Post by fgdj2000 on Mar 11, 2021 16:24:46 GMT -5
So, after have ruminated about it in another thread, I try to present you my TOP 10 list of the best MG soundtracks. I primarily focused on Kojima game, but I also like Rising, and couldn't leave it out.
Dishonorable Mention:
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - Just nothing, a pretty forgettable clichéd soundtrack. The Fall of Motherbase was okay, then there were some really bad Inception-esque BAMM BAMM moments and they used Ennio Morricone's beautiful Sacco y Vanzetti score, which was about the only memorable thing in the soundtrack... and it was a bit of licensed music. Musically, nothing else was going on here.
Honorable Mention:
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes - this one has a few bits that really stand out positively, such as the boss themes for the Cyborg Ninja, Psycho Mantis or just the remixed main MGS theme itself. But apart from those few, I remember the music being pretty dull, especially the alert theme. And most of the good music are "just" remixes of music in MGS1. So, it didn't make the list.
10. Metal Gear - Despite the catchy theme of Tara, which is later reused in VR missions, MG1 looses, because it really only uses this one theme (apart from a couple of others) and it gets annoying really fast. So, it was only uphill from here.
9. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - While Ludvig Forsell's (hope I got the name right but was to lazy to check) score nicely underscore's some moments in the game (especially the creepy infiltration theme in the Angola/ Zaire border region), but I think apart from Donna Burke's excellent Sins of the Father, nothing really stands out. Listening to the soundtrack is a snooze apart from a handful of tracks - I should know, I bought it!
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - This does have some real good music in here. Old Snake's haunting theme, the B&B unit, the various set pieces, and of course "Metal Gear Saga". The latter one was only a remix of an MGS3 theme and while I love the re-use of MGS1-MGS3 music in the Liquid Ocelot fight, the music for large stretches of the game didn't quite click with me. No memorable alerts, no sneaking themes. Just "good", but with some exceptions nothing too memorable imo.
7. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - Well, this game has two fantastic tracks that keep being used even by Kojima purists: Show Time and Calling to the Night. It also has some great sneaking tracks, but since much of it feels like remixes of MGS3, only the two main tracks are really memorable, but those in spades.
6. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Now, we get to the good part. Metal Gear Rising is full of awesome music that I keep hearing on car rides, especially the boss music was fantastic. Outside of that, the music is pretty dull though. But the music really elevates the boss fights. Whether it's "Rules of Nature" against Metal Gear RAY, "A Stranger I remain", or the awesome final bosses "Collective Consciousness" and "It has to be this way". The music not only sets a great mood for the fights but also underlines what is thematically going on with each boss. Really fantastic.
5. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - If this were just about the Tanker chapter, this would be much higher on the list. Musically, this was great, whether it's the alert theme, the opening montage or Metal Gear RAY breaking out of the ship... Act 3 also has a lot of great music in it (like the Tengu warrior battle music, which has some of Mantis' theme in it) and let's not forget the iconic rendition of the MGS theme. BUT during Act 2 the music gets very techno. The boss theme is very weird, the alert theme feels impersonal and artificial (which is probably what they were going for) and the music on the Big Shell part of the mission itself doesn't really click that much with me. But I cannot ignore how great the music is for Acts I and III. Not to mention the MGS2 main theme itself.
4. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - I honestly thought this would be much higher on the list, but alas, I was wrong. The game has some truly fantastic music. Virtually every track is catchy and hummable and engages you in the game. Whether it's the Solid Snake theme setting the mood, Zanzibar breeze or Front line tightening the tension or the boss theme going nuts and getting me more cocky than I should be. There is a reason why many of these tracks were remastered for MGS VR Missions and MGS2 Substance. However, this game doesn't quite have the range of emotion and emotive qualities that the games further up in the list have, imo. So, moving on.
3. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - This game blew me away, especially after the disappointing score of MGS4. First, the songs "heavens divide" and the "Peace Walker" main theme are just great. But even if you look further, whether it's the calming doodling in the menus, the humming of the A.I. weapons, the music in the fight against the behemoth Peace Walker or even a J-Pop song playing over the final boss, the music always landed for me. But it's not over, yet. Some MG music is just unbeatable.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - What am I saying? "Snake Eater" is the poster child of this album. Also, we get a Starsailor song at the end, but beyond that, everything just clicks. Harry Gregson William's actually wanted to do jungle-inspired music at the time and you can really feel the creative force in this one. Mixing wooden instrumentation with his more trademark techno vibes while also getting in James Bond-inspired 1960s brass instrumentation and plucking was genius. Whether it's the alert themes, the mischievous Caution theme, the epic Shagohod-fights score, the haunting The Sorrow music, the heartbreaking debriefing. What sets this one above MGS Peace Walker imo is that everything is more cohesive and iconic, while also emitting a much larger range of emotive qualities. But there is only one Boss:
1. Metal Gear Solid - This is partly my nostalgia speaking, but I just think every bit of this soundtrack is uniquely moving. It starts with the Gaelic choire in the opening moments, the various sneaking scores that give every room a unique identity, the alert and boss themes, the beautiful enclosure theme that underlines many heartbreaking moments in the game, the haunting Psycho Mantis theme hinting at deep tragedy in the characters backstory, not to mention the iconic MGS main theme itself. But the true killer app that this score brings, is "The best is yet to come" the beautiful and mysterious Gaelic choire that starts in deep melancholy and then works into something much more hopeful and deeply life-reassuring, which is exactly what the game does. It feels truly genuine and deeply moving. Why is it above MGS3? Part of it is nostalgia, but I have that in spades for MGS3, too. I just think it feels more iconic deeper and every track is hummable. It combines the best qualities of No. 2-3 on this list imo, yet is also very unique.
So, that's about my list. You don't need to be as extensive as I, but I'd like to read about your own thoughts on the matter. :-)
Dishonorable Mention:
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - Just nothing, a pretty forgettable clichéd soundtrack. The Fall of Motherbase was okay, then there were some really bad Inception-esque BAMM BAMM moments and they used Ennio Morricone's beautiful Sacco y Vanzetti score, which was about the only memorable thing in the soundtrack... and it was a bit of licensed music. Musically, nothing else was going on here.
Honorable Mention:
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes - this one has a few bits that really stand out positively, such as the boss themes for the Cyborg Ninja, Psycho Mantis or just the remixed main MGS theme itself. But apart from those few, I remember the music being pretty dull, especially the alert theme. And most of the good music are "just" remixes of music in MGS1. So, it didn't make the list.
10. Metal Gear - Despite the catchy theme of Tara, which is later reused in VR missions, MG1 looses, because it really only uses this one theme (apart from a couple of others) and it gets annoying really fast. So, it was only uphill from here.
9. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - While Ludvig Forsell's (hope I got the name right but was to lazy to check) score nicely underscore's some moments in the game (especially the creepy infiltration theme in the Angola/ Zaire border region), but I think apart from Donna Burke's excellent Sins of the Father, nothing really stands out. Listening to the soundtrack is a snooze apart from a handful of tracks - I should know, I bought it!
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - This does have some real good music in here. Old Snake's haunting theme, the B&B unit, the various set pieces, and of course "Metal Gear Saga". The latter one was only a remix of an MGS3 theme and while I love the re-use of MGS1-MGS3 music in the Liquid Ocelot fight, the music for large stretches of the game didn't quite click with me. No memorable alerts, no sneaking themes. Just "good", but with some exceptions nothing too memorable imo.
7. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - Well, this game has two fantastic tracks that keep being used even by Kojima purists: Show Time and Calling to the Night. It also has some great sneaking tracks, but since much of it feels like remixes of MGS3, only the two main tracks are really memorable, but those in spades.
6. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Now, we get to the good part. Metal Gear Rising is full of awesome music that I keep hearing on car rides, especially the boss music was fantastic. Outside of that, the music is pretty dull though. But the music really elevates the boss fights. Whether it's "Rules of Nature" against Metal Gear RAY, "A Stranger I remain", or the awesome final bosses "Collective Consciousness" and "It has to be this way". The music not only sets a great mood for the fights but also underlines what is thematically going on with each boss. Really fantastic.
5. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - If this were just about the Tanker chapter, this would be much higher on the list. Musically, this was great, whether it's the alert theme, the opening montage or Metal Gear RAY breaking out of the ship... Act 3 also has a lot of great music in it (like the Tengu warrior battle music, which has some of Mantis' theme in it) and let's not forget the iconic rendition of the MGS theme. BUT during Act 2 the music gets very techno. The boss theme is very weird, the alert theme feels impersonal and artificial (which is probably what they were going for) and the music on the Big Shell part of the mission itself doesn't really click that much with me. But I cannot ignore how great the music is for Acts I and III. Not to mention the MGS2 main theme itself.
4. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - I honestly thought this would be much higher on the list, but alas, I was wrong. The game has some truly fantastic music. Virtually every track is catchy and hummable and engages you in the game. Whether it's the Solid Snake theme setting the mood, Zanzibar breeze or Front line tightening the tension or the boss theme going nuts and getting me more cocky than I should be. There is a reason why many of these tracks were remastered for MGS VR Missions and MGS2 Substance. However, this game doesn't quite have the range of emotion and emotive qualities that the games further up in the list have, imo. So, moving on.
3. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - This game blew me away, especially after the disappointing score of MGS4. First, the songs "heavens divide" and the "Peace Walker" main theme are just great. But even if you look further, whether it's the calming doodling in the menus, the humming of the A.I. weapons, the music in the fight against the behemoth Peace Walker or even a J-Pop song playing over the final boss, the music always landed for me. But it's not over, yet. Some MG music is just unbeatable.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - What am I saying? "Snake Eater" is the poster child of this album. Also, we get a Starsailor song at the end, but beyond that, everything just clicks. Harry Gregson William's actually wanted to do jungle-inspired music at the time and you can really feel the creative force in this one. Mixing wooden instrumentation with his more trademark techno vibes while also getting in James Bond-inspired 1960s brass instrumentation and plucking was genius. Whether it's the alert themes, the mischievous Caution theme, the epic Shagohod-fights score, the haunting The Sorrow music, the heartbreaking debriefing. What sets this one above MGS Peace Walker imo is that everything is more cohesive and iconic, while also emitting a much larger range of emotive qualities. But there is only one Boss:
1. Metal Gear Solid - This is partly my nostalgia speaking, but I just think every bit of this soundtrack is uniquely moving. It starts with the Gaelic choire in the opening moments, the various sneaking scores that give every room a unique identity, the alert and boss themes, the beautiful enclosure theme that underlines many heartbreaking moments in the game, the haunting Psycho Mantis theme hinting at deep tragedy in the characters backstory, not to mention the iconic MGS main theme itself. But the true killer app that this score brings, is "The best is yet to come" the beautiful and mysterious Gaelic choire that starts in deep melancholy and then works into something much more hopeful and deeply life-reassuring, which is exactly what the game does. It feels truly genuine and deeply moving. Why is it above MGS3? Part of it is nostalgia, but I have that in spades for MGS3, too. I just think it feels more iconic deeper and every track is hummable. It combines the best qualities of No. 2-3 on this list imo, yet is also very unique.
So, that's about my list. You don't need to be as extensive as I, but I'd like to read about your own thoughts on the matter. :-)
