 | Album Title: Fallout 1 & 2 -Vault Archives- |
| Record Label: Aural Network | |
| Catalog No.: AURAL01 | |
| Release Date: May 10, 2010 | |
| Purchase: Buy at Aural Network |
Overview
The music for the Fallout series has been barely commemorated in official albums until now. There was an official album dedicated to the original Fallout and two mostly licensed promotional albums for Fallout 3, but little else. In 2010, Mark Morgan decided to change this by compiling and remastering a selection of tracks from Fallout and Fallout 2 for a digital release, entitled Vault Archives. Sticking with a barebones, minimalist approach, the scores complement a barren and hostile wasteland with their mechanical and industrial sounds.
Body
The music of Fallout is featured in the larger number of tracks on the album, mostly because many were reused in Fallout 2, limiting the number of original tracks needed for the sequel. There are no tracks from the first game that particularly stand out among the others, but there are certainly a few that deserve mentioning. First, focusing on tracks that are wholly ambient and industrial—made up of suspended notes and heavy bell percussion—”Desert Wind” represents the barren landscape on which the game is based. The track is intimidating in terms of its persistent notes and the drive of the tubular bell background, heightened further with screeching strings that appear from 2:03 onwards. “Industrial Junk” is just as atmospheric, but this time we hear a more mechanically inspired approach with metallic, otherworldly sounds and piston-pumping bass beats. Underground Troubles, though, is the most hard-hitting atmospheric theme, representing the cave system in Fallout; the track emanates danger and injects fear in the listener. We again hear discordant strings and, more importantly, prominent suspended tubular bell notes that highlight the vast caves while also suggesting imminent danger.
The other tracks from Fallout which I would like to point out feature sporadic (nuclear) fragments of melody across their playing time, a hint toward the more melodious sounds in Fallout 2. The world map track “Moribund World” is one of the more prominent themes that features some sort of melody. Though the melody in this track only consists of a repeated three-note wind sequence, it is skilfully integrated alongside an ethnic drum rhythm and expertly placed to put the listener in a mission-completing mood. “A Trader’s Life,” which represents the central hub in Fallout, is another track that is more melodically focused than the others. The selection of instrumentation is bizarre and Asiatic, creating an ancient merchant society, despite the game’s placement in the future. Of those I would class as more melodious, “Khans of the New California” is a favourite of mine. The track features a scintillating bass riff, the same ethnic instrumentation heard elsewhere on the soundtrack, and some rhythmic development here and there. By no means is it better than any of the other tracks; I just find it a little more impactful.
Out of the tracks in Vault Archives, you’re likely to enjoy those originating from Fallout 2 the most. Though seven tracks from Fallout are reused in the game’s soundtrack (including “A Trader’s Life,” “Industrial Junk,” “Moribund World,” and “Khans of the New California”), Fallout 2 features eight more, generally melodically focused, tracks. If you were hoping for something in the same vein as the ambient tracks from Fallout, then “Biggest Little City in The World” is really the only track that will give it to you.
Focusing on the melodious tracks, there are four themes that are really worth listening to. The first of these, the one-minute-long “My Chrysalis Highwayman,” has a delicious guitar section and an enjoyable bass line. The mechanical “All-Clear Signal” is just as funky and enjoyable, especially after it gets going at 0:38 with the introduction of another self-sustaining bass line. With the use of various mechanical sound effects, the warped industrial sound is like no other created on the album. The third track I wanted to point out is more relaxed and composed with completely different intentions than the rest of the tracks on this album. “Dream Town” is an airy and delightful track which excels in the absence of ominous undertones. Though perhaps a little out of place, it creates a mesmeric atmosphere, highlighted by its delicate instrumentation. The track I most enjoy from Fallout 2, though, is “Beyond the Canyon,” which fuses the industrial, melodious, and airy styles explored elsewhere in Vault Archives. The whole structure of the piece is fantastic, ranging from string instruments and vocals to percussive highlights and synth segments.
Summary
Be it due to a lack of variety, a clear absence of thematic focus, or an agglomeration of clichéd themes, sometimes a game’s soundtrack initially seems to make little sense. Vault Archives is one of these, but rather than falling into the above sections, it falls into one of its own: the overly ambient, threatening, and ominous. It took me a few listens to get to grips with what this digital release really represents, though perhaps a fault of listening to the music in isolation rather than alongside the game’s context. Still, sure enough, Vault Archives is a fantastic compilation album featuring Mark Morgan’s remastered music from Fallout and Fallout 2.
