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Spice Opera

Cover of the CD

Dune: Spice Opera was the soundtrack of the 1992 video game Dune and also contained some unreleased tracks.

It was released as a CD by Virgin Records in 1992. The tracks were composed by Stéphane Picq and Philippe Ulrich. Picq was the official musician at Cryo, while Ulrich was the project leader. Picq composed most of the tracks, though some were joint projects. "Spice Opera" is an example of Picq's "organic" style.

Track list[]

  1. Spice Opera (4:47) (Picq+Ulrich)
  2. Emotion Control (4:19) (Picq)
  3. Ecolove (5:01) (Picq)
  4. Water (3:05) (Picq)
  5. Revelation (6:00) (Ulrich)
  6. Free Men (6:37) (Picq)
  7. Wake Up (5:15) (Picq+Ulrich)
  8. Dune Theme (5:07) (Picq)
  9. Chani's Eyes (5:03) (Picq)
  10. Sign of the Worm (3:15) (Picq)
  11. Too (4:35) (Picq)
  12. Dune Variation (6:20) (Picq)
  13. Cryogenia (4:46) (Picq+Ulrich)

Legal controversy[]

Virgin Records was later sold to EMI, which then became the new holders of the copyright. Picq wishes to have the rights in order to re-release the album, though they were not granted. This album is out of print, so copies are generally available only secondhand or illegally (under U.S. copyright law). Despite the fact that EMI appears to have no plans to re-release the album in the future, it still refuses to return the copyright to any of the composers.

Because the CD is no longer sold, Stéphane Picq commented on the availability of illegal copies:

I received many mails asking me about a new release of "DUNE Spice Opera". Unfortunately, the owners of the rights, EMI publishing, does not want to give me back the rights, even if they don't intend to reprint it in the future! :( Be patient, dudes, because I've signd [sic] with those bastards for 30 years!! Well, I should have read better my contracts (written in english) when I signed with CRYO and VIRGIN (now EMI). BUT... My crystal ball said to me that a MP3 copy of the whole thing is going to be available somewhere on the net... but shhhht! I did not told [sic] you... and I have nothing to do with it, cos' it's a pirate who did it. Anyway, nobody will be able to find any proof it could come from me ;^)[1]

Digital Re-Release[]

On January 27, 2024, Stéphane Picq released a digital album called Dune Spice Opera 2024 remaster on his Bandcamp page. The album contains a remastered version of the Dune: Spice Opera album, as well as remastered versions of the original PC game OST tracks. At this time of writing, it is free to stream and a digital download is available for purchase.

References[]

  1. Stéphane Picq website ~ News (Retrieved through archive.org)

External links[]

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