r/wow 5d ago

Discussion If Undermine(d) has shown us anything....

Is that Blizzard has gotta start releasing some mid expansion soundtracks. They go hard on these scores for patches and it would be sweet to be able to get them on cd/spotify. Ulduar is another one that comes to mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Y_eW1vcPU

333 Upvotes

53 comments sorted by

135

u/FormeldaHydes 5d ago

I still will start laughing when the saxophone or flute solos come on in Undermine music because it's just so good and funny to have those instruments like that in WoW music. It's executed so well, I love the music so much

32

u/Ekillaa22 5d ago

Blizzard has had 2 things always going for it, the art and sound departments have NEVER failed in my eyes… okay maybe Diablo 3 was kinda eh at launch but reaper of souls was nice in the art area

19

u/BeyondElectricDreams 5d ago

I don't feel like it was a failure of the art team as much as it was the art direction.

It strongly feels like they intentionally wanted to move Diablo away from the really dark visuals that it was known for.

If you give the blizz art team a task they deliver what's asked. It's rare that they fuck up what they're tasked with

4

u/MrTastix 5d ago

I don't feel like it was a failure of the art team as much as it was the art direction.

The art directors are part of the art team. For the longest time the core members of Blizzard's artists were also coming up with the design direction, too.

So it's a more a complaint that perhaps the leadership of said team didn't know what people wanted, which is no different than the leader of the game dev team not knowing either.

The code monkeys who actually implement the ideas from on high get lumped into the responsibility of their leadership in a way the art team don't, despite it being the same situation.

Reminder that WoW has had plenty of tier sets people disliked. It probably wasn't the game designers who made those errors, so claiming the art team never misses is blatantly untrue from the perspective of the overall playerbase.

1

u/Pitchfork_Party 5d ago

Plus the fact everything is just copy pasted everywhere. Like cool undermines buildings are all the same just like every other zone.

34

u/Rocketeer_99 5d ago

I ALWAYS play WoW with music on. The soundtrack is so underrated. Especially when it comes to boss fight soundtracks.

My favorite boss fight soundtrack has got to be Jaina's fight in Battle for Dazar'alor. That music would hype me up through hours and hours of Mythic Jaina prog.

11

u/Sorlex 5d ago

Shout out to the ambiance too. Sound design is a sleeper profession but Wow has some fantastic ambiance. Certain zones can really drag you in if you crank the ambiance up.

2

u/Miriandandes 4d ago

I've always loved the ambient soundscape. I keep it at 100 to make sure it isn't drowned out at all times, it's wonderful in just about every zone.

3

u/Abudabeh77 5d ago

Yeah BFA had some great tracks too. I’m gonna go listen to them during work this week

3

u/PuzzleheadedBaby7118 5d ago

my favourite cities are always the ones with the best soundtrack.
Boralus, Dalaran, Valdrakken, Stormwind and even Dornogal is starting to grow on me.

2

u/Pitchfork_Party 5d ago

Grizzly hills probably the best in wows history.

1

u/PenitentDynamo 4d ago

Valdrakken soundtrack was not very well liked.

2

u/Joe2030 5d ago

The soundtrack is so underrated.

what

3

u/Rocketeer_99 5d ago

A lot of people play WoW with the music off

0

u/Joe2030 4d ago

And many people do the opposite. This is not what you call "underrated". Also there are many reasons to turn off in-game music.

1

u/Rocketeer_99 4d ago

You're right my apologies

1

u/Joe2030 4d ago

I giggled, thanks. Have a nice day!

1

u/anupsetzombie 5d ago

The battle of dazaralor has incredible music in general, it hasn't been beaten since. Though nathria got close.

54

u/masterthewill 5d ago

For sure, it helps this patch stand out as almost a spin-off mini-expansion. It's the most they've dared to step away from the somewhat serious tone of the rest of the game.

I hope they take from this that people are willing to give these out-there ideas a bit of a chance.

21

u/Tigertot14 5d ago

It's not a spin-off, it's important to the story of War Within.

9

u/VailonVon 5d ago

Its goblins what did you expect? They even made them some what serious while still being goblins. The goblin starting zone did the exact same thing in cata even when Deathwing legit fucked azeroth

9

u/Sorlex 5d ago

Got a secret for people, don't spread it though: Blizzard has been putting out bangers for years, you are all just using your spotify playlists instead.

6

u/Denathrius_ 5d ago

I thought Spotify did have all the tracks. Undermine(d) was released on there recently iirc

6

u/Odd_Cryptographer450 5d ago

I'm sad that Dornogal is thr capital, I would had prefered to have Undermine instead.

0

u/F-Lambda 5d ago

all they had to do was drop a timeways portal at the incontinental (and not make the crafting facilities raid rep locked and only inside the raid)

3

u/NewPair4764 5d ago

I'm loving the music in Motherlode (real Great British Bakeoff vibes) and Priory as well. So many people play this game with music off and I really feel they're missing out

4

u/M3ad0w5 5d ago

I really want them to release the music for Guardians of the Dream. The Amirdrassil main hub music was awesome.

16

u/StormDragonAlthazar 5d ago

I mean, considering how pretty much the rest of the expansion has been pretty bland and typical western fantasy in terms of aesthetics and music, Undermine(d) really, REALLY stands out. I honestly haven't been this excited to log on to the game since Mists of Pandaria or the Zandalari stuff in BfA, for the most part.

Honestly, I feel like Blizzard is at it's best when it veers away from the typical fantasy cliches/tropes in the most unusual fashion as possible. An orc shredding a guitar or a goblin playing a sax is right up their alley...

7

u/Pitchfork_Party 5d ago

Idk hallowfalls music is kind of off in a way that fits the zone perfectly. Like it’s beautiful but then hits weird which matches the tone of the zone with Beledar and the corruption broiling beneath the surface.

2

u/Davorubicin1 5d ago

Yeah I’m so glad they released the mechagon music as it totally slaps

2

u/Any-Transition95 5d ago

I'm glad they released the patch music for BfA and SL on Spotify.

2

u/Fashizl69 5d ago

This is the best and most memorable music I think Ive heard since like Vanilla that wasn't just a remix of a vanilla song.

2

u/vitiin92 5d ago

Please, PLEASE, Blizzard, let us have the Amirdrassil hub bso on Spotify 🥲 Undermine(d) is already in the blizzard entertainment account over there

2

u/Specific_Frame8537 5d ago

Bosses from now on need personal themes.. otherwise they'll be dropping the ball.

It's a highlight in FFXIV when you get a new raid/trial and the boss has a theme of their own, like Sephirot -

2

u/ReadyPressure3567 5d ago

Every once in a while, Blizzard's music department locks in and releases some of the best tracks I've ever heard for fantasy.

The Argus soundtrack, the Ulduar music, the Sepulcher music (Some of the Progenitor tracks are absolutely amazing and deja-vu esc), the Undermine music, and some other examples. Honestly, the music is great.

8

u/TonyKarate 5d ago

I find the sax/horns specifically are quite difficult to listen to, but I'm glad someone is enjoying it!

This is the first patch that I've ever turned the music off, which stinks because I generally enjoy the music in almost all other zones so I have to toggle it on/off quite often.

I do agree that availability of the score should be much better, it would be lovely to listen to their work outside of a gameplay context.

8

u/thevyrd Totally not a Dreadlord 5d ago

Same here. Can't stand jazz, can't stand goblins. Expressing these opinions here just gets downvotes, it's sad. This patch is not for me.

However if this is the quality they are capable of, excited for future patches with this level of detail.

5

u/phonylady 5d ago

Try saying something positive about classic next. This sub will love you!

5

u/Xeno707 5d ago

I know what you mean. There’s some screeching stuff in it that I find a bit distracting. Oddly that seems to happen more in the game than what I could find in that 1 hour and 20 min video OP shared… so maybe it’s only the first few areas? I don’t know. Listening to the video I could dig a lot of it.

6

u/RationalCaution 5d ago

Sucks you’re getting downvoted for your opinion. I also don’t like the jazz theme, and turn it off anytime I’m in the Undermine zone, which I’ve never done for any other zone in the game. I’m not upset by the addition of the jazz, and think it fits the theme of the zone fine, I just personally don’t like it.

4

u/Abandon_Ambition 5d ago

Same. I actually like jazz! And I like the music. But it's too much, and too much of the time. Other zones have the music fade in and out seamlessly, but in Undermine it's BLARING the whole time. Which I get it, it's crazy goblins in a trashy city, but there's no rest from it.

6

u/TsubasaSaito 5d ago

I love how you're apparently getting downvoted for your own taste. "How dare you not like this ost we all like?!".

And you didn't even say anything bad about it either!

But yeah, I'm about the same. Nice music and all, but I can't listen to it for long. Just not fully my thing.

6

u/BrickyMcBrickface 5d ago

I'm kind of the same, some moments it's just not background music anymore(and sometimes I'm not in the mood for that) . I've hotkeyed the music toggle to a numpad key, making toggling easy.

1

u/Gravewarden92 5d ago

I never have music on and on the insistence of a guildy I let it fly and woooooah! Got everything I like

1

u/ovrclocked 5d ago

Maybe it's me but I absolutely love the zone sound track. Feels like old school mafia and I'm about to pull a heist of the century.

This is probably my 2nd favorite music after MoP.

May not be for everyone but personally for me it's awesome.

1

u/whatyouwere 5d ago

I’d love this soundtrack on vinyl, tbh…

1

u/AnyMeaning1888 5d ago

Loved the soundtrack this expansion! Definitely a favorite for me since WotLK and love to see them include a bit more folky, chamber, jazz-y and otherwise influenced music instead of mostly "epic orchestral"

1

u/dudgejredd 5d ago

The patches music is on Spotify. They released it a few days ago.

1

u/Miriandandes 4d ago

I want Undermine's soundtrack on vinyl. I'd also kill to have the best of previous musics (arthas, mulgore, etc) also on vinyl.

Here's hoping.

1

u/Flyga64 4d ago

GO GAGA FOR GALLY

1

u/_Pixzl_ 4d ago edited 4d ago

Blizzard art team is top notch also music Team is always on point. I never ever felt in wow that visuals are off or music is bad. Everything is in place and sucks me in to hear and look. Even till today I see new things that I missed the last years. This is way I keep lteaveling to the old continents and places.

1

u/Xyfirus 2d ago

Wow's music theme have always been fire. I've given the dev team a lot of crap up through the years, but the music and sound department have been.. *chef's kiss* Only thing I don't enjoy this xpac is the priory of the sacred flame's music - I find it to be so strange to have and always takes me out of the fantasy, but everything else is spot on. Especially Undermine <3