Majestic Twelve - The Best of Miracle of Sound (as of 2014)

I’m not very musically inclined. Sure, I played music a while ago, but I’m not all that skilled at it and I certainly couldn’t make up my own serious song. At best, I could write a catchy jingle that people would hate me for because they couldn’t get it out of their heads and it would be a song that gets on everybody’s nerves. Everybody’s nerves. It would be a song that gets on everybody’s nerves… all day long. What was I talking about? 

Right! So I may not be talented with music to any notable degree, but I know what I like. And I absolutely LOVE the sounds of The Escapist Magazine’s indie musician, Gavin Dunne (aka, the Miracle of Sound). For those who aren’t familiar with him (you’re about to be) he’s an indie musician that writes songs based on games (sometimes film and TV too). But it isn’t just a remix of songs from the game. He takes the tone and feelings he felt during the game and translates it into an original piece. Some of the song might have melodies inspired heavily from the original work (such as his Breaking Bad homage, “Forever Blue”) but it’s all his original work and most of it is quite good. Before we kick off our “Best Of” lists for the end of the year, I thought I’d stop and just list my twelve favorite songs of this talented internet bard and maybe see if we can get him some new fans. If not, at least I’ll have fun re-listening to some of my favorites. 

(Side Note: There are more than twelve I wanted to do, but I would rather keep the list short instead of listing basically every song he’s done. PLEASE check out his other songs if you like what you see here because there’s a lot of good stuff).

#12 – Wheatley’s Song – While the song that first got him noticed online (Gordon Freeman Saved My Life), this was actually the first song I had heard from Gavin. ‘Wheatley’s Song’ is exactly what the title says, a song from the perspective of the character, Wheatley, after the events of Portal 2. Yes, there are spoilers for those who haven’t played the game. But it’s a funny song full of references to dialogue from the game that does kind of feel like it apes the style of Jonathan Coulton’s (song writer for the actual games) humorous lyrics. That being said, the problem with Gavin’s earlier songs is the large amount of repetition the songs have. Some of them are alright, and I get that it’s a chorus section of a song, but sometimes it can be a bit much. All that said, it didn’t detract from the fun of ‘Wheatley’s Song’.

 #11 – Beneath the Black Flag – A song that was first performed live at the Escapist Expo only maybe a year or two ago, ‘Beneath the Black Flag’ is a song paying homage to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. All of the Assassin’s Creed songs have some connection to one another (usually a line that is said in one will be mentioned in at least one other), which makes all the Assassin’s Creed songs interesting in that regard. But ‘Black Flag’ is the most energetic of the bunch because it has a feeling of a sailing song that you’d expect our modern-day silly depiction of pirates to be singing as they swab the poop deck and raise the sales. It’s not his best, but certainly one of the more fun songs AND being one of his first live performances, it had to get a mention on here somewhere.

#10 – Dead Don’t Shuffle – According to a piece Gavin wrote after the song’s release, he doesn’t like Left 4 Dead (the game which this song is based on). He said the panicked feeling and constant stress just was uncomfortable and made for a less than stellar experience. But those feelings certainly come through in this song with some rather frantic vocals that describe the dark and death-filled world of Left 4 Dead. If you like rock music, this certain falls in that category and was one of the earlier songs he put together of that style which is why I really enjoyed it.

#09 – Shadow of the Ash – One of the newer songs (obviously, since it’s based on Shadow of Mordor, a game that’s only a couple months old at best), ‘Shadow of the Ash’ immediately became one of my favorites for some very smooth and beautiful vocals. I feel the original version is the best as it definitely captures the tone of the song well but there’s also a metal-remix Gavin cobbled together shortly after release (one of two songs he’s done this for) if that’s what you’d rather hear. It’s not bad, but I don’t feel the more intense metal-vocals really add much to the song. Shadow of Mordor never felt like it was that intense to me. But I’m also the one who tries to keep things stealthy and avoid combat if possible, slowly raising orcs to greatness behind the scenes instead of being overly active in my meddling.

#08 – Forever Blue – As I mentioned earlier, this is his song in honor of the finale of Breaking Bad. It starts off very calm, quiet, and subdued at first and slowly rises in both volume and intensity nearing the end when the music just explodes into chaos. This very much mirrors the narrative of the show in how the series not only started off at a much slower and more reserved pace, but even the character of Walter White was a more subdued and calm person in the earlier episodes. But nearing the end, the pacing sped up to a point where months would pass by in the course of an episode and Walt had made his full transformation from Mr. Chip to Scarface. It’s a beautiful song that also attempts to emulate some of the musical cues from Breaking Bad giving this a really good feel. A must-listen if you enjoyed the show. If you didn’t, I’m sure you’ll enjoy his Game of Thrones songs (of which there are two).

#07 – Messing with the Best – Another recent release, this song is inspired by the recent WiiU exclusive that is Bayonetta 2. To start, the music feels very much like the upbeat pop-like melodies you hear throughout either Bayonetta game. The song is also very light, colorful, and extremely fun; all basically the same words I would describe the latest Bayonetta both in terms of visuals and gameplay. It also carries the very attitude of Bayonetta’s character, flaunting her superior abilities and skills and oozing confidence with every step (in this case, every word and lyric). It’s probably not a song for everyone and I feel this could have been better with a female vocalist instead, but that doesn’t change the fact I’ve listened to this song probably at least a dozen times or more in a very short period of time. I love it.

 #06 – Higher Tonight – It’s weird. A year and a half ago, if you had presented me with dubstep, I would have told you to fuck off because that isn’t really music. But in that time I’ve found a few different dubsteps that I am actually okay with to one degree or another. And, thinking about it farther, much of the game music I enjoy could almost be classified as dubstep and I tend to enjoy those 8-bit tunes way more than most any top 20 radio station song someone will inevitably try to force into my ear. ‘Higher Tonight’ is one such example of dubstep I like, and I like it quite a lot. Inspired by Saints Row IV, it’s very referential in a few different spots, but it’s the lyrics and presentation that keep me coming back for subsequent listens. It’s another song full of the same swagger and confidence that the characters in the game have, and it’s just as zany and ridiculous as the world they hail from. If you don’t like dubstep, I still encourage you give this a try because it’s genuinely good and fun. That being said, if you like dubstep, you’ll probably hate it because it seems whatever dubstep I like is generally considered to be “bad dubstep”.

#05 – Sovengarde Song – It’s hard to pick which song of Skyrim I like best. You clearly can’t go wrong with Legends of the Frost, but I think Sovengarde Song remains my favorite. It starts off very somber and evoking a feeling of listening to a bard in one of the taverns that litter Skyrim. But after a little while, it picks up and jumps into a rock-like power ballad which helps push the epic-feeling you get from the game’s bigger moments where you fight dragons, race around mountains, and explore the big, vast, open world of Skyrim itself. I liked this song so much that I even modded it to play in every tavern in the game (yes, there’s a Skyrim mod for that). But if you prefer Legends of the Frost, go ahead and swap that one out for this one because they’re both great.

#04 – Dream of the Sky – This is one of two songs taking inspiration from the game Bioshock Infinite though on is based on DLC (Dream of Goodbye) whereas this one is based on the core game. It’s a jarring and peculiar song that certainly fits with the game’s various tones. It has the gospel-like feeling you get which is supposed to emulate the attitude and cult-like-mentality of Columbia. It has a work-man (slave-like) song that I feel reflects the tone of the resistance and lower class citizens of Columbia. There’s a few lines that feel like they’re from the weird couple you see throughout the game who I won’t explain any more about, but you’ll know what I’m talking about if you play the game. And there’s even a very peaceful and uplifting part that’s all Elizabeth (or at least based on Elizabeth). And each segment seems to be transitioned by the same violin riff but it gets more subtle as the song continues, likely referencing that the multiverses shown in the game are slowly colliding and forming into one singular universe (or in this case, one melody). It’s beautiful and there’s a lot going on you’d might not catch on the first time listening to the song, which makes hearing it again less of a chore and more fun as you listen for something you might have missed the last time around.

#03 – Joker’s Song – I’m a firm believer that the one, true Joker in the world is Mark Hamill as his voice and laugh is absolutely perfect. After him, I’m not opposed to John Dimaggio (also the voice of Bender) as he did a great job in Under the Red Hood. And then Heath Ledger is great as well. But once I heard this song, I was more than willing to accept Gavin as the next Joker if he ever got picked up for the role. His impersonation of Mark Hamill’s Joker in this homage to Arkham City is probably one of the closest I’ve EVER heard outside of maybe Troy Baker. The song is mostly referential to both the game and the comics (the “one bad day” line still gives me chills). It’s very haunting and spooky, and definitely has that creepy and unsettling vibe you need to have from the Joker, but it also is a very lovely message to Batman, one that I feel fits the tone of both the game, and the comics to a T (or in this case, a J). I especially love the coughing fit near the end of the song. I have to wonder if that was done on purpose or if that was an accident during recording and Gavin liked how it played into Joker’s declining health in the game. Either way, this is basically Batman the Musical and one of the best songs Gavin has done.

#02 – Calamity – This song is on here for a more personal reason than anything else, but that doesn’t change the fact it’s still good. For those needing the details, this is a song that takes its inspiration from Bastion (also one of my favorite games). The song itself is all about building the world back up and takes the game’s final choice into account by asking do you restore the old world from which the Calamity sprang from or do you forge ahead and build a new world from the ashes of the old one. I was going through a bad break-up when I heard this song and it kind of just clicked that the message of both the song (and more directly, the game) kind of address that notion a bit. Because who’s to say that going back to try and stop the Calamity would succeed? Who’s to say going back to the girl who left you and trying to win her back will be worth it? In the game, I chose to forge ahead with a new world and continue having new adventures with the friends I had made along the way. Since then, I’ve been doing my best to apply that same kind of logic to real life. In other words, trying to move from the past and not try to relive and change it. As for the songs itself, it’s gong some great deep vocals that try to capture the same feeling as the narrator of the game (who is awesome by the way) and the pacing matches with the game fairly well as a constant speed up and then slow down for a bit before the next patch of enemies show up kind of pacing. I love this song probably more than most, but fuck it. I don’t care.

#01 – The Best I Can – Damn you, Gavin. Every time I hear this song I get a little misty-eyed. It’s not secret that Telltale’s Walking Dead is one of my favorite games of all time. There’s so much it does right and I enjoy just about every moment of it. Season Two might not have been as great, but I still enjoyed it in a lot of ways that some others were unable or unwilling to appreciate. This song is basically Lee’s farewell song to Clementine and goddamn, it’s like a suckerpunch to my heart every fucking time I hear it. This was one of few games that nearly brought me to tears and it’s no surprise that the song does the very best it can (lol) to capture that same kind of emotional connection with the listener. Granted, that connection will fall flat a bit if you didn’t play the game, but you might still catch it a bit.

Those are my top ten songs from Gavin Dunne (aka, the Miracle of Sound). If you enjoyed his sick beats, lovely melodies, or just enjoy the songs because they remind you of your favorite gaming moments, do yourself a favor and check out both his YouTube Channel and his Bandcamp page where you can buy downloads of all his songs. He also has some original songs not based on anything that are definitely worth a look as well. If you liked the songs we listed or think we missed one, please let us know in the comments. As always, if you want more content like this please be sure to like, share, and subscribe and we’ll have more content coming soon. See ya next time.