Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit - The Album

Overview

I played Need For Speed before, but for the life on me, I couldn't remember what kind of music played in the background. Was it techno? Was it straight rock? I just couldn't remember, so I jumped at the chance to hear a Need For Speed album, and I always liked the third incarnation. Listening to the album through fresh ears, I would have to describe the music as being a cross of various genres, include country, rock techno, drum & bass and trance. If you can even FATHOM that, then kudos to you. If someone tossed that idea out there, I would have looked at them like they lost their mind.

Body

This is a collaborative production, meaning that there are various artists featured on the in-game soundtrack and accompanying album. All of the artists present music here that is nothing short of spectacular, which is something that I thought wouldn't be possible. But, the one that stands out the most is Saki Kaskas. His tracks, even when eight minutes long, aren't boring! An eight minute track not being boring might sound like one of the most contradictory things I could say, but it's true. "Flimsy" starts out with a nice little techno build up before breaking into a heavy distorted guitar and bass melody. This carries the track, surprisingly all the way through, without regrets.

Matt Ragan is another artist who "breaks the molds" with his fusion of various styles together. Layering sounds over each other, he was able to create a very original guitar driven country sounding theme with "Snorkeling Cactus Weasel". It even breaks into a somewhat rock laden song later on. Rom Di Prisco is the techno/trance artist onboard this ride as he goes ahead and gives us some old-school style techno. How I miss this style. "Hydrus 606" is a great floating-down-the-river type of song. The melodies are catchy and the beats aren't overpowering.

Alistair Hirst also offers a rather dramatic sounding track with "Warped". I love the old-school "orchestra stab" that is used in this song. I sorely miss it, though at the time, it was overused. The bass melody is poppy and the drumbeats are all nicely done.

Summary

To finish, I knew this album was going to be something very different than what I usually heard when the title track was played. Very powerful and explosive, the one minute cue moved along with such speed and precision that I was floored and pretty much sadden when it was all over. I took this album, thinking I was going to review a stinker. This is one of the hottest albums that people are sleeping on to date. If you like techno, trance, country, and rock, then please get this album. And if you want all those elements tossed together, listen to Saki Kaskas' work on tracks like "Knossos" and "Little Sweaty Sow". They are wonderful pieces and I wonder why they have escaped popular attention.