4 out of 5

Label: Fangamer

Produced by: Fangamer

Again accompanying the more compiled 4-LP soundtrack edition of the game, Fangamer provided the whole kaboodle in MP3 format: every track variation and cue. I mean, is there possibly stuff missing here? Sure. But if you’re asking for more than 139 tracks, and having four+ editions of every level theme… well, I dunno, I respect your fandom. This is enough for me.

Likely more than enough in this case. While I ultimately think the Banjo-Tooie score is better than the original, Kirkhope’s preference for (to my ear) slightly more minimal compositions means that the repetition found in this full score – and the looping of any given track – feels a bit more noticeable. “Bouncy” was the vibe du jour for Banjo 1; “Melodic” comes to mind for 2. It’s oddly humble, represented by the way Grant introduces the opening theme with some instrument tuning: it’s all a bit more lived in. Which I love! Grant was notably shuffling between multiple projects for this score, and perhaps something about that franticness alongside the return to an established IP resulted in the tunes getting simmered down to just the necessary components of a light bass beat, and perhaps a synth or a horn. It’s so very hummable.

I listened to this in the same manner as the other digital soundtrack, and was absolutely taken in by that hummability. But, again, perhaps that’s what ends up dinging it: I tended to be more actively listening over the BK score’s pleasant backgroundability. That first BK was formative platformer stuff – and the music sounds like it. Setting aside an analysis of the second game’s themes or playstyle compared to the first, the music is not directly that of a platformer: it maintains the BK themes, for sure, but is a bit more exploratory. It wanders, and your ears wander with it. Somewhat ironically, that makes my ear more sensitive to when we wander back around to where we were – like being looser about creating a catchy, repetitive beat makes the repetition more noticeable.

It is interesting to hear the little differences between some tracks, though that’s more when you’re doing a kind of focused track-by-track listen. As something to put on for pleasure, I’d this time opt for a more curated set; though of course as this is some of Grant’s best stuff – more focused than “standard” platformer bop – I’m essentially complaining about having too much of a good thing.