Adventure Time Volume 5 is the fifth and final chapter in Cartoon Network’s surprisingly complete Adventure Time Soundtrack Series. Furthermore, it features 56 tracks of pure weirdness, reflecting how far the show was willing to go with its music.
Keep reading to learn more about the album and especially where to get it.
Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time Volume 5: A Deep-Cut Playlist for Animation Score Fans
For us animation soundtrack music fans, a good motif or interstitial cue can live in our heads rent-free, regardless of how short or long they are. That is why we collect animation scores, just as some collect rare vinyl variants. Luckily, Adventure Time Volume 5 is full of them, all things considered.
As I have noted, Volume 5 is the fifth and final album in the massive Adventure Time “Complete Series Soundtrack” collection, which Cartoon Network released on May 1, 2019. Additionally, it features 56 original tracks that hop between ambient beds, chiptune grooves, comedy riffs, and the occasional heartfelt mini-theme, all of which are heard throughout the series.
Of course, series composers Casey James Basichis and Tim Kiefer wrote all the music on the album, like they did with the previous albums. However, unlike the other albums, they went pure experimental here, capturing the weirder side of Ooo.
Why Adventure Time Volume 5 Hits Different for Score Nerds
Animation scores often do their most important work in the margins. For example:
- A two-bar joke button soon after a punchline
- Then, a dreamy pad that tells you a scene has shifted to memory
- Finally, a wonky bass line that makes a fantasy landscape feel slightly unsafe.
Volume 5 basically leans hard into that “margins” energy. A lot of these tracks are under a minute, and that, in short, is the point. Adventure Time used music like visual texture, and these cues are, in essence, its brushstrokes.
What makes the album especially fun for soundtrack-first listeners is the genre whiplash.
One moment you’re in playful pseudo-medieval mode, while the next has you bouncing through synth-pop parody. Then suddenly you’re in a calm, spacious cue that feels like a late-night walk through a half-ruined kingdom.
Because the track titles are so specific, you can almost storyboard the scenes from the names alone. As a result, you get an unusually “visual” listening experience even by animation-score standards.
Standout Moments (and What to Listen For)
- “Beach Brawl Fantasy” (extended): A mini-journey that earns its significantly longer runtime—good for hearing how the show created momentum without sounding too “serious.”
- “Slow Space”: fan-favorite vibe with enough groove to loop while you work, but enough detail to reward headphone listening.
- “The Conductor”: A great example of Adventure Time’s tight, characterful, and occasionally uncanny sensibility.
- “Walk into the Sun”: Bright, forward-moving, and surprisingly sincere.
- “Zombie Loop” (extended): A longer, hypnotic build that feels like a montage
- “A Blip and a Bubble”: Spacious and melodic, as well as a sense of wonder.
- “Trunked Up”: A bigger, punchier track that leans into rhythm and attitude.
- “Buff Baby”: A tiny endcap that delivers pure comedic impact in seconds.
Collector’s Guide: Adventure Time Volume 5
Album Details
- Title: Adventure Time Vol. 5 (Original Soundtrack)
- Release Date: May 1, 2019
- Label: Cartoon Network Music
- Composers: Casey James Basichis & Tim Kiefer (credited as Adventure Time)
- Track Count: 56
- Runtime: 1 hour, 4 minutes
- Format: Digital (Streaming & Download), CD
- Features: original micro-cues, mood pieces, and a few extended grooves
Track Listing
- Holliday for Nuts (0:45)
- Gum Party (0:40)
- Up on Muffin Hill (0:28)
- A Beastly Condition (1:11)
- Beach Brawl Fantasy (3:34)
- Baby Feelings (1:04)
- Slow Space (1:19)
- Old Stump Town (0:54)
- Time for Graybles (0:45)
- Words from the Forest (0:50)
- The Conductor (1:45)
- Walk into the Sun (2:12)
- Hiking Across Heartbreak (0:38)
- Frogiven (0:48)
- Grey (0:24)
- Nervous Flamez (0:38)
- Cooking Is Fun (1:20)
- That Red Hot Dame Lorraine (1:43)
- Big Time (1:14)
- Adventure Friends (0:28)
- Oh What a Good Boy Am I – feat. Jeremy Shada & John DiMaggio (0:35)
- Real Heroes (0:45)
- Attack of the Candy Cannibals (1:20)
- Hairrevelation (0:18)
- Brick by Brick (0:51)
- Low G Rap Battle – feat. Andy Samberg & Jeremy Shada (1:08)
- Hardcore Will Never Digest (Original Teddybear Mix) (0:52)
- Vamp Vamp (0:46)
- Wish Upon a String (1:10)
- Space Transit (0:16)
- Thinking of Butts (2:00)
- Don’t Tell Dad (0:24)
- Ghost Buddy (0:45)
- Zombie Loop (3:06)
- Goblin City Shuffle (0:40)
- On the Tail (0:52)
- Modern Comforts (0:48)
- Soy People (0:57)
- Getting a Call in the Woods (0:53(
- Really Big Sweaters (0:50)
- When a Brave Soldier Claps (1:47)
- They Set You Free (0:45)
- Give Me Tears – feat. Karen Vuong (2:53)
- Club in the Clouds (1:54)
- Miniature Dancing Cats (1:12)
- The Cosmos in a Nacho (0:55)
- Hard Skipping (0:33)
- Werk Dat Belly (1:43)
- Skool Bell Strut (0:35)
- Falling Isn’t so Bad (0:41)
- Big Boy Coconuts (0:32)
- Surfing on Brain Waves (0:43)
- A Blip and a Bubble (2:51)
- Train Chasers (0:34)
- Trunked Up (3:55)
- Buff Baby – feat. Jeremy Shada (0:16)
Where to Listen
Cartoon Network released Adventure Time Volume 5 to most major digital music services, including:
Additionally, you can get the album on CD. However, it was included only in the Adventure Time Complete Soundtrack vinyl box set.
Final Thoughts
To summarize, Adventure Time Volume 5 is a reminder that Adventure Time’s music wasn’t just “background”. It was part of the show’s storytelling language, instead.
AS a result, these cues can be silly, tender, unsettling, or oddly triumphant, sometimes within the span of a single minute. And because this volume is packed with micro-tracks, it’s also one of the best ways to appreciate the craft of writing for animation: how to communicate a location, a joke, or a turn in emotion with the smallest possible musical gesture.
However, that’s just my opinion. But what’s yours? Post your thoughts on the album in the comments below without delay.
- Go Back to Volume 4.
- Return to the Adventure Time Complete Soundtrack hub.
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