Is the Doom series REALLY blessed with good OST's?

[Kwisior]

I thought this would be an interesting topic after hearing some harsh (but sensible) critiques of both the classic and modern Doom soundtracks around here - stances which very much go against the popular opinion of them being legendary and great. Is that popular opinion right, or should we question it?

Edited January 22 by Kwisior

[Chezza]

Music is very subjective and there can be a number of valid reasons for someone to like or dislike an OST.

 

But my theory on why Doom always had good soundtracks starts in the beginning. The classic Dooms were a massive industry changing hit and the music greatly contributed to the intended vibe of action power fantasy, in addition to the dreaded space horror moments. In fact I think the Doom franchise was amongst the first FPS games to effectively utilise music and sound FX to create an enhanced experience (great music, roaming monsters noises, impactful guns etc). Id Software recognised the benefits of great music and sound design, therefore kept it a focal point in the series. And here we are.

[fruity lerlups]

I mean it has the Doom 2016 OST in it so yes, if Doom 2016 wasnt included then it's be up for discussion, but Doom 2016 alone blesses it with a good OST, now go listen to Rust, Dust and Guts.

[Devalaous]

I only ever really liked Doom 1 and TNT's soundtracks, everything else has been a pass for me. TNT barely even counts for that as well, given its origin as a community made megawad, as its unlikely id commissioned that soundtrack

Edited January 22 by Devalaous

[LadyMistDragon]

In comparison to......?

 

Bobby Prince was a good at writing bops when he borrowed one part of a rhythm or another but listen to something like his soundtrack for Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure or even Monster Bash to find out his limits.

 

His Doom 1 music was better overall but Doom II had the highest highs alongside crap like "In the Dark" or "The Ultimate Conquest" that was just incredibly disposable.

 

Doom 3 didn't really have much of anything that would be called music, though Trent Reznor's sometime writing partner did at least a track or two for it and....I'd say Aubrey Hodges did a better job with the various console ambient soundtracks. But ambience is not really something people will remember that well, which isn't its point of course.

 

Nu-Doom is a vibe, to be sure, but I've never really liked it to the same degree as everyone else seems to,  "BFG Division" and things like that aside

[DoomGuy999]

Let's not bring up doom port osts or doom 64 ost.

[Jello]

I have to be honest, I love the original OST's, and I love good music. But when I'm playing an FPS, I turn it off. The last FPS that I really remember being impressed by the soundtrack was Medal of Honor for the PS1, because it was a dynamic orchestral soundtrack that would swell at certain moments. It would get louder when you were approaching a hedgerow and a German rifleman popped out from behind it. It felt very much like an organic experience, and that was made by Dreamworks, soon after Spielberg made Saving Private Ryan. It felt like it fit there.

 

But for the most part, I would rather just turn the music off and play the game, because I'm listening for enemies, and the music gets in the way of that. And if I feel like listening to music will enhance my experience, I just play my own in the background. Some of the songs from Doom are stuck in my memory, as are songs from Duke Nukem 3D, but I would just rather play without music, because my focus is on shooting things.

[jazzmaster9]

Even one of the worse ports (3DO) has a stellar soundtrack.

 

And will definitely bring up the PSX and Doom 64 soundtracks for the sheer atmosphere.

1 hour ago, DoomGuy999 said:

Let's not bring up doom port osts or doom 64 ost.

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

5 hours ago, DoomGuy999 said:

Let's not bring up doom port osts or doom 64 ost.

Lol, the 3DO OST is considered by a lot of people to be the best one, and you'll find plenty of people praising the DOOM 64 OST. I'm only saying this since you brought it up.

[roadworx]

5 hours ago, DoomGuy999 said:

Let's not bring up doom port osts or doom 64 ost.

don't tell me what to do

 

any other diehard 32x doom ost fans here?

[Individualised]

5 hours ago, DoomGuy999 said:

Let's not bring up doom port osts or doom 64 ost.

You aren't OP? Why did you feel the need to say this? You can't control other people's conversations.

Edited January 23 by Individualised

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

1 minute ago, roadworx said:

any other diehard 32x doom ost fans here?

Hell yeah! I listen to it every morning when I'm on the commode. It's so fun to play along to!

[Sonikkumania]

Doom, Doom 2 and Final Doom has imo really good OST's. PSX, D64 are on so different level but still good. I like ambient music. 3DO is allright too but I it's honestly not anything next to God for me.

As for the modern games, they're all good. I liked 2016's OST, tbh I don't know Eternal's music as well.

[blueyosh43]

7 hours ago, Jello said:

I have to be honest, I love the original OST's, and I love good music. But when I'm playing an FPS, I turn it off. 

The classic dooms are much too quiet for me to even consider doing that. It would be a dreadfully dull experience. There's no footsteps or any other general ambience to be interesting to the ear. Monsters have roaming sounds but that's really it, unless you're actively shooting at something or opening a door it'd be completely dead silent and awkward. 

 

23 hours ago, Kwisior said:

I thought this would be an interesting topic after hearing some harsh (but sensible) critiques 

Where are these critiques? I couldn't imagine anyone hating the soundtrack. I get not being into metal and not being interested but to actually critique it and call it bad just seems pretentious and contrarian.  The general consensus I've always seen is that the soundtrack is awesome. 

[yakfak]

don't wanna say whether it's good, bad, classic etc

i just find a fundamental mismatch between midi hard rock and the way classic doom plays. E1M1 is really really funny in particular

[TheUltimateDoomer666]

8 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Bobby Prince was a good at writing bops when he borrowed one part of a rhythm or another but listen to something like his soundtrack for Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure or even Monster Bash to find out his limits.

Monster Bash's music was made by Rob Wallace, who also composed Apogee's Hocus Pocus. Monster Bash's music is both moody and quirky, and I think it fits the game.

[blueyosh43]

17 minutes ago, yakfak said:

don't wanna say whether it's good, bad, classic etc

i just find a fundamental mismatch between midi hard rock and the way classic doom plays. E1M1 is really really funny in particular

Whats mismatching about it

[yakfak]

i guess i'm overstating my basic problem with E1M1's midi

but think about how slowly the enemies move, how slowly the shotgun fires, the downtime the level asks of you in picking up a lot of minor scattered items vs the pace and intensity of the music

i know that Doom in its blueprint form is metal as heck with its demons and zombies, its heavy weaponry, its hanged men and hopeless setting

and I know Doomguy moves like he is part motorbike

but that opening tune's driving music feel contrasts very heavily with what you're actually doing on the level - protecting yourself by shooting individual gunmen in the dark

[Astar]

I like music from classic games.

I also like music from modern DOOM.

 

But I'm kinda tired of it when EVERY SECOND Doom video (especially youtube-shorts) uses the track The Only Thing They Fear Is You.

 

Like, okay-okay, I GET IT, music from Doom Eternal is cool, but stop pushing it everywhere

[Klear]

9 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

but listen to something like his soundtrack for Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure (...) to find out his limits.

 

He has no limits, got it.

[Individualised]

11 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

In comparison to......?

 

Bobby Prince was a good at writing bops when he borrowed one part of a rhythm or another but listen to something like his soundtrack for Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure or even Monster Bash to find out his limits.

 

His Doom 1 music was better overall but Doom II had the highest highs alongside crap like "In the Dark" or "The Ultimate Conquest" that was just incredibly disposable.

 

Doom 3 didn't really have much of anything that would be called music, though Trent Reznor's sometime writing partner did at least a track or two for it and....I'd say Aubrey Hodges did a better job with the various console ambient soundtracks. But ambience is not really something people will remember that well, which isn't its point of course.

 

Nu-Doom is a vibe, to be sure, but I've never really liked it to the same degree as everyone else seems to,  "BFG Division" and things like that aside

So I had a listen to the Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure soundtrack and... it's fine. I think the main issue with it is the OPL instruments, not the compositions themselves.

 

Also... the beginning of this sounds a bit familiar doesn't it?

 

Edited January 23 by Individualised

[DoomGuy999]

5 hours ago, Individualised said:

You aren't OP? Why did you feel the need to say this? You can't control other people's conversations.

I can't, I don't intend to. I was saying it was that bad in my opinion.

[mrthejoshmon]

12 minutes ago, DoomGuy999 said:

I can't, I don't intend to. I was saying it was that bad in my opinion.

Interesting, please elaborate.

[ENEMY!!!]

I used to think they were all great as a result of rose-tinted nostalgic lenses, but these days I find the Doom series OSTs rather mixed. Doom 1 (Bobby Prince) and PSX Doom (Aubrey Hodges) are still favourites of mine, for differing reasons. Doom Eternal's soundtrack (Mick Gordon) is probably my favourite of all, and it's a shame it probably won't get an official release. I particularly like the ambient tracks and their sporadic subtle nods to Doom 1's themes.

 

On the other hand, I find Doom 2's OST less interesting and more derivative. TNT's OST is hit and miss for me, as is DOOM 2016's. Also, I don't think as much of Aubrey Hodges's other ambient soundtracks. I particularly enjoy ambient music when it has a lot of subtle musical content as well as ambient sounds, and I think the PSX Doom and Doom Eternal OSTs have that, but I don't find enough interesting musical content in the PSX Final Doom or Doom 64 OSTs to keep my attention going.

[LadyMistDragon]

13 hours ago, Individualised said:

So I had a listen to the Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure soundtrack and... it's fine. I think the main issue with it is the OPL instruments, not the compositions themselves.

 

Also... the beginning of this sounds a bit familiar doesn't it?

 

It should, it's the main rhythm of the ZZTop song "Tush"

 

Quote

Monster Bash's music was made by Rob Wallace, who also composed Apogee's Hocus Pocus. Monster Bash's music is both moody and quirky, and I think it fits the game.

Spoiler

It would probably help if I played more than 5 levels :P

 

Edited January 24 by LadyMistDragon

[fruity lerlups]

15 hours ago, Astar said:

But I'm kinda tired of it when EVERY SECOND Doom video (especially youtube-shorts) uses the track The Only Thing They Fear Is You.

 

its a really accessible song, thats what i dont like about Doom Eternal's soundtrack. Doom 2016 didn't try to have an "accessible" sound, stuff like Rust Dust and Guts, Flesh and Metal and Skullhacker seemed to be designed with the intent of having the player feel anxiety and discord, with extremely dissonant sound design and progression and the use of interesting metres and time signatures. Eternal on the other hand is just full of these accessible poppy catchy tunes and I just, uggh, the whole time I was missing the really filthy, noisey, grindcore esque elements of 2016's soundtrack, but Eternal's tone and atmosphere overall just seems like a flanderization of Doom 2016

[roadworx]

not really. tbh most of bobby prince's best work is in the duke nukem series, not in anything id made.

 

and nudoom's soundtrack is kinda just okay

[jazzmaster9]

12 minutes ago, fruity lerlups said:

Eternal on the other hand is just full of these accessible poppy catchy tunes and I just, uggh, the whole time I was missing the really filthy, noisey, grindcore esque elements of 2016's soundtrack, but Eternal's tone and atmosphere overall just seems like a flanderization of Doom 2016

This is exactly what i loved about Doom Eternal's soundtrack. It had the grit off 2016 but the memorable melodies of the classic soundtracks. 

Also Meathook > The Only thing they Fear is You 

[DNSKILL5]

9 minutes ago, roadworx said:

not really. tbh most of bobby prince's best work is in the duke nukem series, not in anything id made.

 

and nudoom's soundtrack is kinda just okay

 

[roadworx]

3 minutes ago, DNSKILL5 said:

-snip- 

i never said all of his duke stuff was good or even original, just that his best stuff is in there :p

 

besides, his stuff for duke nukem 2 is better than 3d anyways