It tells you about where you've been and where you are now or are going to depending on where you are in your gameplay. If you sit and listen to the whole thing, you'll find that you've ended up on a journey of sorts through World of Warcraft history. It evokes emotions in many people and so he's said he doesn't want to take that away but instead, enhance and add to it with each of the expansions. There's an expectation of hearing a certain style of music that says to people that they're logging in to World of Warcraft.

In interviews in the past, Russell Brower has discussed how he likes to keep the original idea of the login music (the theming and key elements) and build on it with each new expansion.

Mists of Pandaria had a Chinese-like remix of The Shattering that replaced most of the hard drum beats with wind chimes. The theme for Cataclysm was called 'The Shattering' by Russell Brower. Each login screen featured a variation of a 10-minute long piece of orchestrated score that features a medley of other music pieces that are heard throughout the game, with the beginning of the piece setting the main tone for the expansion.

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