Welcome to part two of my list of soundtracks to write to! Soundtracks are my window into writing scenes with ambience without becoming distracted. Each soundtrack has its own unique style, and is therefore more useful for certain scenes than others. Here are four more of the soundtracks I listen to most when writing!

5. “Batman: Arkham City (Original Video Game Score)” by Nick Arundel and Ron Fish

Personal favorite tracks: “Arkham City Main Theme,” “Sorry, Boys,” “Refusal Will Not Be Tolerated,” “Wham, Gotcha!,” “Bring Her Back To Me”

I have one word to describe this soundtrack in its entirety: kinetic. Much like the character himself, this “Batman” soundtrack is constantly moving, shifting in order to give the game a sense of urgency and to create a high-stakes (and, I’m not going to lie, completely awesome) tone to any combat situation. “Arkham City Main Theme” is weighty, heavy, as if you yourself are the Batman with the weight of your parents’ deaths and the entire unjust situation of Arkham City are all resting on your shoulders. Slower songs, such as “Refusal Will Not Be Tolerated,” still have quick strings keeping the beat, and ominous choirs keep the scope and gothic feel of Gotham alive. Arundel and Fish did an excellent job of calling back to the “Batman: The Animated Series” soundtracks (featuring music from many different composers), as well as harking back to Danny Elfman’s work in the soundtrack of the 1989 “Batman” film (starring Michael Keaton as the titular character).

If I had the room, I would honestly spout for ages about all of the Batman soundtracks, but since I am limited in space and don’t want to bore you, I’ve limited it to just this one. But it’s worth noting that, as I said before, almost all “Batman” soundtracks keep the same musical schematics in place in order to keep that nostalgic, heavy, and kinetic feeling that keeps us coming back to Gotham time and time again. If you need that kind of weight, there’s no better place to look than “Batman: Arkham City.”

(Except the Christopher Nolan soundtracks. Curse you, Hans Zimmer, and your love of monotonous brass sections.)

6. The first three “Fable” Soundtracks by Russell Shaw, featuring Danny Elfman

Personal favorite tracks: “Fable Theme,” “Lychfield Cemetery,” “Temple of Light,” “Music Box Theme (Fable 2 Variant),” “Bower Lake,” “The Dwellers,” “Music Box (Fable 3 Variant,” “Kalin,” and many more

I am royally obsessed with the “Fable” franchise. My poor little heart broke when I heard Lionhead was shutting down (though I am forever grateful that they at least kept their released concept art for “Fable: Legends” out in the open—now I can at least dream). This was a series I (kind of sort of) grew up with, so maybe my nostalgia for the music is what makes me love it so much.

I personally write a lot of adventurous and fantastic tales, so having a fantasy soundtrack captures a lot of the sounds I like to use. What I also enjoy about this soundtrack besides that is its roundness in terms of its themes. Each area in the game has different themes, as do different situations. “Lychfield Cemetery,” for instance, sounds a lot different than the chipper “Oakfield” track. That kind of distinction thankfully carries over into the other games, though with a more noticeable strain in the third game’s soundtrack. “Reaver’s Mansion” is a posh theme that goes on forever, presumably because Reaver wanted the longest track on the soundtrack (ba-dum tssh), while “Kalin,” a desert-dwelling woman, has a more somber theme reflecting the fraught nature of Aurora, as well as the suffering of her people. I can hit up pretty much any tone I want to just by flipping through these soundtracks, and that’s not having heard the soundtrack of the fourth! Sure, a lot of tracks are lifted from earlier games, but the newer tracks more than make up for the discrepancy. Whatever sound you’re looking for to help with your scene, you can no doubt find it in the “Fable” soundtracks.

7. “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” Extended Soundtracks by Howard Shore

Personal favorite tracks: WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN

OK. I’m going to try to keep myself under control here. I may have already let slip that I am a huge fan of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit,” and even “The Silmarillion,” from one of my previous articles detailing common misconceptions about “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy (if you haven’t checked it out, it’s right here). But I’m going to keep my cool here and try to go about describing this soundtrack from an objective standpoint… but first, just one little slip. Long live King Elessar! OK, now we can continue.

“The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” soundtracks are easily my favorite soundtracks in the world. Again, this is coming from a place of nostalgia (that theme really carries through this half of the list, doesn’t it), but it also has to do with the multitude of tones, which I described in the “Fable” section above. Again, different things get different recurring themes, but instead of just places, Howard Shore’s scores for both trilogies also incorporate people, races, creatures, stories, objects, events—the list goes on and on. If it appears more than once in the trilogies, you bet it’s going to have its own motif. And some of those motifs can come in handy when writing different scenes.

“The Council of Elrond Assembles” has a theme within it, “Aníron,” which is the theme of Aragorn and Arwen. It’s romantic, Enya’s voice gently singing over beautiful strings, before the song plunges suddenly into a low rumbling. The Council of Elrond has assembled, and they are talking about the fate of Middle Earth, and The One Ring.

All of the music in the soundtracks holds a grandeur to it, which is reflected in the films themselves. Through the fights, the terror of the Ring’s power and of Sauron’s intended destruction, the hopelessness of the quest, the grace of the elves, the noble honor of Rohan and its people, and the cheerfulness of the Shire, the soundtrack pulls out all of the stops to make every moment incredible.

And I didn’t even talk about “The Hobbit” yet, which adopts a slightly more whimsical air, while also giving us new themes. The Mirkwood elves are said to be wilder and less friendly than their Lorien or Rivendell counterparts (and if you recall correctly, Lorien wasn’t very kind to the fellowship at first), and their theme reflects that, immersing you into the woods to fend for yourself against mistrusting elves and spiders. The goblins make a raucous noise, and the soundtrack does its best to capture that in musical form. Whatever mood you need to fit, if this music is to your liking, then you are sure to find something that can ease you into your scene.

I sadly can’t cover all of the tracks I want to from each trilogy, because that alone would take such a long time. I can, however, implore you to give the soundtracks a listen. Even if they aren’t the extended soundtracks they will no doubt give you something epic to help fuel your adventure or fantasy.

8. “The Illusionist” Soundtrack by Philip Glass

Deviating from the dominant fantasy theme here is a soundtrack that focuses on more on intrigue. “The Illusionist” is a film about an illusionist who is on a personal mission to reunite himself with the woman he loves, who is soon to be married to a Duke. Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy or as simple as it seems.

Philip Glass’s score for this film also fits that description, but in an entirely delightful way. This was the first soundtrack I ever purchased (and the cycle of nostalgia is complete), and to this day (ten years later), I can remember why I fell in love with it so wholeheartedly. The soundtrack is unafraid to set a fast pace in certain moments, but is also unafraid to slow down when necessary. Each track is its own entity, encompassing a sound that is perfect to each scene.

“The Locket” is love incarnate, in both its thrilling passions and its gut-wrenching uncertainties. It flows and swells in tides of beauty, and all you can do is hold on for the ride. “The Accident” starts slow and gains momentum, perfect for describing those scenes where things seem to be OK before sliding into resignation. “Sophie’s Ride to the Castle” is heavy at the start, setting a quick pace that gets the blood thrumming while portraying a sound that can only be described as the feeling you get when something isn’t quite right, but you aren’t sure what.

“The Illusionist” soundtrack is strong in its use of different instrumentation, and has guided me through many scenes in the past with aplomb. Its elegance is beyond compare—perfect for helping write some more introspective or serious pieces.

And thus concludes part two of my list of soundtracks to write to! If you have any suggestions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter, or leave a comment below.