My iTunes library is very organized. All songs are in a playlist of some sort: I've got my workout playlist full of more fast-paced stuff, my 'calm' playlist with the Jazz and Classical stuff, but I also have a playlist full of music from game soundtracks. Out of the 567 songs I have in my library (some would say that's a meager amount :P), a little more than a third of the songs are from games that I've played. I don't play many of these songs very often, but they are fun to listen to every once in a while.

However, there are a few game soundtracks that really emphasize the power and potential of the partnership of great games and great music, and some of these games helped me discover bands that are a staple to my song-listening experience nowadays. These are songs that I can't imagine not having in my music library.

Mass Effect 1 & 2 - Two Steps from Hell and "Suicide Mission"

I rarely buy entire albums of music, from videogames or otherwise, but I've bought the full albums from both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Needless to say, Jack Wall's musical/compositional skills are hard to beat. However, many of the tunes in both of the Mass Effect soundtracks don't have the interesting beats that still hold my attention without actually playing the game. Still, the best song he's made in either of the Mass Effect soundtracks is "Suicide Mission". Every time I hear this song come up on my iPod I turn the volume up all the way, and imagine what a Mass Effect 3 Finale would be like if it were accompanied by the aggressive tones of "Suicide Mission".  Close seconds to the song would have to be "Illusive Man"'s and "Love Theme"s' beautiful use of the piano and strings.

One thing's for sure: I owe a lot to Mass Effect 2's Launch Trailer in particular for letting my ears hear the epic sounds produced by composers from Two Steps from Hell. Once I heard "Heart of Courage," I knew I just had to check out Two Steps from Hell and get some of their songs on iTunes. Now, I have 12 songs total, my favorites being Dragon Rider, Freedom Fighters, and After the Fall. I never knew that trailer music was a genre before, and before I knew the name of the genre was indeed Trailer Music, I just dubbed it 'Epic Music.' Once you have some Two Steps from Hell on your iPod or other music program of your choice, you have a piece of Chuck Norris' iPod on your own.

Borderlands - Jesper Kyd, Cage the Elephant

The soundtrack of Borderlands is full of Middle-Eastern musical themes, combined with heavily synthesized, reverberating beats; these two aspects combined create the dangerous-sounding, yet beautiful vibes that do a great job accompanying the deserts of Pandora. Jesper Kyd's "Prelude" and "Welcome to Fyrestone" immediately bring to mind great memories playing Borderlands for the first time. I also found Kyd's work found in Assassin's Creed II and Hitman II to be inspirational as well.

Borderlands also introduced to me the band Cage the Elephant; the only band on my list that blatantly flips music critics the bird in their song "In One Ear." Each of their songs expresses an enthusiasm I don't find in many of the other songs popular amongst many other listeners that are in my library. The songs I have from them are often cynical, sarcastic, and/or express very 'in your face' lyrics and main choruses. Thank you Gearbox Software, for your choice to include "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" in Borderlands' launch trailer.

Bastion - Darron Korb Introducing Acoustic Frontier Triphop, "Build That Wall" and "Setting Sail, Coming Home"

Bastion is by far my favorite downloadable title this year, and I never will pass up an opportunity to praise the title. It had its flaws, sure (questionable targeting, some unfair deaths, and the sometimes oddly-placed voice of Logan Cunningham), but these were far out-shined by Bastion's perks: an interesting twist to plot progression and game difficulty, an original and surprisingly deep plot and canon, and the eye candy that was its graphical artistic design. The game has arguably garnered the most of its praise, however, from the execution of its exceptional soundtrack. The meshing of musical and vocal themes are incredibly unique, and the songs were so interesting to listen to that once I finished my first playthrough of the game, I immediately got the soundtrack. "Build That Wall" and "Setting Sail, Coming Home" are the two gems amongst the pack, with the former song getting 'Best Song in a Game' award in the VGAs.

If you are interested in buying the soundtrack, I urge you to buy it directly from the developer instead of iTunes.

LA Noire - Andrew Hale and Claudia Brucken

Both Andrew Hale and Claudia Brucken's work in LA Noire's soundtrack inspired me to search for other Jazz songs made during the 1950s-1960s. I remember driving around Los Angeles in the game turning down the sound effects volume, just to listen to the calm bases and blaring trumpets that populate the work. Whenever I need some music to calm my mind, I almost always turn to the music found within LA Noire. "Main Theme" and "(I Always Kill) the Things I Love" are testaments to both ingenuity and a perfect homage to a bygone age.

Honorable Mentions:

• Batman: Arkham City -
  
  • "Get Some" by Lykke Li
    
  • "Short Change Hero" by The Heavy
    
• Rage -
  
  • A Perfect Circle's " Count Bodies like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" and "Desperate"
• Red Dead Redemption -
  
  • "Far Away" by Jose Gonzalez
  • "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" by William Elliot Whitmore
• The Orange Box -
  
  • "Abandoned in Place" by Valve
  • "Last Legs" by Valve

How about you? What music from game soundtracks have you grown to love? Got any recommendations?

Happy Gaming!