Throwback Thursday: Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater Soundtrack Review
This article was originally published at G4TV.com on July 17th, 2004. Yep, exactly ten years ago today!
In the last edition of Rick’s Picks, we looked at the soundtrack for 007: Everything or Nothing. So it seems appropriate in this edition we look at the third game in a series that owes some of its origins to the spy movie genre while basically inventing it in the game world.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater not only marks the return of Solid Snake as the main, playable character in the game, but a return to the roots of spy movies and the cold war era of the 1960’s when James Bond, Derek Flint, The Avengers (the original British ones) were the epitome of cool secret agent; battling against the forces of evil from both the Eastern Block as well as super-secret societies, bent on world domination.
Konami also knows what cool is. At E3 2004, the game company gave out a handful of promo discs that featured what will likely be the theme song for MGS3. Titled "Snake Eater (Abstracted Camouflage)," the song is instantly evocative of the early Bond-movie themes. A sultry jazz groove, complete with sax and flute in a call and response tango, crooning female vocals supplied by Cynthia Harrell with orchestral flourishes and lyrics that scream for silhouetted naked women cavorting across the opening credits of a spy movie that doesn’t exist. Even if the track ends up playing over the game’s end credits, it is still a bull’s eye.
With words and music written by Norihiko Hibino, the song plays out as a longing love homage to the game’s titular character. The disc contains just the single, 6:32-long track, but it is great enough to listen to over and over. The really cool thing about this particular disc is the packaging.
With words and music written by Norihiko Hibino, the song plays out as a longing love homage to the game’s titular character. The disc contains just the single, 6:32-long track, but it is great enough to listen to over and over. The really cool thing about this particular disc is the packaging.
Not content to simply hand out a CD in a plastic or paper sleeve, Konami went to town with this sweet, promo item. The packaging for the MGS3 theme is again, straight out of the 60's. Packaged to look like a 33 RPM LP, the CD is actually inside a cardboard "record," with light reflections off the "vinyl grooves." The disc is contained inside a gatefold album cover, complete with lyrics printed on the inside. Kudos Konami! Sheer brilliance! I won’t name names, but a trio of people I know were fooled into thinking it was an actual vinyl record when they first saw it.
If the quality of the lead track is any indication, we are likely in for a treat of another amazing MGS soundtrack. Returning to score the game is Harry Gregson-Williams, who also penned the music behind both Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Substance. As if an additional composing credit from the game series wasn’t enough, music fans should note Gregson-Williams has also scored the soundtracks the films Shrek, Spy Game, Spy Kids, The Rundown and the forthcoming Chronicles of Narnia, in addition to additional music composition for The Rock and Armageddon.
Want to get your hands on a copy of the MGS3 promo disc? One word. eBay. Copies of this rare disc have recently gone for between $13 to $30 dollars (as of press time of this Throwback Thursday republication, there is one going for $0.99 and one for $99.99!). Want to hear the whole soundtrack? This is just a guess, but since Konami did a soundtrack CD for previous iterations of the game, it stands to reason that they will do it again for MGS3, especially considering the quality of the theme and the score’s composer. The game's release is slated for November, so keep your eyes on import web sites to target the MGS3 soundtrack should it surface.
Special thanks go out to "RPMDK" who was lucky enough to score one of these gems, and was even cooler for sharing it with me to bring you this review. Have you heard this track yourself and want to give your own review of it? Post it on the G4 message boards. (Ed. Note: YouTube didn't exist yet when this article was originally published! Dead link to message boards intentionally included for nostalgia sake.)
Spinning next in Rick’s Picks… what do Space Invaders and Lara Croft have in common? Plus, a review of the Hitman: Contracts soundtrack and an interview with its composer, Jesper Kyd!
Photo credit: Album cover and insert, The Next Level
Photo credit: Album cover and insert, The Next Level
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