This is my first time I’ll be writing an episode of Open Your Ears and I’m fairly confident that it will not, in any way, present the same level of quality as EXramp’s episodes. I am by no means an audiophile, but I do enjoy a good soundtrack and will try to explain my choices as comprehensibly as possible.
I have decided to take something new for my first episode and I decided it will be a score for a game that made a much greater impression on me that I have anticipated – Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Since I don’t want to spoil the game for anyone who didn’t have a chance to play it yet I will restrain myself from making references to it unless a particular thing was shown in trailers before the release.
Oh, and one more thing. This episode will be devoted to the soundtrack available on a CD, not the entire score in the game, as it would be very hard to describe all the nuances.
The soundtrack, like all before it was mainly composed by Harry Gregosn-Williams – a man that I truly admire for his work (I adore the Chronicles of Narnia soundtracks). He can always find a perfect mood for the productions he’s working on. That was the case with Call of Duty 4 as it was with Shrek, and the soundtrack to MGS4 is no different.
The OST starts with Old Snake that begins with metallic sounds that a few seconds into the piece merge with a delicate sound of an acoustic guitar. The guitar then makes place for a more “masculine” orchestra with dynamic, hard drums. A sad story of an old man who never seizes to be a soldier. As the author said himself – it’s a sad song, but it’s still “macho”. In the final seconds the song fades into the guitar again and then falls silent.
The second song is one of my absolute favorites among all soundtracks – movie or game. It’s the terribly haunting Love Theme performed by Jackie Presti in Hebrew (if I’m not mistaking) and composed by Nobuko Toda. It’s a melancholic piece with a middle-eastern tune played on a single violin only later accompanied by a string orchestra and a single guitar. It’s calm, but dramatic in a way thanks to the singer’s performance. And then, somewhere in the second half there is a moment when the orchestra moves into the foreground and the sound becomes so deep that I always feel a shiver running down my spine. The song ends just as it begun -with that haunting violin.
Some of the tracks fall under the more typical MGS class – with profuse percussion and a “military”, dynamic beat, but they all come with their own twists. It’s not hard to see that this time Williams wanted to create something different, just like MGS4 is different from the pervious parts. You have the Gekko, Endless Pain and Breakthrough that start slowly, but quickly become those uneasy, fast motives with a strong beat. You have the provoking White Blood and mysterious Midnight Shadow. There are the unsettling Mobs Alive and Next-Gen Control. There are also the dark and a bit grungy Guns of the Patriots and fast, rushing Desperate Chase. They all share the same vibe, but are distinctive enough to keep you away from the “next” button.
One thing that may force you to push the button is the Bb Corp – this gloomy track’s fast beat accompanied by screams, laughs and cries is something that can mess with your mind nearly as much as a song form a Silent Hill soundtrack.
Be sure to play the Sorrow and Father and Son tracks after Bb Corps to ease your mind. Those are two melancholic, soft tracks that remind me of those beautiful Narnia tunes. The sound is rich and detailed and embraces you with memories. The memories may be good or bad, but they are always meaningful.
Before the ending song there is the Metal Gear Saga – a tribute to all previous games with this clear Metal Gear Solid 4 feel. You can call it a remix of the main MGS theme if you will, but it’s much more.
The Last song on the album is Ennio Morricone’s Here’s To You, a heart gripping melody with Joan Baez’s warm voice that originally could have been heard in a movie Sacco and Vanzetti. The track is perfect from the game’s ending as well as for the ending of the album.
I always liked the MGS series soundtracks, but I can honestly say that just as Metal Gear Solid 4 became my favorite game from the series the soundtracks became my favorite as well. It is, without doubt, a Metal Gear Solid OST, but there is this melancholic flavor in it that makes it special.
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