Apologies for the picture quality--it's just a photo I snapped with my phone to show my Twitter friends last night (woah, the future is here). Remember to follow @banditloaf because... I'm great.
The CDs are:
- "Origin Soundtrack" (1991) This is the famous 'Origin Audio CD Volume 1' which was believed impossible to find for many, many years. I was with Joe Garrity when he discovered the first known example at a computer junk store in Virginia and that was one of the most exciting things I've ever seen. A case of them surfaced on eBay years later and this is the first one that was sold (... for a chunk of change). You can probably find one with some effort these days. I don't know if the history has ever been established--these were PROBABLY just for trade shows and salesmen in 1991 (and quickly displaced when Origin was taken over by EA).
- "Signature Sounds: Electronic Arts Music Sampler" (1993) This is another promo CD with 40-odd tracks from contemporary Electronic Arts games including Super Wing Commander, Privateer and a few other Origin games (one is untitled, I *think* it became Ultima Underworld music). I actually only learned about this a few years back and was lucky enough to find it at a CD site that specialized in rare promos almost immediately. I haven't seen one since. It'd probably been waiting there for me for 15 years...
- "ORIGIN Audio CD Vol. 3" (1994) CD that came with the Premiere Edition of Wing Commander III. Lots of music from great Origin games. Note that Origin Audio CD 2 (which I don't have!) exists and was available for sale direct from Origin for a time... but it somehow doesn't have any Wing Commander music. Why they stuck to the numbering for these releases is beyond me.
- "Wing Commander Prophecy Original Soundtrack" (1997) Commercially released album of music "inspired by" Wing Commander Prophecy... which is really just a bunch of electro-whatever music they licensed for this compilation. At least it has two Prophecy tracks from Cobalt 60 (and a Prophecy gameplay music video)!
- "Wing Commander Prophecy ClubMixes" (1997) This is a promo CD with several different 'mixes' of the Cobalt 60 Prophecy song which was sent to DJs. I believe this was only released in Germany, which is the only place in the world strange enough to have Wing Commander Prophecy dance clubs. I knew about it for years, but actually getting one took a lot of digging through electro-music rarities sites. My copy has a letter in German folded into from a PR firm that I shouuld scan. I'll add that it's absolutely beautiful--the CD itself is clear with a Nephilim ship printed on it so it looks like it's a pointed alien spaceship instead of a circular disc.
- "Wing Commander Prophecy Theme" (1997) This CD was included in the Special Edition of Wing Commander Prophecy... which was, for some reason, only released at Sams Club stores in the US.
- "Twelve" (1997) This is Cobalt 60s big CD from 1997... and the very first pressing included a bonus disc with four tracks of music done for Wing Commander Prophecy.
- "Music from the Wing Commander Universe" (1998) These CDs were put out by George Oldziey as a resume of sorts.
- "Wing Commander OST" (1999) - The movie soundtrack. If you hate everything about the movie you still have to love that score.
... and then the new CD. Yay!
