Music

Music is an important part of the No One Lives Forever series. The games have been critically acclaimed for their score. The Operative: No One Lives Forever (NOLF1) came with an extra bonus CD, In the Lounge, containing original 60s-inspired songs not featured in the game itself.

The soundtrack for the original version of No One Lives Forever (as well as the later Mac OS X port) and all other the games' music was composed and produced by Guy Whitmore using DirectMusic technology, except for the PlayStation 2 version of NOLF1 and the extra level in the Game of the Year (GOTY) edition of NOLF1. Whitmore's score was not used for the PlayStation 2 version of NOLF1. Instead it was composed by Rebecca Kneubuhl, with original music, who did the music for In the Lounge as well and mixed by Gabriel Mann. The extra level in the GOTY version was scored by Will Loconto. The No One Lives Forever theme song was created by Rich Ragsdale. Kneubuhl and Mann also provided vocals for the title theme.

The music in Contract J.A.C.K. was mostly reused from No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way.

In-game score
Whitmore's score is an example of adaptive music; music which changes smoothly during gameplay, depending on certain factors. The factors in the NOLF games are mostly related to changes in the state of enemy artificial intelligence; for example, if the player is spotted by enemy NPCs, then the music might switch to a more combative state.

Whitmore's task as composer was "to capture the flavor of the '50s/'60s spy genre, without infringing on any existing copyrights." In order to avoid any legal troubles over music from the James Bond franchise of films and games, Whitmore was initially asked to refrain from using brass instruments; a directive he compared to "being asked to produce a blues album without guitars". Influences for the score included German composer Peter Thomas, the soundtrack of the 1968 film Barbarella, and "and an array of Italian composers who did beautiful scores for low budget European erotic films."

In the Lounge
The game was released with bonus 1960s-inspired music on the second CD. The songs available on this album, titled "In the Lounge "[2], were not featured in the game, but were specifically written as extra material. The 9 songs were written by Rebecca Kneubuhl (who created the in-game score for the later PlayStation 2 port as well). The CD also features two songs by independent artists: "Void" by Red Delicious and "El Dorado" by Archie Thompson. These were selected for inclusion as part of a NOLF online "music search", organized by Fox Interactive and Indiespace.com.

A different version of "In the Lounge" was also created as an exclusive bonus for people who purchased the game from retail giant Best Buy [3] [4]. This includes the same 9 original tracks, although in a slightly different order. It does not include the two pieces of independent music; however, it does feature Rich Ragsdale's NOLF title theme, as well as remixes of 6 of the original songs, by Gabriel Mann.

Various editions and local/bundled releases of NOLF1 were accompanied by a bonus music CD, titled In the Lounge. These CDs include songs written just for this purpose – they are not featured in the game itself –, as well as a few other tracks.

"In the Lounge"

 * 1) DATA – 39:40
 * 2) Goodman's Surprise – 02:24
 * 3) Santa's Workshop – 02:39
 * 4) Be-boppin' Shoo-woppin' Along – 02:43
 * 5) The Operative – 03:41
 * 6) Elevator of Love – 02:57
 * 7) No One Grooves Forever – 03:11
 * 8) Suisse Chalet – 03:34
 * 9) UNITY's Spy – 02:59
 * 10) Unknown – 02:42
 * 11) El Dorado (Archie Thompson) – 02:41
 * 12) Void (Red Delicious) – 03:54

Best Buy Exclusive
Bonus CD features a modern, contemporary remix of the "In the Lounge" tracks. Original tracks included.
 * Goodman's Surprise remix
 * Santa's Workshop remix
 * The Operative remix
 * No One Grooves Forever remix
 * Unknown remix
 * UNITY's Spy remix

Mac Play version Soundtrack

 * 1) Goodman's Surprise – 02:24
 * 2) Santa's Workshop – 02:39
 * 3) Be-boppin' Shoo-woppin' Along – 02:43
 * 4) The Operative – 03:41
 * 5) Elevator of Love – 02:57
 * 6) No One Grooves Forever – 03:11
 * 7) Unknown – 02:42
 * 8) Suisse Chalet – 03:34
 * 9) UNITY's Spy – 02:59
 * 10) No One Lives Forever Theme – 01:41
 * 11) Goodman's Surprise remix – 03:03
 * 12) Santa's Workshop remix – 02:58
 * 13) The Operative remix – 03:45
 * 14) No One Grooves Forever remix – 03:11
 * 15) Unknown remix – 02:43
 * 16) UNITY's Spy remix – 03:16