Halo Soundtrack

I've been a fan of film scores for 30 years. Since May 25, 1977 to be exact. Naturally, I've also paid attention to the way that the soundtracks for video games have improved as the industry has matured. There were some early standouts... remember the theme from "Skate or Die"? Awesome! One of the first games that really had me drooling to find a score CD was Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. It was scored by Michael Giacchino who went on to do Pixar's "The Incredibles" and some TV shows called "Alias" and "Lost".

With the hype around the recently released Halo 3, I decided a couple of months ago that I better get Halo 2 and catch up on the story. I was instantly hooked by the music (which I didn't remember standing out to me when I played the first Halo on the PC way back in the day). Two soundtracks have been released for Halo 2 alone. As you can imagine, they follow the same format that a multi-soundtrack release for a movie does. The first soundtrack contains mostly rock or pop songs, most of which aren't in the game/movie, but which are "inspired by" it. Then due to demand from fans (and usually a couple of years later), you might get a proper score CD released. Such is the case hear. You might guess that I prefer the Volume 2 Score (by Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori) and you'd be right.

The music from Halo 2 stands out because, for an action game, this music is largely melancholic, slowly mysterious and at times even sad. It's a good contemplative soundtrack for late nights after a young man has just had an argument with his girlfriend. Or, more personally, a good mood piece after a hard day at work. Also, the level of quality is very high. It sounds like a real human choir and orchestra are used (it also sounds like synthesized ones are used in some parts, too, though). Crisp, sharp and clear, this music stands very well on its own even if you've never played or never intend to play the video game.

What? How?

How is it possible to play pinball by sense of smell?

Fun Lyric #1

"I don't know karate, but i know ka-razy!"

-James Brown "The Payback"

October Birthdays

It's October already... wow! Here are notable birthdays this month in the world of rock and/or roll. If you're a famous musician and you don't see your name here, that's because you're not notable... to me anyway. Sorry.

Mike Rutherford is 57 today. Happy Birthday, Mr. Rutherford!
Matthew Sweet will be 43 on the 6th.
David Lee Roth will be 52 on the 10th.
Bob Mould will be 47 on the 12th.
Marie Osmond will match Mould on the 13th.
Sammy Hagar will hit the big 60 on the 13th.
Also on the 13th, Paul Simon will be 66.
Richard Carpenter hits 61 on the 15th.
John Mayer will be 30 on the 16th.
Chuck Berry hits 81 on the 18th.
Weird Al Yankovic will 48 on the 23rd.
Jon Anderson will be 63 on the 25th.
On the 26th, Natalie Merchant will be 44.
Joey BellaDonna will be 47 on the 30th.
On the 31st, Vanilla Ice will be 39 and Adam Horovitz will be 41.

RTFO you old timers!

Two new E.P.s from Bleu

Just found out that Bleu has two new E.P.s out. The first is "The Blizzard of '05". Bleu says "Most of it was recorded in the two weeks surrounding that legendary storm, and it was done almost entirely live in the studio." The second is "Happy Birthday" which he describes as "a collection of songs i've written for people's birthday's over the years (many years)....they were all written, recorded and mixed in 24 hours (or less)." Unfortunately, they are only available via iTunes at this time. That counts me out. I've written to Bleu's manager to see if there's another way to get a hold of these E.P.s. I'll let you know how that turns out as I'm sure there are other serious music collectors like me who can't stand bloatware on a Windows box.

The CD turns 25 today

Happy 25th birthday CD.

Roth joins Van Halen family, Michael Anthony MIA

A semi-reunited Van Halen will start a 24 date tour this fall. I say semi-reunited, because, while it is significant that David Lee Roth is teaming with the Van Halen brothers, it is also significant that bassist Michael Anthony is not part of the new Van Halen. Instead, Eddie's 16-year-old son Wolfgang will be playing bass. No word on if this means the concerts must end by 10:00pm due to curfew laws. Hopefully, it'll be a dry tour bus if not for Wolfgang, but also for Eddie.

So where is Michael Anthony? Touring with another of Van Halen's former frontmen - Sammy Hagar.

Some will find it exciting to see DLR with the VH brothers again, but this certainly doesn't count as an original Van Halen reunion (no matter if you think Michael Anthony & Alex Van Halen made up one of the most boring "party band" rhythm sections ever, which a lot of people do). This is really Van Halen - Mark IV.