Michael Bross working on Abe HD
 

So apparently Micheal Bross, the composer for the Stranger soundtrack, will be working on Abe HD's soundtrack.

I'm wondering how he'll do it... Will he emulate Josh Gabriel and Ellen Meijier's original soundtrack with improvements? Or will he apply his own style to it?

I hope he doesn't... I liked Ellen Meijier's style of music, it was kind of unique.

Considering how significantly different Bross's style is from Ellen and Josh's, chances are he's just going to do his own thing. Who knows though?

If he does just do his own thing, I guess JAW will have ultimately decided to ignore the multiple requests made on this forum to keep true to the sounds of the original. Of course, there is such a thing as musical direction. Don't give Bross too much control, or he'll lay his arm on a synth pad for an hour and call it a soundtrack.

The Oddworld fandom: having no faith in anything JAW does since 2010

The only thing I remember about SW's Soundtrack is that I don't remember any part of it. On the contrary, I remember AO's soundtrack very well

I remember: Fighting Outlaws, Battle of Gizzard Gulch (?) and a few others the names of which slip my mind. I think it'll be good to see what Bross can do. Good job for getting one of the Oddworld musicians, J.A.W.

Rather disappointing news.

I think this is because of a difference in atmosphere. AO and AE are slow-paced games which rely heavily on the ambiance of an area to get an emotional response, and music factors in heavily since there’s rarely loud noises going on around Abe. Conversely, SW is much more action-oriented so the music doesn’t have to work so hard, and usually gets lost in the sounds of shots being fired and Outlaws yelling slurs at you.

Listening to the soundtrack on its own is pretty weird, as there’s great music there but you just can’t often remember where it places in the game without looking at the track name.

Can that Bross guy make songs more like in AO?

Some of his own albums focus on ambiance so I’d say it’s entirely possible.

What was wrong with remastering/remaking the original soundtrack, again? It's not like they need that sort of artist to do it, is it?

Maybe they'll pull a Cave Story+ and allow players to use the old music if they want.

Nah, since you've suggested it on the fan forums, it definitely won't happen.
it's a joke... i think

Besides, this is being built from the ground up. None of you who are moaning have even heard Bross' ideas yet so quit complaining until there's at least something to complain about.

We're being entirely rational, we're hoping for something similar to the AO music, that's what we were saying. We're not denying he'll do a good job, we just want the best.
Why couldn't they get Josh and Ellen back?

You guys are aware that Bross has only stated he’s “working on” Abe HD? He could be remastering the original soundtrack; he could be rewriting every single beat; or he could be converting everything to a different file format and calling it a day.

He could be coding it.

MIDI doesn't exactly scream HD.

With a bit of luck and a few flashed abs we should be able to hear the soundtrack before the game gets released, so I'd recommend holding criticism for then.

I'm sure Fabio will take one for the team.

Given that he's back on the team (in some form or another), is there any chance he could remaster the SW soundtrack for release?

With correct, high quality soundbanks, it might.

Does it need remastering? If it isn't broken, don't fix it. It sounds perfectly high quality and adequate enough for a game soundtrack.

Nathan means release as an album. Volume 2 to complement 2007's Music From Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath, Volume 1.

Wow, 2007?

Hold on... we're two years off Stranger's Wrath's tenth anniversary.

Can't wait to remake it for the anniversary! Wait...

No, that'll be the sequel we're expecting.

I wonder if Oddworld actually do anything by 2014.

The devoted fanbase is turning on it's creators.

Like all good monsters should.

Why the present tense in that sentence?