soundtracks,  video games

Colin McRae Rally 1-2005

29. November 2024 /

  • Information
  • Original Soundtrack

Year: 2016

Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)

Composer(s): Jonathan Colling

Number of tracks: 34

Rating

★★★★★

Colin Okay

Anyone who knows me knows two things: I am an absolute obsessive neat freak and have zero interest in fast cars. However, what applies in real life doesn't carry over one hundred percent to the digital world, which is why my savegames are often absolute chaos, my inventory management in many games leaves a lot to be desired and I'm not averse to the occasional racing challenge. After all, Need for Speed wasn't one of my favorite series back then for nothing.

The Colin McRae-games, on the other hand, combined everything I disliked about motorized racing: there were no races against opponents, our only opponents were and still are the time counters at the checkpoints. Car chases or even the police are rarely seen guests in rally racing anyway, but I didn't know that in my formative years. And even though I'm always fascinated by the skills of real-life drivers as they careen through narrow streets or drift past chasms with absolute precision, the entertainment factor of the sport ranks even lower than Formula 1 for me - and that's saying something.

To cut a long story short, I haven't played any of the games by the rally legend Colin McRae and my only forays into the genre, in which overlays show us what the next section of the track looks like, remain Richard Burns Rally and ... Ignition. Yes, the arcade racer actually had the announcements too, but more due to the confusion entailed with being Micro Machines-clone. I digress.

Now I said at the beginning that I dislike messiness. Consequently, I almost hate myself for summarizing five games in this review. But in my defense, it should be said that this is not my fault, but that of the composer Jonathan Colling. He obtained the rights from publisher Codemasters in 2010 and released his own OST with his label Octagon Music. In it, he combined the music from the first five games in the series, namely Colin McRae Rally (1998), Colin McRae Rally 2.0 (2000), Colin McRae Rally 3 (2002), Colin McRae Rally 04 (2003) and Colin McRae Rally 2005 (2004).

After briefly recovering from the official numbering of the game titles (honestly, who does that?), a glance at the track list reveals that Colling has made a somewhat uneven distribution in the 34 tracks: For example, with Colin McRae Rally 3 Theme [Extended Version] there is only one track from the third installment in the score, while no less than twelve tracks from Colin McRae Rally 04 are included. This may be because tracks were reused in the sequels or simply weren't good enough for the OST, but I can't say that with certainty.

In general, we can be glad that there is an original soundtrack in the first place, which even comes directly from the composer. This can be seen not least from the fact that the cover artwork also comes from Colling's somewhat inept hand, who, according to his own statement, is a musician and not a media designer. He wrote the following in an explanatory post on vgmdb.net in response to a user's query:

I contacted Codemasters and got their approval to release the music that I created for all the Colin McRae-games. I was instructed to only use artwork that appeared on the covers of the games to avoid copyright issues which is why the cover is a little uninventive. I based my design around Colin McRae Rally 2 cover so the "look" is close to the original.[…] Sorry Seanne thinks it look pants and unprofessional, but i am a musician - not an graphic designer. I was getting so many emails about the music and it was all over YouTube in Mono / 25Kbps etc. that I thought I should release it so that people could hear it at its best. I have also extended many of the tunes using all the original kit I have here in my studio.

Composer Jonathan Colling

So it's a real fanservice, albeit one with financial benefits. But well, everyone should be able to earn money with what he/she has created. And as Colling himself writes, he has not only bundled the tracks in good quality, but has also expanded some of them. As he works exclusively in the electro, UK house and euro house genres, the extension of his melodies is comparatively uncomplicated compared to 'classic' soundtracks.

That's where the rub lies for me, because this style of music is not really for me without the necessary pinch of nostalgia. It's not for nothing that many people find it difficult to celebrate the music of the 90s and 2000s, apart from the evergreens, in the way that those who experienced it live can. I may be accused of loving Rom Di Prisco's work for Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit for example, and shrugging my shoulders at Colin McRae but the music for EA's racing game series is still a bit more driving and inspiring for me. The tracks in the rally competitor, on the other hand, seem a little more level-headed, almost lobby-like. Well, it's also electro vs. house or racing vs. rally.

That's why, conversely, tracks like Colin McRae Rally 2 Theme [Original] and Colin McRae Rally 2 FMV [Alternative Version] are more appealing to me than the almost Daft Punk-esque Colin McRae Rally 3 Theme [Extended Version]. As is so often the case, the conclusion comes down to a question of taste and personal experience. I personally am not a fan, but people on YouTube write hymns of praise such as "This artist has literally made my childhood with these songs, thank you, a lot I really mean it.“ and "I don't play 2.0 or CMR3 for the driving anymore. The menu music sets me in such a state of nostalgia that I just can't play."

  • Colin McRae Rally
  • Colin McRae Rally 2.0
  • Colin McRae Rally 3
  • Colin McRae Rally 04
  • Colin McRae Rally 2005

Year: 1998

Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)

Composer(s): Jonathan Colling

Number of tracks: 1

Rating

★★★★★

Year: 2000

Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)

Composer(s): Jonathan Colling

Number of tracks: 14

Rating

★★★★★

Year: 2002

Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)

Composer(s): Jonathan Colling

Number of tracks: 1

Rating

★★★★★

Year: 2003

Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)

Composer(s): Jonathan Colling

Number of tracks: 12

Rating

★★★★★

Year: 2004

Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)

Composer(s): Jonathan Colling

Number of tracks: 6

Rating

★★★★★
  • Colin McRae Rally
  • Colin McRae Rally 2.0
  • Colin McRae Rally 3
  • Colin McRae Rally 04
  • Colin McRae Rally 2005
No.TitleArtist(s)Ratings
01Colin McRae Rally 1 Theme [Long Version]Jonathan Colling44/5
No.TitleArtist(s)Ratings
01Colin McRae Rally 2 Theme [Original]Jonathan Colling44/5
02Colin McRae Rally 2 FMV [Alternative Version]Jonathan Colling33/5
03Colin McRae Rally In-game 1Jonathan Colling33/5
04Colin McRae Rally In-game 2Jonathan Colling33/5
05Colin McRae Rally In-game 3Jonathan Colling33/5
06Colin McRae Rally In-game 4Jonathan Colling33/5
07Colin McRae Rally In-game 5Jonathan Colling33/5
08Colin McRae Rally In-game 6Jonathan Colling33/5
09Colin McRae Rally In-game 7Jonathan Colling22/5
10Colin McRae Rally In-game 8Jonathan Colling22/5
11Colin McRae Rally Selection 01Jonathan Colling44/5
12Colin McRae Rally Selection 02Jonathan Colling33/5
13Colin McRae Rally Selection 03Jonathan Colling22/5
14Colin McRae Rally Selection 04Jonathan Colling33/5
No.TitleArtist(s)Ratings
01Colin McRae Rally 3 Theme [Extended Version]Jonathan Colling33/5
No.TitleArtist(s)Ratings
01Colin McRae Rally 04 Intro Music [Extended Version]Jonathan Colling44/5
02Colin McRae Rally 04 Menu Music 01Jonathan Colling33/5
03Colin McRae Rally 04 Menu Music 02Jonathan Colling33/5
04Colin McRae Rally 04 Country Intro Music 01Jonathan Colling33/5
05Colin McRae Rally 04 Country Intro Music 02Jonathan Colling22/5
06Colin McRae Rally 04 Country Intro Music 03Jonathan Colling33/5
07Colin McRae Rally 04 Champion Jingle 01Jonathan Colling22/5
08Colin McRae Rally 04 Champion Jingle 02Jonathan Colling22/5
09Colin McRae Rally 04 Champion Jingle 03Jonathan Colling22/5
10Colin McRae Rally 04 Champion Jingle 04Jonathan Colling22/5
11Colin McRae Rally 04 Lose MusicJonathan Colling33/5
12Colin McRae Rally 04 Win MusicJonathan Colling33/5
No.TitleArtist(s)Ratings
01Colin McRae Rally 2005 Intro [Extended Version]Jonathan Colling33/5
02Colin McRae Rally 2005 FMV [Extended Version]Jonathan Colling33/5
03Colin McRae Rally 2005 Promo MusicJonathan Colling22/5
04Colin McRae Rally 2005 End of StageJonathan Colling33/5
05Colin McRae Rally 2005 Lose JingleJonathan Colling33/5
06Colin McRae Rally 2005 Win JingleJonathan Colling22/5
Available on Amazon Apple Music Spotify

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your rating