Year: 2002
Type: Gamerip
Composer(s): Alexander Röder
Number of tracks: 27

★★★★★

Bigger, prettier, better?

This is the music review of
Treasures, Monsters & Pirates (2004).

Anno 1503 was in all respects a successful sequel to its forefather Anno 1602 and set in motion the numbering of the series with the sum of 9, which continues to this day. With polished gameplay and, at least it felt, less difficult than its predecessor, the game impressed in the early 2000s with more beautiful graphics, more chains of goods and more features. That's why I spent many afternoons playing the settlement simulation and proudly managed my small island empire - on an easy difficulty level, of course. In addition to the expanded game content, there was also a thick soundtrack in the form of almost 70 files in the game folder. So it's not directly an OST, but a gamerip.

Alexander Röder, back then an employee of developer studio Sunflower (today at Dynamedion, the German creative company that has been orchestrating the soundtrack since Anno 1701 ), took on a difficult legacy in my view. Even though Markus Pitzer, as far as I know, now offers walking tours and sound samples, the soundtrack from Anno 1602 gets almost nothing but top marks from me - due to nostalgia. Perhaps my taste in music was a little more differentiated four years later, or perhaps the pink of the romanticization glasses had faded more. In any case, I still like many of the tracks here very much, but in direct comparison much less.

Anno 1602 (1998)

Anno 1503 (2002)

Anno 1503: Treasures, Monsters & Pirates (2004)

Anno 1701 (2006)

Anno 1701: The Sunken Dragon (2007)

Yet the composer does everything right. The year is 1503, we are in the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Fittingly, we hear mostly feudal sounds that are somewhat reminiscent of the Stronghold-series or The Guild-games: brass and percussion, plucked instruments and sometimes strings. The mix works well, the quiet pieces fit in pleasantly with the laid-back building and planning. As with its predecessor, pieces by classical composers such as Lacrimosa or Requiem were used here (somewhat paradoxical when you consider that Mozart was only born 200 years later) as well as sea shanties such as Scarborough Fair and Capture Trip, the lyrics of which are known as "All who go on capture tour with us". They are joined by their own creations, all of which fit harmoniously into the overall picture.

In my research on this, I found out that the track Peaceful was probably removed from the game later. If you listen to it, you can imagine why the developer was probably afraid of legal consequences... The fight tracks, on the other hand, fall a little short: with good, upbeat melodies (Buccaneers) and uninspired hero fanfares à la Back to the Future (The Campaign), they unfortunately don't come close to the dramatic piano pieces from Anno 1602 . What I do like, however, is the frequent use of the bagpipes, which on the one hand serves well to instrumentalize the feudal, but on the other hand also establishes a connection between the discovery of unknown islands and the seafaring nation of Great Britain.

One of the new features, which is also noticeable in the soundtrack, are the various indigenous tribes that we can encounter. Fittingly, there are stereotypical tracks, sometimes with native American war howls (On the Warpath), sometimes with guzheng plucking (The Khan), which is almost synonymous with Asian culture. Venice, on the other hand, sounds beautifully aloof and aristocratic (Rondo, Venice etc.) and there was even room for a pirate shanty (Honky-Tonk). The Raindance of the Aztects reminds me of a battle track from Heroes of Might and Magic II, and Village is a homage to the main theme of its predecessor. In short: relaxed medieval music? Check. Bagpipe-heavy battle music? Check. A bunch of unnecessarily short, stereotypical cultural tracks? Check. And a lot of nostalgia that makes the whole thing come off far too well? Definitely check!

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Main Menu	Alexander Röder	5
02	Hard Times	Alexander Röder	3
03	Lacrimosa	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	5
04	Mortal Agony	Alexander Röder	4
05	Requiem	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	4
06	Anno 1503	Alexander Röder	5
07	Depature	Alexander Röder	4
08	Land!	Alexander Röder	5
09	Eruption!	Alexander Röder	1
10	Fire!	Alexander Röder	1
11	Rebellion!	Alexander Röder	1
12	At War	Alexander Röder	4
13	Bagpipe Song	Alexander Röder	5
14	Buccaneers	Alexander Röder	5
15	Land Campaign	Alexander Röder	4
16	Naval Battle	Alexander Röder	4
17	Nordic Song	Alexander Röder	3
18	The Campaign	Alexander Röder	3
19	Bonfire	Alexander Röder	3
20	Capture Trip	Alexander Röder	5
21	Cathedral	Alexander Röder	3
22	Dublin	Alexander Röder	3
23	Good Harvest	Alexander Röder	5
24	Herdsman	Alexander Röder	5
25	Highlands	Alexander Röder	3
26	Luteplay	Alexander Röder	3
27	Old Tune	Alexander Röder	4
28	Peaceful	Alexander Röder	4
29	Renaissance	Alexander Röder	3
30	Scarborough	Alexander Röder	5
31	Settlers	Alexander Röder	4
32	Sunrise	Alexander Röder	5
33	Old Rite	Alexander Röder	3
34	Raindance	Alexander Röder	3
35	Old Mights	Alexander Röder	1
36	The Temple	Alexander Röder	2
37	Tin Gods	Alexander Röder	3
38	Desert	Alexander Röder	3
39	Sphinx	Alexander Röder	2
40	Arctic	Alexander Röder	2
41	Inuit	Alexander Röder	2
42	Lone Wolf	Alexander Röder	2
43	Lotus Bloom	Alexander Röder	2
44	Mandshures	Alexander Röder	3
45	The Khan	Alexander Röder	3
46	1001 Nights	Alexander Röder	3
47	Arabian Horse	Alexander Röder	3
48	Snake-Charmer	Alexander Röder	2
49	Sultan's Palace	Alexander Röder	2
50	On the Warpath	Alexander Röder	2
51	Powwow	Alexander Röder	1
52	Prairie	Alexander Röder	2
53	The Shaman	Alexander Röder	1
54	Easter-Island	Alexander Röder	2
55	Fiji-Island	Alexander Röder	2
56	Gamelan-Tune	Alexander Röder	1
57	South-Sea	Alexander Röder	3
58	Honky-Tonk	Alexander Röder	2
59	Doge's Palace	Alexander Röder	3
60	Gondola-Song	Alexander Röder	4
61	Rondo	Alexander Röder	3
62	Venice	Alexander Röder	3
63	May-Ball	Alexander Röder	3
64	Morris Dance	Alexander Röder	5
65	The Court	Alexander Röder	5
66	Village Festival	Alexander Röder	5
67	Atmosphere	Alexander Röder	1
68	Egypt (Bedouin)	Alexander Röder	3
69	The Bard	Alexander Röder	5
70	The Shepherd	Alexander Röder	4
71	Village	Alexander Röder	4

Year: 2004
Type: Gamerip
Composer(s): Alexander Röder
Number of tracks: 4

★★★★★

Treasures, Monsters & Pirates

There is little to say about Treasures, Monsters & Pirates . Rarely an addon gave away its gameplay features so accurately with its title. It would propably only be topped by "The Sims: A couple of garden chairs and the toaster now can catch fire". That the addon comes with four new tracks was something I discovered later, when researching for the main game, Anno 1503. The Anno-Wiki ist vermerkt, dass die Lieder Ancient Flutes, Ferger‘s Sorrow, Tolersa and Windgames erst mit der Erweiterung hinzukamen. Fix also meine Sammlung entsprechend angepasst und diesen kurzen Schnelldurchlauf verfasst.

Musically, everything remains the same: Feudal is the name of the game, the flutes play sensually. The 'highlight' for me is Ancient Flutes, which rises and falls peacefully in waves; the 'lowlight' is the militaristic Tolersa, which sounds more like the stingers in an old-fashioned action adventure. Ferger’s Sorrow, on the other hand, is the first and only variation of a melody in the entire OST (here from Ancient Flutes), and Windgames is the equivalent of the triumphant parade of the cheerful marching band in a fantasy village. A little treat for fans of the main game and a welcome, albeit small, expansion.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
1	Ancient Flutes	Alexander Röder	5
2	Ferger's Sorrow	Alexander Röder	4
3	Tolersa	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	3
4	Windgames	Alexander Röder	4