Cuphead’s soundtrack tops the jazz charts

It’s the first time in history a video game score has got the No.1 spot.

Cuphead, the indie game notorious for its frantic bullehell, boss rush gameplay and punishing difficulty has picked up another accolade recently. This time for its brilliant toe-tapping soundtrack.

Taking the top spot on the Billboard Jazz charts, Cuphead’s Selected Tunes vinyl soundtrack has made history as the first video game score to reach such heights.

The double LP, which is a re-release of last year’s album, features a range of tunes from the game including exclusive new solos never-before-available composed by Kristofer Maddigan. I can’t claim to be a huge jazz fan, but I have to admit Cuphead’s soundtrack was really something special. It had to be in many ways, as, due to the game’s challenging difficulty, it’s easy to spend upwards of an hour fighting one boss and therefore listening to the same song.

It’s cool to see the art and talent poured into indie games being recognised by such illustrious, and, typically mainstream channels. Video game music has been entertaining players for years – it seems it was only a matter of time until it started topping the charts.

Personally, I feel like this soundtrack is lasered onto my brain after playing the game so much, but there’s plenty to be enjoyed here beyond the symphony of pain and frustration that accompanies the gameplay.

The Cuphead: Selected Tunes vinyl soundtrack is available to buy through iam8bit priced at $40 with the original also purchasable via Bandcamp.