Best Musical Score in Sonic

I'm quite torn between the classic, dreamcast, and modern era choices.
There's been nothing I've disliked in the modern era, and I genuinely look forward to hearing more new compositions in the future.
For the dreamcast era, Crush 40's main themes, and Jun Senoue's level themes I really took a liking to.
Regarding classics, who doesn't love them?

I'd love to have modern era style for level themes, with a Crush 40 main theme/ending theme. What colours did with the 8-bit styled remixes for the Sonic Simulator was awesome, and would be a nice bonus option any time. =P

 

I was torn between the Modern and Classic eras - I love the Colors soundtrack (especially Planet Wisp, Asteroid Coaster and the final boss), but I'm also a big fan of both of Sonic CD's soundtracks. These are just my favorites though, I like pretty much any Sonic music

 

I voted for the classics, and not because of nostalgia. There's something telling that a piece of music can sound good if you hear it for 30 seconds or 10 minutes, and still sound good when you're hearing it 20 years on.

Since I haven't played 06, I don't know much about it's soundtrack apart from the shockingly awful His World and the bastardisation of Sweet Sweet Sweet, but the tracks that Thekazeblade posted are actually rather excellent.

I think my favourite Sonic track has to be this though:


Too fucking good.

 

I've always been a classic head, but having acquainted myself with the post-classic music some of that is still really fucking good! Apart from the fucking awful "City Escape" music, I immensely enjoyed every single track in Generations.

 

Sonic 3D Blast, Saturn. Richard Jacques is king.

 

Hmm... That's a tough one. I can't really choose just one of those eras. So, I'll just tell you which game soundtracks I don't like.

• Knuckles Chaotix (Kind of a 50/50 thing. Some of it's OK, and some of it's kinda stupid.)
• Sonic Spinball - I take that back. It's kinda cool, but doesn't really say "Sonic" to me.
• Sonic Shuffle (Same as Chaotix. (Intro is best song <3))
• Sonic Rush [Adventure] (Admittedly, I haven't listened to any of it in a while. From what I can remember, it's OK, but it's not something I look forward to listening to)
• Sonic Riders Zero Gravity (Screw that game and its music [subject to change])
• Sonic 4 :specialed: ... although honestly, I'd be OK with it if the instruments didn't sound like crap.

Sonic Adventure is pretty high up on the "wow, this music never ceases to be awesome" list, though.

 

Generations is included in the Modern Era, and it has songs from the whole series, so picking it is like picking a bit of everything. :v:
I still chose it though. For Unleashed mostly.

 

I can't even vote. The music between these is completely different. We're basically comparing 16-bit melodic music with digital audio rock music, among other things.

 

I'm more or less going to have to second that thought. Each of the eras seem to have something that makes them stand out from each other. The classic tunes don't need much of an explanation because most members of Retro would probably consider them all to be pretty awesome (until you debate Sonic CD's two soundtracks that is). The Post-Classic Era has Richard Jacques' amazing Sonic 3D Blast Saturn/PC soundtrack. The Dreamcast Era has Sonic Adventure's "Jazzy" Atmosphere going for it in the soundtrack that hasn't been seen too often since. The Post-DC Era was really more or less like the style used in SA2 up until Shadow came out. Sonic '06 seems to be when the musical direction started to change for the main series towards more orchestrated pieces like many of the modern tunes seem to be.

I'm going to have to say that like Morph I can't really choose what era's soundtracks I like the most, but I can mention the one soundtrack in the entire franchise that I absolutely cannot stand. The title for "Most Annoying Sonic Soundtrack" goes to Sonic Rush. This one is a serious dose of ear rape to me. I'm not a fan of the hip-hop genre that seems to influence the tracks and this game is no exception. Maybe if there were instrumental versions of the tracks so I could hear how they stand without the repetitive lyrics I'd change my mind. One could argue that the Sonic 4 (both episodes) tunes are the worst, but I don't mind a handful of the them, they just need better instruments.

On the note of musical scores, I'd like to mention that what I would like to see more of are instrumental versions of the vocal songs in the franchise. I'm not referring to "orchestrated final boss" type instrumental, but something like the instrumental tracks from the SA2 Vocal Album, which by the way makes me sad how a handful of those tracks still have some vocals in them. The Sonic & The Black Knight Vocal Album did a nice job providing instrumental tracks that remove the vocals without major changes to the compositions, allowing the instruments a chance to shine and stand out from the vocals.

 

This thread is just about as stupid as 'which sonic game is the best'.

 

I chose the classics, for two main reasons: I'm the most familiar with it, and also, the tracks were just the most memorable to me. I still remember buying Sonic Mega Collection on Gamecube for the first time, being able to hear these chiptunes in their most cleanest form yet at the time (besides Sonic Jam, which came quite a few years before that, but I digress). I also remember purchasing Sonic Gems Collection for Gamecube, and hearing the amazing musical tracks of Sonic CD, Sonic The Fighters, and Sonic R (along with some rather tasty Vectorman 1&2 tracks). The most notable of all these of course, was Sonic CD. The music, while nowhere near as successful as the overseas tracks (which I didn't even know existed at the time!), were still catchy as hell, and I enjoyed the ever-living crap out of it.

Granted, Sonic CD isn't my favorite Sonic game by far (that little spot belongs to Sonic 2 still. Sorry SEGA, Sonic Colors didn't win me over that easilly, regardless of it's music rivalling Sonic 2's), but if there's one thing about that game I'll always agree with someone on, it's how good the soundtrack was. I purchased Christian Whitehead's version of Sonic CD on Xbox Live a few months back, and I'll admit, listening to the overseas tracks felt much more natural to me, but at the same time? After playing the US edition, I just felt like the music was replaced (can't be helped I'm afraid). I suppose it all depends on where you live though. Say if I lived in Japan? I'd be the exact opposite right now! (On a small side-note, one thing I DID love about Whitehead's Sonic CD the MOST, was that it had the Sonic 2 Spindash, and the ability to play as Tails. F*** YEAH!)

As for the more modern titles? Listen, I've downloaded TONS of Sonic music into my computer. I have so many Sonic soundtracks, and songs, it's not even funny. I'm a Sonic music floozy: You give me a Sonic track? I'll most likely know it by heart. That's how obsessed with Sonic's music I am. Call me weird and odd for that, but it's the truth. XD Anyways! Just know this: I picked the classics, but in the end, ALL Sonic music is amazing....(except for that Modern City Escape track in Sonic Generations. Jesus Christ, what the hell WAS that?!)

 

As much as I love Sonic Adventure's soundtrack, I have to say Sonic Unleashed takes the cake for best score. The soundtracks seamlessly blends between so many different styles and the mix is of absolutely LUSH audiophile quality. Unleashed was also unique in that all the cutscene scores, and side songs had just as much work put into them than the levels themselves.

Colors had alot of great tracks too.

And gosh, you can't really compare the eras either. :| Sonic has always had great music. If it was classic era I'd have to say Sonic 3.

 

For me, Classic and Modern are both sharing the #1 spot.
The classic melodies are memorable and have, in 3K at least, shown what the Genesis was capable of sound-wise. Sonic CD's score is also very good and Stardust Speedway's japanese Bad Future tune is my favourite sonic tune ever.
The modern era is almost as memorable, just that there is now hardware limitation anymore and goes towards the same general direction of "Movie-esque music" that we had 20 years ago.
I'm not saying that all the other music we had inbetween was bad, just that those two eras stand out music-wise IMO.

But maybe that's just the inner fanboy speaking that came when he heard Modern Chemical Plant for the first time. :v:

 

Going with classic. At first I voted for modern, but then I remembered that there have been some misses in the modern era music where the classic era was virtually flawless.

 

Classic and Modern. it's a tough, tough choice between those two for me.

 

I went with Modern.

Both Unleashed and Colors' soundtracks are gorgeous in their own ways, and I can't get enough of them.

EDIT: OK, here's some discussion:

I find Unleashed's soundtrack to be an excellent representation of Sonic's style in a musical format. The Day level themes are incredibly high-energy, motivating, and, with certain exceptions, happy and cheery tunes. Colors' soundtrack is great for similar reasons, though its songs are, in general, more reminiscent of older Sonic soundtracks. Besides, Chun-Nan Day & Night and Planet Wisp Acts 1, 2, and 3, are all beautiful, and are nearly enough alone to make me love both soundtracks.

 

Is this forum titled 'General Sonic Discussion'? I don't see an awful lot of discussion going on here, just everyone yelling their favourites. It's like a list topic, but worse.

Also, anyone who voted anything other than 'Classic' is wrong. Objectively wrong. Sonic 2 has the finest soundtrack and you know it.

 

Modern era now. Sure, there are some great, memorable stand-outs of the classic era, but the modern era has proven extremely varied and the direction taken with Cash Cash and the entire Colours soundtrack was great.

First off we had Unleashed, which had some really great music that just worked for a Sonic game extremely well. Jungle Joyride, Rooftop Run and Empire City are particularly brilliant (I also love Cool Edge) as not only do they fit the level they're in really well, they have great pace and just enhance that breakneck speed and make it feel really fun.
Colours whole musical direction got me really excited again - it just sounds like the most organic transition from the series' 2D roots. I hear the tracks from that soundtrack and they instantly strike a chord as distinctly 'Sonic' now.

Generations goes without saying really. :v:

 

I had to use my iPhone to help me I went to my Top 25 Most Played playlist and, ignoring the 19 Sonic CD songs (Because iTunes messed up and gave them thousands of plays when I've only listened to them a few times), I found that my real most played song was the Event track for Sonic jumping out of the plane in SA2, "Event: Let's Make It!".
I had to go with the DC era. I've never played Shuffle, and aside from SA1 having one of the most varied soundtracks (Along with Unleashed and Advance 3), I LOVE SA2. Anyone who has looked at the SA2 XBLA thread recently will know that. I love it's gameplay (especially the grinding mechanic, which, I think, has never been as great again), story, and the music, of course.
The Dimps and Modern eras were tied for #2. I don't think I need to explain Modern. However, I feel that the Sonic Advance series (especially 3) have really underrated music. Some examples are:

Chaos Angel Map
Chaos Angel Act 3
Altar Emerald

Needless to say, these songs alone are amazing. I like to think of SA3's soundtrack as a Classic soundtrack turned Modern. Generations kind of turns my logic into nonsense, but try not to think of it that way.
The Classic series was #3. I think it always has to be on everyone's list. I mean, I love the Classic series, but I think my preference for 3D games in general affects my thoughts on the music. Especially in Sonic games, I like to know what's coming up. You can't do that in a strictly 2D game, whether they're sprites or models. It's not that I'm terrible at the 2D games, it's that they're not my favorite style of play.

EDIT: Look up the SA3 songs. I can't have links to all of them, for some reason.