Soundtrack oddities and thoughts

Ten years after the original game and Harry's still searching for his daughter.

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ashatteredmemory
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Soundtrack oddities and thoughts

Post by ashatteredmemory »

I might have posted this before in some thread, though i'm not sure anymore. Also, I wasn't sure if this belonged in the Media section since this is about the Shattered Memories soundtrack. (also, some spoilers).

Anyways, I have been listening to the soundtrack (original and 'complete') and some of the tracks struck me as odd. No, not in the 'it's not the same style as before' way, but in a more chronological order.
Some of the following are thoughts and theories, and mostly cannot be confirmed.

The Devil's Laughter track is played in the Forest Nightmare, while Angel's Scream is placed in the School Nightmare. However, contextually, it would be a lot more logical to have the Devil's Laughter in the School Nightmare. High School being the place where Cheryl was horribly pestered and laughed at.
This, however, places the Angel's Scream soundtrack at the Forest Nightmare.
The Forest has the backstory of a girl being raped. The 'scream' audible in the soundtrack seems to be a slowed down version of a girl screaming. And above of that, an angel might scream at the loss of innocense.
Angel's Scream itself is changed a lot from the original soundtrack to the game version. It was supposed to sound dramatic, dark and sad. Instead, it was completely changed to sound strange, cold, more like being chased. It fits better in the moment, but the supposed message is completely different. The original one fits better with the Forest Nightmare. The new one is specially made to fit the environment of the School Nightmare.

Another oddity is Forsaken Lullaby. It is only audible outside of the Bridge Control Room, and just for a couple of seconds: from the car to the room and vice versa. The song is also dumbed down. This makes a whole song on the soundtrack rather obsolete, despite it's rather dramatic setup, which made it sound important.
When the car is falling to the bottom of the river, the 'Hostility' track is reused. This is the only instance in the game where a track is reused. This made me think Forsaken Lullaby was supposed to be used in the Bridge Nightmare sequence. Seeing the bridge being contorted by the ice; the car crashing into the river and dropping to the bottom surely needed something dramatic. Sadly, that plan was stopped and the far less interesting 'Hostility' was used.
This makes 2 of his (completely different sounding) tracks to be dumbed down.

Some of the other songs that were (strangely) changed are:
Searching the Past: Violin removed, made more 'generic and easing', contradicting its original version of 'sad and uneasing' to give it a more normal feeling.
Blackest Friday: This is one of the songs (maybe the only one) that was thickened. Given a Contrabass chord, a piano chord and general 'icy sounds'. Made more dramatic to suit the passing of Lisa Garland. Plays during the Downtown/Mall Nightmare

The things to deduce from this is that there had to be some discussion between the making of the soundtrack and the finishing of the game. Someone (Akira? Tom? Someone else?) was unsatisfied with how the soundtrack was. Akira seemed to want to re-imagine the music as wel. But changes had to be made, Whether it is true or not about the changing of the nightmares tracks is up to you to decide. But the fact remains that some of the songs were strangely changed.

Also, for those thinking the Wii Complete Soundtrack was disappointing, the most songs are 'broken up' in-game, giving it a lot more variations. They are broken up in 'No Raw Shock near' - 'They are getting near' - 'Very Near' - 'Detected' - 'Detected and close' Giving each track 5 variations. Above that, there are some ambiences/tracks that were not in the soundtrack. There are mainly the 'respite' moments in each Nightmare: The puzzle house in the Forest Nightmare; The exit at the School Nightmare; Cheryl's chamber at the Hospital Nightmare and the Bubble Gum Chamber in the Downtown/Mall Nightmare. Some of them were different between Wii-PSP versions.
Interesting tidbit about the PSP Soundtrack: One of the variations of 'Endless Depths' is called 'Louse of Heaves', alluding to 'House of Leaves', a book about a house with odd proportions, both the house as well as the writing.

EDIT: I might be wrong about the amount of variations within one Nightmare Sequence. It was either 4 or 5 in my thoughts.

EDIT: There are still 2 unused tracks , in the official soundtrack: 'Childish Thoughts' and 'Doctor K.' in the Wii files.
Childish Thoughts is placed before between 'Searching the Past' (Dr. K. Sessions) and 'Creeping Distress' (the first exploration). I can't find of any moment where it actually fits. It sounds very casual and relaxing. The title does not fit any situation in the game either.

The 'Doctor K.' track is placed after 'Ice' and before the Credits, so it seems that it was supposed to be used in the end. However, it does not fit the actual drama and sadness of the ending sequence, and was probably removed for that reason.
Last edited by ashatteredmemory on 25 Aug 2013, edited 6 times in total.
"Grown-ups tell kids there's no such thing as monsters, that the Bogeyman is just make-believe, and there's nothing hiding under their beds, but that's a lie. Because I've seen 'em." - Murphy Pendleton
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teosoleil
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Re: Soundtrack oddities and thoughts

Post by teosoleil »

Interesting observations. I'll have to check up on these tomorrow morning.

I also noticed that the PSP instrumental version of Acceptance has a karaoke-like drum beat to it, unlike the straightforward piano Wii version. Not sure about PS2.

Thanks for posting this!

Also: House of Leaves isn't *just* about odd proportions. Just some nagging from someone who's obsessed with the book. :)
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ashatteredmemory
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Re: Soundtrack oddities and thoughts

Post by ashatteredmemory »

Ah I didn't know that about House of Leaves, I've just seen some pages and a bit of a summary :)
"Grown-ups tell kids there's no such thing as monsters, that the Bogeyman is just make-believe, and there's nothing hiding under their beds, but that's a lie. Because I've seen 'em." - Murphy Pendleton
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