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Soundtracks and Their Importance


While we all talk about rides and theming, colour scheme and names, one thing we do not consider often is soundtracks. While in the UK most coasters tend to have no audio outside of the Merlin parks, they are part of the immersive experience that makes rides what they are. We all have ones we prefer over others and here I am going to share my thoughts on the good, the bad and the missed opportunities (get it?). 


The Good

Icon

Ok so an important disclaimer that I love this ride so I am 100% biased but that's opinions for you! I find this soundtrack to be my favourite so far as it makes it feel like going on the ride is an event and it just fits the ride so well. They simply build up the anticipation as you're in the queue line and I can't help but get pumped hearing it. It does also help with this that I find it great to listen to when doing essays for University too! ✍

Kumali

Curveball! I bet no one would expect to go for this but it is an under appreciated soundtrack. I mean thematically it works so well but its also a bit of a bop too. I'd whack this on for a jungle themed party any time (that was if I had jungle themed parties 😬). Nevertheless, the fact a park with the reputation of Flamingo Land is able to have the area with Kumali and Mumbo Jumbo pretty well themed and give one of them a great soundtrack makes the area of the park the highlight. 

Saw

So far I have covered 2 coasters I like quite a bit, but how about one I have little interest in? Well while I hate the theme as horror is not for me and the ride was just too short for me, credit -ha ha credit, cheeky pun for you- where credits due, this soundtrack nails the vibe, somethings at stake, theirs a sense of urgency and energy that no other coaster offers. I'd arguably say its on par with Icon's however the ride experience takes away from it subconsciously, personally I don't want a pretend corpse to pretend to squirt blood (water) at me, seems unnecessary. 



The Bad

Big One

For every good soundtrack, you are guaranteed to have a bad one and while it may come as a surprise that I'm criticising my favourite park, the Big One has a lacklustre music setting. For starters, the stats during the audio don't help and detract from the experience, maybe it's due to me already knowing these stats so they don't surprise me but it just makes it so dull. The music itself seems to be to fit in the 90s aesthetic and it does nothing to build the hype, maybe I'm alone when saying I want a momentous soundtrack to match the ride, but no we got a dance party that is just a worse Oblivion.

Th13teen

According to Austin I should give a disclaimer as I dislike this ride immensely and particularly the theme. Now I would assume that even the smallest children on the ride can count to 13 so that's already redundant but compared to another spooky themed tide in Saw, they missed the mark to such an extreme. I don't appreciate horror rides and it just does not get me in the mood to ride the family coaster and boy is it an underwhelming ride- I'm saying it, I prefer Rita.

Stealth

Now I do love this ride and my first reaction will live long in the memory but why oh why did they have cringey 50s radio playing in the area. Thorpe are pretty good when it comes to soundtracks but dear God was this a mess. I do understand having audio for an area and it would be fine if they had it for that and gave Stealth its own unique score. It would be great to have a 50s inspired audio without any talking, IMAscore could do wonders on this but I'm not paid to make decisions I suppose.



The Missed Opportunities

Millenium

This ride deserves so much more love in general as it is a fantastic ride but the lack of a soundtrack is criminal. I imagine a futuristic techno music with this. This is by far a ride that with theming and a soundtrack would be considered one of the best in the country. But could you imagine if we got a great score to match such a good ride, maybe its just me who wants to see this ride get more appreciation.

Shockwave

OK, now let me begin by saying I know this is arguably the same as Stealth but for the sake of it, I am going to not count the adventure cove music. This is an alright ride and has some theming in place now however it deserves its own soundtrack. A nautical inspired music would be class and would just tie everything together nicely. I mean if Nemesis and Big One are having music then why can't the other '94 coaster get some music 🌊.

Revolution

So straight in, this should be a rock inspired soundtrack, I mean the song Revolution by the Beatles is an easy comparison but that heavy guitar and powerful riff would be such a great vibe and would get me so pumped for this already great ride. To me this is the most obvious missed opportunity as it is screaming Pleasure Beach in the face to make this happen. It just shocks me that I've not seen anyone else mention this and while I know its not original by any means, this needs to happen as I would love it and would make the ride even better. 





Right, so if it wasn't already clear, I like coaster soundtracks. To me they can bring a ride to life and make it a better ride in general however it can detract somewhat from a ride at times. Most of the time I think they do more good and even the bad ones aren't necessarily bad rides or bad music. It may be down the line that I do this again with new parks that I visit but who knows. I'll be happy just getting to new parks so that's all that matters. Anyway, I am once asking for Revolution to get a rock soundtrack.





As always thanks for reading and let me know your favourite soundtrack!

Take care and see you in the next post!

Tom  ✌

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