:: theLogBook.com Music Reviews ::

The Command & Conquer games are loaded down with so many obedient soldiers under the player’s control, how could a game be made about any one of them? The answer’s easy: make a game about the one soldier you don’t see in the C&C games. A loose-cannon, gun-totin’ badass. And that’s what Westwood’s first-person blast-fest Command & Conquer: Renegade is all about.

For the music for Renegade, veteran Westwood composer Frank Klepacki goes in two directions at one: back to the original theme from Command & Conquer, and forward for some chunky, hybrid heavy metal/techno music befitting the baddest of the bad. When you have a track called “Got A Present For Ya” in a soundtrack from a game about a heavily armed rogue soldier, you can probably guess this won’t be the soundtrack from On Golden Pond. This isn’t to say that every cue is top-heavy with action, though - “Sniper” and “Beach” are a couple of good examples of this.

The reworkings of the original C&C theme are a welcome return, bringing the whole thing full-circle and giving it the feel of belonging to a larger saga.

1. Command & Conquer (2:58)
2. Got A Present For Ya (2:21)
3. Sniper (3:18)
4. Act On Instinct (3:31)
5. Stomp (2:55)
6. (Untitled Track) (3:57)
7. Sneak Attack (3:50)
8. Move It (2:04)
9. Dogfight (4:42)
10. Packing Iron (3:22)
11. Industrial Ambient (4:00)
12. Beach (3:01)
13. Fight Win Prevail (3:36)
14. Ammo Clip (3:18)
15. In Line Of Fire (3:57)

Released by: Westwood Studios / Electronic Arts
Release date: 2002
Total running time: 50:50

It may seem silly to snatch up the music of a game I don’t even own (honestly, I’m not sure my system could handle it), but sometimes it’s worth it. Frank Klepacki carries on the proud, if unorthodox, tradition of tracking a wargame with some serious techno beats that wouldn’t be out of place in the club scene. The smooth groove of “Lone Trooper” and the slow-building jam of “Scouting” are some of the finest techno cuts I’ve heard, game or no game. “Mutants” kicks off with the slimiest slice of modern funk I’ve heard in a long time, and the menacing “Approach” track echoes the ticking clock percussion of some of the better cues from John Williams’ JFK score. “What Lurks” is a bit reminiscent of Klepacki’s best work from Dune 2000. While Tiberian Sun itself didn’t get the warmest reception from the PC gaming community (as well as a few Command & Conquer purists who balked at the transition from overhead 2-D graphics to a 3-D look), the soundtrack is right on the money - whether you’re listening to it in the car or blasting away at the legions of NOD.

1. Timebomb (2:07)
2. Pharotek (4:41)
3. Lone Trooper (4:42)
4. Scouting (4:17)
5. Infrared (4:31)
6. Flurry (4:15)
7. Mutants (4:15)
8. Gloom (4:01)
9. Heroism (4:03)
10. Approach (4:43)
11. Dusk Hour (4:18)
12. The Defense (4:05)
13. Mad Rap (4:32)
14. Valves (4:22)
15. What Lurks (5:17)
16. Score (1:49)

Released by: Westwood Studios / Electronic Arts
Release date: 1999
Total running time: 65:58

Hailed by many gamers as a big improvement over Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 2 refined the 3-D graphics engine introduced in its predecessor - and it rocked out the music. If there’s one thing that makes the Red Alert 2 soundtrack - which was available from Westwood Studios for a limited time around the game’s release - stand out from the rest, it’s a refreshing blast of heavy metal guitar. The real standout here is the blistering, fast-paced “Destroy”, though there are close runners-up: “Grinder” and “Industrofunk”. The six-string pyrotechnics are a nice addition to the by-now-familiar C&C style of techno music, but the old style isn’t completely lost - tracks such as “Probing” and “Fortification” are pure old-school C&C cues that wouldn’t have been out of place in the original game.

This may actually be my favorite soundtrack from the Command & Conquer games, simply because it’s so different from the others, while still keeping the “feel” of what came before it.

1. HM2 (3:44)
2. Industrofunk (3:12)
3. Ready The Army (4:57)
4. Grinder (2:27)
5. In Deep (3:24)
6. Motorized (4:02)
7. Power (3:56)
8. 200 Meters (4:12)
9. Destroy (4:38)
10. Burn (4:37)
11. Probing (4:19)
12. Blow It Up (3:11)
13. Eagle Hunter (4:16)
14. Fortification (4:02)
15. Jank (3:46)
16. C&C In The House (4:06)

Released by: Westwood Studios / Electronic Arts
Release date: 2001
Total running time: 62:49

Does Weird Al Yankovic love to take his swipes at Michael Jackson, or what? Once again, Al takes aim at Jackson - and tacks on yet another food theme - with “Even Worse”. Now, there’s no song by that title, but te cover art is clearly a spoof of Jackson’s buckle-covered Bad image, quite possibly the last time Jackson wasn’t too weird to be cool (well, arguably). But Bad is transformed into “Fat”, a littany of fat jokes which really worked better with the bizarre video than it does as a stand-alone song. Also not working in Even Worse’s favor is “Stuck In A Closet With Vanna White”, a tune whose entire point seemed to be to cash in on the Wheel Of Fortune hostess’ then-inescapable ubiquity. (Truthfully, Al missed the mark here - had the song gotten out around 1988, he might’ve had a hit, but that prize went to someone else’s spoof.) “(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long” is a guilty favorite of mine, a spoof of George Harrison’s “(I Got My Mind) Set On You” which pokes fun at the original’s ever-so-slightly repetitious lyric. “You Make Me” seems to be yet another Devo style parody, and falls into the disposable category.

If it’s starting to sound like Weird Al struck out with Even Worse, fear not, it gets better. “I Think I’m A Clone Now” is a subtly amusing parody of Tiffany’s cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now”, right down to the straight-off-the-assembly-line bubblegum pop production sound, and “Lasagna” is a brilliant (and, once again, food-obsessed) take on “La Bamba”, which had just gotten some recent exposure thanks to Los Lobos. “Melanie”, one of my favorite Yankovic originals ever, is a little song sung from a stalker’s point of view, and performed as a catchy pop number a la Elvis Costello’s “Veronica” or later-era Toad The Wet Sprocket.

Yet another cover of a cover, “Alimony” lays waste to Billy Idol’s then-recent cover of “Mony Mony”. “Velvet Elvis” is one of those original songs that I could do without, while “Twister” takes, word-for-word, the original Milton Bradley TV ad for the party game of the same name and twists it into a Beastie Boys-style rap. “Good Old Days” is an original number which sets fire to James Taylor’s signature style of folk-pop and runs away snickering.

Given that In 3-D and Dare To Be Stupid were a couple of my all-time favorite albums at the time, I remember - even in 1990 - somehow expecting more out of Even Worse. For whatever reason, perhaps because rock music was confined to dull arena acts like Poison, pop producers were unleashing teenyboppers with the musical equivalent of pre-fabricated metal shacks, and rap was starting to take over, Al just didn’t seem like he was firing on all cylinders here. In fact, it seemed like his next couple of CDs weren’t as on-the-mark either, and I was always disappointed that the seemingly obligatory polka medley - still a better demonstration of Yankovic’s musicianship and comic genius than any of his single-song spoofs - was missing.

1. Fat (3:37)
2. Stuck In A Closet With Vanna White (5:01)
3. (This Song’s Just) Six Words Long) (3:37)
4. You Make Me (3:05)
5. I Think I’m A Clone Now (3:20)
6. Lasagna (2:47)
7. Melanie (3:59)
8. Alimony (3:16)
9. Velvet Elvis (4:30)
10. Twister (1:04)
11. Good Old Days (3:22)

Released by: Scotti Bros.
Release date: 1990
Total running time: 37:38