Customer Reviews

Chaos Theory: Splinter Cell 3 Soundtrack

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once upon a time, the only video games that had soundtracks worth buying separately were Japanese RPGs. Occasionally, a Western game would come along with a great compilation soundtrack (see the Grand Theft Auto series), but for the most part, music composed specifically for games was unable to stand alone as an artistic work.

Fast forward to the end of 2004. UbiSoft was making the third installment of their popular Splinter Cell series, and the need for some creepy, paranoid music naturally arose. Some inspired soul (whose name is lost to history) suggested that the job be offered to electronic artist Amon Tobin, perhaps thinking that his bass-heavy groovalicious style would adapt well to stealth based gameplay. The Powers That Be agreed, and gave Amon a lot of money with which to score their still-developing game.

When Amon returned after completing the soundtrack, the results were better than anyone expected. CHAOS THEORY struck a perfect balance between spooky ambience and jackhammer beats, often shifting rapidly between the two, but throughout it all there was an undeniable sense of beauty which did not exist in spite of the chaos but rather arose from it. Indeed, this chaotic beauty led many who listened to make comparisons to another artist, Aphex Twin.

But CHAOS THEORY was much more than an Aphex knock-off. Amon had put UbiSoft's money to good use, hiring an all-star lineup of studio players to make the soundtrack the best it could be. These studio session gave CHAOS THEORY a very organic feel that is usually missing from video game soundtracks, and was definitely absent from Aphex Twin's 2001 album, DRUQKS.

The album started off with "The Lighthouse," and while it wasn't necessarily the best track off the album, it was still pretty darn close, with a jerky bass riff that immediately created a sense of paranoia in the listener. It was the perfect setup to an album which cultivated a wide range of emotions, most of them disturbing. CHAOS THEORY never really let up on these emotions, instead, Amon simply switched from one emotion to another, from paranoia to panic to uneasiness and back to paranoia, often within a single track.

All involved with the project were so pleased that it was decided that Amon's soundtrack would be released several months ahead of the actual game. The reason for this was simple: where most consumers hear music in a game and then would desire to purchase the soundtrack, hearing this soundtrack actually made people want to play the game. Reviewers across the land encouraged everyone they met, even those with no interest in video games, to purchase the album, and all who heard the free MP3 of "The Lighthouse" provided on amazon.com were more than willing to fork over the cash to hear the rest of CHAOS THEORY, with the result that Amon Tobin became obscenely wealthy, and nobody payed any attention to the drivel that MTV played anymore.

And they all lived happily ever after.

I'll admit that I'm not really into video games. When I was younger, I used to go hog-wild on the original 8-bit Nintendo system and I went through a phase in college where lots of my life evaporated playing Quake, but since that time I've just found myself with different interests and really no time to sit down and play. Sometimes, when a bigger-name game is coming out, it permiates enough of the world that I hear about it, but I honestly didn't even know about this particular video game until I saw that Amon Tobin had done the soundtrack for it.

Although I never expected Tobin to slum it on any of his releases, I honestly wasn't expecting that much from this soundtrack Splinter Cell either, thinking that it might be a toss off of tracks that Tobin hadn't cut for full release or something else. I will admit that I must have been mistaken, though, because the ten tracks and almost fifty minutes of music on this release are pretty much classic Tobin, and I'm glad that I was proven wrong in my initially underestimating the release (before having heard it, of course). Teaming up with a slew of collaborators, it seems that putting together this soundtrack was by no means something he tossed off at random.

Although I was disappointed by his recent Solid Steel mix (mainly for the sound quality, which I felt was rather muffled and poor), Amon Tobin is one of those artists that I can pretty much count on offering quality product. His first two albums of Bricolage and Permutation blew away pretty much everything else in the genre at the time of their release and his last two albums (Supermodified and Out From Out Where) have taken him into some slightly different territory while still maintaining his unique sound and vision. Just to let the listener know he's not fooling around, the album opens with "The Lighthouse," which might be one of the better tracks he's done in some time. Flirting with aggression, the track finds cinematic strings skittering down dark passages as a dark and gritty bassline rumbles while filtered organ melodies build. Eventually, the drums can't be contained any longer and things bust loose with such a frenzy that reminds you why Tobin can hardly be matched when it comes to hyper-saturated drum breaks and slamming cinematics.

"Ruthless" continues the frenetic pace as all manner of mayhem busts loose with chugging rhythms, reversed loops, and just about everything that can stick to the wall while "Theme From Battery" finally takes things down a notch with sonar pings, watery-filtered loops of strings and middle-eastern sounding vocals. In fact, Tobin seems able to indulge his creepy soundtrack style sound even more with this release, and he does so on several tracks including the rumbling "Kokubo Sosho Stealth" and the minor-key strings and backwards loops of "Hokkaido."

Oh, and the moody beat freaks have plenty to sink their teeth into as well. "El Cargo" again takes some spy-movie sounding guitar licks and rubbery bassline and tosses it alongside bursts of piano and one of those overcompressed, ultra-heavy beats that Tobin is so good at while "The Clean Up" closes out the release by easing into things with all kinds of panning orchestral madness before dropping another headsplitting rhythmic freakout to put a big fat exclamation mark on things. In the end, it doesn't really matter that it's the soundtrack to a video game that I'll never play. It's a new Amon Tobin album (and a good one at that), and that's all I need.

(from almost cool music reviews)

Prior to the Playing of SC: Chaos Theory, i didn't even know who Amon Tobin was, and boy was I missing out. Soon after hearing the in-game music, I did some investigating and found out who the artist was. I can tell you that after getting this CD, I love every single track on this disk. The dark, moving melodies can almost draw you into a different world and stir up different emotional reactions within you. If you are even a passing Amon Tobin Fan, this CD is for you.

I've loved Amon's work for years and this is no exception to the high-octane high quality music this guy seems to effortlessly perfect album after album.
For those who know Amon's work, this is a little more `accessible' than his older stuff but don't let that put you off. But for those who don't know it, maybe for the gamers, this is the ideal gateway into his world.
His talent is something to behold, and he reaches new levels with the full orchestra behind his beautifully choreographed strings, samples and heart-breakingly fast beats.
The first track kicks off with a fantastic hard-core riff that promises deeper and darker paths ahead. I'm not much of a gamer, so I can only imagine that the images conjured by the music match and enhance the game to no end. Like walking through a spider-web and the horror dawning on you that you're the prey.
Theme From Battery is one of my favourites, slow and atmospheric, bleeding into the next track with more familiar break beats and industrial sounds. El Cargo is haunting and eerie, letting Displaced slam huge steel doors behind you as you run for cover.
This is total Tobin, at his very best. What I love about it is that I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone who knows serious music when they hear it.

I love the title "Chaos Theory". Bit of a contradiction, innit?

Having had this album now for some time, since its release date anyway, I can confirm 2 things:

a) It's still mind bendingly different

and

b) It's absolutely brilliant.

This is quite a departure for Mr Tobin. Being a sound pincher a la DJ Shadow and other Ninja Tune stable mates, it must have been quite a challenge to make this album, considering that it is an album created by REAL musicians. Even more of a challenge considering that they all spoke completely different languages and the two brothers that worked on the record didn't get along (see sleeve notes and various internet reviews). And how did Amon get them to make the sounds he wanted if he himself is not a musician? Did he whistle them? Did he fart them? HOW? Thats what he leaves me wondering after every record. How?

This is the only score (not soundtrack) that I have repeatedly listened to ever, and that goes for films too. It's extraordinary how Tobin manages to bring together a group of instrumentalists to create the sound he has, which is where his studio engineering comes into play, I guess. Chances are we wont see a live show of this.

This is essentially a dark, broody, paranoid, schizophrenic sound murdering excercise that has probably been accentuated due to heavy bouts of weed smoking. A remarkable factor of this album are the things that you think you heard, but are not quite sure. Felt bass rather than heard bass has been an Amon trade mark for a while and he plays with this throughout. The arrangement and complexity of the beats are unprecedented for a pop band setup (anybody care to challenge this?) and I dare anybody to listen to it and NOT feel something. Be it panic, paranoia, power (end of El Cargo), you will feel something. Probably nauseous.

Amon's love of jazz really shines through on this record and I find it subtly blending bits of Permutation with Out from Out Where (Kokubo Sosho Stealth) a real treat to the ears.

Mr Tobin makes it clear that this is NOT a 6th album (incl. Cujo), so just enjoy it for what it is. It doesn't get five stars because it is missing the one essential ingredient that his best album (Permutation) has: a wickedly dark sense of humour that makes you want to chuckle and hide at the same time.

Look at that. An review about a game soundtrack without a mention of the game. Times are a changing. Will it be the case that some day a score for a film will totally outshine the film itself? Who knows, but Amon has finished the score to a film called Taxidermia. I don't have a clue what the film is about, but the score is good though...

This CD is spine chillingly brilliant. Relighting memories of hiding in the shadows, and lurching out at your unsuspecting enemies. It's only once you have heard Amon Tobin's work, without being chased by an AK47, that you can really start to appreciate every aspect of this masterpiece. It makes you feel emotions that would never see the light of day in normal music. Simply outstanding! A must buy for a Splinter Cell fan, or for someone that has never played the game. You can't go wrong, in feeling something for this.

I have a mix of disappointment and enjoyment from this album. I love Amon for the great range of exotic, dream-like emotions his albums give. However, this CD largely has the same feel for all the tracks, which is to be expected given that it is a soundtrack to a videogame. In general, the feel is mysterious, dark, and ominous. Also, I feel that this is "Toned-down" Amon; it sounds like him, but with constraints. It doesn't have the abstraction and novelty of his more recent albums.

Among the plusses of the album include the jacket, which is a removable fold-out. On one side is a mechanical-like small poster featuring bird wings, lots of green, and that three-headlight helmet thing. The wings seem to be derived from the wings on Amon's signature logo. The other side includes the track listing, which also gives the BPM and runtime for each track, and gives a sentence describing the techniques he used (such as "Extra DBX compression to bass guitar, API 2500 HP linked comp on side drums." I have no idea what this means.) It also reveals Amon's full name: Amon Adonai Santos de Aravjo Tobin. The musicians he worked with are listed along with what instruments they played, as well as a blurb where he describes what it was like working with them.

Anything by Amon Tobin is well worth the money and enjoyable, even this album, which is one of my least favorites by him. I recommend it for existing Amon fans; new connoisseurs of the Brazillionare shound try one of his other albums first.

Track-by-track impressions:

1: The Lighthouse. Seems to be the intro credit track to the game. Nice guitars, but nothing really special.

2: Ruthless. Vaguely similar to "Golfer Vs. Boxer." Nice, unique percussion. One of my favorites of the album.

3: Theme from Battery. dark, crawling song, light on percussion. My least favorite of the album.

4: Kokubo Sosho Stealth. Sounds a bit like old-school Amon.

5: El Cargo. Retro and funky, and very catchy.

6: Displaced. Ambient-like and light on percussion, with warped bass similar to "Sordid."

7: Ruthless (Reprise). I liked the original, and this one is almost as good, adding strings, additional guitar. Feels almost lonely.

8: Kokubo Sosho Battle. Couger Merkin adaptation. It sounds like its name: a fast battle.

9: Hokkaido: short, three minute track with lots of distorted, ghostly noises haunting strings, and higher-pitched percussion. Now I can only hope that Amon gets around to doing violins, my favorite instrument.

10: The Clean Up. Flutes, fast conventional-sounding percussion (at least in samples). Long, 7 minute track. My favorite track of the whole album. The closest track to Amon as usual (and lovely).

This CD is incredibly immersive. I listened to some of Tobin's earlier stuff and thought, yeah it's cool, but it's missing something. It's all here. He put an amazing group of international musicians together, and it shines amazingly. Tobin mixed, conducted, and produced it. Amazing talent. The drummer is amazing, especially on Ruthless. My favourite track is Kokubo Sosho Stealth. It's dark, has nice drum and bass, and harmonics. This is just like HALO 2. Not as good without the music. Now we just wait for the game.

All Tobin's albums have offered something different, and this one is no exception.

Upon first listening, I asked myself "is this all he's done with the soundtrack?", but allowed it time expose the inner depths of Amon's usual intricacies before entirely judging it. I'm very glad I did, as the sound is something totally unique and perfectly suited for the medium of a video game soundtrack.

I now play the album when playing other video games and find it to work for nearly every one. It's incredible how well put together the album is, although it may seem lackluster upon first or second listen.

The depth that Tobin displays in all of his twisted aural creativity is constantly astounding, and this album proves that his versatility can extend seamlessly into other musical "settings". I can only hope he will soon be scoring some cinema.

This album is "ear candy" from start to finish.

At first I was a little put off by the genre listings of " Dance & DJ/Drum & Bass, Dance & DJ/Trip-Hop, New Age/General, Soundtracks/General, Rap & Hip-Hop/General, Dance & DJ/General, Dance & DJ/Electronica, Pop/General" but, even though they were too short, the Amazon preview snippets were interesting. I'm glad I took the chance on this.

Think of it as trip-hop + soundtrack + jazz with sprinkles of drum 'n' bass. I'm not too versed in this genre so the only thing I can say it sounds like is the later Juno Reactor CDs, but not nearly as "heavy". Juno Reactor has so much going on that it fills up the soundscape. Anom Tobin is more on the minimal side. There are still maybe 10 things going on but they are coming in and out or shaping the background.

It's very good, never boring. It never sits still.