For those not willing to drop the fantastic amount of money required for the complete Fallout 4 score on sextuple LP, there’s a single picture disc vinyl LP available direct from the GameStop online store. It contains eight tracks of Inon Zur’s score and hits all the highlights from the 65 cuts composed for the game.
Obviously, you get the main theme, as well as The Last Mariner, which were the first two tracks released in advance of the game late last year. Much was made about Zur’s need to redo some of the tracks at the request of game director Todd Howard, and listening to this compilation, one can really hear how the addition of electric piano actually warms the tone of the game’s score.
Covert Action is the highlight, here, with a pinging sort of sonar in the background, with muted trumpets lending the track very much a sy movie or secret agent feel. However, with the trumpets on mute and the mellow tempo at which it unfolds, it’s right in line with the very subdued atmosphere which runs through the entirety of Zur’s score.
Coming close on its heels in terms of musical delight is Rebuild, Renew, whose scope encompasses violin and what could either be traditional Chinese instrumentation like the guzheng or a hammer dulcimer, along with bagpipes, makes for a haunting listen. It’s epic and stunning, and the weight of the game and its quests through the wastelands is really brought home.
These eight tracks might not give the full trajectory of Fallout 4, but the way this is disc collated and sequenced makes for an excellent highlight reel, as well as some stunning cool down, chill out music for whenever you’re trying to grapple with a particularly difficult aspect of Bethesda’s game.
There are some crackles and pops on this pressing, but for a picture disc, it’s fairly low-key and less than one might expect. The range is more dynamic than I would’ve thought possible, but the high end does fare better than the low. It’s not as resonant as it could be; sounding a bit like it’s been limited in some fashion. It’s not quite tinny, but definitely not high fidelity, by any stretch. It looks rather good, though.
FALLOUT 4 / COMPOSER: INON ZUR / LABEL: SPACELAB9 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
