In case you haven’t heard, Halo 2‘s re-recorded score for the Anniversary edition is gorgeous. Martin O’Donnel and Michael Salvatori’s original score receives a lot of love from Skywalker Sound, elevating the music to video game godliness. Really, could there be a better match made in heaven? But whether its still popular isn’t a sign of the score’s greatness. It’s the way it becomes its own separate masterpiece, having a life of its own through sound. Each movement tells a story. Just listen for yourself: This entire score is an awe-inspiring work from movement to movement. The crescendos come often, but then we’re hit with such quiet moments where the barely audible scratching of a violin and Gregorian chant set the scene for Halo 2‘s horror moments. “Librarian’s Gift” is one of the scariest things I’ve ever listened to. I wouldn’t call Skywalker Sound’s take on O’Donnel and Salvatori’s original score an “improvement.” That implies that the original sound, melodies, movements, and themes of Vol. 1 and 2 aren’t perfect. They really are. Like Halloween without John Carpenter’s famous piano score, stripping away the game from its score would render Halo 2 a completely different experience. Perhaps even a bland one. No, this score made the game even better than it already was. Want to listen to what started it all? I’ve got you covered. Below is the original score from back in 2004:
Vol. 1
Perhaps most famous for giving me a legitimate reason to listen to Hoobastank and not hate myself, Vol. 1 focuses in on single scenes in the game — the little stretches of music that cue many of the big moments in the game. There’s also a Breaking Benjamin song called “Blow Me Away” that didn’t seem to make it into this volume, although it complements one of the most important moments in Halo 2: the Elite Rebellion. OH! And Grammy Award-winning musician Steve Vai played the guitar tracks for a lot of the score. Some dude named John Mayer also did a little uncredited work. According to O’Donnell’s interview in the Halo 2: Anniversary documentary, he was even offered Jeff Beck. Yikes! Just goes to show you how willing Microsoft was to put awesome music in this game. This volume is broken up by four preludes from Incubus that sound more like they were having a Halo-theme jam session than recording something for the game. Still, “Movement of the Odyssey” makes for nice little transitions in the score. “High Charity” remains my favorite thing ever in Vol. 1. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful pieces of music that O’Donnell and Salvatori have ever recorded. Master Chief fights his way through the Flood in the infested Covenant capital city spaceship, High Charity, while looking beyond towards the purple skyline. All around you, the scenery unfolds like an oil painting. Seriously, take a moment in the game to stare off into the distance while on High Charityand listen to the accompanying music. You could put this piece in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. No offense, Hans Zimmer. I could almost imagine listening to “Sacred Icon Suite” in one of those prestige war films about honor and duty. This piece instills a sense of god and country in its first movement, followed by darker instances in the second half. By the end, things get really eerie. The Flood are afoot, after all. As a whole, Vol. 2 is all about ambience, clinging to the environments and scenes in the game, and creating the moods that move the story along. This is definitely more of the “listen in the dark” variety than the head-banging jam session that makes up most of Vol. 1. What are your favorite parts of the Halo 2 scores? Tell us in the comments.
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