Composed By: Koji Kondo
1. Title Theme 2. Opening 3. Chase 4. Cavern
5. Majora's Theme 6. Clock Tower
7. Happy Mask Salesman's Theme
8. Clock Town, First Day 9. Fairy Fountain
10. Mayor's Meeting 11. Milk Bar
12. Guru-Guru's Song 13. Clock Town, Second Day
14. House 15. Kamaro's Dance 16. Shop
17. Swordsman's School 18. Get a Heart Container!
19. Clock Town, Third Day 20. Keaton's Quiz
21. Shooting Gallery 22. Rosa Sisters
23. Mini Game 24. Last Day 25. Astral Observatory
26. Zelda's Theme 27. Ocarina "Song of Time"
28. Ocarina "Song of Healing" 29. Song of Healing
30. Get the Ocarina! 31. Get the Mask
32. Ocarina "Inverted Song of Time"
33. Ocarina "Song of Double Time"
34. Termina Field 35. Owl 36. Battle
37. Ocarina "Song of Storms" 38. Treasure Box
39. Item Catch 40. Small Item Catch
41. Southern Swamp 42. Magic Hags' Potion Shop
43. Woods of Mystery 44. Boat Cruise
45. Deku Palace 46. Ocarina "Sonata of Awakening"
47. Sonata of Awakening
48. Ocarina "Song of Soaring" 49. Song of Soaring
50. Woodfall Temple Rises 51. Woodfall Temple
52. Middle Boss Battle 53. Southern Swamp Clears
54. Giants' Theme 55. Ocarina "Oath to Order"
56. Oath to Order 57. Gorman Track
58. Horse Race 59. Horse Race Goal
60. Mountain Village
61. Ocarina "Goron Lullaby Into" 62. Goron Village
63. Ocarina "Goron Lullaby" 64. Goron Lullaby
65. Snowhead Temple 66. Boss Battle
67. Boss Clear 68. Snowhead Clears
69. Goron Race 70. Goron Race Goal
71. Frog Song 72. Romani Ranch
73. Ocarina "Epona's Song" 74. Bremen March
75. Ghost Attack 76. Event Clear
77. Missed Event 1 78. Cremia's Carriage
79. Missed Event 2 80. Great Bay Coast
81. Mikau 82. Marine Research Laboratory
83. Pirates' Fortress 84. Zora Hall
85. Drums Practice 86. Bass Practice
87. Piano Practice 88. Bass & Guitar Session
89. Piano Solo
90. Ocarina "New Wave Bossa Nova"
91. New Wave Bossa Nove 92. Great Bay Temple
93. The Indigo-Go's 94. Ballad of the Wind Fish
95. Ikana Valley 96. Game Over 97. Sharp's Curse
98. Music Box House 99. Ikana Castle
100. Ocarina "Elegy of Emptiness"
101. Elegy of Emptiness 102. Stone Tower Temple
103. Stone Tower Temple Upside-down
104. Calling the Four Giants 105. Tatl & Tael
106. To the Moon 107. Majora's Mask Battle
108. Majora's Incarnate Battle
109. Majora's Wrath Battle 110. Moon's Destruction
111. The Giants' Exit 112. End Credits
Video game music is inherently different from a film score. For the most part, this music is designed to repeat as long as the player stays in a specific area. This also makes it much more difficult to use themes effectively throughout the album.
Overworld Themes
The overworld themes in this game are tied together a lot more than in Ocarina of Time. The theme for Clocktown acts as the main theme in the game, and it is certainly catchy.
There is also a theme for the 4 provinces that you visit throughout the course of the game. I loved how they used the same theme in variations for each of them, but I'm not a big fan of the theme itself. It just isn't as intriguing as other themes in the game.
The "Deku Palace" located in the Southern Swamp is home to one of my favorite themes in the game. It is incredibly catchy, and fits the location perfectly. This is one that I would stay in the area just to hear the music.
In the mountains, the Gorons hold a race. The "Goron Race" theme is a different version of the "Horse Race Theme" that first appeared in Ocarina of Time. The different instrumentation, and the addition of Goron noises, makes this a highlight as well, and helps separate the mood of this race from the other mini-games in the world.
Out at the Great Bay, there is a "Pirate Fortress" that has a incredible and intimidating theme. It is themes like this one that help make the series so great. It implies power and majesty, while maintaining a very pirate-y feel.
The theme for Termina Field brings back the traditional overworld theme from the original Legend of Zelda game. This has always seemed a little odd to me, because this is far from a traditional Zelda game. Minor complaint aside, it is a fantastic rendition of the classic tune, and it goes a long way in supporting the hostile nature of Termina.
Character Themes
The most noticeable character theme is that for the evil Majora. It is introduced early at the end of "Title Theme", and remains a frightening presence throughout the rest of the album.
The "Song of Healing" doubles as the theme for the Happy Mask Salesman since he is the one who teaches it to you.
The theme for Keapora Gebora returns in "Owl".
The theme for Kotake and Koume is expressed in "Magic Hag's Potion Shop" and is always a joy to listen to.
The four giants that are the guardians of the four provinces have a magnificent theme as well, which doubles as the "Oath to Order" song.
The Zora band "The Indi Go-Go's" have a theme as well, which you actually discover during the game.
There is a wonderful theme for Sharp in "Sharp's Curse". Sharp can be found in the spring in Ikana Valley, and is one of the composer brothers.
There is also a brief theme for "Tatl & Tael" (Get it? Tattle tale? :P).
Dungeon Themes
The dungeon themes in this game are fairly memorable, but fail to reach the heights set by Ocarina of Time.
The "Woodfall Temple" has a fun little theme, but the tribal voices in the background can start to grate on you after a while.
The "Snowhead Temple" has a very bland, atmospheric theme that has never impressed me, even in the game.
The "Great Bay Temple" has a pretty good theme that sounds very water-pipe-ish. It fits the temple well, and doesn't grate on the listener like "Woodfall Temple" might, but is not particularly memorable either. By far my favorite dungeon theme is that for the "Stone Tower Temple". This is one of those places where I would pause the game or stand around just to listen to the wonderful music.
As in Ocarina of Time, the "Battle" track helps let you know when enemies are nearby so you don't get caught off guard. They are very similar in a lot of ways, but the Majora's Mask version is much more interesting to listen to on its own. The "Middle Boss Battle" track, however, is not nearly as good as its Ocarina of Time counterpart. It does help create the tension, but is not particularly memorable. In fact, it brings to mind the "Boss Battle" cue from Ocarina of Time, which was one of the weakest battle tracks in the game. The game's "Boss Battle" track makes up for this lack by being very memorable. This theme is one of my favorite combat tracks in the series. The final battle tracks are the 3 Majora fights. "Majora's Mask Battle" does a good job at conveying the pure evil and power that the mask possesses. Then, the "Majora's Incarnate Battle" conveys the mask's impish side. So, while the boss is acting like a clown, he is terrifying at the same time. Finally, "Majora's Wrath Battle" returns to a more traditional style, and helps the player feel like Majora's Mask is getting desperate, but also holds tremendous amounts of power. These three tracks help set the mood for their respective stages, and are great fun to listen to on the album. They also help add a lot to the continuity of the music, making it all the more satisfying when Link finally prevails.
Other Themes
Some other themes are standouts as well. The song that plays in the "Mayor's Meeting" is delightful as the soldiers and workers are debating on what to do about the moon. The music for the "Milk Bar" is equally fun. The Kamaro Mask theme is fun as well, and it's fun to see Link dance to it. The Bremen Mask has a fun little tune as you make the animals follow you around. The theme in the "Astral Observatory" is a remarkable theme that brings out the wonder and mystery of the place.
As the Indigo-Go's are practicing their instruments in Zora Hall, you can hear some classic Zelda tunes being performed. It's a nice touch.
The ocarina/trumpet/drum/guitar songs are not quite as good as Ocarina of Time's, but they are still very fun. The "Song of Healing", in particular, is haunting and amazing. The three notes used are also "Saria's Song" from Ocarina of Time played backward.
The "Sonata of Awakening" is fun, but it is difficult to grasp the rhythm when just playing the song in the game. You need to hear the full instrumentation to understand the flow of the song.
The "Song of Soaring" is ugly. It is not a fun song to listen to, but it does fit with the animation.
The "Oath to Order" is always a pleasure to listen to, and one of the better original ocarina songs in the game.
The "Goron Lullaby" is not particularly great, but it is not awful either. It is simply there.
The "New Wave Bossa Nova" suffers from the same problem that the "Sonata of Awakening" does, namely the instrumentation is what makes the song. Unfortunately, you only get the full instrumentation once in the game, so its appeal is diminished somewhat because the notes don't make much sense on their own.
And last, the "Elegy of Emptiness" is a chore to listen to, partially because you have to play it so much in the game. It's not even a pretty song. It is by far my least favorite ocarina song present in the game.
End Credits
The "End Credits" song is not nearly as good as Ocarina of Time's. It introduces a new theme at the beginning before launching into the theme for the Indigo-Go's. This performance is the most complete form of the theme on the album, and it is great to listen to. From there, it passes back into the end credits theme that was introduced at the beginning of the song. While it's a good theme, it lacks the emotional punch of familiarity that Ocarina of Time's possessed. A brief hint at the main theme for the series is a nice touch, but it's not enough. After a little while, the end credits theme begins to overstay its welcome, and becomes slightly repetitive. From there, it launches into a new section as Kafei and Anju are married. While it is good for the scene, it lacks any sort of familiarity. The best part of the track is when it returns to the same theme that was heard at the very beginning in "Opening", and gives it a great conclusion. Then decides it was so good, and plays the same conclusion again. It finally ends on a statement of the "Mysterious Woods" theme, that really makes no sense for this particular game.
In the end, the biggest thing that puts this song down is the lack of many of the other themes from the game. It ended up being too generic to mean anything.
Final Evaluation
In the end, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are simply different. Ocarina of Time set the standard for games that came after, and Majora's Mask lived up to that standard by using many of the same themes (27 of the 112 tracks in the game are duplicated from Ocarina of Time). Is one soundtrack better than the other? I would say no. They both have different strengths. Ocarina of Time is a true classic, and has many memorable themes, but lacks the unity that Majora's Mask possesses. The character themes in the game (particularly the theme for Majora's Mask) are stronger, and the main theme is prevalent throughout the game. The overworld themes have more unity than ever before, but they are not very memorable. The downside to Majora's Mask is just the strength of the themes. Many rise above the standard of Ocarina of Time, but many also fall below that standard.
Score:
Written for Game: Enhancing
On Album: 8/10 "Great"
Words to Describe It: Familiar, Ominous, and Varied
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