Display MoreLast week we reported on the new Wing Commander II and Wing Commander Academy albums from Xeen Music. The albums are absolutely wonderful, including newly uncovered versions of tracks that no one has heard in almost 35 years! We've noticed some confusion about the different albums and versions currently available, so we've put together a quick cheat sheet and a master index to purchase or stream each version where available. Here's a quick cheat sheet:
Wing One - Music from Wing Commander I (27 tracks): This is The Fatman's 2016 release of the Wing Commander I music recorded from an authentic MT-32. This is NOT the release put together by Xeen Music.
Wing Commander I - Complete Original Soundtrack - MT-32 Archival Edition (55 tracks): This is the 2022 Xeen Music release of the Wing Commander I score. It is offered by The Fatman directly on some services. Every release listed below has the same music.
Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi: MT-32/CM-32L Version (60 tracks): This is the standard version of the new Xeen Music Wing Commander II album available on most streaming services and for purchase via iTunes.
Wing Commander Academy+Bonus Tracks: MT-32/CM-32L (29 tracks): This is the standard version of the new Xeen Music Wing Commander Academy album available on most streaming services and for purchase via iTunes.
Wing Commander II/Academy Soundtrack (MT-32/CM-32L) (102 tracks): This is the combined version available on Bandcamp that includes both the Wing Commander II and Academy albums and bonus tracks.
Wing Commander II + Academy Original Soundtrack (Roland MT-32/CM-32L) (107 tracks): This is the combined version available on Patreon that includes both the Wing Commander II and Academy albums and (even more) bonus tracks.
Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi + Wing Commander: Academy “Just the FAT” Edition (44 tracks): This version is sold by The Fatman directly and only includes the Wing Commander II tracks that his team worked on.
If you are curious which specific tracks are included with each release we have created a spreadsheet comparing them.
If you are interested in purchasing the albums outright, the best option is the combined Wing Commander II/Academy release available on the Xeen Music Patreon which, as noted above, has several additional tracks. The Xeen Music Patreon has some additional surprises for Wing Commander fans: it has also posted four 'bonus albums' which are beautifully archived copies of the FM Towns and Kilrathi Saga music for Wing Commander I and II. These are available for download at the $10/monthly level. This level also includes access to download the Wing Commander I - Complete Original Soundtrack - MT-32 Archival Edition, so it's absolutely worth your while to subscribe for at least a month! Here are links directly to the bonus albums:
- Wing Commander I (FM-Towns digital CD-DA version) (43 tracks)
- Wing Commander I: The Kilrathi Saga (22kHz digital) (41 tracks)
- Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (FM-Towns digital CD-DA version) (41 tracks)
- Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi: Kilrathi Saga (22hz digital) (53 tracks)
The Patreon releases of the Wing Commander I and II albums include all of the liner notes. They will also be updated if new music is recovered. The other major difference between the Bandcamp versions is that the Patreon albums are posted in FLAC and MP3 format while Bandcamp offers a variety of more obscure options (MP3 V0, MP3 320, FLAC, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, ALAC, WAV and AIFF). Here's a page from the Wing Commander II liner notes to show you how well researched these are:
- iTunes
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- Amazon Music
- Deezer
- iHeart
- Pandora
- Bandcamp
- Spotify
- Amazon Music
- Deezer
- Patreon (102 tracks)
- Bandcamp (107 tracks)
- iTunes (60 tracks)
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- Amazon Music
- Deezer
- iHeart
- Tidal
- Pandora
- Bandcamp
- iTunes
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- Amazon Music
- Deezer
- iHeart
- Tidal
- Pandora
- Audiomack
