Fascinating

@MarcoMeatball

Жыл бұрын

Hey Martin!!

@jointpop2731

Жыл бұрын

THE ELDER HAS SPOKEN

@roorsworch5998

Жыл бұрын

The GOAT himself

@Spartanwall

Жыл бұрын

the king has spoken...

@UnwantedCommentary

Жыл бұрын

MARTY!

I remember there being a viral video a few years back where a bunch of guys were in a public restroom, one guy started humming the theme and then everyone joined in. One of the funniest things I've ever seen, but it definitely signifies the impact that the song has had on gamer culture. It's especially true of men, but everyone wants to experience an epic adventure, and this music is designed to evoke that very feeling, so even for those of us who have never played Halo, it still leaves a great impact.

@MarcoMeatball

Жыл бұрын

Mhm!

@unlimited971

Жыл бұрын

Or when they played it on a stadium as intro

@Luchux177

Жыл бұрын

It was a high school bathroom iirc, there was also another video of the girls of the school listening in.

@solastro5595

Жыл бұрын

When men go into the bathroom...

@Volyren

Жыл бұрын

Random necropost, but, fun idea. I'm putting a list of game music together. The premise, going back in time to blow beethoven's freakin' mind. I got Minecraft, I got the Halo theme. I'm trying for 10. Any suggestions?

Martin O' Donnell is a goddamn genius of a composer. Pretty sure he wrote that gregorian chant while _on his way to work_ just a couple weeks before it'd be played live at MacWorld 1999. Not to mention Halo _2's_ theme is the same thing, but they just added an electric guitar, because why not. Badass.

@MarkoDash

Жыл бұрын

CE also had a electric guitar track on silent cartographer, titled 'Rock anthem for saving the World'

@greatcesari

Жыл бұрын

David Satorri deserves at least half the credit. I actually think he's behind the original theme.

@Vonmoonlight

Жыл бұрын

@@greatcesari both of them takes the credit together Alot tend to just credit Marty, but they tend to forget Salvatori and Marty doing most of the pieces together I would like to think of Salvatori doing the harmonic rhythm beats and the emotional feel While Marty brings in the uniqueness of each piece and adds a feel of a setting into it, making it a layer of simple yet complex music

@UNSCPILOT

Жыл бұрын

Mjolnir mix has lived rent free in my head for nearly 20 years, and it's still forerunners damed amazing

@BC3789

Жыл бұрын

Indeed he did. he said in an interview the 7 note gregorian chant came to him while driving to work and he continued singing it over and over until he arrived at work and had the chance to write it down. (memory may be off so a few details could be off)

I just love how Halo is a really intense (if a bit goofy) military shooter about Humanity trying to simply exist, and yet the entire soundtrack is orchestral/choral, with a little electric guitar as a seasoning. Most games end up going with hard rock or death metal or something similar. But Halo just sounds more Human and realistic, like all the music was written by a military band to be played at events or ceremonies that look back on the Human/Covenant War.

@pumaman7072

Жыл бұрын

And I like how whenever Halo does go for more synthetic or unnatural sounding music, it's for heavily Covenant or Forerunner oriented places. Like especially the Flood areas of Halo CE.

@TheSaiderRiscam

Жыл бұрын

What games do you play if you think most games use hard rock and death metal?! Most games use beautiful orchestral soundtracks.

@Glorfindel_117

Жыл бұрын

@@TheSaiderRiscam Most shooters, specifically. Stuff like Doom comes to mind

@TheSaiderRiscam

Жыл бұрын

@@Glorfindel_117 Well, yeah Doom is a given. But Doom is the only shooter that I can think of that uses Metal music like even COD uses orchestras. Maybe Quake. I think Quake’s music is gothic. But if you play a lot of shooter games that I’ve never heard of that use rock music I’ll take your word for it.

@gingermcgingin4106

Жыл бұрын

That's because Halo is a space opera

The Halo theme is wonderful. However as someone who played all the bungie halos religiously, the version of this track that is forever stuck in my mind was from halo 3's final level. Named "Halo: Greatest journey". Its filled with even more emotions!

@DeeFourCee

Жыл бұрын

Mjolnir mix is the most iconic for me

@seraph1690

Жыл бұрын

the warthog run?, that one is fking amazing, I have tears wheneevr I remmber the Halo collapsing and we running in our warthog

@zetta8277

Жыл бұрын

To this day I still remember that level like it was yesterday. Thats greatly in part to the theme since music tends to bring us back to those moments.

@MasterHall117

Жыл бұрын

As someone who use to play them all religiously (especially the Bungie ones), seeing Infinite go back to the roots that was in the OG trilogy was enough to make a grown ass man cry and that’s okay… the current state is a bit rocky but we are back on track!

@thatguybrody4819

Жыл бұрын

the music in halo 3 is great but i gotta give it to ODST.

So from Halo 1 perspective, where this song originally appeared, the theme very much reflects the pace and the story. You start off slowly in the vast space space, a lone human spaceship escaping from hostile aliens (humanity is losing a war to these aliens, the Covenant). You start playing as the last supersoldier from an old Spartan program - awoke from hibernation, as the human ship falls to the assault you jettison into space, to a nearby unknown structure. Its a giant artificial ring - the Halo. Its a majestic, bending together nature and technology, its creators, the "Forerunners" are godly to you. The pace picks up and surviving human crew tries to uncover the secrets of this Halo - a shift, its both a weapon and a danger. The inhabiting Flood is a cursed parasite horde that takes over any living being, and Forerunners were scared of releasing it, so they made Halo's - multiple, devices that in sync would wipe the galaxy clean of organic life. Locked in a 4way between the Covenant troops, the Flood horde trying to leave the ring and Forerunner robots trying to perform the Halo wipe, you manage to destroy this specific halo, preventing the launch - now the chorus returns, Master Chief is stranded in space and so is the player back to the start, but now having lived this tale of cosmic wonders and cosmic dangers.

@S3NTO

Жыл бұрын

You absolute boss

@Guardian_Arias

Жыл бұрын

You can not summarize this any further without loosing a massive part of the story. Epically done, you sir are a gentleman and a scholar.

@lion_of_judahgaming134

7 ай бұрын

There is no better way to have summarized this... I think if someone, ANYONE, tried they would take out a lot of the key points that you stated which are just too important to be left out... what an amazing job. A true fan and lover of the franchise through and through.

From what I remember, this track was composed for when the game was first revealed. The composer was told that it needed to be something "ancient, mysterious, and epic."

@lelouchvibritannia4028

2 ай бұрын

Actually, Marty was only given three words: "ancient, epic, alien."

I've never really cared about Halo but this theme, this THEME. It's so iconic that it kind of transcends its genre and is just known as a *really good* piece of music. It's compelling, it's strong, it's practically flawless. That male chorus, the clever vocal work by the female voice, the pitch-perfect strings... I can't say enough good things about this theme.

@Vonmoonlight

Жыл бұрын

That "female voice" is just Marty doing some random "tribal ish" singing 😂 It was the same in Under Cover of Night, you can go search Under Cover of Night Marty Inception You will see that he shown a raw old voice recording of him doing all that gibberish supposed female vocal

@Tolly7249

Жыл бұрын

@@Vonmoonlight Honestly, gotta respect! Changing your range like that is legit very hard!

@gabethebabe3337

Жыл бұрын

@@Tolly7249 Fun fact about this song. Marty basically came up with it last minute on a car ride. Also the opening is inspired by the opening of the Beatles song Yesterday.

@KjetilVago

Жыл бұрын

The only videogame music I think can approach the level to which this theme is known outside of the context of the game itself is Baba Yetu from Civ IV.

@thor1829

8 ай бұрын

@@KjetilVago Baba Yetu and the Halo theme may very well be, in my opinion, the top two greatest soundtracks ever composed for any video game, ever, with the third being Midna's Lament from Twilight Princess.

Fun fact, the vocals at 2:57 isn't a female, it's actually Marty. He said in an interview at some point that he was just messing around with those sounds and felt silly while doing so, but ultimately that's what they went with.

@tommypicco4216

6 ай бұрын

You changed my day🥳🤯

I’m 11 months late, but you pretty much dissected the song perfectly. The feeling of the vastness of space from the choir. The “reaching for the stars” and “discovery” like the discovery of the Halo ring. “Refuge in the stars” like humanity (or the Pillar of Autumn fleeing a covenant fleet).

I'm actually in the camp that prefers that you haven't played Halo - it's so much more interesting to hear your interpretation on the score without being 'spoiled'. A raw and pure impression of the soundscape - I'm always impressed by your ability to deduct a soundtrack's atmosphere!

Martin O'Donnell revealed at one point that the bits of the woman singing in the OST were actually just him making singing notes and pitch shifting them up, which I found rather funny Also I get chills every time this plays, and I've heard it hundreds of times since I first played myself around 2004

There isn't a single piece of music in existence that evokes a stronger sense of nostalgia in me than this one!

@Averyjohnson336

Жыл бұрын

This takes me back to when I first played the original halo one the original Xbox

The Halo Theme is one of those pieces of music that, those that grew up with it, will extract some tears due to how awesome and beautiful this is.

This theme was otherworldly when it came out, and rightly so. I always got the sense of something ancient and mysterious blended perfectly with something wild and untamed. I can't really describe what this game felt like other than unadulterated wonder and astonishment, and the music was such a viral component.

The fact that this plays on the main menu of the first Halo game with just a shot of the Halo as the backdrop really made one wonder what they were about to get into with the game. When Halo released we had never really seen anything quite like it before and the soundtrack really helped with that. Also, you're spot on with the theme in this song and Halo in general. Halo is a mash of exploration, wonder, terror, and survival with a sprinkling of pure bad-assery.

I remember being twelve when Halo CE came out, and I got to the title screen, heard this iconic operatic masterpiece, and immediately thought to myself - "this isn't just another game - this is going to be something special."

This song pfff so memories just by hearing this. As a halo fan, it's incredible thinking what all this franchise has gone through, maybe his golden age has passed, but it is and always be a legend in gaming.

I think the best way to describe Halo is. "Burn bright against the darkness." Its about the struggle of humanity against forces that wish to see them extinct and how even though we're incredibly outgunned we're not going quietly while also giving this feeling of things bigger than ourselves, much more ancient and much more alien. But in the end, it's a story about hope.

@rustedgaming8224

Жыл бұрын

And the aliens are religious

If you're interested in a piece from the series you probably haven't heard, my absolute favourite from the franchise is Rain (Deference for Darkness) from the ODST soundtrack. You can still hear notes of the original theme but the feel is completely different.

@iaxacs3801

Жыл бұрын

Deference for Darkness to this day is still one of my favorite gaming music tracks. Speaks volumes of how it can still stand with soundtracks like FF14 and Nier

@jsjsjsjsjssjs

Жыл бұрын

Yes! Marco you should def check this out!

@justsam100

Жыл бұрын

@@iaxacs3801 I agree with the Nier comparison. FF14 however is, while being super good, incredibly safe and a run of the mill type of OST, like most games. There is nothing wrong with it of course, but there is also nothing particularly exciting about it either i think. It's good, you vibe to it, but it doesn't really strike you as "that's genius, I've never heard nothing like it before". Halo when it came out was completely unique and incredibly high quality for the time and budget. I would also argue that, to this day, the original trilogy OST sounds like nothing else...movie or game. Nier is the same thing: incredibly good AND most importantly unique and recognizable. You know a piece of music is good when you can tell right away what is and who wrote it. All the great pieces of classical music have this quality...think Vivaldi for example. You hear any of his Concertos and you immediately know it's Vivaldi. Same for Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky etc...

@iaxacs3801

Жыл бұрын

@@justsam100 I'm glad you think so on Nier, but the reason Soken and his team is so good is that he's throwing out bangers in all sorts of genres. His specialty is Letmotifs, it might not sound unique but for storytelling it's very powerful. Rip away the OST from the story and it weakens it but within the story you make an entire fandom cry with just a few notes. I'll admit I'm no expert but in my humble opinion good music speaks to ones heart and emotions. There's a reason even birds can enjoy and make music. And not to dis Halo because it's legendary and Martin deserves the praise, but listen to the soundtrack between the first 3 games and you find Leitmotifs amongst them. And I will not stand for the slander against Soken. The only "safe and run of the mill" part of FF14 you'll find is in A Realm Reborn due to the fact they were trying to revive a game they had to burn to the roots. Listen to the songs "Neath Dark Waters" or "To the Edge" and tell me you've heard a song use a ticking clock as a main instrument before. Tell me you've played through to Endwalker, tell me you've listened to more then just some of the basic overworld themes or I will not take a single word you say against that soundtrack. Get your elitist shit out of my face

@justsam100

Жыл бұрын

@@iaxacs3801 First things first, let's keep this civil, alright? It's not about being elitists, it's about having an informed opinion. You are, of course, free to take my opinions as simple gatekeeping, but I assure you that's not my intention. If you want to make an argument for something being "the greatest" you have to be ready face pushback, particularly when there's a basis for it. I understand the emotional attachment to music and I respect yours, but being objective is also important. If I went purely based on attachment and emotional response I would be out here saying Linkin Park is the greatest band ever. I haven't said anything against the soundtrack,like I said, I like it and it's incredibly good especially for an MMO. My criticism is that it doesn't stand out from all the other great jrpg music that came before it or after it. While I have not played all the expansions I have listened to a lot of the soundtrack and it doesn't make go "wow, that's so unique". It's very much steeped in the FF music "genre", which Nobuo Uematsu created and who can be credited as the gretest jrpg composer (could make an argument for Kondo as well). Soken certainly put his spin on it, but a lot of the ideas he used, I have heard in older game like Xenoblade Chronicles, to name one with an outstanding OST. Martin's work on the other end is entirely autorefential. There was nothing like it before he wrote it (there is Alien Trilogy on the ps1 which is close to some of Halo:CE, but it is nowhere near as memorable). Leitmotifs are also the biggest reason the Halo OST is so good. It can instantly evoke or recall characters, events or emotions without actually having to show them on screen or mention them in dialogue. It's storytelling with just sound cues, perfected to a tee. By the way using clicks or ticking sounds to build the rythmic base of a song has been around since the 70s, including using straight up clock sounds: listen to Pink Floyd - Time. That being said I think it's best that we agree to disagree, I am fine with that.

A true classic that hasn't aged a day. I still remember the first time I booted up Halo at my cousin's house and being mesmerized by this song as it played on the main menu. It's such a mysterious feeling that can't really be replicated.

You mentioned the bit about it sounding almost religious. That was actually correct, Halo is a series brimming with religious allegory. Especially the original trilogy. Excellent analysis dude. 👍

@MarcoMeatball

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I love how from this music alone he can describe Halo quite well, with most of its story (at least first games) about on one side, humanity and its technology allowing us to traverse universe, and unknown and mysterious vastness of space and its dangers on the other.

One of my favorite tracks from the Halo Soundtracks actually came from Halo 4's OST. Look up 117. It's got 2 movement that reflects different parts of the game but for me completely embodies the musical spirit of the Halo OSTs.

Man. Halo’s music is legendary, it’s been quite some time since I’ve listened to it. The one that gives me chills is the music from the Warthog Run at the end of Halo 3, piano kicks in at around 4 or 5 minutes in and brings so so much together.

It’s amazing how the composer Marty O’Donnell wrote a lot of the music for the first game in the car on his way to work!

There are so many gems in the Halo soundtracks. A personal favorite is Rain from Halo 3: ODST. It's interesting seeing an analysis from someone with no knowledge of the series, would love to see you look at more tracks from Halo!

"Halo! Its divine wind will rush across the stars! Propelling all who are along the path to salvation!" - Prophet of Mercy. You are most definitely correc th about the religious aspect to this theme. I really hope you react to some more Halo tracks. so many incredible ones like One Final Effort, Overture, and Deference for Darkness come to mind

The choir, the strings, the anvil. The holy trifecta that makes this piece one of the best in all video game history. MAKES ME MOVE!!!

There is good reason why among the music of games, Halo holds a special place. And only part of that is the collective memories tied to these sounds.

Feel free to listen to Halo Gungnir Mix ft. Steve Vai (and the remaster Mjolnir Mix) on your own time. It was the Halo 2 theme specifically (widely considered the best halo next to reach), which was the only Halo to use real guitars instead of pure orchestra as the thematic. Extremely iconic for anyone who played Halo since that era.

Assassin's Creed II has my favorite video game soundtrack, followed by Halo 3: ODST. But I personally feel like this song is the gamers anthem.

HIGHLY recommend reacting to Voiceplay's cover of this iconic song. I can't hear this song without hearing their voices sing it anymore. Incredible.

The chanting at the start blew my mind as a kid hearing it for the first time. It felt so grand and unlike anything I had listened to before. Then the more traditional instruments got me hyped it still sounds great all these years later.

Steve Vai was the genius who put the guitar on this track. If you search for "steve vai halo theme" you can find great behind the scenes footage about them listening and playing to the song.

I still remember rushing home from school, hopping on the Xbox and hearing the theme on the main menu 🥲. All the friends met along the way and all those that haven’t logged in for years. This theme will forever hold so many great memories of a time when life was simpler. Spartans never die, they’re just missing in action.

There are videos of Marty O'Donnell talking about how he came up with the theme. It's pretty interesting for anyone who wants to check it out

The kind of emotions this one theme manages to evoke in everyone is truly mind boggling. It's so intrinsically connected to the experience of actually playing this amazing game. One can't help but get a little bit teary when hearing it.

I wish game quality could be this exquisite again. Also that motif for the choir at 3:53 shows up quite often throughout the soundtrack and it is honestly the most beautiful sounding of the recurring themes in the soundtrack for me. Something about it just spiritually takes me away from this world. It shows up in the Halo 3 Warthog Run, Covenant dance, Opening Suite, just to name a few off the top of my head. Speaking of, if you like halo's choir, you would love the sound of the choir in choose wisely which played in the main menu for halo 3, you'd also love the sound of Tribute towards the end, The Maw is also really good too and if you want a more natural sounding version, Unsullied Memory is the Halo 2 Anniversary version.

The way he describes the song matches the game very well, Combat Evolved is definitely what he described the song as, it’s full of evolution, exploration, discovery, all of it

The Halo games were such a large part of my childhood and teenage years, especially Reach and ODST. Every game has such amazing music and I'll never forget the times I had playing each game. ODST especially I find myself returning to and listening to the music such as Deference for Darkness. Great video, Mjolnir Mix and Warthog Run are some classics that I love!

@thatguybrody4819

Жыл бұрын

ODST absolutely nailed the music.

This was my childhood memory when i came home from school, starting up the xbox and turning on Halo and i still remeber to lisen to the song everytime and when it happend ingame i used to stop and lisen to it agin. Back then i didnt understand why but now when im older i understand why. :)

Beautiful, halo 2 was was the first game I ever saw at the age of two and play at 4, every single time I hear the theme it brings back memories of me as a small child sitting on couch next to my dad while he was playing. So just like everyone else Halo house a special place in my heart.

I'm a long time Halo fan and I think you will genuinely have a good time listening to just about every Halo soundtrack, even for the mobile games like Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike, or the side games like Halo Wars, ODST, etc. But if you're looking for vocals, you're going to get most of that from mainline games, Halo: CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, and 4. Halo 5 I'm not quite as sure, none of the tracks that I enjoy have any use of vocals that I know of not even "The Trials" which is the recover of the main Halo theme, but Infinite definitely does bring back some of the use of singers in a few of its tracks. If I can make a single recommendation out of Infinite, there's a really melodic, ambient score called "Reverie" that you might like as a change of pace that has some nice vocal work. I really like your description of the theme. Halo has become something of a space opera, there was always an air of mystery to the first game, where you come to revelation that there's some kind of object or sign of ancient civilization and there's a mystery to it, but then are quickly brought back to the ground level when the enemy catches up and you are rushed back into a war. I got started on your channel because of your input in the Ace Combat scores, but this is a pleasant surprise to see you reacting to this.

It's amazing how you grasped the essence of the composition perfectly. When Marty was figuring the track out he was given three words as a concept: "ancient, mysterious and epic". Also, Halo is about humanity fighting a war against a religious Covenant of aliens, only to stumble upon forgotten remnants of the universe's past and having to deal with the consequences. So your perception was spot on.

The way I always viewed it is humanity reaching to the sky and the primitive drums representing humanity taking blow after blow as they rise higher and higher. It has almost an artillery like quality to it like a rapid firing line through the peace

I think for me, while this brings about a triumphant feeling for humanity pushing past the odds, the tracks that bring about the most vivid memories and ideas is that of the sadder tracks. When all else seems so lost, when were on the brink of being history, our species a footnote in the galaxy, pieces like Ashes from Reach and Never Forget will always encapsulate what Halo felt like to me.

The Halo theme will forever be one of my favorite video game themes, Halo 2 being my favorite rendition just because I love the addition of the electric guitar. I feel that it adds a lot. Great video!

Halo was my first video game I ever played, this music still means so much to me. It's something that will always be in my heart. Glad to hear your experience as well! ^^

It's amazing how much kinda accurate info about Halo's actual story from just the theme

It’s INSANE you say that the drums mixed with the space and opera theme as us reaching towards space because I said the SAME thing but for interstellar theme. Because I remember as a kid going to see it and expecting a sci fi movie but then as they go to space you hear this deep church organ playing in the background almost as if to see the contrast, the sort of ascension and condescension of us humans reaching for god and god reaching for god. And by god I don’t necessarily mean a religious go although that is definitely part of it but just sort of our desire to reach upwards and ascend. I LOVE that contrast and thought it was so cool that you noticed that.

what i get is that it’s humanity racing towards a point and everything accumulating towards an end goal, but at the same time it’s almost as if we’re not ready for it but yet we’re being thrusted towards a destiny to which we don’t know.

Martin O'Donnell has described the Halo theme as a Gregorian chant, and given both the title (Halo) and the repeated religious undertones throughout both the original game and the later Bungie titles (2, 3, and 3 ODST), saying it has a religious aspect is very accurate. Always a gem to listen to it.

The funnest fact about the Halo Soundtrack is that if you look through the titles, several of the song titles (This opening song and the Library track specifically) are labelled as "suites" which to me lends a sense that the entire soundtrack is a classical orchestral symphony just set to a sci-fi game.

ya know, for someone who hasn't played the games or delved into the media of it much, your analysis of the theme actually strikes as quite poetic considering the underlaying lore and events of the series. From Ancient humanity and their bid for survival against the flood, the Forerunners creating then activating the Halo array, wiping out all life in the galaxy to defeat the flood then re-seeding, the whole of human history on earth culminating into it's venture into space and the colonization of new worlds, the arrival of the Covenant, hellbent on the religious eradication of human kind, the realization that the covenant were modifying ancient forerunner tech while humanity was innovating all this time, eventually giving them an edge alongside the covenants' own internal problems. honestly i'd say give the series a proper go, even if its just the audiobooks

God, the memories this theme dredges up for me. LAN parties, late nights, getting mega salty at that one guy who was a pistol surgeon... Fun little aside: the religious theming you noticed is very not accidental! Anyway, since I'm feeling nostalgic now and the world seems dedicated to being angry and loud all the time, here's a big comfy recommendation: 'Que Sera Sera' from the Katamari Damacy soundtrack.

Nothing beats laying an utter beat down on a bunch of aliens while you’re outnumbered 10-1, with the future of the galaxy on your shoulders and this theme song kicks in mid battle. It urges you on to fight to the last bullet. There’s a reason why halo combat evolved is one of the best games of all time. I’m not a fan of any other halo game but the halo 2 theme with the electric guitar is incredible.

This song will always bring nostalgic memories of the original trilogy. I just cannot think of 343i "Halo" when I hear the original music. The wonder of being a child again... And i especially love the "Mjolnir Mix" version that's from Halo 2, or "Rock Anthem For Saving the World" in Halo: CE. Throw in some metal and rock guitars and it's even more epic!

it’s amazing how you described halo perfectly because of the theme song.

The prophets talk of the great journey in halo 3 i think and they chant it in the 'Halo theme'. Its absolutley a religous chant. I love it so much.

I haven't played Halo too but its iconic theme always gets me. It always gives me the feeling of ascension, a feeling that I'm entering a church to pray to God and praise his benevolence. An old masterpiece but still lives on to this day in its glory.

The thing you were saying about humanity in space is taken to another level in "Sogno di Volare" from civ 6.

Halos theme got you ready for the game your about to play it set the mood of the game THE WHOLE GAME

One of my favorite memories from the last several years was a very special D&D session that my friend and I planned for our regular group for Halloween of 2018. We took it as an opportunity to force the players out of their comfort zones a little bit; we handcrafted five level 18 player characters (our players probably weren't even level 8 at the time) that shared similar playstyles to their base characters but were substantially different as far as personality and background. They were living through the history of the region they were exploring at the time; a brave and desperate group of adventurers had allied with a young gold dragon to try and overthrow a tyrannical ancient white dragon. Recently though, the gold dragon had been captured and seemingly killed. The revolutionaries decided they couldn't just give up the fight and they would try to venture into the white dragon's lair and kill him or die trying. He was prepared though. As soon as they walked into his lair, they were freezing to death before they knew anything was going wrong. The white dragon revealed himself to them, and the grim reality of their situation set in. My friend, the DM, started narrating about the direness of the situation while I, quietly in the background, started this song. As the drums come in, he's hinting that something seems slightly off: some faint cracking sounds in the distance, a slight glow filling the air. And he timed it perfectly, so that, as the string melody begins, with a thunderous crash, the gold dragon bursts through the ceiling, filling the antarctic cavern with daylight and warmth. He tosses the head of one the tyrant's lieutenants at his feet, issues a roaring challenge, and the battle begins in earnest with the party renewed by the healing aura of the gold dragon. It was awesome, one of my favorite D&D moments ever, and it was made so much better by the truly epic nature of this music. The Halo theme is a strong contender for the single most memorable piece of video game music of all time.

I’ve been a fan of halo for a decade plus and the theme still gives me chills Your viewpoint on the music was very interesting

Truthfully. I think you would love the Halo Wars main theme as well. It has the same vocals, but in a totally different instrumental and arrangement that I feel you would find incredibly interesting! I love your takes on the many games you hear the soundtracks too and hope you take a look at different games within a common series like you did for Ace Combat!

I definitely recommend playing through the Halo games campaigns. They have many thematic elements representing different characters and factions in the music.

Holy shitt this gives me so much nostalgia, I would try to beat this game over and over when I was like 13 damn. When I started the game I would always stop in awe because of how beautiful the theme was.

Really gave me a new take on the theme that's it's the progression of humanity.It's totally obvious now. Used to just see it as like a mystery and discovery of something ancient yet advanced.

If there is one recommendation I have to make, it is "Music of the Spheres" for the game "Destiny". Even if you do not make a video on it, please do yourself the favor of giving it a listen. The whole thing is really great.

As a long time Halo player this song brings back so many memories it literally brings me to tears. One of the most beautiful tracks I've ever heard since Nier Automata.

Bless this moment, I just finished a live stream of this game last night with a bunch of folk and it had me crying all over again. The series may not be as great as it was then, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate what we got. Thanks for covering something that means a big deal to a lot of folks.

That’s a pretty interesting take. I have heard one of the goals with this piece was to make a heroic sound without using traditional heroic instruments. It’s all strings and percussion without any brass instruments.

The only theme song that is able to take me back in time.

See this is why I see gaming as one of the things nearing the zenith of art, it has the interaction that all art truly strives for. It has the art design, the writing ,the music

What makes the Halo Theme even more impressive is that Martin O'Donnell casually came up with it in the car ride to Bungie Studios. I remember watching a documentary on Halo that included a clip of an interview with O'Donnell where he talked about it.

The original Halo CE theme and Halo 3's theme were the music from my childhood, man.

The story in halo is just as good as the music. The way the tracks play at key points really emphasises the story and conveys the emotion and makes you think of what the situation is like. The loss, the effort, one last stand ect.... A few other good vocal ones: The maw - Halo Ghosts of reach - Halo 2 Trapped in amber - Halo 2A (Remake of "In Amber clad" - Halo 2)

"Mystery" is definitely my read for the intro section, awe and reverence. I definitely like the interpretation that it references the vastness of space, but I think it also refers to the specific mysteries of the alien installation the game takes place on. I also get a note of honor and duty. Halo's setting and feel is deeply entwined with the military tradition and the warrior code of honour, and the composers Martin o'Donnell and Michael Salvatori brings a lot of authenticity to that throughout his work especially in the first 2 games. They do approach it a lot like writing classical music as well, which you've talked about before, with tracks grouped into suites for locations, events and characters. Very filmic. Also there's more to talk about with duty as a concept specifically I'm holding off on for spoiler reasons. By the time Halo begins humanity is already losing the first contact war against the covenant. Our first brightest hope for a forward colony got wiped out completely - "glassed" is the term for the effect of the orbital bombardment effect. I think the pounding drum section is that war hitting the ground running. We are already on the back foot - maybe our hope for salvation lies in the serendipity of space?

As someone who was raised on this theme, playing through the games. Whenever I hear it, I immediately get blasted of that sense of new adventure and hope/possibility like when I first heard it in the game. While I didn't question much about every single detail, one thing really hit home: "The adventure is on, and chief is on the way" when you hear this theme, that's exactly what it means, and for me it fills me with nothing but happy nostalgic joy.

Gaaahhhhh for months I've been waiting to see if you would do Halo, only for to find out I was WAY late to the party lol My all time favorite game franchise. Super stoked to watch the rest of your Halo videos!

Thank you for your reaction. That was very interesting to listen your opinion about that soundtrack. Halo is one of my fave game. Thanks again, from Russia.

@MarcoMeatball

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Sure! Spasiba!

When I first found this channel I searched for this song and was sad I didn't find it haha now it's here!

Hello, its been awhile but i absolutely adore halo-- and always adore your passionate reactions to things like this. Although the main is always going to be what everyone loves and cherishes, theres some really amazing tracks throughout the games. I'd have to recommend or at least try to pique your interest with a song from halo 3; "Behold a Pale Horse." Its such an intense song for a very intense level about one final counterattack to cut the head off the covenants leadership for good and starts with an incredible aerial dog fighting section. Glad to see your channel has only grown tenfold since the last time I checked in, keep up the amazing work.

@MarcoMeatball

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Thanks for being here. 🥰 hope you’ve been enjoying the Ace combat content too :)

@craneum123

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@@MarcoMeatball I have enjoyed it very much! I was so happy to see the alicorn trio awhile back! (sorry about getting that all muddled up back when the initial suggestion was made lol)

Oh Marco, you should one day give the first halos a try. I'm may be biased since I played Halo a lot when I was younger but from the first game to ODST the music has never fail to hype me up for what was going on in the games. Mixed with the oh so good story and the nice gameplay, they are an experience for both casuals to the FPS and to those who love challenges.

Never fails to throw me back to middle/high school when my friends and I went beyond hard in the games

I was a major Halo lore buff when I was younger and Halo's music was the start of my love for VG OSTs. There's some very interesting trivia learned over the years about the creation of this theme. I couldn't possible recall and recount it all, but off the top of my head, the original arrangement (which is not particularly different from this final one) was written and recorded in three days. The chanting is done by a small group of commercial jingle singers. The three words given as the prompt for the theme were, "Ancient, epic, and mysterious."

@effortlessfury

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You have some interesting takes on the music with no context on the series; the main theme is actually not much about humanity at all. That said I think your emotional observations are generally in the right place.

Well said at the end. I've been a huge Halo fan and an even bigger Halo music fan. What you said at the end is the start of exactly what I think when I llay Halo.

Halo 5s Blue Team theme is an ode to the Halo Theme that sounds just as beautiful ^.^

The theme is less about evolution and more about a journey and progression. As you progress through many of the main games sections the theme pops up time and again. It gives a sense of pushing through and seeing what you will find. There’s a reason the covenant call it “the great journey”

You should check out the official Mjolnir Mix theme. It's the faster and heavier combat version of this theme play during Halo 2 many warthog runs

I agree with your take on the Halo theme, its very adventurous, epic and creates a sense of wonder and excitement - no wonder its stood the test of time and is beloved and almost sacred to those of us who grew up with it to this day

The drums and the strings to me always signified the idea of moving forward. It’s an FPS, so that’s the idea. But still, the idea of it pushing you forward, pushing us forward. It’s got a sense of pride to it that evokes some primal instinct to keep fighting and keep pushing forward.

if you haven't already, play halo man, the music alone from Marty and Michael make it a very very worthwhile experience, i definitely attribute my varied music taste to these guys since it exposed me to a form of music i otherwise wouldn't have noticed

“Master chief, you mind telling me what you’re doing on that ship?” “Sir, finishing this fight.”

I absolutely adore the way you listen "with your whole body", moving with the rythm and miming the instruments. I do the same and its realy cool to see someone else do this. Please, do yourself a favor and do a video about "A Better Beginning" by John Paesano, from Mass Effect: Andromeda. I love this HALO score and that track is a bit similar, but still unique. :)

Saw the title and I was like "... but which one?" But! There's *so damn much* good Halo music. Personally, the score for Halo 3 will always do it for me. Halo 2, they sort of got a lot of "studio notes", if you will, and I think it interrupted some of the natural progression of the series' soundscape. That said, what is it about? The whole paracosm is kind of hard to pin down, and it genuinely changes your perspective on just about everything if you dig into it on any level beyond the surface details of the first 3 games. I think, thematically, there *is* a lot about evolution in here, about what it means to "evolve." In the game's story, humans have conquered faster than light travel, they've conquered each other, they are, for practical purposes, finally a single united species after millennia of killing each other, and as soon as they snag that victory, an evil alien collective called The Covenant (your religious themes) from outer space makes first contact by melting one of Humanity's most distant colonies. They're hell bent on genocide, and humanity is hilariously, hopelessly outgunned, particularly in space. Space is our newest venue, so the aliens have things we can't imagine; artificial gravity, energy weapons, they're faster, they have energy shields, and novel metallurgy that means we're constantly on the back foot. Enter your main character, the Master Chief, who, unlike the vastness of space, is humanity focusing its entire efforts of development and advancement down into a singular human individual (don't @ me, Halo nerds, I know; I'm simplifying). They spend years losing to the Covenant, but as they do, they learn and adapt. They recover enough Covenant technology to reverse engineer many of their enemy's advantages. Humanity takes all of this, plus the intel they gain on the Covenant, and shove it into one guy, basically. Or his suit anyway. The Intel they have gained tells them the Covenant is a religious oligarchy of several distinct species who all worship a single ancient civilization, the Forerunners, who were the most evolved beings ever in history before they mysteriously vanished. This gives them enough knowledge to create a strategy. But you can't build knowledge into a soldier's super suit. You can't, really, even build it into a soldier; they have to busy soldiering. So humans solve this by using their next greatest tool, their greatest achievement the bad guys haven't actually mastered first: AI. They create a special AI, named Cortana, who has all of their collective knowledge and capabilities (Halo nerds. Turn off CapsLock. I know. I'm simplifying) and they find a way, for the first time ever, to put all that vast knowledge *into* a person (through the suit, but also a direct interlink in the brain). Artifical Intelligence is, essentially, living knowledge after all. Then their strongest fortress is obliterated. The last defense between the bad guy aliens and Earth, the Master Chief's home, where he and Cortana were made, falls, and in the aftermath, the Chief, Cortana, and one of the only surviving ships of the battle flee on a random trajectory into the stars, hoping to lead the Covenant _away_ from the direction of Earth. But it turns out not to be so random. Here's this thing, a super structure in space, which is an artificial world on the inner edge of a metal ring, built by the bad guys' gods, the Forerunner. The bad guys call it 'Halo' (they being religious and whatnot), and it's super important to them, because it's related to their gods. So it becomes the Chief's job to race them to unlocking the mystery and power of Halo - essentially, an evolutionary arms race to become gods. Yadda yadda, gameplay gameplay, turns out, that's a big nope! Halo isn't a pathway to perfect evolution. It's not a way to ascend. It's a weapon. The Forerunners didn't mysteriously vanish - they were annihilated while stopping some mysterious threat (giving them a Messianic vibe), in the form of a species of parasitic spores that absorbs and reanimates dead flesh, which the bad guys call The Flood, but which fundamentally look like gooey space zombies. The Flood which washed away all sentient life in the galaxy 100,000 years ago. More religious stuff, obviously. Cortana learns about Halo and the Flood and sends you off to stop them before it's too late, and while separated, you run into an ancient AI still on the ring, and he's like 'oh, sorry, no, the Flood is already active again. We have to activate this ring and get rid of them. You know the drill," like he has no sense that time has passed. So Halo is the weapon that the Forerunners used to stop them, so the hero's job is to activate Halo and stop them again. Oops, sorry, the ancient AI forgot to mention - you can't actually kill the Flood. That's why the spores are still here! The only way to kill them, as Cortana informs you when you are rejoined, is to kill their food; all sentient life within 3 radii of the galactic core will be basically vaporized so that the Flood has no hosts to spread through. These ultimate saviors, these gods, couldn't find a way to stop their demons without a complete Pyrrhic victory, killing everything (themselves included) and murdering trillions. They didn't *ask* permission for it either. They decided, because they were most advanced, that they knew best what to do. Obviously, the Master Chief and Cortana's primary mission, their purpose for existing, is to protect humanity, so killing everything doesn't seem like a good move for them. So now you're fighting the Flood, the Covenant, and this ancient AI, all to *stop the ring from firing* and, somehow, figure out a way to keep the horrific alien parasite from getting loose and spreading all over the galaxy. It costs everyone everything, including the last vestiges of the ancient aliens who perceived themselves Gods - the Chief has to destroy halo to stop it from firing, and he kills everyone else in the process. Once it's done, all that's left is him, Cortana and, "just... dust and echoes." Cortana immediately turns her vast knowledge and intelligence to justifying why it had to be done, almost to comfort Chief. But also echoing the justification the Forerunners used - for the greater good. Again, there's themes of what it means to evolve. The Flood are perfectly evolved in their own way - they are a single, collective hive mind that spreads through spores. They can't be killed. And they can master anything, because they can just reinvent the bodies of their hosts to do what needs to be done. No individuality, no partnerships, but all flood spores are Equal and United. The Forerunners were perfectly evolved - an individualistic society, so we believe, capable of stopping this singular behemoth. But not equal; they treated all other species as lesser, but as the supreme beings, they were free to do as they pleased. Perfection through Liberty and Unity. And the Covenant are reaching for "godhood" in the last possible pillar - by unifying many species under a common goal and banner, they seek to evolve through fraternity. Not equal, but by harness the Liberty of individuals with enforced Unity, they believe they achieve this perfection. It's our job, as human people embodied by the Master Chief and Cortana (very Adam and Eve, in a lot of ways), to figure out how to balance the three. You can't let everyone become evil space zombies. You can't let the bonds of brotherhood (read: also Religion) blind you to danger and evil, as the Covenant has done. And you can't decide you know better than everyone else just because you're in the right place at the right time. So what do you? The game doesn't really offer an answer, except "your best." Yes, I'm making an argument that Halo's theme is that evolution is an act of balancing the three pillars of a fair society: Liberty, Equality, and Unity. 2 out of 3 doesn't cut it, and an even balance doesn't seem possible - so maybe perfection isn't either.

@SeanBoyce-gp

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*Also, the three different sides have different advantages. The Flood are a primal, savage power that overwhelms with sheer numbers and force. The Covenant are a militaristic, technological behemoth that slightly relies too much on their weapons to obliterate their enemies. The Forerunners, as represented by their final remaining AI in the first game, 343 Guilty Spark, are just pure knowledge; it's all cold hard numbers for them. As the chief, as humans, we have to have savagery and technology and tactics/intelligence. You can't be everything all the time, a theme the game enforces by limiting you to just 2 weapons, but always making sure you have your trust melee attack at the read: you have to pick and choose what's appropriate for which situation, and sometimes that means specific weapons, sometimes it means quietly melee killing bad guys, and sometimes it means being smart and letting the other two fight it out (which happens a lot in the last half of the game), or, ironically, knowing the terrain. See, the back half of Halo is basically playing the front Half... backwards. You get the big plot twist at the end of level 7, and then you play the next 3 levels in (nearly) the same geographical layout as levels 5, 3, and 1, respectively, but beginning at the relative end of each of those missions and then playing toward the relative beginning. And if you noted that it counted down by primes, you are _not wrong_, and it's not an accident. There was a cut level which meant you would have played through the geography of level 2 as your 10th level and then finished it all on the geography of level 1 on your 11th level. It used to catch a LOT of crap for this, but looking back, I can't help but think it's accidental genius.

Based off Halo CE, I think the theme captures the vastness and wonder of discovering a Halo ring. In the games, the rings were made by a race known as the Forerunners and they were way more technology advanced than humans, yet they have disappeared. So it also captures some mystery.

Martin O'Donnell has the most perfect blend of percussion, strings and vocals throughout the halo franchise. All backed by synth and electronic. He's my favourite game composer

Oh wow that thing about humanity climbing up to explore the stars actually hits on a huge point of lore