de Blob is de Bomb: Free Soundtrack Is a Must-Have, and Free! (Review)

Okay, so I stole this phrase from the fabulous Chad Concelmo over at Destructoid, who I also stole “retromazing” from. You may gather from the coverage we’ve been giving de Blob, including our interview with composer John Guscott last week, that we’re huge fans of the game and it’s interactive soundtrack.

While the game’s innovative use of audio is absolutely amazing, I was even happier when I heard they were giving the soundtrack away to people picking the game up at Circuit City. The soundtrack is great, featuring music performed by over 20 session musicians, and while I played one of my favorite tracks from the soundtrack on last week’s OSVchannel update, I wanted to talk about some of the other great tracks on the album.

Hit the jump for our full impressions of this funktastic soundtrack.

Right in line with de Blob’s tale of rebellion, “The Blob Theme (Title Screen)” starts things off on an irreverant note with funky guitars and turntables. The brass stabs and rhythmic percussion with triplets on the triangle are a lot of fun, highlighting the playful nature of the game.

From here we get into the “mood” tracks. You may recall from our early impressions that you can select a mood (or song) at the beginning of each stage, allowing cutomization of the game’s music to suit your preference. “The Funky Blob (Funky)” sports some awesome jazz organs and a descending electric guitar melody that is instantly catchy, while Décor (Blissful) serves up some serene bossa-nova ambiance with Latin percussion, smooth guitars, and female acapella singers.

With a twist of funk and a tinge of badassness, “Raydian Day (Unstoppable)” features some cool guitar riffs alongside a funky bassline. Taking a detour into reggae, “Dub Blob (Smooth)” sports guitars on the offbeats alongside a mellow brass melody. Disco comes next with “Into It (Righteous),” which features jazz organs and some interesting uses of synthesizers, and my favorite track, “DB 606 (Euphoric),” which is pure funk with a slap bass and an inspiring string progression.

“Splashback (Defiant)” sounds like a Maroon 5 track with a stacked melody and bassline played on synths. Although there are definitely a lot of jazz influences, it’s one of the most poppy tracks with the extensive use of synths and guitar. Another fun track is “Crescent Chroma City (Brazen),” which plods along lazily in a big band style, starting slowly with rolling snares and lethargic woodwinds and brass before a piano and more percussion are added to the mix to make things livelier. Finally, “Un Pasado Lleno de Colores (Revolutionary)” gives the album a taste of salsa, and sounds fitting for the dance floor.

I can’t recommend this game or the soundtrack enough. As a huge fan of jazz, funk, and disco, this album really hits the spot. While the disc comes in a simple white CD envelope, lacking artwork, the CD itself lists all the session artists who performed the game’s music, which is really cool of John Guscott and Blue Tongue Entertainment to do. If you haven’t bought the game yet (shame on you), head over to Circuit City and pick it up along with the free soundtrack album. The price is right!

Have you got your hands on de Blob yet? Do you think more developers should be emphasizing true interactivity with the music in their games?