The original score for Red Dead Redemption 2 is now available on major digital platforms
Forget hot girl summer, it's haunting cowboy August
Rockstar announced today that the official Red Dead Redemption 2 score is now available on iTunes, Spotify, and other major digital platforms.
The score was released with Lakeshore Records and composed by noted Rockstar collaborator Woody Jackson, whose previous work includes Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, Grand Theft Auto V, and Max Payne 3. He also worked on additional music for the first season of the country music drama Nashville. Jackson tapped an impressive group of artists and producers to help him craft the score, including Venezuelan artist Arca (who's produced music for Kanye West, FKA twigs, and Frank Ocean), Indonesian experimental band Senyawa, country music engineer David Ferguson, and former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore.
The score captivated us so much we dedicated a chunk of our review to it: "A word – alright, several gushing sentences – on the music. Woody Jackson has done a sensational job on the soundtrack. The composer has scored every Rockstar title since the original Redemption, and this is his most aurally arousing work yet. The last game was celebrated for several wonderfully judged music moments, the most famous being Marston’s ride into Mexico to Jose Gonzalez’s ‘Far Away’. While the prequel may not have a song that’s as note-perfect as that haunting melody, the tracks that accompany the story’s key moments all work beautifully. As for general background music, Jackson’s score is both electrifying and eclectic. Somehow, it can dovetail between shredding your nerves during a terrifying cave assault involving cannibals, and perking up a scene where your cowboy chums celebrate some successful DIY by downing all the whiskey.
Interested in haunting cowboy music? Who isn't? Listen to the score below or buy it on iTunes today.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Need more Red Dead tunes in your life? Listen to Read Dead Redemption 2's soundtrack right here, right now.
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Alyssa Mercante is an editor and features writer at GamesRadar based out of Brooklyn, NY. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.