Why did Alton Towers use a stock soundtrack for Oblivion?

[Zeock]

You do learn something new every day!

That's the great thing about forums!

 

[QTXAdsy]

Even though it's somewhat dated, if you had a pound whenever you saw someone enjoying the train with some stupid rave then you'd have another to help fund a new score for the ride!

Honestly I wouldn't mind if Oblivion was to get an overhaul to bring it in line with it's Italian cousin with theming imhancements though keeping it's story such as the Lord of Darkness. I honestly won't be suprise if this idea has crossed the mind at those at Merlin if they feel Oblivion will get an overhaul and more than likely some new score.

 

[Zeock]

Honestly I wouldn't mind if Oblivion was to get an overhaul to bring it in line with it's Italian cousin with theming imhancements though keeping it's story such as the Lord of Darkness. I honestly won't be suprise if this idea has crossed the mind at those at Merlin if they feel Oblivion will get an overhaul and more than likely some new score.

I wouldn't be surprised if this happens within the next few years.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Ayo, don't mess with Blivy now! Oblivion is the last John Wardley secret weapon in its mostly original state, would be an absolute crime for it to be tampered with. Sure, some TLC here and there, but nothing more.

 

[ChristmasPud]

Oblivion is the last John Wardley secret weapon in its mostly original state

I would say Oblivion is actually the one most ripe for change, because it never had a fully realised theme in the first place. It was the victim of huge budget cutbacks and only a notional theme. The theme is also just built around it being the worlds first something, which isn't really relevant anymore. The ride's 1998 promotional campaign is bascially the theme, with some pipes added

I'm sure I heard the music loud all the way round the queue from the start

Originally it was the ambient track

 

[QTXAdsy]

Ayo, don't mess with Blivy now! Oblivion is the last John Wardley secret weapon in its mostly original state, would be an absolute crime for it to be tampered with. Sure, some TLC here and there, but nothing more.

I would say Oblivion is actually the one most ripe for change, because it never had a fully realised theme in the first place. It was the victim of huge budget cutbacks and only a notional theme. The theme is also just built around it being the worlds first something, which isn't really relevant anymore. The ride's 1998 promotional campaign is basically the theme, with some pipes added

Compared to the strong views on what Nemesis' theme should be after its overhaul, I don't think any overhaul for Oblivion would have the same strong reaction for changes to its theme, on the contrary, I think many would welcome it in which given its current tired state is not really a surprise not helped by Merlin's infamous upkeep on most of their attractions letting them rot. However I strongly suspect that if Oblivion will get an overhaul it will be based on its Italian cousin which given how its theme is pretty much a modern updated version of Oblivion's then it seems like a no brainer that Merlin will copy and paste it for the ride as it would keep costs down in making new designs for it. I know some will not like it but as long as they keep the original plot with the Lord of Darkness still taunting you in the queue line like before then I don't think any will argue with it.

As a matter of fact, I actually think this might have happened sooner than you all think for its 20th anniversary in 2018 had it not been for the Smiler crash in which given how so many projects were either pushed back like SW8 or cancelled that we are likely not aware about, who's to say that any theming update for Oblivion was among those that was dropped? Given the timescale from the opening of the Gardaland version to what would have been a few years before Oblivion's birthday, who is to say that there were at least some talk in taking the theme from Italy and plonking it for Towers before the Smiler crash changed everything? Then again even without the crash it likely would never had happened but you never know what would have happened with the park.

It just seems too obvious that they wouldn't have at least thought about it and likely its a plan that is on the shelf much like the Port Discovery concept for Merlin that is waiting to be looked at again which if the Nemesis overhaul is a success then I'd be 80% sure that this will happen for Blivy next. Anyway to bring this back on topic regarding the soundtrack, I could see a more of a Wicker Man type build up for the queue line which starts off rather mysterious which the closer you get to the station the music goes more sinister in which by the time you do enter the station, we get the original Oblivion tune blasting out but given a modern lick so that we do have some blend of the old and new.

 

[waffa]

I think it was also down to the transition between Graham Smart composing most the music, into Ian Habgood in 99. Grahams last commissions were around 95/96 which were the Towers Street Music and The Black Hole. I think the Black Hole's Jules Verne theming inside came a few years before X-Sector as a test of concept but I could be wrong.

Graham's sound probably wasn't deemed suitable for Oblivion and a more 'current' track was probably found last minute. The Katanga Canyon theme was also from a similar stock soundtrack, maybe around a similar time?

 

[djtruefitt]

They have fiddled with the music around Oblivion during the past few years. I’m sure originally only the station played the music and the queue plays the weird noises and announcements.

A few years back they added the speakers need the drop, when they were added it played all sorts of music, a bit of black hole, some oblivion music and some don’t look down bits, it was then changed to just play the oblivion station music. You can often hear that competing with the Smiler and Retrosquad music.

During covid the queue line speakers played the station audio with the covid announcements every so often (I’m guessing who ever edited the audio probably didn’t have the audio or only had the station so was easier that way).

I’m sure now the queue has gone back to its original audio.

It also probably doesn’t help now that throughputs are far worse than they used to be (and the dispatch video is shorter) so the chances of you hearing the whole station loop is very high now compared to years back.

 

[jmc]

They have fiddled with the music around Oblivion during the past few years. I’m sure originally only the station played the music and the queue plays the weird noises and announcements.

A few years back they added the speakers need the drop, when they were added it played all sorts of music, a bit of black hole, some oblivion music and some don’t look down bits, it was then changed to just play the oblivion station music. You can often hear that competing with the Smiler and Retrosquad music.

During covid the queue line speakers played the station audio with the covid announcements every so often (I’m guessing who ever edited the audio probably didn’t have the audio or only had the station so was easier that way).

I’m sure now the queue has gone back to its original audio.

It also probably doesn’t help now that throughputs are far worse than they used to be (and the dispatch video is shorter) so the chances of you hearing the whole station loop is very high now compared to years back.

Yes it definitely seems to have returned to the original ambient noises, albeit perhaps slightly neutered. They can only really be heard on the final turn at the top of the queueline… then again its been a very long time since I spent a prolonged period of time anywhere else in the queue to notice.


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[Vandarkian]

The guy who did the music for Oblivion also did the theme and music for Doctor Who in the 80's, which is pretty cool in my book!