Jeremy Soule did the soundtrack for Morrowind and Oblivion, but Beth didn't use him for Fallout as far as I know. Hopefully things didn't go south between them because personally I loved the music in Oblivion. I guess music is one of the things that wouldn't be buzzed about so there's no way to tell, but do you think he will return to do the music for ESV?

I want the composer from Daggerfall back, that music was perfect and set the atmosphere greatly.

I hope so. I thought Soule's music for Morrowind was one of the great features of the game. It made a wonderful game even more memorable. Just listening to the theme song again can bring tears to my eyes.

I don't care who does the music as long as it sounds great.

Yes, that track was a real masterpiece and it was one of the reasons that morrowind is such an unforgettable classic game.

Hope he is back again with the series, and can fulfill the need of our nostalgic ears again.

I would like Soule back, as he did a pretty good job with III and IV. Although I won't be mortified if he does not.

I'm not a Soule fan, though I would be satisfied if his music returned to TES:V simply for sake of reducing the possibility of the music being terrible. In terms of audio quality, my beef with Oblivion has much less to do with the music and much more to do with the amateurish voice-acting recordings - as someone who's spent some time in the studio (on both sides of the recording console) I can say that many of the recordings were awful.

The only thing I'm never impressed with Soule's work is concerning battle music. His exploration and city music though is absolutely amazing.

Yeah his battle music was terrible. In Oblivion I actually started to avoid combat just so I don't have to listen to it.

I agree. I really hope they get him again, he's amazing.

But I'd also like for there to be some variation depending on area. For example, Morrowind's music, while awesome, didn't really 'fit' Mournhold or Solstheim. This is an area where they could really improve, making the soundtracks near perfect.

I don't understand why people hate his battle music. I agree he is better with exploration and city music, but I think his battle music is pretty good.

I think any battle music, no matter how good it is, will get on people's nerves if you hear it every time you fight something.

I loved the main menu music for Oblivion, and the calm exploring music was great too.

I loved Oblivions music, it was all just appropriate for the scene, which was a light hearted adventure for me. Nothing too serious, but it wasn't silly.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bethesda hires Jeremy Soule for the Elder Scrolls V again. While they may not have used his work for Fallout 3, this might be because the styles he has most experience in wouldn't really fit the Fallout setting very well. After all, most games with Soule's music that I've played are fantasy games, and music that works for a world of Medieval knights and elves and goblins simply isn't going to fit in a post apocalyptic wasteland. I doubt it means Bethedda doesn't want to use him anymore, they just got someone they probably felt would be more suited for the job.

But in any case, I'd say Jeremy Soule's work on both Morrowind and Oblivion was as a whole okay, I really liked the main theme of Morrowind, most of the other music I felt varied between good but not exceptional and okay. Although I didn't like Oblivion's theme quite as much, I still enjoy it, and whenever I get back into either Morrowind or Oblivion, hearing the theme song is a good way to get me into the mood for the game, the rest of the music in Oblivion I actually liked somewhat better than for Morrowind, but this could just be because towns and dungeons have separate music from wilderness music. All in all, though, I could accept them using Jeremy Soule, but if they decided to go with someone else... it would depend on the results. I have an idea of what I can expect from Soule, but if they hired someone else, it would give them a chance to potentially provide something better, the results, however, could also be a step backwards, whoever they go with, as long as the composer can provide a soundtrack that's both good and fits the game, I'm fine with it.

Really, though, the biggest change I want in music is more music changes depending on location and what's going on at the time. As in, different types of location should get different sorts of music, and I'd also say important events deserve their own music. While having town and dungeon music as well as exploration and combat music was an improvement over just the latter two, it still could be done better. Taverns for example should feel distinct from city streets or houses, so they should also get different music from these places, and the music in a lush forest shouldn't sound the same as a barren wasteland. I'd also say that battles against boss type enemies should have different music from generic fights, and fights against really weak enemies like rats and mud crabs, I'd say, should perhaps not change the music at all, for one thing, dramatic combat music seems inappropriate for such an easy fight. For another, it's kind of annoying when the game switches to combat music suddenly when a rat starts charging at you, than with one hit, you kill the rat, and immediately it goes back to adventure music. This tends to break the flow of the soundtrack, and just makes me wish those rats would leave me alone more than I already do.



I wouldn't say I hate it, I'd just say that most of the battle tracks he has composed are kind of boring, which I guess is fine when you're just fighting rats, but when I'm fighting against the final boss, I generally like something a little more dramatic. Yet if I add more epic custom music, than I end up hearing dramatic fight themes play while a mudcrab attacks me.

Than the problem is not the quality, but a lack thereof.

As much as I like Jeremy Soule, I wouldn't mind if somebody else did it, for a change. Or maybe just get somebody else to do the battle music, like Megadeth...

I agree with Soule's battle music being a bit bland. It starts sounding basically the same after a while. Bloodlust and Bloody Blades from Oblivion might as well be the same track. Other than that though, I love Soule's music. It's very easy to write a very epic-sounding piece, but it's extraordinarily difficult to write one that is calm and eerie but still powerful enough to bring emotion like Morrowind's music does, and I think he does it beautifully.

On a separate note, does anyone know if a live orchestra records his music or not?

I don't know if they brought Soule back for TES V, but I hope they did. I love his work in Morrowind and Oblivion.

I hope he returns, I've got nothing but fond memories from his music.

I read all his songs are done on a computer despite sounding almost like a real orchestra. Pretty amazing.
I would like Soule back for V. His style suites the series i think. Although (in my opinion) the Oblivion main theme was bad. 90% of his stuff i liked.

Why did you think it was bad?

I love Jeremy Soule's music in both Morrowind and Oblivion. So, yes I would love to see him be the composer for TES V.

Though, I wouldn't say no to Eric Heberling returning either.

After loving the Morrowind theme for years I was looking forward to hearing the next theme for the next game. I was sorely disappointed to hear the Morrowind theme recycled for Oblivion. Personally, I thought that was a little lame.

i want Soule and Inon Zur, side by side, padding each other's strengths and weaknesses and rearranging each other's work into delightful new things. also with New Vegas's progressive, dynamic system of little scraps of melody and atmosphere, rather than the triggered full-length MP3 thing we've had since Morrowind.

Send Jeremy Soule an e-mail and ask him if he is working on some game soundtrack. Anyone with me?