Quake (soundtrack)

The collaboration between Nine Inch Nails and id Software occurred strictly due to a mutual admiration for each other's work; Reznor provided his services to Quake completely free of charge.{{cite magazine|title=The Nine Inch Nails Connection|magazine=Sega Saturn Magazine|issue=14|publisher=Emap International Limited|date=December 1996|page=7}}[https://bethesda.net/en/article/qqY4QYqlY2FAV1mki9O2j/behind-quakes-soundtrack-with-nine-inch-nails-chris-vrenna Vrenna interview]

A vinyl LP edition of the soundtrack was released in 2020.{{Cite web |url=https://boingboing.net/2020/09/17/nine-inch-nails-quake-soundt.html |title=Nine Inch Nails' Quake Soundtrack Released on Vinyl |last=Beschizza |first=Rob |work=BoingBoing |date=September 17, 2020 |access-date=September 17, 2020 |language=en-US}}

{{Listen|filename=Track_7_(1996).ogg|title="Damnation"|description=This clip from the seventh track showcases the soundtrack's eerie ambient nature.}}

Aside from the first relatively driving track, Quake is a predominantly ambient soundtrack,{{cite web|last=Fingas|first=Jon|title=Trent Reznor blows dust off the 'Quake' score for vinyl reissue|date=6 June 2017 |url=https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/06/trent-reznor-releasing-quake-soundtrack-on-vinyl/|publisher=Engadget|access-date=March 4, 2018}} and was Reznor's first experimentation with the genre. He would later go on to win an Academy Award for his ambient soundtrack work. The music on Quake has been described as dark, immersive, and intended to accentuate the game's oppressive tone.{{cite web|last=McDonald|first=Glenn|title=A History of Video Game Music|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/a-history-of-video-game-music/1100-6092391/|work=GameSpot|access-date=March 4, 2018}} The music is often called "subtle", "disturbing", and "hair-raising".{{cite web |url = http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=875 |title = Quake Review| last=House|first=Matthew|publisher = AllGame |access-date =November 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210183416/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=875 |archive-date=December 10, 2014}}{{cite web|last=Denby|first=Lewis|title=Quake (PC) review|url=http://www.honestgamers.com/9870/pc/quake/review.html|work=Honest Gamers|access-date=March 4, 2018}} About the soundtrack, Reznor said, "it is not music, it's textures and ambiences and whirling machine noises and stuff. We tried to make the most sinister, depressive, scary, frightening kind of thing [...] It's been fun."{{cite journal|title=More Pictures|journal=Maximum: The Video Game Magazine|issue=2 |publisher=Emap International Limited|date=November 1995|pages=126–7}}

The Quake official soundtrack received positive reception, with many appreciating how the music builds upon the game's atmosphere. In his 1996 review of the game for GameSpot, Trent Ward wrote, "Simply put, this is the best soundtrack ever created for a computer game." Ward went on to write about how the eerie sounds and unsettling background noises heighten the game's already tense atmosphere.{{cite web|last=Ward|first=Trent|title=Quake Review |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/quake-review/1900-2532549/|website=GameSpot |access-date=March 4, 2018}} Major Mike of GamePro said that "With harsh, rockin' guitar riffs, and creepy low-key synthesizers, the music goes perfectly with each level and thoroughly enhances the overall atmosphere."{{cite magazine |title=PC GamePro Review: Quake|magazine=GamePro |issue=98|publisher=IDG|date=November 1996|page=82}} Writing for Destructoid, Peter Glagowski said, "Not only did it show that the industry was moving beyond being targeted solely at children, but it pushed the action of its game into overdrive."{{cite web|last=Glagowski|first=Peter |title=This Quake vinyl could be the perfect drug|url=https://www.destructoid.com/this-quake-vinyl-could-be-the-perfect-drug-440771.phtml|work=Destructoid|date=9 June 2017 |access-date=March 4, 2018}}

All music written and performed by Nine Inch Nails.

{{Track listing

| title1 =

| length1 =

| title2 = Quake Theme

| length2 = 5:08

| title3 = Aftermath

| length3 = 2:26

| title4 = The Hall of Souls

| length4 = 8:20

| title5 = It Is Raped

| length5 = 6:05

| title6 = Parallel Dimensions

| length6 = 7:24

| title7 = Life

| length7 = 8:38

| title8 = Damnation

| length8 = 5:35

| title9 = Focus

| length9 = 6:28

| title10 = Falling

| length10 = 3:32

| title11 = The Reaction

| length11 = 5:15

| total_length = 58:53

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Quake Theme

| length1 = 5:08

| title2 = Aftermath

| length2 = 2:26

| title3 = The Hall of Souls

| length3 = 8:20

| total_length = 15:55

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = It Is Raped

| length1 = 6:05

| title2 = Parallel Dimensions

| length2 = 7:24

| title3 = Life

| length3 = 8:38

| total_length = 22:07

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side three

| title1 = Damnation

| length1 = 5:35

| title2 = Focus

| length2 = 6:28

| title3 = Falling

| length3 = 3:32

| title4 = The Reaction

| length4 = 5:15

| total_length = 20:51 (58:53)

}}

Notes

• Because the soundtrack is pressed onto the same disc as the game itself, track one is relegated to game data.
• Quake's original packaging provided no official song titles.{{Cite AV media notes |title=Quake |type=CD liner notes |others=Trent Reznor |year=1996 |url=https://www.discogs.com/Trent-Reznor-Quake/release/808460 |access-date=April 5, 2018 |publisher=GT Interactive |id=VFB21769}} Some fans came up with unofficial titles, most of the time linking the song to the name of the level in which it first appears. The titles seen above are taken from the 2020 vinyl re-issue, in which the official titles of the songs were finally revealed.{{cite web|title=QUAKE REMASTERED 2XLP|url=https://store.nin.com/collections/music/products/quake-vinyl |access-date=September 17, 2020 |work=Nine Inch Nails}} The fourth side has no grooves, instead being etched with some of Quake's source code; the part of the source code being what triggers the game to play the CD audio tracks.

Credits adapted from the 2020 vinyl release.

• Trent Reznor – arranger, programming, producer
• Charlie Clouser, Robin Finck, Danny Lohner, Trent Reznor, Chris Vrenna – Nine Inch Nails (1996)
• Tom Baker – mastering
• John Crawford – art direction
• Corey Holms – design
• John Romero – war room photos

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Quake series}}

{{Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross}}

{{Nine Inch Nails}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1996 soundtrack albums

Category:Nine Inch Nails soundtracks

Category:Albums produced by Trent Reznor

Category:Quake (series)

Category:Trent Reznor soundtracks

Category:Video game soundtracks