Track Listing

1. Halo Theme Mjolnir Mix
2. Blow Me Away - Breaking Benjamin
3. Peril
4. Ghosts Of Reach
5. Follow (1st Movement of the Odyssey - Incubus
6. Heretic, Hero
7. Flawed Legacy
8. Impend
9. Never Surrender - Nile Rodgers and Nataraj
10. Ancient Machine
11. 2nd Movement of the Odyssey - Incubus
12. In Amber Clad
13. The Last Spartan
14. Orbit of Glass
15. 3rd Movement of the Odyssey - Incubus
16. Heavy Price Paid
17. Earth City
18. High Charity
19. 4th Movement of the Odyssey - Incubus
20. Remembrance
21. Connected - Hoobastank

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43374 in Music
• Released on: 2008-10-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 69 minutes

CD Description
With video-game soundtracks developing into a full-fledged genre of their own, the meticulous remixing, compiling, and production on 2004's HALO 2 heralded the trend. Reworked versions of the video game's original theme music by Michael Salvatori and Marty O'Donnell take up the bulk of the album, with an overall sound that owes a debt to contemporary electronica, New Age ambient, 1970s stadium rock, and orchestral music alike. The surging, cinematic vibe of HALO 2 's original score offsets the alternative-rock and metal acts that populate the rest of the set list.
Breaking Benjamin, for example, mix an epic, guitar-heavy attack with post-punk flourishes on the rousing "Blow Me Away", while Hoobastank, whose"Connected" is included here as a bonus track, recalls the soaring, grungy sound of early Pearl Jam. But it is the extended suite by nu-metal band Incubus that stands out. "Odyssey", split into four movements evenly spaced throughout the soundtrack, touches on prog rock, spacey jams, tribal drumming, and avant-garde jazz-funk, and makes for some of the mostinteresting listening here. Also of note is that HALO 2 is produced by Nile Rodgers; his slicing, high-definition soundengineering makes this carnival of music all the more enjoyable.

Customer Reviews

Too far removed from the game.
If you're a fan of the sound of Halo 2 you should enjoy this soundtrack and I recommend you buy it. Having said that, if you buy this expecting a similar treatment as in the Halo 1 soundtrack you'll be disappointed. Too many great tracks from the game have been taken out and too many songs that weren't in the game have made it in. What this means is that you can be listening to the amazing track from the game, "Earth City" and the next you'll be listening to a completely random song by Incubus or Hoobastank.

If you like these bands then that's great but if you don't you're left wondering where all the music from the GAME went and why it isn't here. The great music from the introduction cutscene? Nope. The music from the start of "Outskirts" (and the opening of E3 2003 demo )? Nope. In game level music? One track "Peril" which is second-rate in my opinion.

I sound like I'm complaining but in all honesty this is great soundtrack. But compared to the original soundtrack which is much more in depth and contains a LOT more in-game music this is seriously wanting. Plenty of tracks but only 14 of these are from Halo 2. 6 tracks are songs never featured in the game.

Halo 2, Vol. 1 Soundtrack and New Music
What can I say? Brilliance, pure brilliance. I am a huge Halo fan, and this cd fills the spot in my collection nicely. I see the point of earlier reviews which state that some of the tracks were never featered in Halo 2, but the clue is in the title:- Soundtrack and New Music. Just like movie soundtracks, I assume that this is music inspired by the game.
If you're a fan of Halo 2, get it,
It's good background music in Multiplayer and Xbox Live.

A big improvement
It's hard to beat the brilliant soundtrack of the original Halo, but Bungie have done it. Keeping the brilliant theme tune and recognisable sounding of the Halo soundtrack, and adding a much rock-ier sound to it, this is much better than the first.

In the first Halo OST, it was more or less a straight move from game to CD, but in Halo 2 Vol 1, it's much improved, with added vocals and remixes. However, some songs seem to never appear in the game at all, such as "Connected" and "Never Surrender", and although people say they sound like they were from the game, I disagree. But some songs are instantly recognisable, like "1st Movement Of The Odyssey" from the Banshee chase as the Arbiter.

Some people might not appreciate the Classical sounds of Halo 1 being chopped through with a guitar, but I say it brings a fresh sound. You wouldn't want more of the same, would you?