Shout Out: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Soundtrack

I hope you liked my write-up of the Uncharted 4 soundtrack as I've only gone and written a less in-depth version of that about a different game!

First of all, I should apologise for the lack of detail in this post surrounding each track. I admit that I haven't finished this game yet but I have listened to the free soundtrack that came with it and I feel like I've heard most of these songs in-game anyway. Sadly, some tunes I've enjoyed hearing in the game aren't available on this soundtrack but I'm sure there's a deluxe edition I can look for somewhere. Anyway, if you haven't played it yet, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an RPG set in Medieval times in a world of monsters and monster slayers, known as Witchers. The game is mostly travelling, completing quests, fighting groups of bandits/monsters and playing an addictive card game known as Gwent.
Unlike Uncharted 4, which had just the one composer, this soundtrack has three: Marcin Przybylowicz, Mikolai Stroinski and Percival Schuttenbach. Also unlike Uncharted 4, a game hat blended two disctinct sounds of pirate themed music with a typical action/adventure score, the soundtrack for this game is well and truly Medieval. No electric instruments, no contemporary orchestras, just an epic and occasionally whimsical score that fits the gameplay perfectly. There's a healthy mix of dramatic and dynamic battle anthems ("Silver For Monsters...", "The Eyes Of The Wolf") and upbeat jovial tunes or soft atmospheric ones ("Cloak And Dagger", "King Bran's Final Voyage"), both standing out as highlights of The Witcher 3 as you enjoy the gaming experience.
Even some of the lighter tracks that aren't meant to be heard as you decapitate waves of Drowners and Ghouls have a sinister undertone to them ("The Nightingale", "The Vagabond"), perfectly matching the dark tone of the game. There isn't a single dull or repetitive note in this collection of music and all in all, it's an excellent soundtrack that belongs in this excellent game. Even if you haven't played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I'd recommend giving some of the highlighted tracks below a listen as it's a cracking selection of music if you're into your "olde" soundtrack. Maybe tracks 1, 16, 26 and 30 for a short and healthy variety?

1. The Trail

2. Geralt Of Rivia

3. Eredin, King Of The Hunt

4. Wake Up, Ciri

5. Aen Seidhe

6. Commanding The Fury

7. Emhyr Var Emreis

8. Spikeroog

9. King Bran's Final Voyage

10. Silver For Monsters...

11. Whispers Of Novigrad

12. The Nightingale

13. City Of Intrigues

14. Hunter's Path

15. Widow-Maker

16. Kaer Morhen

17. The Eyes Of The Wolf

18. Witch Hunters

19. ...Steel For Humans

20. Fate Calls

21. The Vagabond

22. Cloak And Dagger

23. Forged In Fire

24. Yes, I Do...

25. Welcome, Imlerith

26. Drink Up, There's More!

27. After The Storm

28. Blood On The Cobblestones

29. Farewell, Old Friend

30. The Song Of The Sword-Dancer

31. The Hunt Is Coming

ALBUM RATING - 9/10

Next week, I'll be in Whitby for six of the seven days so I apologise if I don't get a chance to post the next review. However, I have it planned so it's just a matter of finding time to write and publish it.

The Riffs And Raffs Scale of Greatness

No album review this week due to personal commitments but next week (or the week after) I aim to tackle the latest Volbeat album.

This week, I've decided to add something that I'm calling the Riffs And Raffs Scale of Greatness, if you hadn't already guessed from the post title. This is basically my version of the Planet Rock Rate Of Exchange that Al Murray used to do during his Sunday radio segment where he would tell you how much each Rock band is "worth" compared to each other.
There are a couple of reasons for me doing my own version of this. Firstly, his exchange rate was governed partially by hundreds of people sending in their beliefs that some bands were worth more than others; for example, Al would say it would be 5 of Muse to 1 Queen but someone might argue that 3 or 4 is more realistic, which he may or may not agree with. My scale will be determined by albums I have and haven't discussed on this blog, although every Rock/Metal band that gets a dedicated mention on here earns a spot on the scale.
The second reason is for me to keep track of my personal ratings for bands and share them with you. I intend to change ratings and add musicians to this scale over time so you'll always have something to look out for on here. Maybe in the future, I'll consider creating smaller scales for each decade to make the overall rating for bands on this scale more reliable. I'm also welcoming feedback on ratings that readers aren't too happy with but I doubt I'll get a fraction of the same response Al Murray did.

So, here's the Riffs And Raffs Scale Of Greatness (with the key moved to the top to make reference easier):


Seen live
Reviewed on blog
Not mentioned on blog
Mentioned on blog
Listened to 0 albums

Listened to 1 album

Listened to 2 albums

Listened to 3 albums

Listened to 4 albums

Listened to 5 albums

Listened to 6 albums

Listened to 7 albums

Listened to 8+ albums

ADDED (26/05/18):

Miracle Of Sound

MOVED (31/12/17)
Inglorious (2 to 3)

10

Iron Maiden (Bruce)

Queen

9

Saxon

Lynyrd Skynyrd

The Beatles
Iron Maiden (Paul)

Van Halen

8

Metallica

Slash

Blue Oyster Cult

Megadeth
Deep Purple

Led Zeppelin

7

AC/DC (Bon Scott)
Rush
Rainbow (Bonnet)
AC/DC (Brian Johnson)

The Cult

Boston
Bachman Turner Overdrive
Creedence Clearwater Revival

Wolfmother

Tenacious D

Black Sabbath (Dio)
The Traveling Wilburys

Def Leppard

The Sword

(Jeff Lynne's) ELO
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Styx
Thin Lizzy

6

The Kinks
The Hollies
Airbourne

The Answer

Judas Priest

Cheap Trick
Rainbow (Dio)

Black Sabbath (Ozzy)

Motorhead

Motley Crue

Anthrax
Sweet

Bad Company
The Who
The Allman Brothers Band
Winger
Genesis (Phil Collins)
Diamond Head
Jethro Tull
Molly Hatchet
W.A.S.P.
Extreme
The Offspring
Kansas
Yes
Jefferson Airplane
The Doobie Brothers
Eagles
The Cure
Rainbow (Turner)
R.E.M.

Maximo Park
Miracle Of Sound
10cc
Avenged Sevenfold

Dream Theater
Fleetwood Mac
UFO

Iced Earth

Supertramp

5

Ozzy Osbourne
Dio

Whitesnake

Uriah Heep

Foo Fighters

Pearl Jam

Queensryche

Triumph

Bon Jovi

Scorpions
The Darkness

Soundgarden
Disturbed

Black Star Riders

Steve Miller Band
David Bowie
Slade
The Doors
Eric Johnson
Joe Satriani
Shinedown
Steve Vai
T. Rex
Halestorm

Weezer
Blind Faith

Journey

Muse

Ted Nugent

Aerosmith
Billy Squier

Queens Of The Stone Age
Alice Cooper
Black Tide
Aldo Nova
Budgie
KISS
Mott The Hoople
Foreigner
Tesla
Heart
U2

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Blackfoot
Skid Row
Samson
Yardbirds
The Monkees
Warrant
April Wine
Billy Talent
Iron Maiden (Blaze)

The Jam
4

The Rolling Stones
Tom Petty
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Status Quo
Toto
Spinal Tap
Rob Zombie
Montrose

The Cars
Living Colour
Black Stone Cherry
The Sisters Of Mercy

Testament
Helloween
Sum 41
Primal Fear
Foghat
The Stone Roses
ZZ Top
Oasis
Billy Idol
Nirvana
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
The Guess Who
Twisted Sister
Night Ranger
The Animals
AFI
White Zombie

The Protomen

Damn Yankees
Rage Against The Machine

Free

Neil Diamond
Incubus

Pat Benatar
Greta Van Fleet
Blondie

Social Distortion

Eagles Of Death Metal

The Outlaws

Steppenwolf

Razzmattazz

Slayer

Michael Jackson

Neil Young (with Crazy Horse)

Kaiser Chiefs
Volbeat
Mr. Big

Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Audioslave
Leslie West
Alter Bridge

Wings
Johnny Cash

Bob Dylan
Mountain
J.J. Cale
Radiohead
Slipknot
Joe Walsh
Gary Moore
DragonForce
Thunder

Black Country Communion
Jorn

The Romantics
Joe Bonamassa
Paramore
The Black Keys

Poison
3

Guns N' Roses
Dream Troll

Pantera
Danzig
John Mellencamp
Eric Clapton

The White Stripes

Elton John

Red Dragon Cartel

Rod Stewart

Mountain
Pink Floyd
Black Label Society

Von Hertzen Brothers

Ram Jam

The Black Crowes

The Knack

Turisas
Meat Loaf

Chris Cornell

The Hives
Gun

Ghost

Magnum

The Temperance Movement

The Treatment

Rival Sons
Smash Mouth

Faith No More
Eddie Cochran

Arctic Monkeys

FM
Quiet Riot

Ramones
Survivor
Tommy Tutone

Mason Williams
Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Green Day
Stevie Ray Vaughan (And Double Trouble)
Alice In Chains
Steel Panther

Inglorious
Trust
Jefferson Starship
King King
Ugly Kid Joe
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Jane's Addiction
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts
Oh, Hush

2
Prince

Royal Blood
Skull Fist

Toseland

Godsmack

The Vintage Caravan

Electric River

Johnny Blazes And The Pretty Boys

Orianthi

Spirit

Norman Greenbaum
John Lennon
George Harrison
Bill Withers

Peter Frampton
Iggy Pop

Shocking Blue
Stone Temple Pilots
Depeche Mode
Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown
Tommy Bolin
Jet
The Presidents Of The United States Of America

The Pretty Reckless

Archie Bronson Outfit

H.E.A.T.

Killing Joke
Rise Against
Patrick Stump
Fall Out Boy
Gary Glitter

Nine Inch Nails
Giant
The Bad Flowers
Wayward Sons

1

Nickelback
Babymetal
Lamb Of God
Richie Sambora
Gov't Mule

Alien Ant Farm
Robin Trower
Mad Season
Temple Of The Dog
California Breed

Linkin Park
Sex Pistols
My Chemical Romance
Rammstein

The Nerves
Sophie B. Hawkins

Bruce Springsteen
Kid Rock
Creed
Andrew W.K.

Big Joe Williams
Lapko

Last In Line

Sixx:A.M.
Buffalo Springfield
Marilyn Manson
Georgia Satellites
Biffy Clyro
Limp Bizkit
Twenty One Pilots
Ed Sheeran
One Direction

Before you get annoyed by your favourite band ranking quite low, know that this scale isn't perfect and I will be tinkering with it now and then. Some bands are only ranked towards the bottom because I only know one or two of their songs and feel a higher rank among bands I have more knowledge about wouldn't be as fair. As always, you can leave feedback in the comment section or via Twitter if you reckon I should give them more of a chance.

UPDATE: As you can see, I've added colour coding and a few other little guidelines to help further reflect my positioning of certain bands on the scale. It also helps me to see which bands I need to listen to more, as bands with 2-4 albums that I've listened to around the 5 or 6 mark deserve a fairer chance, as do bands making it higher than 6 or 7 when I've only listened to 1 of their albums.
I've also added a few more bands/artists here and there so keep a lookout for any you may have requested or enjoy/despise listening to!

Heavy Rock Radio - Jorn

I've been waiting for this album to come out ever since I discussed the lead single on this blog last month. Now that I've listened to it...well, let's let the review do the talking.

Depending on the artist and choice of songs, covers albums can be an absolute godsend. One of the reasons I was looking forward to this particular album is the eclectic mix of hits ranging from Classic Rock to 80's Pop rearranged and covered as Heavy Metal tracks, not just because of my fondness for those genres but because I like listening to a good tune in different variations...but yes, this more than other covers albums because I like Jorn's style of Metal. However, the end result of Jorn's labours is sadly nothing spectacular and possibly the biggest disappointment I've ever had to review on this blog.
I should start off with the positives, mainly being the album opener and closer ("I Know There's Something Going On" and "Die Young") for slightly different reasons. I loved the Frida cover because Jorn's rendition takes a Pop song and turns it into something that sounds like an Ozzy Osbourne track but with better vocals. The transition works incredibly well and I would call it a "necessary" cover, as far as cover versions go. "Die Young" earns its place here not just for being a solid cover of the Black Sabbath original but for doing something a little different with the source material.
If you've heard the original track, you'll know it fades out during a solo. Here, Jorn extends it and adds a proper outro that the song rightfully deserves. It can be very easy to tinker with a song's structure and cock everything up, just like all the artists who slow down "Summertime Blues" when they perform it for some fucking reason. However, the change here is small but significant enough to work. I'm guessing these two tracks were picked to bookend the album because Jorn or the studio executives knew they were awesome covers. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the rest of Heavy Rock Radio.

Whilst there are a few neat choices and interesting takes on lesser known tracks that you probably wouldn't expect to be on a Metal covers album ("You're The Voice" - John Farnham, "The Final Frontier" - Iron Maiden), none of them really hit home. They're all pretty damn faithful to the original tracks aside from a few little tweaks here, such as bizarre key changes and tarted up solos where appropriate (which puts him ahead of Zakk Wylde as a guitarist/songwriter, at the very least) and as a result it doesn't really feel like there's much point in listening to them.
The covers are OK, I suppose. I mean, there are a few duds here and there where some poor choices about the key the band played in and use of instruments in the wrong moments ruin everything ("Rainbow In The Dark" - Dio, "Hotel California" - The Eagles) but most of the covers are all pretty average, so there's that. However, I wanted something more ambitious. I wanted to hear tracks that aren't known for "rocking" being given the Metal treatment, like the excellent "Rasputin" cover by Turisas. If not that then heavier versions of softer tracks like the ubiquitous "The Sound Of Silence" cover by Disturbed that everyone's banging on about*.
I think the main problem with this is probably the thing that makes it most admirable; at the end of the day, it's a passion project. This wasn't meant to make Jorn a shitload of cash or give fans what they wanted, it's just a collection of songs Jorn likes that he wanted to cover...so he did. As I said, it's a commendable decision further proven by the lack of a Super-Deluxe-Bonus Disc edition that's becoming fucking commonplace in Rock and Metal now, so even if the music isn't to my quality standards I still have more respect for Jorn Lande than I do for, say, Dave Mustaine.

On the other hand, this passion project means the person to get the most out of this is Jorn himself. He would've chosen the tracks he wanted to cover but they're simply not the best songs he could've picked. Regrettably, this is an album that could've been fantastic if there was more emphasis on Pop than Hard Rock/Metal. Whilst I may not be a fan of the originals that were picked for this album, Jorn doesn't really do anything to improve or adapt them so the end result is just more of the same, albeit done a little better or worse depending on your personal opinions towards bands such as Queen or Journey. I can't believe I'm actually saying this but this album could've done with less Dio and more Kate Bush, or artists of those genres.
I'm giving it a 4/10 as the first and last tracks are good and the rest of the tracks are alright, but Jorn played it too safe for it to have any real impact. He should've taken a few more risks with the song choices and arrangements but instead, he refused to gamble and the result is still a loss. If you want to hear well known Rock songs faithfully recreated as mediocre Metal tracks, this album is perfect for you but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a huge fan of any of these originals, salivating at the thought of MOAR "STORMBRINGER". Hopefully at the very least Jorn was happy with how this turned out, otherwise the whole endeavour would be completely pointless.


* I would've loved to hear Disturbed cover "Hello" - Adele in the same style. Disturbed or Chris Cornell.