Black Swan Composer Takes Over Mass Effect 3

[Programmed_For_Damage]

You sir, are a fucking boss, just for knowing that. I actually have proper man-love for Clint.

When I was a teenager me and my buddies made a home video of us jumping around the front room to Auslander... what a tune.

And I always remember the linear notes in Jilted Generation mentioned PWEI in the credits for 'Their Law'

I was 17 when the Poppies last came to Melbourne and we managed to coax my friend's 18 year old sister to buy us tickets to the gig. She chickened out at the last minute. 16 years later I'm still shattered; especially given my substantially older friend lords it over me how she saw them in England back in the 80's. *****.

 

[Frotality]

dont know about this, hes great but MEs tone is quite a different beast. well, he is an experienced composer, hopefully he will actually try to keep the same tone and feel of ME1 and just make good but otherwise unfitting scores.

 

[ZeroDotZero]

I have every belief that Mansell will do the job excellently, Wall did a great job, but Mansell is an absolute veteran. People who listened to his work and disagree are just trying to imagine his current portfolio with ME. I am sure he will slip into Wall's shoes with ease and make a great soundtrack.

 

[shiajun]

Clint Mansell is an incredible composer and can switch style which grace.

As people have mentioned, you have

the classical orchestration with some twists in it for Black Swan
the disquieting,mournful sounds in Requiem for a Dream
the temperate, understated beeps and strings in Moon
the glorious and bombastic orchestration in the Fountain
and also, an example below, the heavy bass and techno sounds of the Pi soundtrack.


And that's just for Aronofsky's movies (excepto Moon, which is not his). I'm quite confident he can adapt to the grandious sounds of space opera of Mass Effect and do a beautiful job. He probably got brought on because Jack Wall had other projects. I don't think it's anyone's first choice to change a person that's proven he can get the work done perfectly and is already comfty with the material.

 

[Sartan0]

Like most coming in on a existing property I am sure Mr. Mansell will use some of the themes developed by Mr. Wall. I don't see it being jarring. I wish them both the best.

 

[ww2jacob]

I'm excited, personally. I love Mansell's movie scores and I think he'll add a lot to the Mass Effect series.

 

[Jezixo]

"Squee!" is all I can say. This is the best turnout ever. Clint Mansell will absolutely OWN the soundtrack to this game... literally, I suppose. But seriously, when this game comes out a lot of people will be eating their words. Mansell has totally got this.

The Fountain soundtrack is one of the best albums full stop, let alone best movie score.

And for those who argue that Mansell is a film composer, not a game composer, I think we have to wait and see about that. I really don't think it's going to hold him back much.

 

[Volafortis]

Both composers are fucking amazing.

I love Wall's stuff from ME1 & 2, but Mansell is also really good for very similar reasons.

He's one of the few composers that I think can fill those shoes.

 

[SageRuffin]

I'm definitely in the minority with this, but I didn't find the soundtracks to either ME all that remarkable save a few themes here and there (but M4 part II was just fucking awesome); I found the first ME's soundtrack passable at best. In fact, I found the various themes in ME2 extremely inconsistent. Now, within the game itself everything's fine as things can get pretty fast paced and the music accommodated accordingly. However, once you listened to the songs outside the context of the game's events, then the songs become disconnected with themselves as the tone would shift several times over a span of 5, 6, or 7 minutes.

I'm probably one of the few eager to see what the new composer can create. Should be fun. :3

 

[feauxx]

i really don't know how to feel about this. Jack Wall is my favorite game composer, and the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack is pure gold in my eyes/ears. but Clint Mansell is my favorite film composer, so i really can't decide if i should be sad or happy with this news.. i guess i'll know when i play

 

[Andy Chalk]

One of the greatest musicians in modern cinema has been tasked with creating music for a game and some of you think this is a bad thing? More talent like this in videogames can only be a good thing, the man is a genius.

I didn't say it was a bad thing at all. I said the first two Mass Effect soundtracks were brilliant, they absolutely nailed the mood of the game, and Mansell has a big job ahead of him to live up to the standard set by Wall. Opinions will vary (as you can see in this thread) but I think Wall did a phenomenal job and until Mansell demonstrates otherwise, his absence is a loss for the game.

Maybe he is one of the greatest musicians in modern cinema, but BioWare isn't making a movie. I'm not pre-judging and I really hope Mansell hits it out of the park, but that doesn't mean that right now I don't wish Wall was still on the job. So we'll see.

 

[Afrozodiac]

Can you say eargasm? Because I can.
Best news since announcing Mass Effect 3.

 

[Andy Chalk]

By the way guys, I totally forgot to mention this in the original post, so...

Thanks to Lost in the Void [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Lost+In+The+Void] for the tip!

 

[Rusty Bucket]

I just think that Mansell's music is harsh, barren, somewhat detached and cold.

It doesn't have the sense of hope and heroism that the ME soundtracks have.

He can do it. He's written some really diverse music, and he's an incredibly talented composer. All of the music he's written has fitted perfectly with the film he was writing it for, that's the important thing to remember. I'm absolutely confident that he can bring some fantastic music to the table for ME3.

And just because every one else is doing it, here's my favourite piece of music by him:
Seriously, everyone should go and buy Moon right now. It's an absolutely stunning film.

Edit: I don't mind the captcha being here, but can we please make it give us actual words? Or at the very least make them fucking readable to the human eye instead of the horrific garbled mess it's currently throwing at us.

 

[Dragon Zero]

I'm okay with this change. I really think Mansell won't just go in and make the music without looking into the series so far. I loved Mass Effect's soundtrack with alot of my favorites being already mentioned on the thread so far but some others not mentioned.

Spoiler: Like these

Really ME's soundtrack is the best one for a game this console generation and while I did not enjoy Mass Effect 2's soundtrack as much it is still by no definition or permutation of the word "bad" (and really that's the only thing I really didn't like about ME2, other than the lack of villains as good as Saren/Sovereign, which would be hard in and of itself) and while I've never been too too enamored by Mansell, I'm sure he'll do a good job.

I would've liked to see Robin Beanland and Graeme Norgate take a stab at it. If you don't know who they are I'll give you a sample

Spoiler: Sorry if this isn't entirely on topic.

Okay... I'll Stop now!
Dammit, Okay for realsies now!
Okay, I got it out of my system!

 

[witness51]

He had better not fuck this up.

 

[Vault101]

I really am amzaed that a composer with such an impressive track record is going to compose a Videogame

dear god Mass effect 3 is going to be EPIC

 

[OiXerxes]

He composed The Wrestler...Mass Effect 3 might be worth buying...twice...or three times

 

[Animyr]

Loved ME2's soundtrack, hopefully this new guy is up to the task.