Licensed Music And The Games You Associate It With?

There are plenty of games that license music for their soundtrack rather than creating music specifically for their game. Last night I was thinking of a song I had not heard in years. So I went to youtube to watch the video.

I don't associate this song with the band. Instead when I hear this song I think of Wipeout XL.

What I want to know is which songs make you think of a specific game?

Kanye West's "Power" (NSFW Lyrics)

That's Saints Row the Third - and it will forever be ingrained into my head as such.

Now I want to pop this into my 360 again...

Is that wipeout song actually the in-game song? Seems like it's dubbed over the game stuff because there are no other sound effects...

The in game volume was likely turned down Duoae. The other sound effects are still there, they are just very quiet. If the song is dubbed over it is done with the track that is in game anyway.

Old Breaking Benjamin music makes me think of RLH, but then Breaking Benjamin sold out :/

The old NFS games killed a lot of artists for me because now I can't hear them without thinking about racing.

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

The in game volume was likely turned down Duoae. The other sound effects are still there, they are just very quiet. If the song is dubbed over it is done with the track that is in game anyway.

Fair enough. I actually prefer the original soundtracks to licensed music tracks - usually. I can't think of a single game I've played where the licensed music fit the tone of the moment more than the OST did.... unless ICO's ending theme was licensed... Also, all the Final Fantasy OSTs they were great! So I guess I don't really fit in this thread. Sorry!

I will simply say "the song that plays as you start the final mission in Saints Row The Third", because I refuse to even spoiler-tag the awesome.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I will simply say "the song that plays as you start the final mission in Saints Row The Third", because I refuse to even spoiler-tag the awesome.

That, and Sublime's "What I've Got"

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

The in game volume was likely turned down Duoae. The other sound effects are still there, they are just very quiet. If the song is dubbed over it is done with the track that is in game anyway.

It was in Sony's RedBook audio on the PSOne disc-- so you could (or can, if you still have the game like I do ) put the disc in a CD drive, skip the first track (no audio-- it was the information track) and listen to the game's soundtrack. Before Sony released the soundtrack to WipEout XL as a regular CD, I ripped all the first 3 WipEout soundtracks straight from the games. Especially because the in-house tracks by Cold Storage weren't on any soundtrack compilations.

Anyway, other than the WipEout series, I'd have to say Sound Garden's Rusty Cage, from Road Rash CD/PC/3DO:

I used to play Gran Turismo a LOT back in the day, too. Two songs I associated with that series that weren't even in the game were from Roni Size/Reprazent:

Share The Fall

Hi-Potent (starting at 1:44)

I can't remember how many races these two tracks got me through.

But if you want a licensed track that was in game, I'd say Manic Street Preachers' Everything Must Go (Chemical Brothers Remix):

I always enjoyed this one.

I know it's just for the trailer, but I still loved it and it's associated now.

Purely accidentally, because I'd found the album just before I started a replay, I now associate Imogen Heap's Speak for Yourself very intensely with Thief 3, to the point that I don't think I'd want to play that game again without the album. It doesn't fit especially well, it's not a good match in any real sense, but I have a powerful, powerful association between the two.

Depeche Mode's Home is forever locked in my mind as the "theme song" to Fallout 1. I think it's because I discovered both around the same time - late '97/early '98 - and would have that song playing constantly as I explored the wasteland for the first time.

trueheart78 wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I will simply say "the song that plays as you start the final mission in Saints Row The Third", because I refuse to even spoiler-tag the awesome.

That, and Sublime's "What I've Got" :D

Plus Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" and Joe Esposito's "You're the Best" (from the Karate Kid), to which I slaughtered many residents of Steelport.

One of the first licensed songs that come to mind is Omni Trio's "First Contact" in GTA3.

Then I thought about The Ink Spots "The World on Fire". I'm going to associate that with Fallout 3 forever.

Funny, I don't associate Wipeout XL with Prodigy, but with Fluke!

Atom Bomb is another song I associate with Wipeout XL mateo. I had been hearing Firestarter in my head the last few days and every time I thought about it I always thought about playing Wipeout XL, then I thought about The Venture Brothers, then the original video.

I miss tDR.

Sugarcult's "Memory" from the first Burnout. Don't dare play the track while in the car as I'll end up in jail.

Well done trailers will lock in songs to some games for me.
-Cage the Elephant's "No Rest for the Wicked" for Borderlands.
-Nero's "Doomsday" for Borderlands 2.

-Already mentioned Kanye West's "Power" for Saint's Row 3 but not for the trailer but the actual mission the song plays in. So fitting that I decided to dress up my female boss like she was attending a fancy nightclub just before and it just fitted so well with all the crazy in that mission.

Fallout 3 for me is Butcher Pete.

I haven't played any of the Gears of War series, but the Mad World commercial was great.

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

then I thought about The Venture Brothers

I'm trapped in the sewer with a confessed arsonist, Brock. Help me!

Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" is forever associated in my mind with Burnout Paradise, for rather obvious reasons.

Aristophan wrote:

Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" is forever associated in my mind with Burnout Paradise, for rather obvious reasons.

+1

Xenon 2: Megablast

Spy Hunter: Theme from Peter Gunn

Aristophan wrote:

Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" is forever associated in my mind with Burnout Paradise, for rather obvious reasons.

Yup, this. Also, any song from the GTA IV, SSX 3, SSX (2012), THPS 3 and TH: Underground soundtracks.

Maq wrote:

Theme from Peter Gunn

Mind = blown. I grew up playing Spy Hunter in the arcades and never knew this song as anything but the Spy Hunter song. This is easily explained in that I'm probably the only person of my generation that hasn't seen the Blues Brothers movie.

Although I can't think of any video game examples that haven't already been mentioned, this phenomenon has always fascinated me. There are some very powerful links between music albums and books I was reading at the time I discovered the album. I am a huge Led Zeppelin fan and I "discovered" them in the late 80's at age 15, at the same time I was in the middle of reading Terry Brooks' Scions of Shanarra series. Every time I re-read those books, the Zep tunes are conjured in my head, to the point I seem to remember certain songs when I read certain passages. I wonder if those are the actual songs I was listening to at the time I first read it. The human mind is freaky and fascinating.

The ending of the original Fallout left a strong impression on me:

Also, practically every song from the Tony Hawk 3 soundtrack is etched permanently into my memory. Here are some highlights:

And, of course, Motorhead!

Remember Gran Turismo 2?

This one is from the original STALKER (IMO, among the finest games of the 21st century):

Unknown Soldier wrote:
Maq wrote:

Theme from Peter Gunn

Mind = blown. I grew up playing Spy Hunter in the arcades and never knew this song as anything but the Spy Hunter song. This is easily explained in that I'm probably the only person of my generation that hasn't seen the Blues Brothers movie.

The Peter Gunn theme goes back to long before The Blues Brothers. It was the theme to the detective series Peter Gunn from the late 1950s.

Malor wrote:

Purely accidentally, because I'd found the album just before I started a replay, I now associate Imogen Heap's Speak for Yourself very intensely with Thief 3, to the point that I don't think I'd want to play that game again without the album. It doesn't fit especially well, it's not a good match in any real sense, but I have a powerful, powerful association between the two.

Similarly the first Rage Against The Machine album and Living Color's Stain will forever be associated with SNES Mario Kart for me

peedmyself wrote:

Fallout 3 for me is Butcher Pete.

Same here. One of my favorite memories was that song coming on GNR right as I unlocked the basement in Andale.

It was forever ago, but the first time I saw this thread title I immediately thought of this. I've had this damn song in my head ever since. Ugh.

I don't play a lot of games that use licensed music, but having access to a Dreamcast in college burned "All I Want" from Offspring in my brain. "It's time to make some craaaaazy money, here we go! YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH!"