Tag Archives: fifa 07 soundtrack

#1444: The Sheer – Understand

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FIFA 07 on the PlayStation 2. Think I played that game nearly every weekend, probably between October 2006 to whenever FIFA 08 came out the next year. The FIFA series as a whole introduced me to a lot of alternative music via the soundtracks on each annual iteration. ’07’s edition kept that train rolling. In 2006, I was already a full-blown indie kid, well in the depths of getting my music fix from places like MTV2, Kerrang! and so on. It was cool seeing Muse and Boy Kill Boy in FIFA 07’s soundtrack. But what was usually more satisfying were the songs playing in the background that would creep up on me, and to which I would eventually be singing along to ’cause I couldn’t help it. There were a lot of those on FIFA 07, might be one of the series’ best soundtracks actually. But there were only a small few where I thought, “I wouldn’t mind listening to these forever, thanks.” I’ve written about a couple of them before. The Sheer’s ‘Understand’ appears to be the last one to represent the game in this big list. But I’d shout out ‘Was in der Zeitung steht’ by d.o.c.h.! That song still rips today.

I didn’t know anything about The Sheer before FIFA 07 arrived. I still don’t really know anything about the band now. As soon as FIFA 08 came ’round, The Sheer kind of stopped existing to me. All I know is they’re a band from Holland that made this song, it’s on an album of theirs called Feel the Need, and it must have been released as a single because it has its own music video. The only reason I haven’t embedded it above is because it contains an edit of the song that fades out before its minute-long ending, which is arguably the best part. Yeah, ‘Understand’ was a big favourite of mine on the soundtrack. Can’t remember if it was one of those first-time-hit-me kind of deal, but it does only take one listen to understand its appeal. The opening chords, quite emphatic. The bluesy keyboards during the intro and very much throughout, you’ve got to appreciate. The call of a lyric met with the response of some classic “Hey, hey, hey”s, you can’t go wrong. The lyrics are very easy to decipher with a fine melody to go with them. Took me a second not to use the word ‘understand’ in that last sentence. But with all of those things together and a bit more which I’ll leave you to find, it resulted in a piece of pop-rock that I found I could get along with just fine.

‘Understand’ is a song about unity. A very positive song. You’ll find some cliché lines concerning helping hands, working [things] all out and making it to the end, rounded off with those “Hey, hey, hey”s. If this song was to annoy you, I could probably see where you were coming from. It feels like it could be a number in a musical or something. You could probably call it corny. And maybe it is. But I don’t know what to tell you, I really like the stuff. There’s enough sincerity in the lyrics, and everything’s delivered in a way that’s not overblown that I think prevents it from being over-the-top. What does push things further though is that ending. The song fakes you out with a faux-ending about three-and-a-half minutes in, before the guitar charges up and the band fall in together to play out the remainder of the tune in a blaze of glory. I do remember back in those days of ’06/’07 thinking that if ‘Understand’ was on an album, it would only make sense that it’s probably the last song. ‘Cause where can you go after that ending? And lo and behold, when I saw the tracklist for Feel the Need sometime later on, there was ‘Understand’ in its rightful place as the album closer. I was right. Hooray for me. Feel the Need appears to be AWOL online at the moment. When it comes back, I’ll link it at some point.

#916: Mobile – New York Minute

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This track goes in the long list of those that I have to thank EA Sports for. FIFA 2003 to about FIFA 11/12 were the golden years in which their games had the most memorable soundtracks, each filled with songs of various styles from all over the world, which helped mould my music tastes as I got older. ‘New York Minute’ by Canadian band Mobile was on FIFA 07, then released in September 2006 and a time when I was precisely in my very first month of secondary school. Eleven years of age going on 12, how about that.

On a soundtrack that also featured Muse, Keane, The Feeling, and the theme song from The Inbetweeners, ‘New York Minute’ stood out for many a reason. One mainly being that its chorus was an absolute belter. “Hey now” is a small phrase that’s very much universal, and even if you didn’t know what the singer was saying in between the repetitions of it, you can guarantee that at least that part would get stuck in your head. The riff that propels the verses onward was very decent too. I found that the guitars were playing separate melodies during those sections when I hadn’t fully plugged in the audio cable for my PlayStation 2 one day, so I was essentially hearing one speaker and hearing one guitar following that riff while one another day I heard the other playing something completely different. Sounds a lot better with some good headphones on. Plus, after a while it was a track where I got the lyrics down just from hearing it over and over. The FIFA songs that had that effect were usually the best ones.

Despite all that, I never really took the time to listen to any Mobile music. There was a lot of school work to be done, you know how it is. Also, it wasn’t as easy to just find an album by any artist you wanted and play it like it is today. But maybe it’s for the best. That’s actually how it’s been for a lot of songs I’ve grown to like from these games. The artists might be one of those where that’s the only good song they have, you know? Wouldn’t want to put myself through that disappointment. It appears that the band were only around for six years, and were in the middle of working on their third album before deciding to call it quits. Which is a shame, as it is for any band that feel they can’t go on. Nevertheless, they’ll always be that band who made that great song that appeared in a game that one time and a small kid that little bit happier in those days.

#767: Malibu Stacy – Los AnGeles

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Malibu Stacy are a band from Belgium. Their song ‘Los AnGeles’ – the capitalised ‘G’ isn’t a typo – was part of the soundtrack to FIFA 07, that’s how I came to know it. FIFA was a yearly grab for me; I’d been playing it since 2002 when the 2003 edition came out and the soundtracks on there never disappointed. It was normally the songs that weren’t from the UK that were the best or, at least to me, the most memorable. Here’s the soundtrack for that particular game. Highlights I would recommend are ‘TMCr Grand Finale’ by The Pinker Tones, ‘Was in der Zeitung Steht’ by d.o.c.h.!, and ‘Understand’ by The Sheer. That song will get its own post one day. It’s worth listening to all the songs on that list.

Anyway, ‘Los AnGeles’ played whenever you were on the menus or sorting out transfers. Generally, navigating your way through the game when you weren’t playing matches. The singer isn’t the greatest in the world, but his tone just really matches the instrumental backing. When I was eleven and hearing this song, I was singing along but I had no idea what the guy was saying. Through the years since then, I’ve seen what are considered to be the official lyrics to this song and I’m still not sure he’s even singing those. It’s all about the feeling, though. You can tell they care about what the lyricism is about. Once you’ve got that main keyboard riff in your head, it will pretty much stick there for a while. I’ve also always enjoyed that small part in the instrumental bridge where the track goes into a swinging tempo for a few measures.

I’ve never thought to go into the band’s back catalogue and dig deep into their material. I think this track’s association with FIFA will be as far as it goes for me. The singing probably sounded better to me back in 2006 than it does now but musically, it still packs a punch.