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3%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without expanding them to explain why these tracks are awesome. A video link is not context. Identifying when a track plays is not context. An adjective or two is not context. WHY are these tracks awesome?
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6Note: Unlike most other games listed under SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic, the OST for ''Portal 2'' is [[http://www.thinkwithportals.com/music.php available for free]] directly from Valve![[note]]And unlike some other developers they released the whole soundtrack. That's 65% more soundtrack per soundtrack.[[/note]]
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8[[AC:Cinematic]]
9* The theme from the trailer of ''Portal 2'', "Reconstructing More Science", just doesn't want to come out from the listener's ears. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tax4e4hBBZc "It's been a looong time..."]] The full theme can be heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAeiqxNH3W0 here.]] There is another version called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Erl-y9b_4 "Reconstructing Science".]]
10* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5DgrFXPI2Y "You Will Be Perfect"]], the music from the extended co-op trailer, is a booming track to emphasise the deadliness of each test our two player robots must endure. "Don't disappoint me..."
11* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJghR7CuxG0 Robots FTW]]... [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment FTW]]. A high-tempo electronic beeping song that makes the co-op robots want to party at the end of their campaign.
12* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOXrgDDLpYw The Part Where He Kills You]] is basically ''Portal 2'''s "4,000 Degrees Kelvin". Plays in one of the tensest moments of the game.
13* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XpgchQnaUY "I AM NOT A MORON!"]] starts off as a cheery electronic theme that turns into pure orchestrated ''awesome''. And ''scariness''.
14* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMWVm4EFtI "You Know Her?"]] is a fittingly ominous track for [=GLaDOS=] [[OhCrap waking up]], [[FromBadToWorse killing Wheatley]] and [[KillItWithFire throwing you into the incinerator.]]
15* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2vc7Zunsvk "An Accent Beyond"]], a fast paced tune that kicks in once Wheatley starts frantically escorting you away from [=GLaDOS's=] grasp.
16* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr0doRFDUoE Bombs for Throwing at You]], Wheatley's final boss theme, is like "You Can't Escape, You Know", [=GLaDOS=]'s final boss theme from the original, except it is faster, more frantic, and has some of Wheatley's {{Leitmotif}} mixed in at some points.
17* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrr5FGzKOx8 Cave Johnson]] plays during the teaser trailers, and it's a triumphant-sounding theme that fits the charisma of Cave Johnson proudly displaying various features of the game as Aperture Science products.
18* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXjIIv1KCfw "Don't Do It"]] is played twice, first during the confrontation with [=GLaDOS=], and again at the analogous spot in the FinalBoss battle. What's awesome is how it starts out calm, then grows in intensity at "Please press the Stalemate Resolution Button", and (in-game) then goes freaking nuts after the final BoobyTrap goes off.
19* With the release of the first volume of the official soundtrack, we now have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuC6fqK1swQ The Courtesy Call]] from the opening without the voice over. A loud mix of electronic synths with orchestral horns and strings as Chell rides the relaxation room. The repeating electronic beeps go into high gear when Chell is about to reach the first test chamber.
20* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0uW04oswbI The Friendly Faith Plate]] has a catchy beat and accompanies the electronic sounds of the Faith Plate sending you careening through the air.
21* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMqZKe-LEH0 Vitrification Order]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj9eKbIEZTY You Are Not Part Of The Control Group]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0nxHMAV5wI Forwarding The Cause Of Science]] all count on their own. These tracks for Aperture's decades-old forgotten ruins all become even better when you listen to them all together and see how the first two build on each other to create the third, and then combine with [[SerialEscalation another]] track ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar72ybiZMCY Music Of The Spheres]]) to create [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrX0qxIynDo The Reunion]], arguably one of the [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic best pieces in the game]].
22* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar72ybiZMCY "Music of the Spheres"]] serves as the leitmotif of Cave Johnson's Aperture. It starts out soft, encapsulating the wonder the player feels looking up at those titanic, abandoned testing spheres. Then, at 1:07, the music peaks, sounding both ominous and suspenseful. What's even more interesting is how "Music of the Spheres" evolves as you progress through Old Aperture. During the '50s chambers, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar72ybiZMCY the music starts out with natural instruments]], but starting around the '70s, synth starts replacing the instruments, and by the time you get to the '80s, there isn't anything natural left, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SklcDsh0Ip4 it's all synthetic.]] It really gives the impression that something human has turned robotic. Bonus points for the ending of the track sounding more frantic and erratic than usual, mirroring Johnson’s [[SanitySlippage descent into insanity.]]
23* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPqtYQAEw04 Caroline Deleted]]. Even without knowing the context of the song, you can just feel that something bad is going to happen about half-way through... even though something good happens instead.
24* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c624QWR3CXI Your Precious Moon]], the music that plays when Chell fires the Moon-portal. The soundtrack version begins with the "Don't Do It" reprise that goes freaking nuts at the final BoobyTrap. And yes, this track for the story's climax is appropriately awesome.
25* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TipclsHkYhg Omg, What Has He Done?]] The first half of the song leaves you feeling terrified at how wrecked Aperture has become... and the second half, a slower reprise of "Wheatley Science", pumps you up in preparation for one hell of a FinalBoss battle that places the weight of all of Aperture on your shoulders.
26* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcHeHZiye3g Spaaaaace]]: short, incredibly sad for those who finish, and feeling just so ''empty''... And where is Wheatley? Spaaaace... If that didn't make you cry, listen to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYVRvC4X03k Space Phase]], the menu theme that plays after beating the game. It's a remix of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5PKR4QhUyg I Made It All Up]], but it has elements of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3UiwJE8UH0 Cara Mia Addio]] and Wheatley's leitmotif mixed in. It sounds so sad and lonely, it's impossible not to feel bad.
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28[[AC:Vocal, Semi-Vocal]]
29* The end credits song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVVZaZ8yO6o "Want You Gone"]] (spoilers, of course), explains [=GLaDOS=]' feelings in song.
30** Like [[VillainSong "Still Alive"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z3IxMb2_TM it sounds better in a minor key]].
31** Now available in acapella, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDzlKtEVZJU courtesy of Peter Hollens and Mystery Guitar Man.]] Hollens' creepy smile really sells it.
32* Before the credits song, the player is greeted with a choir of turrets in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kis6V6qwYxI "Cara Mia Addio"]].
33** Some humans did it in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MlCM0mR8DQ a capella, and it's pretty damn good!]]
34** There's something about the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltWFNVVPHIY music box version]] of the turret opera that just drives you to tears.
35** And during the game you can find some of these turrets singing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4anpiZjfR-s "Turret Wife Serenade".]]
36* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLSkIwdjHCk Exile Vilify]]", by Music/TheNational is a soothing number which is also kind of sad as it portrays the dilapidated state of Aperture.
37* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPqJOak8HFU PotatOS Lament]]. This song only plays on the title screen while you're in the old Aperture Science testing spheres, but it's one of the most haunting, ethereal melodies in the entire game. Despite the digital effects and the nigh-incomprehensible lyrics (they're in Latin, for the curious), the sheer emotion in [=GLaDOS=]' singing is enough to make you want to shed a tear.
38* "[=GLaDOS=]'s Song", a CutSong written by Creator/EllenMcLain herself with her husband John Patrick Lowrie playing guitar. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgiNKEXtx7I Here's]] the original version uploaded by Lowrie, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNeALqJnlMs here]] is a version in [=GLaDOS=]'s voice, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihYVZFl-Ck0 here]] is a music video version (with some spoilers). In any case, the song is beautiful and shows that [=GLaDOS=] really does have a soft spot for Chell.
39* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEPZ-drnUKE Wheatley's Song]]", by Music/MiracleOfSound is a rocker explaining Wheatley in song while also summing up everything he's done.
40* [=Harry101UK=] made multiple songs which are AffectionateParodies of other popular songs.
41** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZIVmKOdrBk This Is Aperture]]", a Portal-themed take on "[[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas This Is Halloween]]". Some of the voices in there are so good you'd swear they were the original [=VAs=].[[note]]This is made even more awesome by the fact that all of the voices were done by the ''[[ActingForTwo same guy.]]''[[/note]]
42** The ''other'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di2wDDwxqHg Wheatley Song]]. VillainSong at its finest, based on "The Oogie Boogie Song" from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''.
43** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U_RvUYINpo If I Were a Core]], a single turret's lament about what it would've done in Wheatley's place in a parody of "[[Music/{{Beyonce}} If I Were Boy]]".
44** How 'bout a ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SSdTXNK2mo Portal]]'' version of ''Advertising/DumbWaysToDie''? It's ''exactly'' what you think it is!
45** [[BlatantLies "I'm not]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_0BapT0mOQ defective!"]][[note]](He is defective!)[[/note]] is a ''Portal''-ized parody of Music/ImagineDragons' "Radioactive". It's just as catchy, and it might make you feel bad for the Defective Turrets.
46* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym3i847J6uw Why Wheatley Why?]] really captures the emotions of most players when Wheatley betrays you.
47* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWMVvD0-0Cc Prometheus]], despite being just a bunch of audio clips set to techno music, is an oddly majestic sounding piece.
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49[[AC:Ambient]]
50* "Triple Laser Phase", a haunting ambient track.
51* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg3JakqJWHU Love As A Construct]], a beautiful track to accompany a relationship that will never be until the ending.
52* [[http://youtu.be/m2SF9e23ApQ There She Is,]] a gorgeous tune that plays as Chell and Wheatley enter [=GLaDOS=]'s ruined chamber. It's haunting and even somewhat intimidating, and it fits the scene perfectly.
53* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tQyP3BVcL4 Wheatley Science]] is sinister, mischievous, and almost Music/DannyElfman-like, and hints at just how badly the Enrichment Center is doing under Wheatley's control. Aside from strings and drums, the entire track is made up of alarms. As a menu-screen track, you would hear it when you open up the game in Wheatley's third of the game - so imagine booting up the game, and the first thing you hear is blaring alarms. You KNOW that Aperture is in great danger, and Wheatley doesn't have a clue how to stop it. This is the music of destruction right here.
54* Several pieces of brilliant soundtrack are missed simply due to perfect integration during certain contexts; notable examples include [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ch0Aj-sws synthesized Bach when "flying"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIcASFQPj0E rhythmically whirring lasers when near welders.]]
55* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O7qvRHkLL0 9999999]] is the very first thing you hear upon playing ''Portal 2'' for the first time. The first 1:07 are quiet and mysterious... and then, at 1:08, the full orchestra kicks in, letting the player know that, this time, the stakes are held even higher than they were the previous game.
56* Players only get to hear a small snippet of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkqdnB7MTrA (defun botsbuildbots () (botsbuildbots))]] on the main menu during [=GLaDOS=]'s tests, but the full song truly shows how awesome it is. It recycles a single melody a few times, and each time it does so, it grows in strength until it peaks at 1:53. Combined with the visuals on the main menu of the turret assembly line, the song provides a perfect feeling of Aperture's machinery hard at work, and how it all combines together to form an impossibly large facility.
57* 'Hard Sunshine' is a beautiful, melancholy track that kind of gives you the impression of what a Hard Light Bridge is like- imagine [[Music/KatrinaAndTheWaves walking on sunshine]], but not being able to feel the actual sun on your skin...
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59[[AC:Other]]
60* "Smooth Jazz will be deployed in 3...2...1..." Aperture used [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPxVMpeVRGI "Offering" by Larry Stephens]] with its catchy saxophone-led melody. As the PA system put it, it was "to help [test subjects] remain tranquil in the face of almost certain death".
61* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrnmgMdvI6U Machiavellian Bach]]. Now that the volume's out. Adds all the bits together, for better, um, book-reading. One of Machiavelli's best songs, that, I know, not a moron... Also, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ch0Aj-sws He's Playing Classical Music]], the electronic version of the song that plays when you're being flung, and the [[http://youtubedoubler.com/idhd mixture]] of the two. If you're wondering, it comes from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYhMpbDCq4s Bach's Little Prelude in C Minor, BWV 934]].

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