Spore Hero Videogame Soundtrack Review
Eccentric, Joyously Active Game Score from Winifred Phillips
Oct 20, 2009
The latest installment in the Spore phenomenon, Spore Hero is an offbeat and colorful adventure/simulation game, and the first of its kind made for Nintendo Wii. Complementing the game's cartoony visuals is Winifred Phillips' unique and playful (and occasionally challenging) original score, which shimmers out of one's speaker's with a sort of bizarre, unpredictable and genre-bending giddiness.
Spore Hero's Lively Musical Score
Spore Hero's score is similar to Phillips' earlier 2009 score release, SimAnimals, in that it features a similarly synthesized tone and generally cheerful attitude, but the the similarities stop there. SimAnimals had a distinctive thematic base which was developed and maintained throughout the score, but Spore Hero jumps from idea to idea, and from instrument to instrument in a display of energy and sonic color as wild and entertaining as the visuals it was composed to accompany.
Instrumentation in Spore Hero's Music
As in SimAnimals, Spore Hero's ensemble seems to consist of synthesized library sounds, mixed with various acoustic instrumentation. The blending of these two seemingly disparate elements is once again handled tastfully, although electronic instrumentation in Spore Hero is markedly more pronounced, and possibly more distracting, especially during moments featuring synthesized brass samples (most notably “Spore War” and “Hero Theme”).
The emphasis on tingling, high-range percussion (chimes, triangles, bells, etc) is as attractive as ever, and the effect when combined with pizzicato violin (“Creepy Things”) is lovely. The appearance of a choir in “Spore War” is unexpected and very stimulating.
Phillips' use of woodwind, harp and piano accents in many cues is of particular note, providing some very soothing but starkly original textures. The rambling percussion in “Sporexplore” is reminiscent of the quirky rhythms of Thomas Newman in the best of ways, and the clanking percussion in “Beast Brawl” raises fond memories of Carter Burwell's recent Burn After Reading.
Lengthy, Attractive Cues in Phillips' Videogame Soundtrack
Despite the largely zany nature of the score, Phillips gives surprisingly long passages over to shimmering, exploring cues: “Haven,” “SporeZone,” “Sporexplore” and “Wanderment” are all above the five-minute mark in length, and each cue contains some attractive and delightful instrumental meanderings, which serve as pleasant interludes to the manic adventure heard elsewhere in the album.
When Phillips lets loose with the more maniacal aspects of her score, the music takes on an aspect of sound design, with bizarre samples bouncing off one another and becoming lost in other, weirder instrumental sounds. The process of its creation is fascinating, and the music is bewilderingly complex at such times, but it is in-cohesive enough to make attentive listening during these cues more of a chore than a pleasure.
Conclusion
Overall, the score to Spore Hero is an undeniably unique score, with an abundance of instrumental and sonic devices providing the album with a range of sounds not heard in most game scores (or TV & film scores, for that matter). Its lack of clear thematic presence and development notwithstanding, this score is colorful, lively, active, and very fun. Recommended, especially for those keeping an eye on fresh talent in the compositional field: Winifred Phillips, as they say, has “got it.”
Spore Hero's score can be purchased and downloaded online via iTunes or AmazonMP3.
See Also: SimAnimals Videogame Soundtrack Review
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