This did not only contribute to the validation of my opinion of the OST, but also to my music theory education. Thanks for the help as I figure this stuff out!
Man I wish this video came out WAY sooner! I've loved the soundtrack for its ambiance since Dread's release, but I've never been able to explain why aside from by saying "They weren't going for a catchy melody" This video was VERY well thought out and explained everything very well! Great work!
Great video. I've always thought this game's soundtrack was going back to its roots, but people would rather have "bangers", which doesn't make sense for Metroid to have.
I knew there was something about the credits music that was so catchy to me and you put that into words. I also appreciate that you've addressed this game's soundtrack from a different angle.
More people need to see this video. I think a lot of people jumped the gun on their opinion of the music in this game. I think a lot of critics jump straight to the music because of how ridiculously good the rest of the game is.
I'm glad someone finally said it. The soundtrack isn't supposed to be fun and catchy, its supposed to be brooding and a part of the world. Unremarkable music is the exact thing Metroid Dread needs.
Very good summation of the soundtrack. Though I generally prefer tracks I can remember, there's something to be said for tracks that are atmospheric but can't be easily remembered. Dread and the standard field theme in BotW being standouts. Though honestly, I usually pinned my inability to remember Dread's OST to the fact that I'm usually concentrating on not dying too much to actually listen to what is being played.
I think you totally turned my opinion on this game's music on its head. Sure it's not hummable or very enjoyable to listen to outside of the game, but what it does _in_ the game is brilliant.
Definitely a brilliant score! There's so much more to music than just melody, and I feel like sometimes we get too caught up in wanting a good tune versus trying to understand what a soundtrack is actually trying to do. So glad to hear this video resonated!
"As you know, the melody in Metroid is only used at the ending after you killed the Mother Brain. That's because I wanted only a winner to have a catharsis at the maximum level. For the reason, I decided that melodies would be eliminated during the gameplay. By melody here I mean something that someone can sing or hum." - Hip Tanaka Being able to hum, or for something to be memorable doesn't mean it's good quality. Even though there is melody in NEStroid, and though you can hum some of it ("do do do" isn't humming), it's not the philosophy of Tanaka.
Interesting breakdown for those of us without much musical knowledge. I think part of the problem is that most legit didn't even hear the music; the sheer density of enemies means that the constant combat sfx drown out the music, and the game has no volume sliders (both issues being carried over from samus returns). In the end though, I have to wonder if this style of music is right for metroid, since memorable music has been part of its identity from the start. Ignoring the fact that Nestroid has some traditionally catchy and memorable tunes like the brinstar theme (and the main theme) I would make the case that the simplicity of the audio helped to make even some of the more noise-ish tune easier to remember, same for metroid 2. Even if we ignore those though and just say that those games had less memorable, more atmospheric/noise based soundtracks, Super is nearly 30 years old, and pretty much marked the end of that era of music for the series. In other words, the 1 and 2 era was only 8 years, with the Super/Prime era going for 28. What I'm not getting is why Dread needed to fall back to this supposed older style, when even 1 and 2 and certainly the games after if demonstrate that you can have it both ways. Despite the technical skill that went into making it, I just can't see any reason I would rather have the Dread Kraid theme and not the Super or Zero mission version. The supposed weakness of the soundtrack was also a complaint aimed at Other M which also was quite forgettable, so I think its safe to say that people just don't want this kind of music for metroid as much as they want music they can remember (maridia, torvus bog, ridley, lower norfair, phendrana, mother brain, brinstar, dark samus, etc.)
Choosing the Dread Kraid theme over the Super or Zero versions might come down to how committed you are to saving melody for a cathartic ending. In the case of Dread and Nestroid, that choice was to withhold melody to the extreme. But at the end of the day, my main point is that how memorable the melodies are in a soundtrack is not the primary measure by which you can judge the quality of a score. There's just so much more to the craft, and it's far more about whether the score conveys and reinforces the atmosphere of the game than anything else. And in my opinion that's exactly what the Dread soundtrack does. I may not be able to hum the E.M.M.I. chase theme, for example, but when playing the game it was very effective at making me feel like I needed to run for my life. Isn't that what matters?
Thank you for defending this. Humming and memorability aren't indicative of good quality. I think anyone who relies on these aren't worth considering. Metroid should always maintain that atmospheric experience. Some of the games have stepped away from this, to my chagrin. Metroid II: Return of Samus is unique, and I think it captures the sound Tanaka would have preferred. There are some good gems in Super Metroid, such as Arrival on Crateria, Norfair, Wrecked Ship. These give that sense of experiencing the environment itself. Metroid Fusion is another great game with music that overlaps the music with the sounds. Certain ones like Serris kind of step outside of that, but there's plenty that stay within what I think Tanaka would have wanted.
![What if Metroid Dread's Soundtrack was Good? [Part IV: BURENIA]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ddpO6huuAaI/mqdefault.jpg)
![What if Metroid Dread's Soundtrack was Good? [Part IV: BURENIA]](/img/tr.png)
![[ ออกกอง ] วัยหนุ่ม 2544 โลกหลังลูกกรง..ทัวร์กองถ่ายหนังใน "คุกของจริง" | JUSTดูIT.](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vB--aOkZCpw/mqdefault.jpg)
This did not only contribute to the validation of my opinion of the OST, but also to my music theory education. Thanks for the help as I figure this stuff out!
Man I wish this video came out WAY sooner! I've loved the soundtrack for its ambiance since Dread's release, but I've never been able to explain why aside from by saying "They weren't going for a catchy melody" This video was VERY well thought out and explained everything very well! Great work!
Great video. I've always thought this game's soundtrack was going back to its roots, but people would rather have "bangers", which doesn't make sense for Metroid to have.
I knew there was something about the credits music that was so catchy to me and you put that into words. I also appreciate that you've addressed this game's soundtrack from a different angle.
brilliant video! more people must see, the dread soundtrack rules
FINALLY!!! This OST is severely underrated and it feels like a lot of ppl just jumped into a bandwagon of hate regarding the OST
I never found it to be bad. In fact, there is something about every area's theme to appreciate, and Burenia is my favorite.
More people need to see this video. I think a lot of people jumped the gun on their opinion of the music in this game. I think a lot of critics jump straight to the music because of how ridiculously good the rest of the game is.
I'm glad someone finally said it. The soundtrack isn't supposed to be fun and catchy, its supposed to be brooding and a part of the world. Unremarkable music is the exact thing Metroid Dread needs.
Very good summation of the soundtrack. Though I generally prefer tracks I can remember, there's something to be said for tracks that are atmospheric but can't be easily remembered. Dread and the standard field theme in BotW being standouts.
Though honestly, I usually pinned my inability to remember Dread's OST to the fact that I'm usually concentrating on not dying too much to actually listen to what is being played.
I think you totally turned my opinion on this game's music on its head. Sure it's not hummable or very enjoyable to listen to outside of the game, but what it does _in_ the game is brilliant.
Definitely a brilliant score! There's so much more to music than just melody, and I feel like sometimes we get too caught up in wanting a good tune versus trying to understand what a soundtrack is actually trying to do. So glad to hear this video resonated!
"As you know, the melody in Metroid is only used at the ending after you killed the Mother Brain. That's because I wanted only a winner to have a catharsis at the maximum level. For the reason, I decided that melodies would be eliminated during the gameplay. By melody here I mean something that someone can sing or hum." - Hip Tanaka
Being able to hum, or for something to be memorable doesn't mean it's good quality. Even though there is melody in NEStroid, and though you can hum some of it ("do do do" isn't humming), it's not the philosophy of Tanaka.
Interesting breakdown for those of us without much musical knowledge. I think part of the problem is that most legit didn't even hear the music; the sheer density of enemies means that the constant combat sfx drown out the music, and the game has no volume sliders (both issues being carried over from samus returns). In the end though, I have to wonder if this style of music is right for metroid, since memorable music has been part of its identity from the start. Ignoring the fact that Nestroid has some traditionally catchy and memorable tunes like the brinstar theme (and the main theme) I would make the case that the simplicity of the audio helped to make even some of the more noise-ish tune easier to remember, same for metroid 2. Even if we ignore those though and just say that those games had less memorable, more atmospheric/noise based soundtracks, Super is nearly 30 years old, and pretty much marked the end of that era of music for the series. In other words, the 1 and 2 era was only 8 years, with the Super/Prime era going for 28. What I'm not getting is why Dread needed to fall back to this supposed older style, when even 1 and 2 and certainly the games after if demonstrate that you can have it both ways. Despite the technical skill that went into making it, I just can't see any reason I would rather have the Dread Kraid theme and not the Super or Zero mission version. The supposed weakness of the soundtrack was also a complaint aimed at Other M which also was quite forgettable, so I think its safe to say that people just don't want this kind of music for metroid as much as they want music they can remember (maridia, torvus bog, ridley, lower norfair, phendrana, mother brain, brinstar, dark samus, etc.)
Choosing the Dread Kraid theme over the Super or Zero versions might come down to how committed you are to saving melody for a cathartic ending. In the case of Dread and Nestroid, that choice was to withhold melody to the extreme. But at the end of the day, my main point is that how memorable the melodies are in a soundtrack is not the primary measure by which you can judge the quality of a score.
There's just so much more to the craft, and it's far more about whether the score conveys and reinforces the atmosphere of the game than anything else. And in my opinion that's exactly what the Dread soundtrack does. I may not be able to hum the E.M.M.I. chase theme, for example, but when playing the game it was very effective at making me feel like I needed to run for my life. Isn't that what matters?
This is fabulous. Awesome analysis and very much puts words to the thoughts so many people can't find a way to articulate.
Liszt means flour. Flour is used to make bread.. You know where I'm going with this...
Thank you for defending this. Humming and memorability aren't indicative of good quality. I think anyone who relies on these aren't worth considering. Metroid should always maintain that atmospheric experience. Some of the games have stepped away from this, to my chagrin.
Metroid II: Return of Samus is unique, and I think it captures the sound Tanaka would have preferred. There are some good gems in Super Metroid, such as Arrival on Crateria, Norfair, Wrecked Ship. These give that sense of experiencing the environment itself.
Metroid Fusion is another great game with music that overlaps the music with the sounds. Certain ones like Serris kind of step outside of that, but there's plenty that stay within what I think Tanaka would have wanted.
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