Mar 192014
A solid sampling of songs from modern day Metal Gear.
SHOW NOTES
0:00:00 – Old Snake (MGS4)
0:09:31 – VR Training (MGS)
0:12:06 – Duel 1 (MGS)
0:19:10 – Main Theme (MGS Twin Snakes)
0:26:58 – Metal Gear Solid Main Theme Remix (MGS2)
0:30:45 – Fortune (MGS2)
0:41:36 – Snake Eater (MGS3)
0:44:48 – On the Ground (MGS3)
0:46:15 – Battle in the Base (MGS3)
0:58:02 – Break for the Fortress (Portable Ops)
0:58:58 – Cunningham (Portable Ops)
1:01:02 – Heavens Divide (Peace Walker)
1:06:10 – Tank Corps (Peace Walker)
1:14:10 – Breakthrough (MGS4)
1:17:16 – Guns of the Patriots (MGS4)
1:25:26 – Way to Fall (MGS4)
Didn’t see this on the main LT site, quite the surprise.
I haven’t kept up much with MGS due to lack of consoles, but no doubt the music is great. Too bad the main theme was effectively stolen from a Russian composer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_v7t2p7FR0
Also, I want to link one of my favorite pieces off of OCRemix, a straight-forward adaptation of Fortune that has a shit-ton of soul in it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5P2_XE-Aok
Aside from Shane Patterson, I don’t recall many of LT/TR hosts mentioning their relationship with MGS. People either love it or hate it; I personally think that, seeing as how it’s the only franchise that’s this so far up its own ass that Kojima can do whatever the hell he wants. Yeah, it’s cheesy, all “love on the battlefield” and FMV of eagles at the end of MGS1, but we don’t have a lot of “artsy” AAA games. Surely there’s room for one. And if you’re not into that, you can go play Revengeance.
And finally, a final farewell to Shane. I remember that long-ago podcast that ended with Way to Fall. I hadn’t played MGS3 by that time, and thought it was a weird choice, probably something off of his own playlist. When it kicked in at the end of MGS3, I had a mini-“mind blown” moment, followed by “This is a weird emo choice for the end of this game”.
My biggest problem with MGS2 wasn’t Raiden. He was okay, kinda like Luke Skywalker. The BIGGEST PROBLEM with mgs2 that most people aren’t talking about is how badly the writing jumped the shark.
I remember playing MGS2 and having an awesome time thinking oh man, this is so rad and then suddenly encountering Revolver Ocelot. He abruptly goes into a schizophrenic seizure and, with a new voice actor, announces that he’s actually Liquid Snake. How? “I live on… THROUGH THIS ARM!!”
Are you fucking kidding me with this bullshit?
Part of what made MGS1 so good was that, in spite of the crazy names and abilities of the characters, everything else about MGS1 felt loosely plausible. It felt researched, and most importantly, grounded in reality.
This is why MGS3 is the best of the series. None of this Liquid Ocelot crap. (Although Shagohod was pretty implausible)
I like to compare the MGS narrative to the multitude of theories on time travel and how they work in so many different pieces of literature. People love arguing on how time travel would work, despite it being beyond our grasp. I just accept that in that particular novel or movie, that’s how it would work and that’s that. Likewise, the MGS franchise has “jumped the shark” so many times I’ve come to accept it as the norm. There’s a guy’s consciousness in another guy’s arm transplant? Of course there is, because that’s how this particular universe works.
Honestly, the only thing that seemed implausible to me is that, despite all the crazy bosses with crazy psychic or shaman powers, the biggest threat to the world are mobile nuke launchers. Maybe in the 90’s when the Cold War was cooling down MGS1 was a nod to the very real possibility of mutually-assured destruction. Nowadays there are so many other more tangible, realistic threats that the idea that nuclear weapons are the most feared offensive things any nation (or PMC) is capable of utlizing is almost quaint. Historically, the two bombs dropped on Japan were devastating (the effects can be viewed/felt to this day), but it’s such an abstract threat, especially in the way MGS portrays it (what amounts to an exoskeleton with nuke missiles) it lacks the punch that something like a “dirty bomb” would have.
All my various ideas about how time travel would work went away when I saw Primer, because if time travel worked, it would work that way.
Oh, thank you sir! I am going to listen to this so hard! Although this is one of the series that really popularized a score that provides mood assistance as opposed to memorable stand-alone songs, I’m sure there are a lot of fantastic goodies here.
Cassidy,
I totally agree with you with regards to the ‘loose plausibility’ of MGS. I like to be moderately aware of current pop science, but I have to admit the first time I ever heard of the Genome Project was in MGS. That’s one of the things that amazes me about Japanese entertainment(Manga/Anime, games, etc); there’s so often a solid scientific foundation to the storyline. Most American comics/cartoons/young adult sci-fi tends to have little to no scientific relevance. On the one hand, you have the Marvel heroes, who are more often than not happy accidents of genetic mutation or radioactivity. Their abilities were often created with the moral or social consequences as impetus, and the scientific explanation was an afterthought.
On the other hand, you have Japanese comics, where the science seemed to lead the questions. Nausicaa was created in 1982, in a post-apocalyptic future in which it is discovered that humans created the poisonous air, as well as genetically engineering the monstrous insects, heedra, god-warriors and other creatures that inhabited the world. Ghost in the Shell, debuting in 1989, was the first time I’d ever encountered the idea of somebody being so completely augmented with cybernetics that only their soul remained original. Even the villain Robocop 2 had a human brain to call his own. Ghost in the Shell asked the question, “How do we know we’re not just hooked up in some lab somewhere, running a simulation? How do we know we AREN’T some simulation?”
These weren’t new questions at the time, but they were certainly way beyond the silliness American entertainment was offering.
I also have to concede that while a lot of Japanese games/manga/whatever have a strong scientific bent, they also have a lot of really ludicrous plots. I remember the first time I saw Advent Children all the way through. As much as I wanted to love it(and I did love parts of it, especially the amazing fight sequences), when the movie ended I was just as confused and irritated as I was when I played FF7. There’s just a large part of that series that makes NO SENSE. When I mentioned it to a fellow FF fan, he merely replied, “You just have to accept that as part of the whole package.”
Maybe so, but it’s still silly.
I’ll be honest, I feel this is probably one of the most underwhelming episodes I’ve heard of the show so far, mainly because I think Dave’s selection wasn’t very good, and it specially missed some of the best tracks f the series, and that are way less “ambient” and more listen-able and melodic.
It’s all personal preference of course, but personally, I feel like these next songs are fantastic, and sorely missed here:
-“Yell Dead Cell”. The boss theme for MGS2, super catchy and filled with energy, and gawd, dat trumpet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkhJjbimL5E
-“Desperate Chase” From MGS4, another awesome action heavy song, like the title says, it’s a chase song and one that I feel captures the tension and adrenaline of such situations, while also feeling epic and adventurous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDPW4AJ9fcI
-“The best is yet to come” the credits theme for MGS1, and one of the most memorable songs from the series, I really don’t understand why this one didn’t make it in this episode, honestly.
“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6miaTf1gF4g
So yeah, sorry if I’m coming across as too critical or whiny, but this feels like the one episode in a long time in which you guys dropped the ball, and the selection of songs wasn’t really representative of the best a series has to offer like it usually does. Specially because, no disrespect, but none of you guys seemed to be very knowledgeable of the series, including Dave, which I’m pretty sure it’s a factor on why this one felt so lackluster compared to most episodes.
Oddly enough I was wondering the other day why there was no MGS episode, and here it is. I have a fair bit of VGM on my phone and the stuff from this series is hands down the most played. I’ve been a big fan since Twin Snakes came out and I’ve always loved the soundtracks from every game. Glad to see an episode devoted to it. Keep up the awesome podcasts Brett!
Glad to see the MGS episode happen. 😛
While I do agree that a lot of the music is very Hollywood/Zimmer-esque and not very melodic, there are some stand-outs, particularly in MGS1 and the original MSX Metal Gear 1 & 2. I’d like to add that two titles are way better than the NES port of MG1 we got in the US and are included in both Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence & Metal Gear Solid 3 HD.
Brett, I actually think you’d really like Metal Gear 2’s OST.
Examples:
MG1:
“Theme of Tara” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXKcp_UvjLA
MG2:
“Theme of Solid Snake” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=matq6G5jgyE (the song takes about 2 minutes to really pick up but when it does it’s really epic)
“Zanzibar Breeze” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVS_IhkOj50
“Frequency 140.85” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMTBt1-Q1Q8
“Advance Immediately” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF_QgTHQxWc
MGS1 still remains my favorite story-wise. It just had so many cool twists and a great atmosphere. I remember adoring that game’s demo, playing it at a local K-Mart and instantly getting the “Encounter” music stuck in my head. I’m glad you picked the “VR Training” music, that’s actually a remix of “Theme of Tara” from the original MSX Metal Gear.
MGS2 is a mixed bag. I like how Kojima played us for fools by swapping out Snake for Raiden. I mean, I was disappointed no doubt, but it was really neat and I did like seeing Solid Snake in a more third-person role. The story was a little TOO convoluted though, as interesting as the Patriots angle was. And for all the gripes we had about Raiden’s character, he became such a badass in MGS4 that all was forgiven.
One of my favorites from MGS2 had to be the boss music for Raiden’s chapter, “Yell ‘Dead Cell.'” Hibino is an ace at composing music for sax (and he’s also apparently a badass sax player in real life). It’s also perhaps one of the most memorable songs on the OST. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkhJjbimL5E
From a gameplay standpoint, I think Metal Gear Solid 3 is one of the best (next to MGS4). You guys may have joked about MGS3’s survival gameplay but it was legitimately fun! I think you guys ought to give the series another shot. I love the James Bond influence in the music, particularly with the tongue-in-cheek “Snake Eater.” It was also without a doubt the most emotional…the ending WILL make you teary-eyed. Couple that with Starsailor’s “Way to Fall” and it just makes the whole thing all-the-more tragic.
It’s also important to note that the original “Main Theme” of MGS1 was composed by Tappy Iwase, and was then remixed by Harry Gregson-Williams for MGS2. After a Russian game site showed Kojima the similarities between that theme and a classical song called “Pushkin’s Garland” by Georgy Sviridov the theme song was dropped by Konami. That’s why you hear a different rendition of it in MGS3 and why it’s not in any other MGS game.
Here is a comparison of both themes, pretty crazy how similar they are, although Hibino claims that it wasn’t plagiarized. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYQQ1PZHF8U
I also have to add that Norihiko Hibino did most of the music for MGS2 & 3 and didn’t always get credited for it. I guess Konami was more interested in publicizing that they had a big-name Hollywood composer attached to the project.
Henry: The graphic novel artist for Peace Walker was actually named Ashley Wood. 😛 You were close!
I too was pretty mesmerized by the Phantom Pain trailer at Konami’s E3 2013 booth, haha! I just re-watched it after finishing Ground Zeroes (which has an incredible ending, totally worth playing through for any MGS fan) and I’m super hyped…and also sad that we’ll probably have to wait until 2015 for the game.
Oh, and just a correction: You have “Way to Fall” listed as from MGS4 when it should read “MGS3.”
Oh, and Brett, not related to MGS but thanks for plugging OCremix all the time. I heard about the site awhile back but didn’t really give it a chance. Anyhoo, since you mention the it so much, I went back and downloaded their latest sampler and now I’m hooked. The Gunstar Heroes remix album is particularly amazing, as is pretty much anything by Zircon(Colossus is the best track I’ve heard in the last year for any genre of music; check it out if you haven’t).
There’s a Gunstar Heroes remix album!? Yikes, I’ll need to check that out!
Yeah, it’s awesome. OC Remix has a records site now. http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46110
http://overclockedrecords.com/
The sampler is amazing, particularly Zircon’s Colossus. But also on there is the Gunstar Heroes album. Fantastic.
SOLID… episode, guys.
Vee Gee Emm… Pire???
Great episode!
Heaven’s Divide actually gets its own moment in Peace Walker like the “Snake Eater” ladder crawl. You have to hold out as dozens and dozens of enemies pour in to one area and the song slowly starts to fade in, by the time it really kicks in a goddamn helicopter has joined the fray as Big Boss is singlehandedly holding off a small army.
They also make great use of The Carpenters “Sing” throughout the game, sometimes creepy, sometimes beautiful.
Oh man Oh man! I can’t wait to dive into this episode!!
Great epsiode, pretty sure I emailed Brett about doing this not long after VGMpire started. My only complaint about the episode is that it could of done with more MGS3 but that is my favorite game of all time so I’m partial to lose my shit when I hear that music
Hey, that Way to Fall was grand; it made me check out Starsailor. That song was totally radiohead, from the Thom Yorke-ish high, uptight vocals to the spacey keyboard sounds reminiscent of Subterranean Homesick Alien. I like.
never played a metal gear game other than like five minutes of the NES one, but i can’t hear Way To Fall without just about crying at ya boy shane patterpod leaving GR. YA DONE IT TO ME AGAIN, BROT
Another solid episode, great stuff Brett! Please don’t stop doing what you do.
It’s time for a resident evil episode!!! 🙂
Brett if you like the Metal Gear’s you should totally play Peace Walker.
Also all of you guys should just PLAY PEACE WALKER! I can’t believe Dave and Henry were so down on it. It’s an amazing game, possibly the best MGS. It’s the easiest to get into because most of the missions are under 20mins and it’s got a cool resource management aspect as well.
I beat all of it it single player without too much difficulty and teaming-up online to complete extra missions is lots of fun.
If you play one MGS before MGS5 it should be Peace Walker.
I agree thoroughly with this post. Peace Walker is a great game. I picked up the HD collection just to play it (and not have to deal with the PSP controls) Now I wouldn’t say it’s the best but it’s pretty close. MGS3 wins in that regard imo but PW is pretty close. Snake Eater also ranks in my top 5 pieces of video game music as well.
I know I’m a bit behind posting this but I’m just now getting a chance to sit and listen to this podcast. Super excited. Love the franchise and think great music is a solid cornerstone of it.