Ananchronistic Soundtracks, do they work?

Johnny Novgorod

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Cowabungaa said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
They woked in BioShock Infinite. Boy did they work.
Then again, they sort of re-fitted them to fit with 1910's music. So it ended up being not that anachronistic. Still fantastic though, and fitting with the lore as well.
I guess. Cindi Lauper and Credence make it to the OST though, and they're not retro-fitted into 1912 (though there is a logic to their inclusion, because of the sci-fi mumbo jumbo involved in the story, as opposed of simply sounding We Will Rock You in a medieval jousting tournament just because).
 

Neurotic Void Melody

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There are different types i find that can work if it is done as a contrasting intentional irony, which can come off as overly smug from the creator's mind, it depends on the material and timing (Hannibal is fairly masterful at this). When it falls flat is when it looks like the creator put it in "cos it woz kool y'all" ...i am thinking 300 with the electric guitar palm muted soundtrack. Immersion breaking and utterly pointless.
 

Ragsnstitches

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slo said:
Now let me establish something.
It's a shame there isn't a mod to patch this shit out.
And you are free to think otherwise. And I'm free to continue thinking that the "otherwise" line of thinking is kind of retarded.
Next time you'll be telling me that the clowns were melancholic and haunting. Duh. This trick does not work on me.
Now I'm not talking about Fallout 4 at all, seeing how the game is a fucking circus, so let's get to the smart part.

The smart part would be something that enhances the experience and stays relevant long after the game is over.
The Beast Of America trailer was pretty smart if you ask me. It's a shame the game did not do it justice. How's that for an example?

And as for the fitting and appropriate - most of the ambience in Bioshock when it does not ruin everything with retro shit is appropriate. Bioshock is quite competent when it isn't being deliberately dumb.
"Retarded" ey? Nice one. Good luck mate... you'll probably need it.
 

Tortilla the Hun

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slo said:
Fallout is a mass grave where all kinds of shit went wrong and it plays happy retro songs to create some kind of cheap dissonance.
I would argue that calling it "cheap dissonance" is sort of missing the point. In Fallout, yes the world is mostly tragically dead due to atomic warfare having wiped civilization nearly off the face of the earth. But (using the most recent Fallout game as an example) the world is experiencing a time of rebirth. Civilization is getting back on its feet and people have adjusted to the new world. Part of that is salvaging from the old world and rebuilding upon that foundation. That includes music.

The final days of the old world existed in a retrofuturist 1970, though the music depicts society from 20 years prior which could've been a result of the resource crisis not being a particularly ideal condition for the world of music to really grow. So those living a couple centuries in the future are left with the remnants of whatever music was left untouched by the centuries of wear and tear.

So here comes early civilization, working with what they have, listening to old music because life without music is quite frankly depressing. And (again, using Fallout 4 as an example) creating new music from that established foundation. If the music seems happy and uplifting it's because it's supposed to be. Think of the world immediately after the Great War and compare it to what it has become 200 years later. It's much brighter and it's getting better. And I think the music reflects that. Equating it to farting or Yakety Sax is entirely disregarding the world around the music.
 

Neurotic Void Melody

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Tortilla the Hun said:
slo said:
Fallout is a mass grave where all kinds of shit went wrong and it plays happy retro songs to create some kind of cheap dissonance.
I would argue that calling it "cheap dissonance" is sort of missing the point. In Fallout, yes the world is mostly tragically dead due to atomic warfare having wiped civilization nearly off the face of the earth. But (using the most recent Fallout game as an example) the world is experiencing a time of rebirth. Civilization is getting back on its feet and people have adjusted to the new world. Part of that is salvaging from the old world and rebuilding upon that foundation. That includes music.

The final days of the old world existed in a retrofuturist 1970, though the music depicts society from 20 years prior which could've been a result of the resource crisis not being a particularly ideal condition for the world of music to really grow. So those living a couple centuries in the future are left with the remnants of whatever music was left untouched by the centuries of wear and tear.

So here comes early civilization, working with what they have, listening to old music because life without music is quite frankly depressing. And (again, using Fallout 4 as an example) creating new music from that established foundation. If the music seems happy and uplifting it's because it's supposed to be. Think of the world immediately after the Great War and compare it to what it has become 200 years later. It's much brighter and it's getting better. And I think the music reflects that. Equating it to farting or Yakety Sax is entirely disregarding the world around the music.
For some reason i really dig that whole post-apocalyptic, future 50s-60s theme. It may be a chemical inbalance or i dunno. Plus that "plutonium fever is getting me down" song is catchy as fuck. XD But i do not understand how no new songs were written during that whole period of nuclear technology embracing.
 

hermes

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Sometimes it does, but it has to be used consciously. Many times, it is used to accentuate a sense of displaced reactions, like how everything violent in Tarantino movies has an edge of comedy (people are meant to be horrified by it, but we can't help to smile), or everything grandiose in Bioshock has an edge of rotten and falling apart (people are meant to be impressed by it, but we can't help to be unease), or even the epic elements in GotG has an edge of levity.

As such, it has to be placed at times when such dissonance is part of the desired effect and the soundtrack reinforce that, not just when you want people to say "what a weird choice". "I don't want to miss a thing" in Saints Row 4 works, "Total eclipse of the heart" in Battlefield 4 doesn't.
 

Mutant1988

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Xsjadoblayde said:
For some reason i really dig that whole post-apocalyptic, future 50s-60s theme. It may be a chemical inbalance or i dunno. Plus that "plutonium fever is getting me down" song is catchy as fuck. XD But i do not understand how no new songs were written during that whole period of nuclear technology embracing.
New music was probably written. But I reckon that any music that disagreed with or challenged the government policies was banned and the musicians jailed as communists.
 

sXeth

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Mutant1988 said:
Xsjadoblayde said:
For some reason i really dig that whole post-apocalyptic, future 50s-60s theme. It may be a chemical inbalance or i dunno. Plus that "plutonium fever is getting me down" song is catchy as fuck. XD But i do not understand how no new songs were written during that whole period of nuclear technology embracing.
New music was probably written. But I reckon that any music that disagreed with or challenged the government policies was banned and the musicians jailed as communists.
New Vegas was where the idea started to fall apart, really.

Why? Because you have the Kings, which says that at least the early stages of rock and roll happened, and were successful. It even counteracts the argument of the parallel universe variations of Hippy and Punk movements causing a government backlash to erase rock happening, because why would they leave the Elvis school/museum still standing?
 

Mutant1988

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Seth Carter said:
Mutant1988 said:
Xsjadoblayde said:
For some reason i really dig that whole post-apocalyptic, future 50s-60s theme. It may be a chemical inbalance or i dunno. Plus that "plutonium fever is getting me down" song is catchy as fuck. XD But i do not understand how no new songs were written during that whole period of nuclear technology embracing.
New music was probably written. But I reckon that any music that disagreed with or challenged the government policies was banned and the musicians jailed as communists.
New Vegas was where the idea started to fall apart, really.

Why? Because you have the Kings, which says that at least the early stages of rock and roll happened, and were successful. It even counteracts the argument of the parallel universe variations of Hippy and Punk movements causing a government backlash to erase rock happening, because why would they leave the Elvis school/museum still standing?
Elvis was probably allowed due to not being considered threatening to government policies. His music isn't all that political, if at all. Meanwhile, the hippie and punk movement as a whole was about challenging established authority, in one way or another. With the hippies protesting the war (As hippies are wont to do) and the punks being punks, the extremely fascist government of the Fallout verse would consider them a threat and suppress them.
 

sXeth

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Mutant1988 said:
Elvis was probably allowed due to not being considered threatening to government policies. His music isn't all that political, if at all. Meanwhile, the hippie and punk movement as a whole was about challenging established authority, in one way or another. With the hippies protesting the war (As hippies are wont to do) and the punks being punks, the extremely fascist government of the Fallout verse would consider them a threat and suppress them.
You'd think there'd still be the evolution in pop music present though, even if it was the "souless corporate rock AOR garbage" of the 70s/early 80s.

Granted, its also possible the war just happened during something like the 1990's throwback swing craze, or that the preserved records were only preserved because some hipster had them sealed up somewhere. :p
 

The_Blue_Rider

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Seth Carter said:
Mutant1988 said:
Elvis was probably allowed due to not being considered threatening to government policies. His music isn't all that political, if at all. Meanwhile, the hippie and punk movement as a whole was about challenging established authority, in one way or another. With the hippies protesting the war (As hippies are wont to do) and the punks being punks, the extremely fascist government of the Fallout verse would consider them a threat and suppress them.
You'd think there'd still be the evolution in pop music present though, even if it was the "souless corporate rock AOR garbage" of the 70s/early 80s.

Granted, its also possible the war just happened during something like the 1990's throwback swing craze, or that the preserved records were only preserved because some hipster had them sealed up somewhere. :p
I think one of the justifications as well was that the new format they put music on after a certain point in time just didnt have the durability to survive the nuclear apocalypse. So new music was made, its just all music made in the new format was nuclear proof or something. Its a cheap explanation, but at least it explains a little bit.


OT: I think that they work great usually, especially when its super out of place, case in point - The J-Rock song that kicks off Dragons Dogma is a personal favourite song of mine, and made the game incredibly memorable from the moment I started. Its a shame that Dark Arisen replaced the generic J-Rock song with a generic instrumental track