Year: 2007
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Kelly Bailey, Mike Morasky
Number of tracks: 13

★★★★★

This Was a Triumph

Revolutionary is probably an attribute that can easily be attributed to Valve's puzzle game Portal . With a simple yet ingenious game concept that spawned an entire genre of puzzlers, this game was simply cult. And yet it was just a freebie, a little bonus for buyers of the Orange Box, in order to lure as many gamers as possible to the back then new Steam. It's crazy when you compare the gaming landscape back then with that of today ...

But it wasn't just because of the portal mechanics that it was a must-play. No, the sadistic AI GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), which sends us through numerous test chambers and (spoiler!) doesn't even present us with the promised cake at the end, was also incredibly entertaining. Portal had many corners where this construct could have become brittle and collapsed - but it didn't. Nobody expected that Valve would not only achieve this feat again four years later with the sequel, Portal 2, but that it would be an even better game. Thusly much praise for both games and, as so often, an absolute recommendation!

Let's move on to the soundtrack, which is much less glorious than my previous praise. In fact, you could actually delete it completely, but that would also do an injustice to one of the best Easter eggs/credit themes. Before we get to that, let's talk briefly about the general style, which can be summed up quite well with synthy space sounds and action-packed techno beats. Since the latter appeal more to me, the corresponding tracks can be identified quite easily in the rating sheet below.

But now to Still Alive (feat. Ellen McLain). This poppy ballad is not only an absolute sneer at us, the players, as we celebrate our escape from Appature Science's research facility. It's also sung by none other than our nemesis, the aforementioned GLaDOS. This unexpected break from the sometimes very sombre tone towards the end of the game was ultimately what lifted Portal into the pantheon of gaming experiences. If you ask about cake in any chat today, 99.9% of the time someone will say: 'The cake is a lie' - or something along those lines. And this cult status is due in no small part to this song, which turned a great game into a perfect game. A true triumph and a great success.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Subject Name Here	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	2
02	Taste of Blood	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	1
03	Android Hell	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	1
04	Self Esteem Fund	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	1
05	Procedural Jiggle Bone	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	1
06	4000 Degrees Kelvin	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	1
07	Stop What You Are Doing	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	3
08	Party Escort	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	2
09	You're Not a Good Person	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	2
10	No Cake for You	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	2
11	You Can't Escape, You Know?	Kelly Bailey; Mike Morasky	2
12	Still Alive (feat. Ellen McLain)	Jonathan Coulton	5
13	Still Alive [J.C. Mix]	Jonathan Coulton	3