Like the album's predecessor Minecraft – Volume Alpha (2011), Volume Beta comprises most of the music featured in the game, including dedicated music for the game's nether and main menu. It also features music from trailers, and instrumentals not in the game's final release.[7] A completed third installment remains unreleased due to licensing issues with Mojang Studios parent Microsoft.
Composition and release
In 2011, Rosenfeld released Minecraft – Volume Alpha.[8] For this next release, Rosenfeld was again given complete creative control on the soundtrack that would be implemented as part of Minecraft's November 2013 "Music Update".[9]
The mostly ambient album has a generally darker tone than its precursor. Rosenfeld described the track "Alpha" as a medley and "a celebration of past music from Volume Alpha." The first song he had composed with the clear intent for the game's "creative mode" to have a distinct soundtrack was "Blind Spots".[7] The track "Taswell" was created as a tribute to Rosenfeld's friend, the late Ryan "Taswell" Davis, co-founder of American gaming website Giant Bomb.[10] Rosenfeld stated he "didn’t want to remember them for their death, but the happiness they showed every day of their life."[7] Rosenfeld admits that the record is "extremely varied", being "much more percussive, melodic, and progressive" than Volume Alpha.[11] Several songs on the album are remakes of themes from the prior soundtrack album Volume Alpha; "Ki", "Moog City 2", "Mutation", and "Beginning 2" are remakes of the songs "Key", "Moog City", "Minecraft", and "Beginning", respectively. The average song on Volume Beta is far longer than its predecessor[4] – at the time of the album's release, it was Rosenfeld's longest ever work.[12]
Volume Beta also contains the music of nine collectable discs within Minecraft.[13] A stark sonic departure from the rest of the soundtrack, these discs often rely on synthesisers and percussion instruments.[14] Among these records includes "Stal", a smooth jazz composition reminiscent of the 1930s, "Ward", which begins with a sample of "Chopin's Funeral March" and transitions into an eerie electronic melody, and "Far", a fantasy-based composition resembling The Legend of Zelda music.[15]
In August 2020, record label Ghostly released the first physical versions of the album, in CD and LP formats.[16] The album's artwork features an extremely dark 3D model of a block of grass from Minecraft, surrounded on the edges by a larger black and orange cube. On some vinyl pressings, lenticular printing is used to give depth to the blocks in the image and highlight the inner grass block.[17]
In October 2020, Monstercat producer Protostar released a drum and bass remix of the track "Aria Math", which marked the first official remix of a Minecraft song. Protostar remarked on his work, "It's an honour to be able to remix any song from Minecraft's iconic soundtrack, and I hope I did this one justice."[18]
Online publication Digital Trends specifically praised the album for moving "beyond pieces that are simply 'peaceful' or 'sad' and creates tracks like 'Taswell' and 'Kyoto' that feel like distinct performances", and believed that Minecraft might not have been as successful as it was if it were not for the work of Rosenfeld, including Volume Beta.[20] Richard McDonald of music blog Original Sound Version called the album "an amazing achievement".[23] The Los Angeles Times wrote that the album "showcases C418’s ability to make grander, more sonically diverse ambience".[24] Jack Moeser of The Michigan Daily felt the closing track, "Intro", imparts a "somber yet hopeful feeling [...] reminiscent of how I felt the first few times I played Minecraft, which I think I can now describe: the feeling that the next chapter of my life is about to begin".[25]
In the book Four Ways of Hearing Video Game Music, Michiel Kamp wrote that the sandbox nature of Minecraft also applied to its music, believing the randomness of how the soundtrack is presented would lead to what he viewed as the game creating unique, personalized moments that weren't intentional.[26] Writing for Game Rant, Cameron Pippin ranked the track "Taswell" as the best theme in Minecraft, feeling that it "instills a feeling of power and euphoria that is incredibly motivating", and praising it as "one of the most relaxing themes in the game". He opined that its "memorable [and] heartfelt" nature owed to its context of being a memorial to Ryan "Taswell" Davis, Rosenfeld's late friend, editor for GameSpot and co-founder of Giant Bomb.[10]
^ abAlthough there is a music disc titled "11" found in game, the track "Eleven" is different from the in-game music disc. On the track, the start of the music disc can be heard, but this is then interrupted by a record scratching sound; the track then switches to a calm piano piece not found in the game.
