New releases last eight weeks: Soundtracks

Review: The most eminent British rock opera of all time, The Who's Quadrophenia, released in 1973, hears Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey conceive and narrate the angst of a young postroom worker, Jimmy, living in post-war Britain amid the schismatics of the mods and rockers, as they warred in converse step. Exploring rebellion, let-off steam, and alienation through music, the record firmly set the stage for the 1979 film adaptation of the same name, which popularised the thoroughfare connecting London-Brighton as a vital identificatory artery for a certain angst-ridden generation. The album features standout tracks like '5:15' and 'Love, Reign O'er Me', and remains one of The Who's most celebrated works. It's now reissued through Bespoke Editions, with two CDs of Pete Townshend's demos, and a 5.1 DVD-A remix of eight tracks, plus handwritten lyrics in a book and a 13,000-word essay from Townshend.

Review: Bethesda Game Studios and Laced Records team up to bring the music of Bethesda's latest video game release, Starfield, to a deluxe vinyl edition. The anticipated follow-up record to titans in the open world genre, such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - also developed by Bethesda - the 2023 game makes ample use of orchestral scoring and motifs, befitting of the interstellar sci-fi genre it operates in. Suitably, they chose composer and producer Inon Zur for composition duties; Zur's deft electronic palette weaves astrally through orchestral and classical traditions, bringing several centuries' worth of musical convention into a single OST, backed by the Budapest Film Orchestra.