EA's Steve Schnur Explains The Hype Behind The Madden Soundtrack

EA seems to want to make it clear that the announcement of Madden 09's official soundtrack is an event, and music boss Steve Schnur told Kotaku about a few more promotions to drive the point home: First, Target's pre-order bonus for the game will be an iTunes card that lets you download ten of the soundtrack songs free. Second, an artist from the soundtrack will be playing nightly on the Jimmy Kimmel Show beginning August 4th, and third, both past and current Madden artists will play at the first-ever "Maddenpalooza," an all-day music and gaming event in conjunction with the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on August 11th.

We were curious: why is this massive music promotion for Madden such a huge deal to EA? It seems perplexing at first to see a publisher throw so much muscle behind a soundtrack. But it turns out there's a rather sensible motivation behind it that seems to be a win-win for EA, music artists, and for the gaming audience (or would that be a win-win-win?)

Hit the jump for Kotaku's full interview with Schnur:

Get ready for difficult-to-pronounce names. Composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen has done a two-disc soundtrack for Age of Conan, featuring a variety of Scandinavian musicians, including Helene Bøksle, folks from Norway's State Opera Choir, and three songs kicked in by rock group Turbonegro, who performed at the game's launch event.

That's Turbonegro in the pic above, by the way, sporting spooky eyeliner and a crossbow. Oh-kay!

The first disc has the in-game orchestral tunes, or at least the ones Avenstroup Haugen considers to be "the very best." The second CD has more orchestral music plus the Turbonegro tracks, and the announcement mentions that the band's lead singer Hank Von Helvete says he's read "every Conan comic." How many comics are there, guys? I actually don't know.

Helvete's result is apparently a "rock-anthem of Imotephian evil." I don't know what that means, either. Plenty of info on these musicians follows the jump; the announcement doesn't specify the soundtrack's release date, but says it will "soon be available at music retailers across the Western hemisphere." Plus, the first disc is already available on iTunes, so have at, iPodders.

There is no way in hell I will every buy a copy of 2K Sports' Don King Presents: Prizefighter. I hate Don King, I'm not all that fond of boxing, and...wait, did you say Bootsy Collins? Awww dammit. That's right, Bootsy Collins is doing an original song for the upcoming fighting game, and when you add in songs by Parliament, James Brown, George Clinton, and Tower of Power, you've got an oddly funk-hungry Fahey on the verge of shelling out $60 based on the game's soundtrack alone.

Then of course I remember iTunes, but it was damn close there for a minute.

Joining Bootsy and the crew are some bands of the less funky persuasion, such as Run DMC, Suicidal Tendencies (though Infectious Grooves was pretty damn funky), Blue Oyster Cult, and Iggy Pop, so there really is something for everyone to remember to download from iTunes. Hit the jump for more info while I dig up a gift card I have lying around.

DJ Green Lantern Releasing "Liberty City Invasion" GTA IV Album

Rockstar Games and Future Green Entertainment announced a new album from The Evil Genius DJ Green Lantern, titled "Liberty City Invasion: Music from and Inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV".

The eight GTA-exclusive tracks DJ Green Lantern wrote for Liberty City's "The Beat" radio show, which he hosts, will be on the album, along with eight new songs inspired by the game. He's joined by some major hip-hop, reggae and R&B artists, including Busta Rhymes, Wyclef, Fat Joe, Styles P and Fabolous, and several other new artists and talent from DJ Green Lantern's label will feature on the album as well.

The Rockstar team has somewhat of a reputation for its particularity when it comes to musical selections for the game, and executive producer Sam Houser said he's excited about this album and its "true New York flavor." "Liberty City Invasion: Music from and Inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV" will be available digitally on May 20th, to be followed by a physical disc launch at an unspecified date.

Full release follows the jump.

Bethesda Softworks' upcoming Fallout 3 will feature an original soundtrack from composer Inon Zur, the company announced today. Who's Zur? He's done a number of orchestral soundtracks for games, TV and film, notably Crysis, EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts and Naruto: Rise of a Ninja to name a few.

Nothing like ominous orchestral tunes to help you get your atmospheric post-apocalypse on, right?

Hit the jump for the full release.

The launch of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is coming up fast and Sony is announcing an action packed soundtrack to go along with. Leading the pack is an exclusive in-game remix of Weezer's "Automatic" and a special remix of Mars Volta's "Goliath." Also along for the ride exclusively in North America are Justice, SebastiAn, DJ Shadow, The Earaches and Pride Tiger.

You can check out the entire list of artists and their tracks after the jump.

Blue Dragon Soundtrack Released

On the Need For Better In-Game Winter Sounds

Want The Universe At War OST? It's Free!

Looking for a last minute stocking stuffer that won't set you back more than three CD-Rs? Give your loved ones (who are apparently just an afterthought) the Universe At War official soundtrack, which has been released by Petroglyph today for free. Three discs worth of music from the game's three distinct factions is sure to be the perfect soundtrack to your holiday. The OST was composed by Frank Klepacki of Dune II and Command & Conquer fame, so you know it's worth the download.

Introducing the Universe at War Soundtrack, Merry Christmas, Petroglyph Community! [Petroglyph]

NFL Tour Soundtrack

Uncharted Finds Fortune On iTunes

If you've found yourself taken by the Greg Edmonson composed soundtrack to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, you can take the game's tunes with you, as the official score is now available via iTunes. It's $9.99 US for the full, 21-track album and comes digital rights management-free as part of the iTunes Plus line. Anyone who hasn't experienced the PlayStation 3 game from developer Naughty Dog, but has enjoyed Edmonson's television work on Firefly or Cop Rock ought to at least give it a preview. It's so adventurey.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune [iTunes via NeoGAF]

Mass Effect Soundtrack On Sale Tomorrw

While some of you may be excited to play Mass Effect, others of you will be too poor or not own Xbox 360s. For you we have a consolation prize. It's called salt in the wound the Mass Effect Soundtrack. Featuring over an hour of music from the original score, Jack Wall (Myst IV, Sam Hulick (Maximo), Richard Jacques (The Club, Jet Set Radio) and David Kates (Battlestar Galactica) all teamed up to produce a soundtrack modeled after Blade Runner and Dune. We're not the types to blast soundtracks on our nonexistent commute to work, but there's no question that the game's music is incredible. It'll be just about everywhere tomorrow for the price of a standard album.

Mass Effect Soundtrack Arrives Tomorrow [teamxbox]

Japanese Club Nintendo Members Get Even More Cool Swag

Game music is so often overlooked which is a shame because often without it, a game would be rather dull. From website Music4Games, a site devoted solely to the business of game music, comes the news that the official Halo 3 soundtrack website has launched. Appearing on the site is a slew of exclusive materials such as interviews with Halo 3 composer Marty O'Donnel, streaming music samples and footage of some of the recording sessions.

The 2 CD set will be available through online and brick and mortar retailers on Nov. 20. For all the skinny, head on over to Music4Games.net.

Guitar Hero Music Invades iTunes, Crazy Expensive

You can now hit up iTunes to download the full set lists for Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. But wait, before you get all excited and start high-fiving strangers, check the price.

The Guitar Hero III soundtrack alone will run you $60. Guitar Hero II? $54. Guitar Hero? $43. That's because these aren't honest to goodness soundtracks, but rather a collection of all of the songs in one download list. In other words, you're paying a buck a pop for every song on the list. Kinda cruddy.

Oh, they did create an iTunes Essentials for Guitar Hero... but it's not discounted either. The 25 songs run you $24.75.

Halo 3 Soundtrack Detailed

I'm not sure if I'm board with the whole Halo 3 soundtrack idea. Don't get me wrong, I love me some instrumental music, especially Tangerine Dream, but the Halo 3 music just doesn't do it for me. Nothing wrong with it while playing the game, but I don't see myself jamming to Zounds of Zanzibar or some such.

To celebrate the CD release, which hits in time for Thanksgiving, Microsoft is hosting a nationwide contest to select an artist or band to be included on the soundtrack. To enter you have to visit the Halo 3 MySpace and make your submission by noon Pacific on Oct. 22.

From Passion of the Christ to Lair

Hollywood music composer John Debney, who scored Passion of the Christ and Sin City, wrote up a little piece on his work composing the soundtrack for upcoming PS3 title Lair. He says the soundtrack can best be described as "operatic, ethnically rich, lyrical, elegant and, at the same time, tragic."

Debney worked with the London and Royal symphony orchestras as well as "some of the finest vocalists and instrumentalists in the world" to complete the ambition scoring. Hope on over to the link to give "Diviner's Theme" a listen and keep in mind that the music create for Lair would fill three complete movies, according to Debney.

The LAIR Score: Part One [Playstation Blog]

Real World Fight Gets Acappella Soundtrack

These guys totally need to wander around looking for other events that need video game soundtracks.