Headhunter Redemption & Headhunter Original Soundtrack Recording

	Album Title: Headhunter Redemption & Headhunter Original Soundtrack Recording
	Record Label: La-La Land Records
	Catalog No.: LLLCD-1023
	Release Date: August 18, 2004
	Purchase: Buy at Amazon

Overview

In August 2004, La-La Land released Richard Jacques’ orchesral scores to Headhunter and Headhunter: Redemption in a double disc set. Richard Jacques quickly became a well-respected name in the video game industry with his bar-raising work on this series, for which he received the 2002 Game Audio Network Guild Recognition Award at the Game Developer’s Conference in March 2003. This two-disc collection demonstrates what made Headhunter’s scores so special at the time.

Body

I’ll start with the second disc, which is devoted to music from 2002’s Headhunter. This score is noted for being one of the first to use a world-class recording studio along with an orchestra more noted for its work in the film world.

The music here is a delightful mix of action cues and wonderful lyrical reposes. The music of “Jack’s Theme” is as good as Arnold’s contributions to the recent Bond scores. There are a lot of orchestral details in this track. It features a kind of pop Baroque orchestral sound, a little techno beat, some great string writing, and an extra flute line that floats above and around the music.

The opening of Headhunter: Redemption features a brooding horn solo that recaps the primary thematic idea of the earlier score. The synthetic sound reproduction here is unbelievable, and, to the credit of the production, a list of the samples used in the score is provided. Even though a “live” orchestra is not used, one would be hard pressed to figure that out on their own in many of the tracks.

The music has more electronic additions than the previous score utilized in a way that is again well-integrated into the overall sound of the music. “MIG Encounter” has perhaps the most typically game sound of the lot, but even this is far superior to similar game music.

Summary

The Headhunter Redemption & Headhunter Original Soundtrack Recording is highly recommended for fans of the orchestra genre. However, sitting through both discs in a row may not be the best way to enjoy them. The album can be ordered from a number of outlets including Amazon.

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