The year was 1996. And Trent Reznor and NIN loved id Software so much that they made a deep, dark, legendary soundtrack for the breakthrough game Quake, for no fee — just for “friendship.” At a time when creativity can feel under attack, and the real world is starting to seem a little, uh, Quake-like, maybe now is a great time to revisit Quake.
Yes, I’m technically late to the party since this game out on vinyl in 2023, but the game came out in 1996-97, depending on platform, so — whatever. (Also, a CD release seems more appropriate!)
I mean, even gaming aside, you can also just crank this while you do your taxes or whatever it is that’s on your mind. (“Survival horror”?)
Quake, the multi-platform blockbuster, transformed the FPS, thanks to the superband designing team of John Romero, Sandy Petersen, American McGee, and Tim Willits, plus John Carmack and co. on the code.
NIN did the sound design as well as the music. (It’s even Trent Reznor screaming at the end of the title theme.) And if you ever wanted production tips on how to make a hall of tortured souls, Chris Vrenna has you (via a Bethesda interview):
There’s a production trick with whispers: if you do all of it yourself, it gets all cluttered because it’s the same timbre, the same voice just on top of each other. We would get each one of us on one side and two others on another side (of the mic) and then we would take some of those vocals and then flip the whole audio file backwards. Man, I forgot all about that. You’re making me remember all this stuff, ha!
It’s truly one of the great gaming soundtracks of all time, and it’s terrific that now you can get the soundtrack and proper game experience.
I could say more, but there’s this terrific half-hour documentary on the topic by The Yetti Den, so — enjoy! This is my kind of television.
And if you’re curious to play this, here’s a modern review that says, well, it’s still great.
Now, sure, you kids today and your Quake; some of us remember Commander Keen. (I did not get in as early as Dangerous Dave, though.)