Original Game Soundtrack Martin O039Donnel Michael Salvatori - Halo 3 ODST (17 tracks) +Album Reviews

Even more amazing work from Marty and Michael

Justin V. Phan | San Francisco, CA | 09/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have purchased the Halo 3 original soundtrack months ago and loved it. I still listen to it while I read today. After purchasing the HALO3:ODST OST, I can say with full confidence that it blows it out of the water (not to discredit the Halo 3 OST, however)

It perfectly sets the dark mood as you play a silent, lost, yet lethal ODST in the city of New Mombasa. I thought years ago the music from Marty and Michael couldn't get any better, but it does with this. And by no means do you need to be a Halo fanatic to enjoy this music. After playing this game in front of my three roommates, every one of them raved about the perfect score that went along so well with the game play.

Just listening to this music (especially with your mp3 player while you walk around in public) will make you feel like a true B.A.M.F., of this I am sure.

Buy this now. Do not hesitate.

Long live Marty and Michael."

Beaultiful layerd music

K. Winters | California, USA | 09/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The music on this soundtrack surprised me so much! The jazz elements are expertly layered in between epic drums and smooth, ambient orchestrals. Nothing feels out of place when it comes up. All crescendos are built up to and emotional, and all of the low ambient parts perfectly set a mood. This music is perfect for me seeing as I'm a writer as it never gets in my way, and always keeps me moving forward. I also play lots of role-playing games (the pen and paper kind) and this is the best background music for any scene. I highly recommend this soundtrack to anyone looking for good music!"

A Lighter Touch

Q. Pair | USA | 09/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"AS an avid Halo fan, i've come to expect that with every Halo game that comes out will be accompanied by an epic score. Halo 1-3 have been the farthest thing from disappointment, Halo Wars was a pleasant surprise, and now we come to the latest installment in the Halo story, Halo 3: ODST. With Bungie composers Martin O'Donell and Micheal Salvatori at the helm, we are fortunate enough to bare witness to another musical gem.

For those who don't know, Halo 3: ODST is NOT a continuation of the story told in Halo 1-3 with the Master Chief as the main character. The story of ODST revolves around a crew of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and tells the tale of what happened between the events on Halo 2 and 3. I say this not to talk about the game, but to make a point that this is a different story then the one being told from before, therefore it calls for a whole new change of theme. ODST is noticeably different from its predecessors. In past Halo soundtracks, we were blessed with a fair balance of epic battle music, mystical ambiance, a couple of cool rock themes, and some well rounded and composed instrumentals that provided an excellent backdrop to an excellent game. The music was big and bold, much like the Master Chief is. With this game however, something that revolves around humans instead of the mighty spartan, the sounds are a bit more subtle.

To put it simply, Halo 3: ODST lacks the same energy that was present in the previous soundtracks. By no means is that a bad thing, its just what has changed. Overall, this soundtrack is very smooth. A fair majority of the CD is comprised of softer, quieter tracks. For instance, playing as the rookie, you roam the streets of New Mombasa at night most of the game, and the accompanying music is smooth and very jazzy, full of piano, strings and saxaphone. Its a unexpected blend of sounds for a game like Halo, but its very effective. For those who haven't played the game, the reason for this is that you spend a good 80% of the game running around a deserted city at night by yourself, ducking Covenant troops. Its a very lonely, covert heavy kind of game. The music does an excellent job of accentuating that feeling of loneliness. Now that doesn't mean there are no good action tracks, because they are most definitely crammed in there, but none really live up to the finale tracks from the last couple of Halo game soundtracks. Personally, that isnt a problem with me.

One thing you will immediately notice about this soundtrack is the length. As far as track listing goes, it is very short: 2 CDs, 9 on disc 1, 8 on disc 2. Although it has a short track list, the songs themselves are organized into suites as opposed to individual tracks. Basically, the same way they did Halo 2 V.2. While this is a nice way to condense the music, I personally prefer the tracks to be separate. Thats just me though. Something else you may notice (if your an avid gamer like myself) is the influence from other game music. In songs like "Asphalt and Absolution" you can hear piano melodies very similar to something you'd here in Resident Evil 2, and "Neon Night" sounded disturbingly like a piano track out of Final Fantasy VII. These are just a couple of examples, but there are a few spread out through the CD. This isnt a bad thing, just something I found that was intresting and that I thought added to the eclectic sound that makes this CD so attractive to listen to.

Bottom line, this is another excellent offering from O'donell and Salvatori. Hardcore halo fans and lovers of score music i strongly urge you get this, you wont be disappointed. Personally, I rank this one #3 on the halo charts, coming behind Halo Wars at #2 and Halo 3 at #1.

Peace"

Ominous & Dark Sound Track: not on par with previous Halo OS

V'ger | 02/19/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"To be honest, although I am a longtime fan of the Halo series, I did not even bother buying ODST (the game), due to the several less-than-stellar reviews I read, and mostly due to my utter disappointment in Halo 3, after the unforgettable experience that Halo 2 had been...

Nevertheless, I am a collector and estimator of good film scores, and I have always considered the epic, mesmerizing, lush, gorgeous, epic music textures woven by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori for the previous Halo games among the _best_ scores ever composed, not only for any game, but also compared to most film scores you can hear today (the epic, gorgeous notes of "This is the hour", for instance, will never fail to send a good chill down my spine); so, I did not wait a second when I saw this CD on Amazon, and I ordered it instantly.

Unfortunately, I must tell you right now that this production, IMHO, turned out to be definitely not right on par with the previous scores, perhaps for the same reasons why the game has not shared the same success of the previous installments...

The opening seconds of the first track ("Overture") of this score, IMHO, definitely set the tone for this entire OST: the sound of heavy rain, followed by a sad, soulful theme, will introduce you to a series of tense, mostly percussive, sometimes bleak, often scary and always intriguing tracks, which will accompany you in a descent through a mysterious and dark journey, where light awaits you only at the end of the tunnel, to quote one of the track tiles...

In other words, since its inception, I think this score completely lacks the epic scale, the heroic moments and the otherwordly atmoshperes that marked Halo 1, 2 and 3 (hence the missing star). For instance, there is no trace of the good ol' "Truth and reconciliation theme", that accompanied all of us Halo players through our campaigns... And do not even _think_ of Steve Vai's screaming guitar in Halo 2: there is just a faint echo of that in the "Street Sweeper" section of track n.7, probably because the story of this game is more akin to a thriller, as far as I know.

Therefore, I could not avoid feeling disappointed, at first, until I got to the 4th track, (the "Rain" section), where I was finally surprised by a beautiful, sad piano theme, accompanied by soaring cellos and strings, that reminded me of the most ethereal, amazing and emotion-stirring themes in Halo 2 ("Unforgotten"/"Heavy price paid", which are worth the price of the Halo 2 OST alone, IMHO). _This_ was exactly the kind of music material that I was actually looking for, so this track radically changed my opinion on the score.

Then, I found another absolutely wonderful track, the real pearl in this score, IMHO, the starting section of n.6 "Asphalt and ablution" ("Still grounded"), which left me totally awestruck by its beautiful, poignant, unforgettable piano theme, again, inspiring an almost tragic atmosphere. And one other similar piano tune is also contained in track n.8 ("Neon night"), which evokes a more thrilling feeling, but not less beautiful.

In my opinion, tracks like these, just like the typical out-of-this-world and epic tracks from Halo 2 and 3, are the sort of musical compositions that completely set apart the Halo scores by these two fine musicians from any other game music: they are so intense, poignant and awe-inspiring, that would really be worth being used in real movies, and are almost too good for a "simple" videogame...

(And that is one of the reasons why I was so sad when I heard that the Peter Jackson's Halo movie project was abandoned: I was really hoping that, one day, I would have the chance to hear such great pieces on a giant screen, underscoring a great movie with our Spartan... who knows, maybe sooner or later this will happen!)

Anyway, there are also other interesting tracks here, or maybe I should say "sections", since this soundtrack, just like the previous one from Halo 3, was created by aggregating very small (often less than a minute long) musical interactive sections from the game into "tracks". For instance, track 3 offers some more "active" parts, just as some sections in track 9: these are mostly percussive sections, and on the whole I noticed a very frequent use (maybe too frequent, sometimes...) of percussions alone for the most "active" parts of this score, with a lack of orchestral textures underscoring such percussions.

This lowered the interest in repeated listenings of these tracks/sections, for me, so I kept browsing for the most lyrical parts, instead.

Problem is, you cannot select the specific sub-sections, but you have to fast-forward through the various tracks to find them; so, if you just want to listen to them, you will definitely need some editing...

Disc 2 also starts with another interesting piano/strings theme ("From the ashes", which at some point reminded me of Philip Glass' Koyaanisqatsi) and then proceeds much like Disc one, alternating other percussive tracks with some more soulful piano/string tracks ("No Stone Unturned", "Light at the end"), in a slight crescendo, that finally opens up in the last sections of track 7, (from "Extra firepower" on), where you can even hear echoes of the Halo 3 themes, and the nice "Finale", which starts subdued and ends up in a fully orchestral, dramatic, intense and utterly gorgeous "final run".

In the end, I would definitely say that, by extracting and/or editing the best parts from these CDs, you can easily put together another nice Halo score: less epic, with a smaller scope and scale, but always interesting, brilliant at times, and absolutely worth its price.

Thanks to Mr. O'Donnell and Mr. Salvatori for bringing the Halo musical torch on!"

Good but not iconic

Gerrit H. Dalman | Oklahoma | 11/02/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Halo 3: ODST delivers in-game, but isn't as good a stand-alone album as its predecessors. Where as most of the track on the Halo 3 OST stand up to countless hours of repetition, stripped of the dark atmosphere of New Mombasa, few of the ODST numbers hold up on their own. They are still masterful pieces, they're just a lot harder to queue up and enjoy. You have to already be in a mood."

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