In the last month or two I've been picking up soundtracks left and right. Not act like that's fact to tout but for a few years I kind of went into hibernation with them and just kind of sat on what I had. I never did lose interest (although some soundtracks did fall by the wayside) but I've been wanting to pick up some ambient music.

Thing is, I'm not terribly big on ambient themes. I mean when they are used in a game at the right place I can't even begin to deny how dead-on they can be but once I leave the game behind and try to listen without the context I just kind of stumble with the experience. In my current playlists there are are only a few pieces that actually qualify as ambient.

This is probably why I've been eyeing the Diablo II Soundtrack lately. I actually have a lot of history with the game and while the music was never really at the forefront of the experience I was able to digest it quite easily all that time. Of course, part of me thinks maybe nostalgia is playing into that and, to a certain degree, I think this is kind of the easy way out.

Anyway, for someone that's not really into the genre to a heavy degree do you think this is this a good way to go? Or is there another album you would suggest?

There are plenty of wonderful ambient soundtracks, depending on your mood. Diablo II is great, but I think the soundtrack to the expansion, Lords of Destruction, is astounding. Although short (some 22 minutes) it's one of my favorite albums.

http://vgmdb.net/album/1765

Other great ambient soundtracks include:

Divinity
The Dig
Tomb Raider I
World of Warcraft (most anything, but a personal favorite is Taverns of Azeroth)

There are others, but those are some easy recommendations.

Actually, I when I was thinking of Diablo II it was generally the music from the fifth act (the expansion) I was thinking of... although the jungle piece from Act III was pretty nice. I think "Siege" is the one track I really remember from all the time I spent grinding on the frigid battlegrounds.

Can't find that album for sale anywhere but I could always buy the DL to hold me over.

I guess I didn't give myself enough credit here. Yes, Tomb Raider's music is definitely among what I have on hand. Man, that game was absolutely huge back in the day.

But you know, the thing that really gets me about Tomb Raider is how irritated I get when people criticize the lack of music in that game. People always assume there is nothing playing in the background when that's not true. There is always an ambient track nestled in the background and that allows the sound effects to really pierce their surroundings when you fire Lara's guns. Personally I think I'd hate it if more straight edged music constantly played in a game like that and I don't think people really think that through.

Edit:

What about Metroid II? Completely forgot about that one! I know some throw mud at that one... but I'm pretty biased since it was the first Metroid game I played.

However, one of my favorite ambient tracks has to be "Phazon Mines" from Prime. Man, I love that track... but why does it have to be so short. In the game it's not a problem but outside the game fifty-three seconds isn't enough!

Forgot to mention

Eternal Darkness

Great game, and awesome ambiance!

All the music from Lords of Destruction plus the music from the original Diablo (with the theme of Tristram being the most memorable Diablo song for me) is on "The Music of Diablo 1996 - 2011: Diablo 15 Year Anniversary". I highly recommend it, though it too is out of print and not on blizzard's shop anymore.  I do see people mark it up quite a lot on ebay, but I see someone listed it at a decent enough price: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Diablo-15-Year- … 19ec45858a