RockRaiders Music

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RockRaiders Music
A photograph of a LEGO music box model
EP and soundtrack by
Marl Boonyer
Released23 August 2022 (2022-08-23)
Recorded1998
GenreElectronic
Length9:35
ProducerAlan Boorman
Marl Boonyer chronology
RockRaiders Music
(2022) 		The Fractal Shoreline
(2022)

RockRaiders Music (also called RockRaiders EP) is a 2022 soundtrack extended play release for the 1999 real-time strategy video game LEGO Rock Raiders. It features three tracks composed by Marl Boonyer (credited in-game as Mark Boobyer) that originally played in-game during missions. The EP was released digitally through Boonyer's Bandcamp page "Temple Sound" on 23 August 2022; prior to this, only low-quality versions of the tracks were available in the game's CD audio.

Production

British artist and musician Marl Boonyer was contracted by LEGO Media to compose music for LEGO Rock Raiders in 1998.[1][2] Boonyer created three music tracks using sound effects and beats created by Data Design Interactive's sound engineer John Saull; Saull also composed other music for the game along with Joseph Harper.[1][3][4] Each of the tracks were inspired by, and named after, one of the three cavern environments in the game: rock, ice, and lava; however, the tracks were unnamed on the game's CD.[5] The tracks were produced by composer and sound designer Alan Boorman.[2][6] The game's credits thank Boonyer (credited as "Mark Boobyer") and Boorman for their "musical contribution".[7]

Although Boonyer's three music tracks were included with the game as Compact Disc Digital Audio (or Red Book audio), the in-game audio is noticeably low-quality. The tracks appear to have been resampled to a quarter of their original sampling rate (from 44,100 Hz to 11,025 Hz) prior to being converted to CD audio – despite the conversion resampling them back to 44.1 kHz, saving no disc space while also not restoring the original audio quality.[8] Certain sounds in the tracks were also edited further, particularly ones that were also used as in-game sound effects. Some later releases of the games eliminated the three music tracks entirely, leaving only the main menu and mission results screen music (which is stored in the game's Data folder).[8][9]

Release

Alternate cover art, created by developers of and used in Manic Miners

In 2022 Alan Boorman was contacted regarding the LEGO Rock Raiders soundtrack; Boorman revealed that he still possessed the master tapes containing Marl Boonyer's tracks.[9] Boonyer later uploaded the high-quality original versions of the three tracks to SoundCloud on 22 August 2022, with plans for a proper release elsewhere.[10] The following day, the three tracks were released on Boonyer's new Bandcamp page "Temple Sound" as an extended play titled RockRaiders Music, priced at £4 GBP.[2] In early September the EP received new cover art featuring a photograph of a LEGO music box model built by Peter Carmichael; prior to this it had used the cover art from the PlayStation version of LEGO Rock Raiders as a placeholder.[11][12] Later in September the Bandcamp listing's title was changed to RockRaiders EP, though the cover art kept the original RockRaiders Music name.[13]

Boonyer lowered the EP's price to £3 in December 2022,[14][15] then made it available for no minimum price on 18 April 2023. Boonyer announced that the EP was free through an email sent to all Temple Sound Bandcamp followers that day, thanking them for their support during "a very tough period."[16] In July 2023, however, the EP returned to being priced,[17] initially at £1.50 before being raised up to £5 in 2024.

Following RockRaiders, Boonyer released two other works on Bandcamp: The Fractal Shorline, an eight-track EP released on 28 August 2022,[18] and "infant narcotic", a single track released on 18 April 2023.[19] The three RockRaiders tracks were later featured in the 2023 fan game Manic Miners, remastered to suppress certain sound effects like the versions used in LEGO Rock Raiders.[9]

Reception

While Boonyer's 2022 soundtrack released received no critical attention, contemporary reviews of LEGO Rock Raiders sometimes made mention of the game's music. Andrew Park of GameSpot, while criticising the gameplay of Rock Raiders, described the game's music (along with its sound effects and voice lines) as being "upbeat, if repetitive" and that it complimented its graphics and animation.[20] Vincent Lopez of IGN called the music "simple but fun".[21] Bob Mandel of The Adrenaline Vault criticised the music as being too unfocused and low-key, and described it as "barely distinguishable from the sounds of the machinery itself".[22] Gábor Stöckert of the Hungarian magazine 576 KByte [hu] called the music "disappointing", writing that he could not stand listening to it for more than two minutes.[23]

Track listing

All music is composed by Marl Boonyer.

No.TitleLength
1."Rock"3:03
2."Ice"3:26
3."Lava"3:05
Total length:9:35

References

  1. ↑ a b White, Karl (January 18, 2011). "The music was composed by someone at Lego (or contracted by Lego) using various sound effects and beats that we provided them". Rock Raiders United (Comment on forum post "Wow People! I Am Both Stunned And Impressed!"). Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  2. ↑ a b c Boonyer, Marl (23 August 2022). "RockRaiders Music by Temple Sound". Archived from the original on 26 August 2022 – via Bandcamp. Composed and produced in 1998 by Marl Boonyer & Alan Boorman
  3. ↑ Data Design Interactive (November 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. Scene: Credits. Sound And Music – John Saull, Jon Harrison, Joseph Harper
  4. ↑ Data Design Interactive (December 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders (PlayStation) (PAL ed.). LEGO Media International. Scene: Credits. Music & Sound Effects – Joseph Harper, Jon Harrison, John Saull
  5. ↑ Baraklava (23 August 2022). "Also good info: The tracks have names!". Reddit (comment on r/RockRaiders post "The original Rock Raiders composers just shared the uncompressed PC tracks!"). Archived from the original on 21 April 2024.
  6. ↑ Boorman, Al. "who". Wevie. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Data Design Interactive (November 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. Scene: Credits. Additional Thanks – ... Thanks also to Mark Boobyer and Alan Boorman for their musical contribution.
  8. ↑ a b Baraklava (23 August 2022). "No one is sure what happened to the CD tracks given these master tracks, but it was at least resampled to 1/4th the original frequency..." Reddit (comment on r/RockRaiders post "The original Rock Raiders composers just shared the uncompressed PC tracks!"). Archived from the original on 21 April 2024.
  9. ↑ a b c Baraklava (7 November 2023). "LEGO Rock Raiders [PC] High-quality soundtrack OST" (Item description). Retrieved 9 February 2025 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ↑ Baraklava (22 August 2022). "Today we have some HUGE news about music" (Discord message). Archived from the original on 10 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "RockRaiders Music by Temple Sound". Archived from the original on 11 September 2022 – via Bandcamp.
  12. ↑ Carmichael, Peter (April 4, 2020). "Lego Music Box". Flickr. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024.
  13. ↑ "RockRaiders EP by Temple Sound". Archived from the original on 21 September 2022 – via Bandcamp.
  14. ↑ "RockRaiders EP by Temple Sound". Archived from the original on 9 December 2022 – via Bandcamp.
  15. ↑ Boonyer, Marl (3 December 2022). "New message from Temple Sound" (Email from Temple Sound on Bandcamp) – via ProtonMail. Hi, Just to say my mini album is available at little cost. I was going to offer it pay what you want but I don't know how to set it up. I just want to say thanks for your support
  16. ↑ Boonyer, Marl (2023-04-18). "New message from Temple Sound" (Email from Temple Sound on Bandcamp) – via ProtonMail. Hello everyone. Many thanks for your generosity. Helped me through a very tough period. All tracks are now free. marl
  17. ↑ "RockRaiders EP by Temple Sound". Archived from the original on 22 August 2023 – via Bandcamp. dateModified":"08 Jul 2023 17:52:25 GMT
  18. ↑ Boonyer, Marl (28 August 2022). "The Fractal Shoreline EP by Temple Sound". Archived from the original on 20 April 2024 – via Bandcamp.
  19. ↑ Boonyer, Marl (18 April 2023). "infant narcotic by Temple Sound". Archived from the original on 20 April 2024 – via Bandcamp.
  20. ↑ Park, Andrew Seyoon (January 28, 2000). "Lego Rock Raiders". GameSpot. ZDNet. Archived from the original on June 20, 2003.
  21. ↑ Lopez, Vincent (January 12, 2000). "LEGO Rock Raiders". IGN PC. Snowball.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2000.
  22. ↑ Mandel, Bob (January 27, 2000). "Rock Raiders". The Adrenaline Vault. NewWorld.com, Inc. Archived from the original on November 22, 2002.
  23. ↑ Stöckert, Gábor (February 2000). "Lego Rock Raiders". Ismertető. 576 KByte (in Hungarian). Vol. 11, no. 108. Budapest: Comgame Ltd. pp. 68–69. ISSN 0865-8226.
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