Alan Wake Composed by Petri Alanko
Sumthing Else Music Works (2010)
Rating:
9/10
Soundclips below from AmazonMP3
"A Dreamy Summer"
Review by Marius Masalar
While film buffs enjoyed INCEPTION as a
late-summer exploration of dreams, gamers have already had some time to
delve into ALAN WAKE, a remarkably story-driven affair developed by Remedy
Entertainment and published by Microsoft Games on the Xbox 360. In a
nutshell, Alan Wake is a thriller that follows an author struggling with
writer’s block as he copes with the disappearance of his wife and other
bizarre happenings while on vacation in the small, isolated town of Bright
Falls. The setting is extremely reminiscent of Silent Hill, and the
story’s episodic narrative is just as deeply involved with psychological
twists and turns. It is a distinctive game, full of cinematic and complex
situations, and its musical score follows suit. PETRI ALANKO, the
little-known Finnish composer for the title, describes this first foray
into game scoring as “the easiest tough job ever.”
“Alan Wake” (1) begins with a dreamy atmosphere, lulling us into the
sleepy world of Bright Falls and the story ahead in an unassuming and
modest manner. The music demonstrates a sense of patient sophistication;
it waits, it introduces, and then it delivers. By the time the plaintive
piano and cello come in late in the track, you are already being absorbed
by the mood. “A Writer’s Dream” (2) forgoes the electronics in favor of
the string section that will play a huge role in the musical landscape of
the game. A magnificent crescendo tapers off into electronics before
giving way to the piano again at the opening of “Welcome to Bright Falls”
(3). The stunningly majestic theme that is introduced during this
cinematic cue is sadly not reprised in such a powerful manner ever again,
but it makes enough of an impact to stay with you.
Having brought us into the world of ALAN WAKE, the composer now settles
into a comfortable ambient cue, “Vacation” (4); a final vestige of
untroubled peace before the plot begins to thicken. The solo cello and
quiet piano once again reprise their roles as harbingers of themes and
beauty in the score. As the electronics re-enter in “Cross That River”
(5), there is a definite sense that something is unraveling quickly. A
thudding rhythm and uneasy strings twist into a tense textural middle
before regaining momentum and throwing us into “Waking Up to a Nightmare”
(6). Another gorgeous cello solo soars over the piano and string ensemble,
replacing tension with drama. One of the standout cues on the album is
“The Clicker” (7), a scintillating cue where the piano and strings develop
the main thematic material a bit further. “Deerfest” (8) is a
comparatively unremarkable track that drops the energy back down and then,
almost cautiously, builds to a surprisingly wrenching solo cello statement
of the main theme.
At the midway point, we find the oddball cue of the score. Clocking in at
nearly eleven minutes, “Taken by the Night” (9) seems like it ought to be
a show-stopping tour-de-force track. But while it is certainly competent
and in keeping with the mood of the rest of the material, it is actually
nothing but an extended section of gameplay ambience, with occasional deep
rhythms fading in and out amongst the tinkling piano in the distance and
the synth textures swirling around it. For the listener, it is an overly
long and uninteresting lull in the experience of the score. Luckily, “On
the Run” (10) brings some tension and interest back over its own sizable
six-minute length. Vicious string figures and groaning synths lead to an
unleashing of dissonance throwing us into the album’s second, more active,
half.
“Mirror Peak” (11) is a spacious action track with a sense of grandeur
built into its sparse instrumentation and percussion. It yields to one of
the score’s more memorable themes, “Tom the Diver” (12), a track that has
a decidedly more classical feel to it for the most part and wouldn’t sound
terribly out of place in one of BioShock’s more dramatic moments. It is an
undeniably lovely piece of music either way. As important aspects of the
story reveal themselves, “The Night It All Began” (13) once more revisits
the main theme in a poignant manner, with unsettling slides and runs
creeping menacingly beneath. “Bright Falls Light & Power” (14) continues
expanding the mood into what is by now a truly rich and cinematic texture:
one that combines a tasteful ambient element with beautiful thematic
instrumental portions, often all the more moving for their restrained
nature.
On the tail of things, “Hunters” (15) brings the score’s action material
up a notch, though — as is true for the whole game experience — the
element of action is never really the focus of the experience. Which is
why “The Well-Lit Room” (16), with its significant nod at the material
introduced in “The Clicker” (7) and other thematic cues, feels so
satisfying. “Water Pressure” (17) is unfortunately placed since it
interrupts the soft ending created by the two tracks around it;
nevertheless, it is a strong piece and a solid climax for the album’s
action material. “Departure” (18), the closing cue, is where ALANKO really
lets loose with the thematic elements. It is a fitting end for a story
much more sophisticated than most games can boast, and more than that, it
is a sweeping piece of music.
If there is an aspect of ALAN WAKE that is difficult to fault, it is the
music. Even the licensed tracks in the game are spectacularly chosen and
fitting for the context, which is fairly uncommon. PETRI ALANKO’s score
falters only occasionally, and never enough to ruin what is undoubtedly
one of the better game music experiences of the year. While its restraint
and patience may bother those who are unused to subtlety in game scoring,
ALAN WAKE is one of the most tasteful and stirring offerings in recent
memory and merits every bit of the attention it’s been getting.
