Albums you need to play the game first before enjoying it?

Some games gain more from context association and some gain less. However, since many of the best scores are among the best because of how well they mesh with and enhance the game experience, I think that playing the game is always a plus.

It's likely that some of the more ambient game scores more often lend themselves to the "play the game first before enjoying it" line of thinking. SMT3 is one of those. Except for the battle themes, a lot of the music is moody and seemingly understated. However, when you play the game, it becomes apparent how well the music fits the experience, and fitting the experience is what soundtracks are all about. Some soundtracks are easy to enjoy right away due to their obvious musicality (Symphony of the Night and Chrono Cross come to mind), but others may need to be heard in context to be appreciated, like perhaps Castlevania IV (my favorite Castlevania soundtrack) or Super Metroid. Of course, once you know how the music works, it's easy enough to enjoy it on its own by drawing upon memories of the experience. My view has always been that listening to the music of a soundtrack without having played the game only gives you part of the picture. Experiencing it in context completes the whole of what a particular soundtrack is about. Of course, experience and such can make things be understood well enough beforehand sometimes that playing the game doesn't add anything unexpected, but you never know. I cherish those moments when a track becomes more than the sum of its musical parts. Such tracks serve to inspire my imagination and carry me off to some locale or circumstance. It's the very reason that I enjoy soundtrack music in general more than other music.

Of course, the best tracks do have to be musically interesting and/or enjoyable as well in addition to serving their purpose as score material. I just don't subscribe to the notion that "music is music" and therefore the game context is irrelevant. Some folks who import soundtracks to games they've never played like to claim that it's part of some sort of superior open-mindedness, but that's baloney. I've enjoyed soundtracks without having played the games but I'd never downplay the importance of context in a soundtrack. These are soundtracks. Not stand alone works. The context association is part of what defines the music.

Jam it back in, in the dark.