In its first week since release, The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack has sold very well. The game swept The Game Awards and was a commercial success, and the music, when it had some, was excellent. The Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack debuted at number four on the charts and sold 23,328 units during the week of April 23. The Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack wasn’t far behind the second and third-best-selling albums either. The third best-selling album barely beat out Breath of the Wild with 23,963 units sold, and the second-highest selling album sold roughly 31,000 units.
This is the first time in years that Nintendo has released a full soundtrack for a Zelda game. They skipped Skyward Sword, which arguably has the best music in the franchise. Breath of the Wild has some fantastic pieces though. The main theme is easily one of the best in the series. The music is very different than other Zelda games. It’s ambient. The music is atmospheric. It’s not full of bombastic motifs like previous titles. That is OK, but it’s not for everyone. The final boss music (Best Ganon) is probably the best track in the game.
It’s great to see the Breath of the Wild soundtrack do so well. This bodes well for future Zelda soundtrack releases as well. The A Link Between Worlds Official Soundtrack by Ryo Nagamatsu was only released as a Club Nintendo reward in Europe, and that score was fantastic. Hopefully Nintendo will continue to release The Legend of Zelda soundtracks, as they’re not only top-notch quality, but as the Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack shows, they sell incredibly well.