Review Summary: The fantastic soundtrack to Spyro 2 ensures Stewart Copeland will be in video game history
So the year is 1999, and just over a year after the release of Spyro the Dragon, the sequel comes out, 'Ripto's Rage' or 'Gateway to Glimmer' in Europe. Stewart Copeland reprises his role as composer and again creates another masterpiece.
The second game changed a lot of things from the first but one of the most important was much more themes and storytelling to the levels with characters and dialogue. The music in the game also reflects this. Stewart Copeland said in an interview that he actually plays the levels in the game to get a feel for the level but also the story to help "get an attitude for it" and "within the atmosphere of that level, have a lot of different changes happen. Then I go back and look for how I can make those inner complexities more complex" Tracks like Shady Oasis and Scorch have a middle eastern Asian feel to them, Aquaria Towers has an underwater feel to it, using ominous sound effects, while still keeping the tone and feel of Spyro game. writing music for video games/films/tv shows is all about creating background that can immerse you into a world or situation while not being to in the foreground, creating tension and resolution, music is more subtle in how it happens and more esoteric how it happens. Stewart Copeland has an ability to create music that is very prominent in the mix while still building atmosphere and story. The Speedway tracks which are the equivalent of the Flight levels in Spyro The Dragon keep the pace fast with the feel of the levels and the game features a lot of twinned levels that have connection story wise and Stewart does a very good job of keeping the themes of the level intact while also having connecting threads between the tracks. The final level of the game is Dragon Shores which is the location Spyro was intending to go at the start of the game and also the only level part of the original dragon kingdom not in Avalar and the track for Dragon Shores is most reminiscent of the first game which is very clever details from Copeland
The standout tracks however are the three home worlds. Unlike in Spyro The Dragon, the home worlds are completely peaceful, with no enemies to fight just gems to collect and portals to go through to levels, and the music in each home world (Summer Forest, Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra) is beautifully serene, atmospheric, almost like Aphex Twin or 'Treefingers' by Radiohead. There are certain points in your life that resonate with you and certain pieces of music you associate with powerful memories or periods of your life. The feeling I had as a 7 year old when I made it to the top of the tower in Autumn Plains with the ghostly choir in the background and hearing the wind rush and gliding to the furthest island in the distance is one of those memories.
There is a review of 'The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me' by 'Brand New' on this site talking about how they have listened to the album so many times that it sort of loses meaning anymore, it transcends just music, it has more to do with feelings and emotions then actual music, there are a few albums by bands that do this for me. But the Spyro soundtracks evoke some of the strongest feelings towards music I have ever experienced
