ReMix: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 'Island of Edges'
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- Game: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Bethesda Softworks, 2002, XBOX)
- ReMixer(s): The Wingless
- Composer(s): Jeremy Soule
- Song(s): 'Morrowind Title'
- Posted: 2002-12-15, evaluated by djpretzel
The Wingless gives us our first XBOX ReMix. I've expressed in the past that I will probably end up buying this system, with the DoA Volleyball game being a major catalyst . . . for the gameplay, of course :) But games like Morrowind, which have a more mature, "adult" feel than traditional console RPGs, as well as Orta and Halo don't hurt, either. The Wingless says: "I hated the fact that such a large game has the same damn tracks looping ad nauseum, and none of it is context sensitive. So I tried to spice things up a bit, cause it's a catchy little ditty. Here's my little ode to island at the edge of the world." - with what sounds like an alto flute covering melody, along with acoustic guitar and mucho ambient pads and effects, this is very atmospheric but also melodic as well. Piano plays a bigger role later in the piece, after a couple breaks, and the tone switches from epic to more melancholy, exiting on ambient wind / town effects that are quite well done. At 3'35" there's some nastiness with chords that's not too pleasant and does disrupt the otherwise smooth flow. The sounds used are fantastic, however, and are used in exposed contexts with skill. The first bits of the piece are extremely cinematic and transporting - though the arrangement varies a bit further on, the overall tone remains the same, so it's the initial phrases that held my interest the most. The musical ending - the last, Good, Bad & Ugly-style "ooh-ee-ooh", is a bit truncated. There's a few blemishes here and there, the mentioned chord weirdness being the most salient, that disrupt the feel, but The Wingless succeeds in creating a vibe that for most of the mix evokes a compelling world.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the I have to disagree with most people here, which hurts, because I
absolutely love the work of The Wingless, I adore Morrowind and I'm
positively fanatic about the source tune. I don't think it is a
fair assessment, but regardless, every time I listen to this I am
disappointed.
First of all, this is a superb sounding mix, as are all The Wingless' mixes. However, Jeremy Soule's original is one of the most equisite melodies composed in recent years for me, and I get the feeling that it is trampled on here. The stop and start mechanic detracts from where the theme seems to want to flow, and the strength of the melody always seems just out reach; frustratingly so. The source seems distant; recognisable but obscured and twisted in an uncomfortable way. The arrangement just doesn't sit right for me in ways where the other Morrowind mixes, 'The Final Stage' and 'Fear Not', really excel.
I get that the focus of this mix is to be restrained and complacent to the theme, and it does draw out the meditative aspects of it quite nicely. But I hate to see things go to waste, almost as much as a I hate trashing this otherwise fine mix.
I wish I wasn't so precious about the melody. But that's what hundreds of hours of hearing it in-game will do to a person.
- Marmiduke on June 14, 2009
First of all, this is a superb sounding mix, as are all The Wingless' mixes. However, Jeremy Soule's original is one of the most equisite melodies composed in recent years for me, and I get the feeling that it is trampled on here. The stop and start mechanic detracts from where the theme seems to want to flow, and the strength of the melody always seems just out reach; frustratingly so. The source seems distant; recognisable but obscured and twisted in an uncomfortable way. The arrangement just doesn't sit right for me in ways where the other Morrowind mixes, 'The Final Stage' and 'Fear Not', really excel.
I get that the focus of this mix is to be restrained and complacent to the theme, and it does draw out the meditative aspects of it quite nicely. But I hate to see things go to waste, almost as much as a I hate trashing this otherwise fine mix.
I wish I wasn't so precious about the melody. But that's what hundreds of hours of hearing it in-game will do to a person.
- Marmiduke on June 14, 2009
A few of the samples are starting to show their age, but this is
still pretty nice stuff. Sort of new age, sort of orchestral, a
nice flow, and a few cool surprises. I wish the piano had a little
more high end, and the guitar had a little more human qualities,
but the flute and choir are nice.
Rain sounds are a cool touch as well.
While this doesn't jump out at me as much as probably everyone who's played the game, it's still good listening.
- OA on March 30, 2009
Rain sounds are a cool touch as well.
While this doesn't jump out at me as much as probably everyone who's played the game, it's still good listening.
- OA on March 30, 2009
This is an awesome remix. Change over for the main instrument is
nice. I wish the original had done something similar. After a few
hours of play the 1 song + 1 battle music gets annoying. Though I
still managed to fall into the game's spell and waste days of my
life. I'm really surprised so many people havent played this game.
Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion were all cutting edge ideas and
graphics.
- Trashbot on November 19, 2008
- Trashbot on November 19, 2008
Try now, Lidless. If that doesn't work, try updating your
quicktime.
I agree, this is a beautiful tune and one of the only songs on OCRemix that I downloaded and liked before hearing the original. I'm playing through Morrowind now (I'm a bit behind on the PC titles, but since I picked up a used Xbox last year, I'm getting through them) alongside Twilight Princess and FFXII.
I disagree with the 3:35 comments about chords not working. Personally I like the dissodance of that piece, and despite listening to it over and over, can't actually see anything technically wrong with that section.
- Zipp on December 15, 2006
I agree, this is a beautiful tune and one of the only songs on OCRemix that I downloaded and liked before hearing the original. I'm playing through Morrowind now (I'm a bit behind on the PC titles, but since I picked up a used Xbox last year, I'm getting through them) alongside Twilight Princess and FFXII.
I disagree with the 3:35 comments about chords not working. Personally I like the dissodance of that piece, and despite listening to it over and over, can't actually see anything technically wrong with that section.
- Zipp on December 15, 2006
i think this is one of the most beautiful remixes ive ever heard,
this is such a beatiful song, and so is the original, i play piana,
and i jsut went and figured it out on the piano, it sounds really
nice.
wow its awsome.. yea i love video game music.
hmm i cant seem to download it though, would someone please message me or w/e and tell me whats wrong? cause i click on one of the mirrors or whatever they are, and it brings me to a website where a quicktime player comes up and plays the song, theres not even anything else on the site.. :(
alright thanks.
- Lidless on March 27, 2006
wow its awsome.. yea i love video game music.
hmm i cant seem to download it though, would someone please message me or w/e and tell me whats wrong? cause i click on one of the mirrors or whatever they are, and it brings me to a website where a quicktime player comes up and plays the song, theres not even anything else on the site.. :(
alright thanks.
- Lidless on March 27, 2006
Excellent work. I have the game and just dropped this into the
Music\Explore directory so it plays whenever I traipse the world of
Vvardenfell.
- Antelucan on April 25, 2005
- Antelucan on April 25, 2005
I sort of disagree with the people saying it's a big improvement
over the original. IMHO this track was already a very beautiful and
atmospheric piece, so it's kind of hard to go wrong. Still a great
remix though. :)
- Pineconeboy on April 9, 2004
- Pineconeboy on April 9, 2004
i could say wow.. but thats not good enough truth. i loved this
song's original after the eighth or ninth time i heard it, i guess
it grew on me. this mix does alot to it that i like. )))Thunder
bridge!!((( got it on repeat now. fun yay.. end. :(
- bmalwayswins on April 9, 2004
- bmalwayswins on April 9, 2004
Absolutely beautiful. This song is so much more pleasing than the
original, which (looking back at it) is kind of boring and stiff.
Every second is peaceful and evokes feelings of adventure and
wonder. The thunder at 2'28 is a nice touch, and the music comes
back in flawlessly. At 3'10 after the short pause this gets almost
too gracefully perfect to stand! :cry: I just hope The Wingless
will make more Morrowind remixes... AWESOME work! Without question
this is my favorite remix on the site. Heck, it's my favorite remix
PERIOD. I know it's lame to give scores higher than the max, but I
have to. infinite/10
- Lord Veovis on April 4, 2004
- Lord Veovis on April 4, 2004
Ok this is the song that got me looking for more OCRemixes before i
knew about the site.
An excellent remix of the epic MW theme
? well im not a musician, but i didnt think there was anything wrong with it Bigfella. :D
- Bilbo_Baggage on February 16, 2004
An excellent remix of the epic MW theme
Nastiness at 3:35-DJP
? well im not a musician, but i didnt think there was anything wrong with it Bigfella. :D
- Bilbo_Baggage on February 16, 2004
first off you dont have to overwrite you can just add -
anyway!
This is by far better than the original, it truely captures the stunning essence of Morrowind, and I use it in game. Thanks Wingless!
- SLX on November 18, 2003
This is by far better than the original, it truely captures the stunning essence of Morrowind, and I use it in game. Thanks Wingless!
- SLX on November 18, 2003
This is just what i was looking for. I have the PC version and i
often replace the soundtrack (they used mp3s so its easy to
overwrite what they had) I added this in so it plays ingame. This
was the perfect piece to round out my "morrowind mix" (PS i have
"highway to the danger zone" as my battle music, its
awesome!)
If you are going to get this game, get the PC version. There are so many mods that it takes at least double the normal time to beat if you have a few of the better mods in there.
- djuniah on November 12, 2003
If you are going to get this game, get the PC version. There are so many mods that it takes at least double the normal time to beat if you have a few of the better mods in there.
- djuniah on November 12, 2003
WEll...as a Morrowind addict, I'd have to say that not only does
this remix do justice to the original, it surpasses it. It captures
the 'feel' of the game so much better than does the original one.
Very beautiful, very haunting, almost
Four :Ps out of five!
- Dracofire87 on September 10, 2003
Four :Ps out of five!
- Dracofire87 on September 10, 2003
This is so going into my Morrowind directory to play while i'm
playing the game, any other remixes you want to add? that would be
great to substitute into the game? great mix thanks
- UltimaAvatar on August 24, 2003
- UltimaAvatar on August 24, 2003
im very glad someone did a remix for this song. morrowind was my
most favorite game of all time and got pretty connected to it for a
quarter of a year. its a very well done rpg, so of course i got
connected to the music, i whistled that song wherever i went. you
did a very nice job with the remix
:twisted: TMB
- Kontarioth on June 14, 2003
:twisted: TMB
- Kontarioth on June 14, 2003
