Music

James Lisney's C64 compositions and the Tempest 2000 rave legacy.

— select a track to play —

Click any track row to play. SID playback requires browser audio permission. Files sourced from HVSC.

James Lisney — C64 Catalogue

  1. 01 Title Gridrunner (1982)
  2. 02 In-Game Gridrunner (1982)
  3. 03 Title Matrix (1983)
  4. 04 Title Laser Zone (1983)
  5. 05 Title Sheep in Space (1984)
  6. 06 Title Batalyx (1985)
  7. 07 Title Iridis Alpha (1986)
  8. 08 In-Game 1 Iridis Alpha (1986)
  9. 09 Title Revenge of the Mutant Camels (1984)
  10. 10 Title Andes Attack (1982)

Tempest 2000

Tempest 2000 (1994) arrived not just with improved gameplay but with a rave soundtrack that was wholly unexpected for a 1994 console game. The music — a mix of techno, ambient, and breakbeat — perfectly matched the tube-shooter's psychedelic visuals and helped define the game as a cultural artefact beyond its commercial context.

The soundtrack was composed by James Lisney and others, and was widely praised by Jaguar press as one of the best gaming soundtracks of its era. It transformed what could have been a straightforward arcade port into something genuinely new.

The original Tempest 2000 CD soundtrack has since been preserved and is available through fan archives. It remains a touchstone for discussions of electronic music in gaming. See the Resources page for links.