Written by Derrick Sanskrit
Until 2003, the most serious racing game I'd played was probably F-Zero. This became a problem with my roommates, who LOVED racing games, and so I was baptized into the world with Need For Speed: Underground on the Playstation 2.
Now, if your experience with this game was anything like ours, you loved every minute of gameplay to be found in NFS:U. The characters felt human and you felt genuine affection for Samantha and disdain for Eddie. The city felt alive, and oncoming traffic was a plaything to use to your advantage. Circuit races were intense, drift races were ego boosts, and drag races separated the hardcore from the wimps. Everything about the game just bubbled with glowing, neon awesome.
Except for that soundtrack! Ugh!
Turning on the game meant being assaulted by the full-blast synth whoops and inebriated grunts of Li'l Jon & the Eastside Boyz' "Get Low", an obnoxious club banger that would later be resurrected as Usher's "Yeah" and, subsequently, EVERY OTHER SONG EVER. The mute button quickly became our MVP. The problem then became finding music that would keep our blood pumping fast enough to win races without being distracted by an avalanche of crap pooling out of the speakers.
What was aurally difficult to achieve in 2003 has become easy with the rise of “new rave”. Moronic as that name is, this new genre inspired by the brilliant electronic music of Daft Punk and the dance-punk scene of the early-aughts is perfect for just such a racing game. 2007's Need For Speed: Pro Street's soundtrack of Chromeo, Cansei De Ser Sexy, Datarock, Foreign Islands, MSTRKRFT, and The Rapture, among others, would indicate I'm not alone in this opinion.
My personal favorite for street racing has got to be † by Parisian electronic duo Justice. The slap bass and wild, squealing synths of "Let There Be Light" call to mind the heart-pounding moments at the start of a drag race, when engines are roaring and tires are screeching against black top. The relentless oscillating sirens of "Stress" induce a cold sweat as you scream around a narrow overpass at illegal velocities. The fuzzed out synth guitars that blanket most of the album's tracks are like the gentle purrs of your exhaust exploding with full tanks of nitrous oxide. And then, of course, there’s "D.A.N.C.E.", "The Party", and "DVNO". The only tracks with discernible lyrics, their cocky, self-assured swagger seems to say, "Oh, I'm sorry, are you trying to race me? I've been ahead of you this whole time having a tea party. How rude of me! Ah, is that what passes for a body kit these days? Your mom does terrible work when she's not in my bed." The entire album plays like the DJ set at the best club in town and sets a fantastic atmosphere for the dark and sexy world of illegal street racing.
There's plenty of other great tunes you can swap in while you race, but I find that † is just about perfect. But then, what do I know? Feel free to disagree in the comments!
Come back next week for a new Alternate Soundtrack featuring hot video action highlighting just how kick ass these soundtrack combos are and be sure to check last week's Alternate Soundtrack right here.