Jobie Reviews Music 128: Fight Songs: The Music of Team Fortress 2. Requested by one of my friends.

Fights Songs: The Music of Team Fortress 2 is a 2017 soundtrack album by the Valve Studio Orchestra. It is 32 tracks long, however, it only encompasses 1 hour and 4 minutes of music. This is due to the fact that most of the tracks on the album don’t go beyond 2 minutes, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s worth pointing out. That being said, this album offers up a lot of different music feels and sounds within its 1 hour and 4 minute run time, with a variety of genres on display in the 32 track album.

For example, some tracks display a progressive rock-esque sound, like the track “It Hates Me So Much”. Other tracks, like “Three Days to Live”, implore a sound which heavily relies on violins and other stringed instruments. All in all, this track has a very high amount of variety, which means that each track leaves one waiting to see what the next has in store.

There are a few uniquely composed tracks which I want to talk about as well. The track “Archimedes” is a Russian folk inspired track that’s filled with nothing but great sound and instrumentation throughout. Nothing to complain about there. Following in much the same vein, “The Soldier of Dance” is an upbeat folk track with the same sound as “Archimedes”. These two tracks are some of the only tracks that make use of this sound, which makes them all the more special.

“Yeti Park” is perhaps one of the more unpredictable tracks on the album. Its sudden shifts in tone makes for a pretty intriguing track to listen to. In comparison to similar tracks on the album, the use of this style of composition is more sudden here than in those other tracks (you should listen to the entire album to understand what I mean here).

The album’s orchestration is nearly perfect, with each track being composed in a manner that makes the tracks really interesting to listen to. An example of this would be in the track “The Calm”, where the track builds up a great amount of tension before it comes to a close. Other than the track “Haunted Fortress”, which is a cliche “Halloween” track that makes use of even more cliche sound effects, there’s no point in which the album sinks to a low point. Each track is composed well, with the instrumentation matching this fact.

My favorite tracks from this album are “Dapper Cadaver”, “Red Triumphs!”, “It Hates Me So Much”, “Three Days to Live”, “Archimedes”, “The Soldier of Dance”, “Robots!”, “Seduce Me!”, and “Red Bread”. I know that that seems like a lot of favorites to have, but keep in mind that that’s only 28% of the album.

Overall, Fight Songs: The Music of Team Fortress 2 is a great album that offers up a large amount of variety across its 32 tracks. From jazzy tunes to string instrument melodies, you certainly won’t be bored while listening to the album. Apart from “Haunted Fortress”, each track is composed in an intriguing way, which engages the listener to continue listening. Needless to say, the Valve Studio Orchestra have produced a solid album here.

Overall rating:

8.8/10

LINK TO ALBUM:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6Hqlkslcjv6uVAzIs5CDdu?si=wa3zfbuqT7CQ1zAuPiGRaQ