something one will likely listen to again, though perhaps breaking up tracks to match mood-oriented/dayparted playlists.

I loved the vibes of Silent Hill 2! No vocals needed on this horror industrial album. Akita Yamaoka created great theme songs and background songs for this video game, and I can appreciate that despite not having played Silent Hill 2, or any of them! When you’re playing a video game, an instrumental is looped in the background of your location. You get more than a 1.5 minute clip of the song, and you can truly become engrossed in the video game and its surroundings. That aspect was an understandable detriment to this soundtrack. For the fully fleshed songs, not the 1.5 minute instrumentals, they slapped. I can understand why this album was submitted as someone’s favorite.

This is the soundtrack album of the video game Silent Hill 2. It belongs to the 2001 release (not the remake from 2024). The problem with soundtracks is that the music is created to support to game (or film), not to stand on its own. For a soundtrack this is a very strong effort and I almost get the urge to go for a replay session of the game. Still the fact it's support material stands out in several tracks. For background music or a soundtrack it's almost too good, but for an individual record as a whole, I have my doubts. Still a 3.5 star rating (so not a solid 4 stars).

Video game soundtrack. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

Thought this would be a slog, but I actually loved the collage-like style of several genres I would’ve never expected for a horror game. I’m of course lacking context given I’ve never played – this OST did make me curious to see how these tracks are used, though, which is probably a first for the user list.

This was good for a game soundtrack, especially considering the era in which it was written. That being said, I think it takes a lot to make an album a "must hear" and that bar is a lot higher for a soundtrack. This album did not make that bar, and while it wasn't bad by any means, there was nothing here to make it special. Everything about this screams a 1 to me, but I'm going to bump it up to a 2 because, while nothing on this album wowed me, there was also nothing on it I disliked.

Kick ass. I'm not a gamer so I'm not familiar with this. I've been digesting this multiples times over a 2 week period. Watched about an hour and a half of a 4 hour play through video on youtube and it helped connect the music. Nice pick, the ambient parts are standout for me. Those mannequin leg things are straight fucking creepshow.

Love picks like this. Great soundtrack.

Excellent, for video game music. As a standalone listen it's fine, but overlong, especially as a solid portion of that length is interstitial or background music that would classify as filler anywhere but a soundtrack.

I am gonna start with the outliers in the tracklist of this submission, and I am not gonna mince words for the first one of them... "Theme Of Laura" is such a lame opener, good heavens! The fake violin -- approximated through a synth -- sounds bad in this specific musical environment (which is not the case when it appears in the barebones piano "reprise" of the composition later on). Worse, the clumsy drum fills on that opener are awkward as fuck (what happened there?). But beyond those particular shortcomings or mistakes, the real issue I take with that main titles theme is that it is "illustrative" placeholder music of the worst kind for my ears... Conversely, the swampy electric guitar and heavy rock tones of "Angel's Thanatos" sound about right (it's this album's equivalent of "The Pink Room" from the Twin Peaks film soundtrack -- but more on that sort of comparison later on...). "Love Psalms", "Overdose Delusion" and "Promise" sit somewhere between "Theme Of Laura" and "Angel's Thanatos", and they are decently executed. What's left among the outliers? Oh yeah, as a downtempo piece, "The Reverse Will" feels kind of dated -- just like most of the other downtempo-inspired tracks in the LP. But I guess it still gives a bit of dynamics to the tracklist... The rest of the music explores dark ambient tones with a touch of industrial here and there. Those tracks can go to very interesting and even very evocative places, but their short lengths often prevent them from developing into music that would take you to another world, which is what any self-respecting soundtrack album of any kind should do. Too often, you just jump from one quick soundscape to the next. This is pretty ironic since it is highly probable that, as you play the video game, those individual compositions go on longer than they do here. Taking out at least a third of the music in the record and expanding the best tracks (such as "White Noiz", "Forest", "Promise (reprise)" or "Betrayal") could have done a magic trick here. Alas, this is not what we have in the final product in the album format. Even if I have never played this horror video game, I want to *feel* what it's like to do so for hours. Unfortunately, we only have snippets of that experience here... Besides, I think that there are very specific requirements allowing you to include film and video games original soundtracks in this list. The music must be good somehow, but this is not the only thing that matters. The compositions must also have groundbreaking elements and singular aesthetics that have influenced the music world at large, *beyond* visual media. "Beyond", I cannot stress this enough! Vangelis' *Blade Runner*, Angelo Badalementi's soundtracks for *Twin Peaks* (both the TV series and the film), Bernard Hermann's *Vertigo* and *Psycho*, Ennio Morricone's scores for the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, Philip Glass's *Koyanisqatsi*, or John Williams' work for *Star Wars* fit those requirements. The *Star Wars* scores have for instance seeped into global consciousness like no other original orchestral soundtrack, and therefore have become a platonic ideal for this format. In that league, one may also be tempted to add Howard Shore's scores for *The Lord Of The Rings* or the ones of Hans Zimmer for *Interstellar* and *Dune*... And if you decide to count musical films, *Grease*, *The Blues Brothers* and *Saturday Night Fever* are huge cultural game-changers as well. Same with a rare fistful of soundtracks harboring "already-existing-music", such as the ones for Stanley Kubrick's *2001, A Space Odyssey* and *Barry Lyndon*, or, in a very different league, the ones for Quentin Tarantino's *Pulp Fiction* and *Kill Bill*... I have digressed a bit in my previous paragraph, and of course, my last suggestions don't even entail music *originally* written and performed for visual media, and could therefore be considered as compilations instead of proper albums. So I guess I could understand users rejecting those examples for this list... But if we return to examples of *original music* for film or video games, Akira Yamaota's *Silent Hill 2* never reaches the minimum level of quality my very first examples provided. Worse, its stans in this review section fail to understand how derivative of greater works that soundtrack is (from Badalementi to Nine Inch Nails -- both not-so-incidently involved with David Lynch's filmmaking, by the way -- with a bit of Brian Eno's dark ambient experiments thrown in for good measure). So what we're dealing with here is shrewd recycling of previous musical tropes, written by a talented composer for sure, but one also not immune to blunders or formulaic intents at times. Finally, there is another problem with this submission for me. Sure, I have never played *Silent Hill 2*, but I have also never seen *The Harder They Come* or the remake of Tron, and neither have I played the Katamari Damacy video game... And yet it's easy for me to immerse myself into the very evocative music attached to those visual works (also mentioned in the users' list). In that realm of soundtracks for visual media I haven't experienced firsthand, I could also add Curtis Mayfied's *Superfly* (mentioned in the original list, if I am not mistaken) or Toru Takemitsu's score for Kurosawa's *Ran*... In comparison, Akira Yamaota's *Silent Hill 2* feels too disjointed and uneven to transcend that sort of limitation. No problem with *considering* it in a special best-of list of, let's say, a hundred visual media soundtracks. The many references I have dropped in this review of mine are only the tip of the iceberg though, so I am not even certain that this one soundtrack could actually make the list, even if I would still leave a door open to it. Yet for *this* list, no fucking way! You need more than nostalgia for a passing fad from 25 years ago. You need very solid work and this is definitely not what we have here. I am really saddened to only give a 2/5 grade to this submission because I feel like the user who suggested this record and I still have *a lot* in common. I can see it from the galleries and the stats for their half-completed original list. I think I have seen you leaving comments on the discord server, anonymous user, so maybe we could discuss the issue further through that means... (I am known as Blondin there). Please understand that, apart from what I think about the album's opener, that 2/5 grade does not come from a place of hate -- and please note that it translates to a 7/10 mark in my specific grading system, which is not so bad after all... It's just that both as a sensorial experience and as the more intellectual reception of an artistry that should be placed in the right context / lineage, this suggestion felt underwhelming for me. On both counts, "Theme Of Laura" can't possibly compete with "Laura Palmer's Theme". If you've ever watched *Twin Peaks*, maybe you can understand... The thing is, I am pretty sure some musical souls who have never watched a second of *Twin Peaks* can hear the difference as well. Very curious to have your take on all this one day. Peace. ✌🏼 2/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up to 4. 7/10 for more general purposes (5 for the overall musicianship and production values + 2 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 119 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 134 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 293 (including this one) ---- Salut Émile, Tu pourras lire ma dernière réponse sous le *Little Criminals* de Randy Newman. A+.

I've never played Silent Hill 2. As such, I come to this having to treat it as an album. I see three hours and thirty eight minutes. 93 tracks across three volumes. Of course the only possible reaction to that is "fuck this shit, and fuck whoever suggested it". But, gamely (har har, it's a game soundtrack) I actually set it away and started listening....to half an hour of minimalist guff. Seriously? Some bellend has found themselves a Casio keyboard and discovered that they can press a couple of different keys for a few seconds each and call it music? This is a very hard DNF. But! The Wikipedia page says that this is actually only 74 minutes, which is coincidentally the most music you can fit on a CD. Which leads me to an observation. Videogame music can be very good. Neither the Fallout series, nor GTA would be the games they are without their incredible selections. Quake was NIN for crying out loud. Portal 2 uses its adaptive soundtrack splendidly, and Elite Dangerous has a soundscape like few others. Yet I would never, ever consider sitting and listening to Portal or Elite, because a videogame soundtrack has a very, very different MO to an album. It needs to be switched around. It needs to react to and reflect your in-game experience. Games have been using vertical layering and horizontal sequencing for decades, matching and setting the mood. If I'd played the game I'd probably find it happens there. But I have not played the game, and therefore listening to this triggers no memories. Doing some reading, it seems that Silent Hill 2 did use adaptive music, which kind of by definition means that the feelings experienced when playing the game are provoked rather than evoked. Some of the tracks (the ones that weren't just leaning on a Casio) did actually catch with me, I found myself humming to myself after switching it off. So I'm not going to dispute that the composer has done a good job with what was tasked - a videogame soundtrack that uses adaptive, game-driven changes. But this is absolutely bollocks as an album in the exact same way as Phantom is, or Hamilton for that matter. You're taking something that is meant to be experienced as part of something larger, more immersive, and hacking off two thirds of it. Great, if your memory of the bigger, better thing can fill in gaps of what has been lost, bully for you. This is not an album though. This is finding a saucy photo of your ex. Sure, if somebody else found that picture they might appreciate a quick ogle, they might even stroke one out. But only you and the whole of your university mixed hockey team, drama club and remedial maths class knows what its actually like to be with that ex in the photo. I'm not going to vote this through the floor because there's clearly some talent involved in this. But it's still a bullshit suggestion.

Ok for passive listening, which is kind of the point of video game music. The more ambient piano-based songs here resonated with me the most, but I have no attachment to any of the Silent Hill games. As a standalone album, I don’t really think this works. The transitions between songs are jarring and it assumes familiarity with series: I’m sure if you spent hours on end hearing these songs while playing the game, you probably have an affinity with them. For a casual listener like myself, it was not super engaging, but instead kind of just hung in the background. For the more ethereal music that worked well. For the more rock based songs, that’s where I was reminded that there was some storyline going on that I had no frame of reference for. Fine, but not essential listening to me.

Accompanied me on part of a long drive. Not something I would normally choose, but it was enjoyable and the tracks were varied. Highlights include Love Psalm and true.

It's hard to fully appreciate the soundtrack since it is meant to support the gameplay. But knowing that this is a horror game, I can see how the music would fit very well.

It’s nice background music

I liked most of this ok. A bit long though.

This was beautifully composed and I'm sure with the setting of the video game, this pairs quite well to add suspense and tension. However as a stand alone album, I can only give this a 3-3.5 without experiencing the context of the game.

Cool

This is my second Japanese soundtrack in a row. The other one was interesting whereas this makes me feel like I should be running down some tunnel trying not to get rolled over by a giant peach. 3/5

I haven't played Silent Hill 2 but I know the plot and gameplay pretty well just by being around video games for almost 3 decades. Since it's a video game soundtrack, is falls into the background, as designed and intended. As I said for Katamari Damacy, it's nice someone submitted video game music, but I don't think this is the right soundtrack. Devoid of the context of the game, you don't appreciate the psychological horror. I'm still not sure what video game soundtrack I would include, but there should be some representation of video game music on here. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No

Eey theme of Laura 4 3

Great variation in score. From eerie piano-esque tunes to hard rock

Interesting choice… didn’t expect a videogame soundtrack. It’s good music, if a bit long and I think I’d rather experience this while playing the actual game, but not a bad listen.

Good ambient album, probably up there with best video games albums Iv heard though that isn’t a long list.

I am a huge fan of soundtracks, mostly film but I'm not above listening to a great game soundtrack too. I feel like this really stretches the definition of "an album that you must listen to". I find that with most game soundtracks, unless you have played the game and have a strong connection/positive memory association with playing it, the music can be a bit tough to connect to. That's what I experienced here. I enjoyed this for what it was, but it was essentially meaningless for me as I have never played a silent hill game. At least a film soundtrack may have a rousing or memorable motif. This was almost entirely moody soundscapes.

I'm sure there is a lovely case for video game soundtracks being great albums etc

Pretty cool for soundtrack music. 3 stars.

does a game soundtrack count as an album if you haven't played the game

Genres: Trip hop, industrial, dark ambient, alternative rock, & video game soundtrack 2001. Soundtrack to the video game.

The first track I enjoyed in and of itself. The rest I felt needed the context of having played the game to make sense.

Pleasantly drifted by

The music on this soundtrack is diverse and spans a few different genres: typical classical, ambient, rock, industrial, trip hop, and generally dark/distorted soundscapes. Akira Yamaoka does a great job composing in all of these different spaces. I imagine that in context with the video game, it probably lends a significant amount of atmosphere to what I know to be an already atmospheric horror game. Unlike many people on this project, I think a soundtrack certainly counts as an album and is a worthy submission. That said, in the case of a full original soundtrack, I do believe a significant amount of nuance and meaning is probably lost by the fact that I have not played the video game and do not know the story -- most of these songs correspond with a specific scene or vignette within the game itself. I am therefore essentially left to review this album as a piece of classical music alone. While much of this music is beautiful, many of these songs are quick little bits that are definitely meant to support visuals and additional story. If I could, I would give this a 2.5, but it definitely doesn't hit 3 territory for me.

Video game soundtrack?

Not an album

Couldn’t get more than a few songs in because it’s mood music for a game I haven’t heard of