RPGamers Network > Reviews > Game Music Reviews > Wip3out
Reviewed by: Ersatz Sobriquet
Let it be known that the version I am reviewing is the game CD itself. If you place the actual game CD in your computer, you can rip all the tracks off of it with any CD Ripper program. So, for all intensive purposes, this is really a OST.
Within the game, there were no specific songs for specific things you did/went to. The stage select would be a random track, the option screen as well, including the actual races. Everything was one of the thirteen random songs which compose the whole of the CD.
For this CD, Psygnosis got the talents of Sasha, famed DJ, not as well known as Paul Oakenfold here in the States, but still a talented DJ. He contributed six of the thirteen tracks here. Which ones are the weakest? Well, that's the thing. At first listen, while playing the game, you might just think the music of his to be nothing short of boring. But you would rightly think so since in the game, the music isn't loud enough to be appreciated, even when setting it the highest setting. Rip these babies on your computer, or even play the whole thing on your stereo system and you'll experience the wholeness that is Wip3out.
Sasha encompasses many styles throughout his six stabs of musical diversity. The last track, Xpander is a heavenly song, with lots of stings being played and layered drum beats. The progression of this song really is a treat and cannot be fully appreciated with words.
Pirhana is another great track Sasha did. A lot of fading in and out is being done here, warping and tossing reverb on a lot of the sound effects. The intro should be enough to catch your ear, what with the stab echoed into a "pop" sound. Very smooth.
But, as was mentioned Sasha only contributed six of the thirteen tracks littered throughout. The other artist contributed nice things on their own. Underworld came back again and gave us Kittens, a some what, if I'm not mistaken (which means I probably am) Happy Hardcore Techno beats. The song starts out great, with a particular sound effect being distorted and mixed up before it slides into the main beat. The song starts out pretty slow and repeats itself a lot without throwing you a lot of curveballs, but it's still enough to satisfy your attention.
The Chemical Brothers' Under The Influence is a pretty cool track, with a nice engrossing hook beat, more so dominating the whole track, as a repeated unchanging melody plays in the background. They might drop the beat here and there to let you hear the girl say "I was under the influence", but other than that, the whole song remains the same. Which, for some reason, isn't a bad thing.
And of course we can't forget about The Propellerheads with their track Lethal Cut. Very nice track with a great intro, great melody line and a great drum beat. Probably the best song on the track, and I'll tell you why. The Propellerheads are probably the only techno act within this lot to have a live drummer play all the songs. So the drum beat that sounds so authentic is a real live drum. Plus, the other dude scratches and plays on a keyboard. So all the sound effects you hear are all done by the talented keyboardist, making the song sound so much more alive than programming it will ever.
Of course, there is a dud on this album as well. Paul Van Dyk has got to be one of the most boring guys I've ever chanced to listen to... Wait, no I take that back. There are people worse than him, but on an album as fine as these with the names so big, you would think that everybody would be a smash hit. The song just drags on and on and does the clich things without even executing them properly. Drop a drum line here, bring it back there, add another sound effect that sounds like the ones your already using, add a recycled fill. It's all been said and done and it sounds really out of place on this album.
With that said, the rest is an absolute blast to listen to, and I would HIGHLY encourage all to give this album a try. The melodies should hook you on techno if you weren't already a follower and if you are, then you'll just be in heaven.
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| Album Information | Reviewer Rank |
|---|---|
|
Wip3out Published by: Sony Release Date: November 30th -0001 Composed by: Various Artists 1 Disc, 13 Tracks Catalog: There is no catalog entry for this album. |
87 |
Reviewed by: Ersatz Sobriquet
Let it be known that the version I am reviewing is the game CD itself. If you place the actual game CD in your computer, you can rip all the tracks off of it with any CD Ripper program. So, for all intensive purposes, this is really a OST.
Within the game, there were no specific songs for specific things you did/went to. The stage select would be a random track, the option screen as well, including the actual races. Everything was one of the thirteen random songs which compose the whole of the CD.
For this CD, Psygnosis got the talents of Sasha, famed DJ, not as well known as Paul Oakenfold here in the States, but still a talented DJ. He contributed six of the thirteen tracks here. Which ones are the weakest? Well, that's the thing. At first listen, while playing the game, you might just think the music of his to be nothing short of boring. But you would rightly think so since in the game, the music isn't loud enough to be appreciated, even when setting it the highest setting. Rip these babies on your computer, or even play the whole thing on your stereo system and you'll experience the wholeness that is Wip3out.
Sasha encompasses many styles throughout his six stabs of musical diversity. The last track, Xpander is a heavenly song, with lots of stings being played and layered drum beats. The progression of this song really is a treat and cannot be fully appreciated with words.
Pirhana is another great track Sasha did. A lot of fading in and out is being done here, warping and tossing reverb on a lot of the sound effects. The intro should be enough to catch your ear, what with the stab echoed into a "pop" sound. Very smooth.
But, as was mentioned Sasha only contributed six of the thirteen tracks littered throughout. The other artist contributed nice things on their own. Underworld came back again and gave us Kittens, a some what, if I'm not mistaken (which means I probably am) Happy Hardcore Techno beats. The song starts out great, with a particular sound effect being distorted and mixed up before it slides into the main beat. The song starts out pretty slow and repeats itself a lot without throwing you a lot of curveballs, but it's still enough to satisfy your attention.
The Chemical Brothers' Under The Influence is a pretty cool track, with a nice engrossing hook beat, more so dominating the whole track, as a repeated unchanging melody plays in the background. They might drop the beat here and there to let you hear the girl say "I was under the influence", but other than that, the whole song remains the same. Which, for some reason, isn't a bad thing.
And of course we can't forget about The Propellerheads with their track Lethal Cut. Very nice track with a great intro, great melody line and a great drum beat. Probably the best song on the track, and I'll tell you why. The Propellerheads are probably the only techno act within this lot to have a live drummer play all the songs. So the drum beat that sounds so authentic is a real live drum. Plus, the other dude scratches and plays on a keyboard. So all the sound effects you hear are all done by the talented keyboardist, making the song sound so much more alive than programming it will ever.
Of course, there is a dud on this album as well. Paul Van Dyk has got to be one of the most boring guys I've ever chanced to listen to... Wait, no I take that back. There are people worse than him, but on an album as fine as these with the names so big, you would think that everybody would be a smash hit. The song just drags on and on and does the clich things without even executing them properly. Drop a drum line here, bring it back there, add another sound effect that sounds like the ones your already using, add a recycled fill. It's all been said and done and it sounds really out of place on this album.
With that said, the rest is an absolute blast to listen to, and I would HIGHLY encourage all to give this album a try. The melodies should hook you on techno if you weren't already a follower and if you are, then you'll just be in heaven.
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