"VG Music" v. "Real Music"?!

After I wrote "DEVILS NEVER CRY (because they) NEVER SURRENDER!", I got to thinking, What are some other musicians/bands that have also contributed to video game music? Some other bands that come to mind are Crush40, Megadeth, Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame), and Julien-K. I'm sure there are others that I'm not considering, but their names elude me at the moment. 

Crush40: They actually started off as under the name Sons of Angels, but eventually changed their name after the first Sonic Adventure. Most of their music was composed for the Sonic games, but some of their earlier work was devoted to NASCAR Arcade. 

This song, "Live & Learn," is from Sonic Adventure 2:

This next song, "Into The Wind," comes from their only full-length album, Crush40:

Megadeth: As any metalhead worth his lengthy locks knows, Megadeth's been in the metal game since the 80's, often focusing on contemporary socio-political issues (with some personal life-faith stories sprinkled in between). 

This song, "Sudden Death," was first featured in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock as the one of the last songs, which was intentional (when you hear the song, you'll understand). This song was later featured in Megadeth's 13th album, Th1rt3en.

As for a song that reflects Megadeth outside of the gaming industry, it's hard to pick just one! Aside from obvious picks such as "Symphony of Destruction," "Hangar 18," "Holy Wars," "A Tout Le Monde," "Trust," "In My Darkest Hour," "Peace Sells," and so much more, I decided to put in an unconventional song, "502," a song about the fast life on the road.

   

Trent Reznor: When he's not working on material for Nine Inch Nails or How To Destroy Angels, Reznor works on composing music score for films (The Social Network) or video games (Quake, COD: Black Ops II). 

Since I'm not too familiar Reznor's work with film and gaming, I'll use a recent score, the Black Ops II main theme:

As for music outside of gaming, like Megadeth, it's difficult to pick just one. Just about every song from PHM or TDS is pretty good as some exceptional picks from With Teeth, Year Zero, The Slip, and even Ghosts I-IV, I'll pick a personal favorite from 1999's The Fragile, "Into the Void:"

Julien-K: Julien-K's one of those bands that you have to be "in the know" to know their music, you know? Similar, to Combichrist, Noisia, and Da Octopuss, Julien-K has good dance beats, fuzzy noises, and catchy hooks, which promises for a good time on the dance floor.

One of their earliest contributions, "This Machine," has been featured in Sonic Heroes, serving as the theme for Team Dark. Julien-K also has contributed to the music score of Michael Bay's iterations of the Transformers franchise.

As for a song outside of gaming and the filmscape, the featured song is "Futura (DTA Mix)," some other songs to listen to are "Death to Analog," "Kick the Bass," "Systeme de Sexe," "We're Here With You," "Spring Palms Reset," and "Nights of Future Past," among others. 

So, with all that's said and done, I just made another list of sorts (and I didn't realize it, until now). Maybe I should work on making more lists in general. Well, that's all for now! Until next time, my fellow readers!