eh Advertisment done right will sell the worst of things and best of things, halo is no exception, just like CoD
Halo 4 soundtrack highest-charting game album
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Neil Davidge's composition for upcoming sci-fi shooter sells just under 9,000 copies in first week, surpassing Guitar Hero III.
Longtime Halo composer Martin O'Donnell did not contribute to the Halo 4 soundtrack, but that did not stop the album from breaking records. The Halo 4 soundtrack has become the highest-charting game soundtrack ever, debuting at number 50 on the Billboard 200 list.
The Halo 4 soundtrack sold 9,000 units during its launch week and is sandwiched between Barbra Streisand's Release Me (49) and The Killers' Battle Born (51). Those albums have been on the charts for three and six weeks, respectively.
In charting at number 50, the Halo 4 soundtrack easily surpassed the previous record-holder, 2007's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Companion Pack, which peaked at number 107.
Though the Halo 4 soundtrack is the highest-charting game album to date, it did not top the one-week sales record held by Halo 2's soundtrack . That album moved a "tiny bit more" copies during its second week, according to Billboard. Specific sales figures were not announced.
The Halo 4 soundtrack was composed by Neil Davidge, who has contributed to Hollywood productions like Clash of the Titans and I Am Legend, as well as television programs, including The West Wing, House, and CSI.
Halo 4 is due exclusively for Xbox 360 on November 6 worldwide. The game is a direct sequel to 2007's Halo 3 and is the first numbered entry in the series developed outside of Bungie Studios. It is the first installment in the Reclaimer Trilogy, which will span Halo 5 and Halo 6.
A recent Nielsen study found Halo 4 to be the most anticipated holiday 2012 title for Xbox 360 owners. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's review.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
41 comments
I think this might be my favorite sondtrack from the franchise.
Halo CE: I liked all of it but I like halo 4 better.
Halo 2: Some
Halo 3:Got bored of the soundtrack
Halo Wars: The whole thing
ODST:few
Reach:alot
Halo 4: I like all of them.
This comment has been deleted
I listen to Halo 4 Soundtrack on spotify, while playing Max Payne 3 online. Great music to distribute headshots to. Wish I could afford Halo 4 right now, but I'll have to wait til Black Friday or Christmas.
@kidnatural I just had to look up if Skyrim had one. It being 30 dollars and only available from one seller, officially, probably had something to do with that, lol. I wonder how US VG OST sales compare to Japanese sales.
@OmegaGear Well, for one, a lot more Japanese games have commercially available soundtracks, and to be quite honest . . . in comparison, selling "9,000 units," is pretty much pathetic compared to average Japanese soundtrack sales.But in saying that, US music sales in general are nothing compared to those of just about any other region in the world.
2 Like Halo 3 was good enough to satisfy my gaming needs for a year. I can't wait for Halo 4.
Why did they waste such a soundtrack on that game, or what, did the fans just vote for it 'cause they had nothing better to do while mulling through those awful FPS limbo levels? That must be it, I'm sure it wasn't that great of music, how could it have been, that would have meant they spent ALL THEIR BUDGET on the soundtrack, 'cause they COULDN'T HAVE used it for developing, they could never get away with that charade!
1 Like And so another game has "evolved" from brilliant orchestral soundtracks to electronically-infused blandness. That's a great shame :(
1 Like @ChemicalReaper Have you heard the soundtrack? In it's entirety, there are some really standout tracks. It deserves this. It sounds great. As an example, a song called "Requiem" is really fantastic. I can tell it'll get you into it's atmosphere and some of it has a lot of emotion.
@Dark_Arcitekt You liked my comment and I had an error :O. I meant its not "it's". I had to correct that, ha ha.
@mr_azim You would be surprised. Not only that but expect remixes, that people actually will play in their car to start popping up.
@TheMisterCheif Can't know that completely until the final game is released. I think the soundtrack is quite "exceptional". When I first heard a few samples a few months ago, the only one thing that came to mind was "It's... OK. It's too generic though." That's not what it is at all though, and I think playing the final game will even enhance it's likability, for me at least. I agree that ODST has a fantastic soundtrack, as were the other Halo soundtracks.
While I think the Master Chief themes that play throughout the first trilogy were great, those were truly my least favorite. I'm replaying Halo 3 right now, and there's the very subtle but fantastic songs that play at moments throughout the campaign, but when I get to a big part, like the first (and great) scarab battle, one of the usual Halo songs played, and I was left with a slight groan, but I quickly got over that since it's still very good and puts you in the moment.
4 Like Forgot to say, I must admit the Halo 4 soundtrack cannot hold a candle to the others. The soundtracks to Halos 1-3 really have their own distinct sound and vibe. You can tell it's Halo music immediately. There's a real Martin O'Donnell stamp on those albums. To me, Halo 4 sounds like generic movie soundtrack #8052. It has no real identity of it's own. It could be music from any game or movie.
@Bleak5170 Spot on, good sir.
This OST fails to sound like Halo. Even Halo Wars managed to sound like something you might expect from a Halo game, despite the overall difference in direction and lack of O'Donnell.
@Bleak5170 Agreed. Quite a few of the review sites/magazines seem to agree as well. No offense to Davidge, but an 'electronic musician/DJ' was just not the right choice for Halo. Halo has always been about the music, and this "atmospheric" soundtrack just doesn't do Martin O'Donnell's scores justice.
1 Like Is halo 4's soundtrack good? can it stand on its own if you havent played the game for example?
It's good but like I said, it's pretty much same old, same old as far as soundtracks go. Pales in comparison to the others.
3 Like Definetly. As a long time PC gamer I can assure you, that even without touching the game, the soundtrack itself is worth to check it out.
1 Like all these news articles about halo next thing we know halo 4 saves man from burning building like come on enough already
1 Like @BryanBadillo its not hate i see your not the only 1 to see that maybe a should put sarcasm at the end
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- Publisher(s): Microsoft Game Studios
- Developer(s): 343 Industries
- Genre: Action
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- ESRB: M
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