Year: 2007
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST) / Extended Edition
Composer(s): Jack Wall; Sam Hulick
Number of tracks: 37 / 75

★★★★★

Space-Opera done right

This is the music review. Here you can find the game review.

To begin with, I'd like to paint a little picture of the mood, give a bit of context as to why you're about to hear hymns of praise for the music of old games once again. Because Mass Effect wasn't just a game with top graphics and a top story - no, it also had one of the best introductions to a video game. As befits a space epic, the game begins with text fade-ins against a dark background, outlining the setting, or indeed the universe of the game.

While the words appear and disappear again, a synth beat hums that could not proclaim "space" more stereotypically. Distant strings can be heard, but they don't sound like the 80s, they sound like the future. As the music slowly wafts towards its climax, the title disappears, the outline of a planet emerges and the title Mass Effect logo appears with the first 'discharge' of the theme.

The camera is now on board a spaceship, following a character as he walks across the bridge. Percussion joins in, giving this performance something heroic, even ceremonial. There is a hustle and bustle as our protagonist continues towards his destination, the command center. The character stops, the camera moves around and we see our previously self-built (or left as standard, because better modeled) Commander Shepard. This is followed by a brief conversation with our helmsman Joker and preparations are made for the mass jump. What's that? A mass jump? No idea, but there's not enough time to understand everything right away.

Meanwhile, the music builds up dramatically one last time, the ship approaches its destination and is finally shot through space with a thunderstorm of effects. The background noise drops, we are in the game - and I was hooked. The fact that I was able to reproduce these impressions without looking back and only by listening to the main theme should be proof enough of how dramaturgically stylish the opening was - and the music was not least to blame for this. And with that, welcome to my Mass Effect music review! By the way: If you fancy taking a look at my old game review from back in the day, take a look at the Mass Effect game review.

You might not realize it, but I'm a bit of a fanboy of the sci-fi series from Bioware - although I was originally anti, because it was new, it wasn't Star Wars or even Star Trek. But moments like the beginning described above quickly converted me. Mass Effect 3 and even Andromeda have a hard time taking the fun out of the series for me... but that's another matter. What has always distinguished the series in my opinion was the background music. Where you usually have two or three particularly notable tracks or themes in games, the Mass Effect-series manages to tailor memorable tracks to even supposedly minor locations and characters - especially in the later installments.

But maybe I'm just too biased, because as is so often the case, the nostalgia alert also applies to this review. Now that that's out of the way, I can get on with my nerdy praise. For example, about the "Citadel" theme, our first stop after the tutorial and the linchpin of the story. The music, first epic, then spherical, manages to create an acoustic grandeur that is inextricably linked to the image of the space station. Or "Spectre Introduction", a variation of the main theme, only even bigger, even more epic, even more powerful.

Or the themes that revolve around the antagonists, such as "Saren" or "Sovereign's Theme", which are used as a recurring motif in the later parts. In contrast to the heroic tracks, these are gloomy, oppressive, almost crushing, with tubas and strings that, in the best Peter and the Wolf-manner, draw character sketches of large, darkly menacing entities. In stark contrast to this are tracks such as "Vigil" or "The Presidium", which create dreamy illusions of a hopeful future with their spherical sounds.

The composers Sam Hulick and Jack Wall know how to use a stringent musical keyboard that is multifaceted enough not to become monotonous, but can rely on strong and catchy motifs to avoid becoming incoherent. Only the "Love Theme" stands out a little from the synth operetta, which as a piano piece is accompanied only by a light thumping and sensitively accompanies the tame in-game love scene. 

However, I do have one small criticism, even if that is probably my own problem. The OST, the original soundtrack, is a whopping 38 tracks long - great, after all, like The Very Hungry Caterpillar , I can never have too many songs. That's why I also checked out the "Extended Edition" and realized that sometimes less is more. The extended version is twice as big and contains 75 tracks, but unfortunately it also contains a lot of junk - especially the elevator tracks. Although some of them are tongue-in-cheek adaptations of the main theme, they remind me of the annoying loading time bridging rides in the Citadel; music-controlled memory does have its pitfalls. But even without these connections, it would still be elevator music... and who likes listening to that?

Beyond these unnecessary extras, there are also less powerful tracks such as "Ilos", "Spectre Talk" or "Refinery", which could also be found in this form in Portal 2 or Mirror’s Edge : There's music there, it sounds quaint, but rather witless without gameplay. Therefore, as much as I appreciate a comprehensive album, I would say that you're only missing out on the Mass Effect OST if you haven't heard it - but you don't need the extended version.

My conclusion: The soundtrack is roundhouse kick, but a deliberate, accentuated foundation for the Mass Effectmythos. It links the saga and the epic and is just as inextricably bound to the game as Howard Shore's compositions are to The Lord of the Rings-trilogy, for example, or the "Imperial March" with the appearance of a short-breathed, black-clad gentleman.

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.

Mass Effect

Nr.	Title	Interpret(en)	Ratings
01	Mass Effect	Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
02	The Normandy	Sam Hulick	4
03	Eden Prime	Jack Wall	1
04	Battle at Eden Prime	Sam Hulick	3
05	Saren	Jack Wall	4
06	The Citadel	Richard Jacques	5
07	The Presidium	Jack Wall	3
08	The Wards	Jack Wall	4
09	Criminal Elements	Jack Wall	3
10	Spectre Induction	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
11	Liara's World	Jack Wall	3
12	A Very Dangerous Place	Sam Hulick	4
13	Feros	Jack Wall	2
14	Protecting the Colony	Sam Hulick	3
15	The Thorian	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall	1
16	Noveria	Jack Wall	2
17	The Secret Labs	Sam Hulick	2
18	The Alien Queen	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	4
19	Fatal Confrontation	Jack Wall	3
20	Saren's Base	Jack Wall	3
21	Breeding Ground	Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
22	Virmire Ride	Jack Wall	4
23	Exit	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
24	Love Theme	Jack Wall	4
25	Uncharted Worlds	Sam Hulick	4
26	Ilos	Jack Wall	1
27	Vigil	Jack Wall	4
28	Sovereign's Theme	Sam Hulick	5
29	Uplink	Sam Hulick	3
30	Battling Saren	Jack Wall	4
31	In Pursuit of Saren	Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
32	Infusion	Jack Wall; Sam Hulick; David Kates	4
33	Final Assault	Jack Wall; Sam Hulick; David Kates	4
34	Victory	Sam Hulick	4
35	From the Wreckage	Sam Hulick	4
36	The End (Reprise)	Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
37	M4 Part II (Faunts)	Faunts	5

Mass Effect [Extended Edition]

Nr.	Title	Interpret(en)	Ratings
01	Mass Effect*	Jack Wall	5
02	Mass Effect [Alternate]	Jack Wall	3
03	Mass Effect [Sam Hulick Version]	Sam Hulick	4
04	The Normandy*	Sam Hulick	4
05	Eden Prime Briefing	Jack Wall	2
06	Battle at Eden Prime*	Sam Hulick	3
07	Eden Prime*	Jack Wall	1
08	Saren*	Jack Wall	4
09	The Citadel*	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
10	The Presidium 1	Jack Wall	3
11	The Presidium 2	Jack Wall	2
12	The Presidium 3	Jack Wall	3
13	The Presidium 4 (Ruins)	Jack Wall	2
14	The Wards*	Jack Wall	3
15	The Wards [Extended]	Jack Wall	2
16	Criminal Elements*	Jack Wall	3
17	Spectre Induction*	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
18	Spectre Talk	Jack Wall	2
19	Speech Heroic	Jack Wall	3
20	Speech Hardass	Jack Wall	3
21	Liara's World*	Jack Wall	3
22	A Very Dangerous Place*	Sam Hulick	4
23	Feros*	Jack Wall	2
24	Battle on Feros	Jack Wall	3
25	Protecting the Colony*	Sam Hulick	3
26	The Thorian*	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall	1
27	Refinery	Jack Wall	2
28	Geth	Jack Wall	2
29	Knossos	Jack Wall	2
30	Noveria*	Jack Wall	2
31	*The Secret Labs	Sam Hulick	2
32	Peak 15	Jack Wall	1
33	Riftstation	Jack Wall	2
34	Riftstation Battle	Jack Wall	3
35	Riftstation Battle (with Liara)	Jack Wall	3
36	Riftstation Battle (without Liara)	Jack Wall	2
37	The Alien Queen*	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	4
38	Virmire Ride*	Jack Wall	4
39	Wrex Dies	Jack Wall	2
40	Wrex Lives	Jack Wall	3
41	Patton Speech	Jack Wall	3
42	Breeding Ground*	Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
43	Sovereign's Theme*	Sam Hulick	5
44	Choice Ok	Jack Wall	4
45	Choice Cold	Jack Wall	4
46	Exit*	Richard Jacques; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
47	Exit Wounded	Jack Wall	4
48	Escape the Citadel (Good)	Jack Wall	3
49	Escape the Citadel (Bad)	Jack Wall	4
50	Love Theme*	Jack Wall	4
51	Ilos*	Jack Wall	1
52	Ilos Battle 1	Jack Wall	3
53	Ilos Battle 2	Jack Wall	3
54	Vigil*	Jack Wall	4
55	In Pursuit of Saren*	Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	5
56	Uplink*	Sam Hulick	3
57	Running to the Citadel Tower	Jack Wall	3
58	Battling Saren*	Jack Wall	4
59	The Death of Saren	Jack Wall	4
60	Saving the Council	Jack Wall	3
61	Infusion*	David Kates; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	4
62	Final Assault*	David Kates; Jack Wall; Sam Hulick	4
63	Victory*	Sam Hulick	4
64	From the Wreckage*	Sam Hulick	4
65	Ending Good	Jack Wall	4
66	Ending Bad	Jack Wall	3
67	Uncharted Worlds*	Sam Hulick	4
68	Elevator Music 1	Jack Wall	1
69	Elevator Music 2	Jack Wall	1
70	Elevator Music 3	Jack Wall	1
71	Elevator Music 4	Jack Wall	1
72	Elevator Music 5	Jack Wall	1
73	Elevator Music 6	Jack Wall	1
74	Elevator Music 7	Jack Wall	1
75	M4 (Part II)*	Faunts	5

*Track contained in the Original Soundtrack´