Year: 1998
Type: Gamerip
Composer(s): Markus Pitzer
Number of tracks: 22

★★★★★

When everything was so simple

When I wanted to write this article, it was actually relatively clear to me what it was going to be about: I had just listened to the Anno 1602 soundtrack and wanted to tell you why I think it's so great. And I realized that I couldn't explain my enthusiasm without using the word nostalgia. So I came to the conclusion that it should actually be about 'older games and soundtracks' - but what is 'old'? A game from 1998 that I played nightly in my childhood while the narrator shouted warnings like "Your people are starving" or "There is a shortage of tobacco products" - is that old? Or is an old game one from 2006 where I stayed in the city screens for minutes on end just to listen to the beautiful music? Or is an old game much older than that and delighted generations of people with a simple polka-like melody?

I realized that the game's age wasn't going to get me anywhere. So how could I explain why this MIDI music means so much to me? Why it makes me sad, calms me down, stirs me up and then leaves me with this comforting warm feeling of familiarity? Is it just me? And more importantly, how can I convince others how great this music is? Do you have to have spent hours sitting mesmerized in front of the tube screen watching your little market carts transporting the stones from the busy quarry back to the marketplace with its regular "clack-clack" sound? Or is it enough to say to someone: "Listen to this, it's so beautiful."

Anno 1602 (1998)

Anno 1503 (2002)

Anno 1503: Treasures, Monsters & Pirates (2004)

Anno 1701 (2006)

Anno 1701: The Sunken Dragon (2007)

I think the answer to that is probably: "No." You have to show the person why this music is so important to you. How you panicked and scanned the map when one of the "Fight" tracks swelled up and wondered who was attacking your peaceful island kingdom. You have to show him the butt-ugly cutscenes (that you can of course talk along to from the back of your mind) that pop up every time a fire breaks out somewhere. You have to show him proudly when your balance is in the positive for a few seconds and make him cheer when your ships are in a duel and you just hope it's enough to win. You have to do all of this to make him even begin to understand why you're still listening to this soundtrack from a game that's almost 20 years old.

But unfortunately I don't have the time. He and I didn't have the time, we can't do it all again, relive this journey through time in its entirety. But I still have the memories, the feelings. Maybe that's why the MIDI version of "Amazing Grace" still moves me today. Or "Ave Maria". Or "Dreamer". Or especially "In the Beginning". In the end, you can probably put it down to nostalgia, to this mental drag that keeps you stuck in the past. But that shouldn't be a reason why people who don't share my memories can't enjoy the Anno 1602 soundtrack. Or Heroes of Might and Magic V. Or even TetrisIt just makes it harder to understand my rating.

The idea of rating music is probably doomed to failure from the get-go - after all, there are people who like listening to Alexander Marcus. Nevertheless, I hope that everyone can take at least some of the fascination and enthusiasm of the soundtrack with them when I talk about my favorites. Anno 1602 is a good test balloon for this. Because it's 50% classical music and 50% original compositions. And if you can get on board with "Greensleeves", why not "Irish Touch"?

Maybe I've been able to encourage some of you to give it a listen. After all, you know my opinion by now: It's a great album. And if you like, you can join me on this musical journey into my near and distant past in my next essay about the music of a game. I had initially considered ending the text with a reworded version of the intro to Anno 1602 , but that was too cheesy for me. So a quick "goodbye" and thanks for reading.

Nostalgia warning

The rating of the individual tracks is purely subjective and clearly colored by my own experience with the game. You can find out more in the article About Nostalgia.

Nr.	Title	Interpret(en)	Ratings
01	Discovery of the World	Markus Pitzer	5
02	In the Beginning	Markus Pitzer	5
03	Daydream	Markus Pitzer	5
04	Creators Credits	Markus Pitzer	5
05	Dreamer	Markus Pitzer	5
06	Emotion	Markus Pitzer	5
07	Friend	Markus Pitzer	5
08	Morning Mood	Markus Pitzer	5
09	Greensleeves	Markus Pitzer	5
10	Irish Touch	Markus Pitzer	5
11	Entry of the Cavalry	Markus Pitzer	5
12	Ocean Trip	Markus Pitzer	5
13	Daydream (Original)	Markus Pitzer	5
14	Ballad of Hope	Markus Pitzer	5
15	Air from Suite No. 3 in D major	Markus Pitzer	5
16	Amazing Grace	Markus Pitzer	5
17	Ave Maria	Markus Pitzer	5
18	Brandenburgisches Konzert Nr. 4 G-Dur	Markus Pitzer	5
19	Fight 1	Markus Pitzer	5
20	Fight 2	Markus Pitzer	5
21	Fight 3	Markus Pitzer	5
22	Ending Theme	Markus Pitzer	3