I love the soundtracks to these games, and found an awesome top 10 while perusing the Oblivion OST for nostalgia's sake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpv3metpSSU

Auriel's Ascension and Minstrel's Lament are fantastic.

I know it's pathetic, but I had a slight urge to cry when I heard that. I miss Cyrodiil. The ninja deer, the discussion of mudcrabs, the Imperial guardsmen with psychic powers. Those were such happier and simpler times...

By the way, party on, Garth. Blessings of Akatosh upon ye.

You can get the soundtrack as a download. I have it burned on CD.

"Wings of Kynareth"
When I had the music turned on, this was the piece I always looked forward to. Such an evocative piece.

I have the music turned off completely for immersion and performance but I do miss the soundtrack...
I think it's some of the best if not THE best game soundtrack music that I have experienced - (even better than Dragon Age, and that was great).

[EDIT]:
Although "Minstrel's Lament" comes a VERY close second.

Where?! Tell me now!!!!!

I had a senior moment and could not remember- I'll look it up today. Directsong.com

Be advised their skyrim delivery took many weeks. I wouldn't know what to expect from them- they are swamped. For a limited time, as supplies last, they will ship signed copies.

Oblivion on the other hand is a download the moment you pay and is a done deal. Then simply copy it on your computer. They did not use any of the better sound softwares so any mundane computer should be capable of copying it. I saw some instructions for those who have problems.

oh, direct song is a brainchild (scheme?)of the composer, Jeremy soule. Not sure what the deal is- but it's his label.

And who, other than him, should be selling it?

I love them all. The music alone can bring me back to Oblivion

Oblivion features outstanding music. That was one of the first things I pleasantly remembered when I came back from playing Skyrim. The overworld music is so soothing and inspiring in Oblivion, and the underworld music is more mysterious and moody.

Killjoy that I am, I'll just point out that we had http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1331109-the-soundtrack-that-added-so-much-beauty/.

For those who want to hear a wealth of addition music added to the game, some of which blends in rather well, I recommend checking out Veriax still-ongoing Oblivion "Let's Play" on YouTube. (Out of all the Oblivion Let's Plays I once followed, only he and Gameplay Jenny continue to update.)

As mentioned in the linked thread, I play with music disabled for immersion, but liked Oblivion's music track so well I kept it enabled far longer than is my customary practice.

-Decrepit-

If someone can make Decrepit not turn off game music, that person deserves a medal.
Here you go, Jeremy!

Interesting to see that people find games more immersive with the music off. Music always heightens the mood for me, thus heightening how drawn into the experience I can become.

Though it's a bit of a pain, I turn off the music when I'm underground. Some of the sounds in there are pretty beautiful. I keep the music on outside or in towns.

Same with me. I'm an amateur musician, though, so there's always music going on in my head anyway. It's like I'm walking around with my own personal soundtrack.

The exploring music is wonderful. What ruins it for me is when the game abruptly cuts off the exploring music and begins playing battle music. I dislike this for two reasons.

1. I am sensitive to music. I have actually stopped playing on a few occasions so I could listen to the exploring music. To me, turning off a piece of music before it has finished is like stopping a film in the middle of a scene or yanking a book out of my hands while I'm reading. It is very annoying to me. It's purpose is to break the mood ("it's time for battle!") It does that. And I dislike it.

2. In my opinion battle music is cheating. When battle music comes on I, the player, am being informed that an enemy is about to attack my character before my character could have any knowledge of this event. The game also thinks it's important for me to know when NPCs and monsters are fighting each other in the vicinity of my character. I do not need to know any of this.

Better to listen to the wonderful sounds effects the game comes with. Now that is immersive.

I agree. I actually deleted the battle music files once for that reason. I have probably listened to the entire Oblivion theme before playing at least 100 times. It's such a beautiful piece. My favorite of them all, actually.

I've been listening to a repeated mix of the soundtrack pretty much for the whole yesterday and from about 0800 this morning.

The only time - (aside from eating, sleeping and driving) - when I have not listened to the music is when I have been playing the game!

Same here. I have tried turning the music off but I just can′t have it that way! If I want to hear the ambient sounds more clearly I can always lower the volume of the music, but I will never play without it at all.

Same here. I always play with the music on. Always. Just the way I'm wired.

While I love Jeremy Soule's music, and the amazing soundtrack of this game, I've made it my mission to add as much as similar medieval sounding music to this game (no rock, trance, electronic etc.)

My Music folder is 10 GB+ at this point. I include music from other games, movies, and newgrounds. I also heartily recommend Better Music System mod, as it adds more customization in what music plays where.

I should really start a thread for new music added by others in which specific folders. Of course, we should not share the musioc unless opensource, but just share the appropriate song name and appropriate folder location (Battle/Dungeon/Explore/Public etc.)

I remember placing 'Stop the Rock' by Apollo 440 in my battle music file in Morrowind, not really for immersion sake, just so my character could bang his head whilst filleting cliff-racers.

I hear you all about battle music. I have mixed feelings about the prewarnings- but what really gets me is that once battle music starts, it just doesn't want to go away. They do that in major segments in Oblivion so you can't repair your stuff. But I just get sick of hearing the battle refrain, it does drive me crazy after awhile. Often there is no threat at all nearby- maybe a mudcrab 500 yards away is still trying to climb a rock to get to you, or skeleton in a dungeon, and the music just won't quit. Sancre Tor is a good example. I think the game designers had a heavy finger when deploying battle music. Like to see Bethesda's designers write anything of value with that playing over the intercom at the office!

...Maybe that would explain some recent design decisions...

Often I find myself getting up from the chair to do other stuff while listening to a soothing tune from the game. I like to think of it as "Lothran′s free time" where he gets to spend some time without me around.