Thoughts on OST (I’ll listen to remixes later):
Awakening: As someone who has heard the full piece, I can safely say that this is one of the most memorable and badass pieces I have ever heard in a Halo game, which says a lot.
Belly Of The Beast: Nah. I don’t find this remarkable or interesting in any way. Sounds like escape music, but pretty standard escape music.
Requiem: Undecided on track’s quality. It sounds like it could turn out great if used at the right moment, but as a standalone piece it just makes for atmosphere.
Legacy: Another atmospheric piece, but with vocals now. Eerie and ethereal.
Faithless: I’m not too sure about this piece. It seems like it has a Middle-Eastern influence mixed in with electronica. I dunno, it’s okay battle music, I guess, but if it’s a main theme I don’t see it working out well.
Haven: This is an atmospheric piece, but much more memorable than the others. It evokes a sense of wonder and awe, and I expect this will play when we witness some kind of amazing scenery on Requiem.
Nemesis: Ominous, suspenseful music that slowly builds up anticipation and suspense. Not bad. The end of the preview had the choir joining in to great effect, but unfortunately the preview ended by that point.
Ascendancy: Uses heavy electronica like Faithless, but more awesome. I can imagine this fitting in well with slow-mo action scenes (although Halo has never had these).
Solace: A sad/emotional piece. I’m not gonna lie, I think Marty did emotional music much better. This doesn’t make me feel much at all. However, the preview picks up towards the end, so maybe it becomes better.
To Galaxy: The badass, epic, heroic piece that we heard in the First Look and a few other videos, and was also previewed on Soundcloud. The iTunes preview showcases the beginning, which isn’t quite the epic part yet, but we can see that it’s getting there. Excited for this, alongside Awakening, 117, Arrival, and Revival.
Immaterial: Eerie and discomforting. Probably plays during a horror mission or during a plot moment. I’m not good at judging the quality of creepy music, but it sounds passable to me, if rather dull to listen to on its own.
117: What did you expect from a piece named after the Master Chief? This piece is made of epic, and is just as heroic as To Galaxy and Arrival, but with a more solemn tone. The sample was way too short. If this is the main theme of Halo 4, or the Reclaimer Trilogy in general, then I say well done.
Arrival: Another great action piece, right after 117! The instantly recognizable and very awesome piece we keep hearing (it was one of the first preview pieces released after we heard about the new composer). Very memorable and epic, fits well with almost any moment where something awesome happens. I’m imagining this occurring during something like the Warthog run in Halo 3.
Revival: Neil Davidge likes his "ival"s. Revival is a more ominous, tense piece that slowly builds up to what I expect will be an incredible climax (the preview cut off before that). We’ve heard this before, as the chanting that erupts into the badass electronic beat, but this preview focuses more on the chanting, allowing us to build up anticipation. As one of the longest tracks on the OST, I expect that this will be a very major theme.
Green And Blue: Another sad/emotional piece. Like I said earlier, Marty does emotions better, but this one at least made me feel something, unlike Solace.
Conclusion:
Awakening, To Galaxy, 117 and Arrival are instantly memorable and very epic pieces. Nemesis and Revival are both ominous pieces that build up to a stunning climax. The electronica elements can be most clearly seen in Faithless and Ascendancy, although Ascendancy is superior in my opinion. Atmospheric pieces seem to be nothing special except Haven, which is pretty amazing. As for emotional pieces like Solace or Green And Blue, they seem okay, although Marty’s scores are still best for real tear-jerkers. And Belly of the Beast is just mediocre.