The Stones Archive
Intro · What Is This All About? · Lyrics · Official
Versions · Fan
Versions And Remixes · Ultima Remake
Versions
Welcome
to the Stones Archive!
It's been a while and a lot of things happened in the past two years since the previous update,
one of the most notable being the successful Kickstarter of Richard Garriott's new game,
Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues - a spiritual successor to Ultima.
During the campaign, he talked to some of the people who contributed to the series over the years -
people like Starr Long (who joined him to work on SotA),
Warren Spector, and
David Watson
who is even contributing a song to the new game!
For more Ultima or SotA related news, check out WtF Dragons fantastic Ultima Codex.
I'm happy to announce that I've added five new versions of Stones today, and all of them are really awesome!
As always, you can find them below, marked as new!.
I found two of them on Dwelling of Duels, a community dedicated to video game remixes and
remix competitions that has a lot of other great songs, too.
Also, Ultima Fan Project Pax Britannia got its own version of Stones.
The interesting bit here is that the game is created to run on a ZX Spectrum variant!
Travis Richards is contributing for the third time now, and he's getting better and better.
This version, called "Stones Fanfare", has been inspired by Skyrim, but I'm feeling a Metal Gear Solid vibe, too. Really well done!
The final piece has been created by Pedro Marcondes and is in fact just one of many great Ultima remixes he released in the past weeks.
You should really check out his Soundcloud page, cool stuff!
On related news, Gillian Grassie did a great job playing Stones on a harp -
Really beautiful, despite the low quality recording. Also, the Descendants of Erdrick
did a Stones/U5Theme mashup that really deserves a better recording, too.
Last but not least, Holt Ironfell created "Forsaken Stones", a trance take on the
song that is available on Bandcamp.
If you are interested in what I do while I'm not updating this
website and are familiar with the german language, you should visit my blog.
Most of its contents are gaming related with a strong focus on iOS games for the last few years.
You've created your own version of Stones or want to comment
on this site? Feel free to drop me an email! Now enjoy your stay
at the Stones Archive.
- Sven "Thorwan" Haskel (January, 2014)
Stones is a song, composed by David "Iolo" Watson for ORIGIN, inc.'s Ultima computergame
series. His wife Kathleen "Gwenno" Jones wrote the lyrics. This song became
one of the most famous in computer gaming history. It's no surprise that
lots of Ultima fans created their own versions and remixes based upon the original
song, and that's exactly what you'll find here, along with some of the official versions. Enjoy!
Long ago ran the sun on a folk who had a dream
And the heart and the will and the power:
They moved the earth; they carved the stone; moulded hill and channeled stream
That we might stand on the wide plains of Wiltshire
Now men asked who they were, how they built and wonder why
That they wrought standing stones of such size
What was done 'neath our shade? What was pray'ed 'neath our skies
As we stood on the wyrd plains of Wiltshire
Oh what secrets we could tell if you'd listen and be still
Rid the stink and the noise from our skirts
But you haven't got the clue and perhaps you never will
Mute we stand on the cold plains of Wiltshire
Still we loom in the mists as the ages roll away
And we say of our folk, "they are here!"
That they built us and they died and you'll not be knowing why
Save we stand on the bare plains of Wiltshire
Ultima 9 Ascension |
This version has been played by an 50-piece orchestra and
sounds really cool. It was arranged by George Oldzie and found
at the official Ultima
9 website. |
|
Ultima Online - Lord Blackthorns Revenge |
That's how stones should sound! I couldn't find
out who created it, but he did an awesome job. Got this one
at
the official
UO: LBR website. |
|
ORIGIN Soundtrack Series Vol. 2 |
The first Stones version that appeared on an Audio CD. It
could be found on the rare ORIGIN Soundtrack Series Vol. 2
album and
was ripped and encoded by Esteram
Dragon. |
|
Ultima Online - Lord Blackthorns Revenge
Remix |
Created by Curse Mackey of Grim Faeries fame, this version
sounds... uhm somewhat experimental. Originally created for
UO2, it later appeared in UO: LBR. |
|
Ultima VII |
This is a recording of the original Ultima VII MIDI file,
using a Roland MT-32 MIDI synthesizer. I found
it at Tom
Grandgent's website. |
|
Ultima VI |
Another MT-32 recording of an original MIDI file. This one
is out of Ultima VI and has been created by Hurin. |
|
Ultima V - Commodore 128 |
A recording of the original Commodore 128 version, created
by Linards
Ticmanis using sidplay. |
|
Ultima Online |
A recording of the Ultima Online MIDI of Stones, played
on a Soundblaster AWE32 using the 4 MB Soundfont that was included
in UO. This one was recorded by myself. |
|
Drow singing Stones |
Another one with vocals, performed by Drow and
based upon the official U9 version. He has another style as
Brad, and I couldn't say which one I like better. Check out Drow's
website for more of his work. |
|
Stones (acoustic) by Drow |
Drow himself
sent me another version of Stones, completely handmade and
(!) with vocals!
If you liked his previous work, you'll love this one. |
|
Stones Suite |
Download, listen, dream - Steven
Keys got it right! Nothing computer generated here, just
his natural keyboard performance. |
|
Hammered Dulcimer Stones |
This version has been played by Goldenflame Dragon on a hammered dulcimer. |
|
Morgan the Bard's Stones |
Morgan
the Bard himself sent in this nice version of Stones.
He's also about to put up more medieval music on his website and MySpace Site,
too. So make sure to check it out! |
|
Stones 2001 |
A modern version created by DJ
Lizard. He remastered it in September 2004, now it sounds
even better! |
|
Stones 2001 feat. Amy "Cynthe" Sage |
Amy
Sage, former community lady and designer at Origin, sent
me this wonderful piece. She took DJ Lizards' version and mixed
her lyrics on top of it. You wonder how that might sound?
Well, you can easily find out using that download link below
:) |
|
Brass Stones
|
Travis "Snafe" Richards was
looking for a version of Stones with a nice Brass in it. As
he didn't find one, he just started
to arrange one on his own! Now that's commitment! |
|
Piano Solo
|
Something I always missed was a pure piano play of Stones.
Thanks to Dustin N�gel, I got one. If you
are into piano music and want Stones, this download is the
way to go. Sadly, he doesn't have a website I can link to. |
|
Wiesty and Erikov Stones Remix
|
This remix was created by Wiesty and Erikov, and that's pretty
much all I can tell you about it. They, too, don't have a website.
The soundquality isn't that good, but I'm pretty sure some
of you
folks will
like
it anyway. |
|
Acoustic Guitar Stones with Lyrics
|
Marcus Korzune decided that it was time for a acoustic guitar
version. On top of that, he sings it, too. He didn't provide
a website I can link to, though. This version will make you
smile, believe me ;) |
|
Zarakas' Guitars with Lyrics
|
Like Marcus Korzune, Lars "Zarakas" Michalsky used
an acoustic guitar. And two electric guitars. And he sings.
But unlike Marcus, he sounds like he has done this before. |
|
Ultima V: Lazarus #2 feat. Michele
Haytko
|
Based on Grotto Dragon's Version, Michele
Haytko did
an awesome job on singing Stones with her wonderful voice.
But don't thank her alone, as her husband Peter is the one
who introduced her to Stones and helped her dub it. Check
it out! |
|
AVR Stones
|
Programmed in assambly for an
AVR music box,
this version by Sean Boyce is one fine example of geekery.
|
|
Stones on Guitar
|
Inspired by playing EUO, an Ultima influenced MUD,
Djanno started playing stones on his guitar. And thats what you'll listen to once you click that download link. |
|
Orchestral Stones
|
Travis Richards,
who also did the Brass version of Stones, created this fine work for an unannounced Neverwinter Nights 2 module. |
|
Stones Fanfare new! |
Inspired by Skyrim, this latest version by Travis Richards is a real masterpiece! |
|
Ultima V Stones new! |
Pedro Marcondes created a lot of cool Ultima remixes lately, make sure to check out his Soundcloud page to listen to more of his work! |
|
Ultima IV: The Dawn Of Virtue |
This version was created by Jaakko
Peltonen for the Ultima IV: The Dawn of Virtue Remake.
Sadly, it was canceled in September 2004 and the official
Website went down. |
|
Ultima V: Lazarus #2 |
Originally created for the Lazarus Project, it seems that
the creator of this version, Grotto
Dragon, is no longer part
of the Team. |
|
Ultima V: Lazarus #3 |
Jared Ellsworth created this soft and slow version for the
Prologue of Ultima
V: Lazarus. |
|
Ultima V: Lazarus #4 |
Another
good example by Jared Ellsworth how a great Stones version
should sound like. |
|
Ultima VI: Archon #2 |
Without Muzexia, the Archon Team needed another musician.
With Steven
Keys, they found a great replacement! |
|
Ultima IX: Redemption #1 |
Chlorthos
Dragon of Titans
of Ether created
this version for Ultima IX: Redemption, a fan-built mod for
Morrowind. |
|
Adventures Of Blackthorn |
This version has been created by Wind Walker for the now canceled
"the Adventures of Blackthorn" project. |
|
Ultima IX: Redemption #2
|
Another nice Version by Chlorthos Dragon for the Titans
of Ether project with a more personal note. |
|
Ultima: Return
|
It's no secret that Grotto Dragon is one of my favorite Stones composers.
He's now working on the Soundtrack for Ultima: Return
(formerly known as Return to the Serpent Isle) and started with releasing one of the most epic renditions of stones. Love it! |
|
Ultima 3.5: Pax Britannia new! |
Cheveron created this version of Stones for Pax Britannia, an Ultima fan project dedicated to bringing Ultima style game to the ZX Spectrum. |
|

Ultima, ORIGIN, and the Ultima and ORIGIN
logos are trademarks of Electronic
Arts Inc.
Game content and materials
copyright 2014 Electronic Arts Inc.
All rights reserved.
All remixes are intellectual property of their respective creators.
Webdesign & content © 2014 by Sven
Haskel. |