Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

Composed by Christopher Lennertz

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Orchestrated by Andrew Kinney, Christopher Lennertz,

                              Dana Niu, and Marcus Trumpp

Conducted by Christopher Lennertz

Produced by Rick Giolito, Christopher Lennertz,

                       and Jeff Vaughn

1 - Main Titles (3:15)
2 - Taiko Brigade (1:18)
3 - PT Attack (1:08)
4 - Deep in Guadal Canal (1:45)
5 - Stalking the Caves (2:40)
6 - We're Hit! (1:11)
7 - Engine Trouble (2:02)
8 - Requiem for the California (1:37)
9 - Saving Pearl Harbor (2:05)
10 - Singapore Docks (2:04)
11 - Passing the Nevada (1:07)
12 - Burma (3:08)
13 - Elephant Battle (1:12)
14 - March on the Temple (2:10)

15 - A Prisoner's Eulogy (2:05)

16 - Nazi Disguise/ Shima's Speech (2:04)

17 - Natives Are Restless (1:50)
18 - Carrier Deck (1:15)
19 - Tanaka's Death / The Hanger (3:36)
20 - Tank March (1:23)
21 - Philippines/ Zero Attack (1:46)
22 - Courtyard Strike (1:11)
23 - Yamashita's Gold (2:53)
24 - Incoming! / Aftermath (1:37)
25 - Jungle Swarm (3:49)
26 - The Got Donnie (1:03)
27 - Shell Shock (2:20)
28 - The Sewers (1:30)
29 - Shima Express (0:54)
30 - Take Off / Finale (1:50)
31 - Hymn to Brothers Lost (2:57)

Total Running Time: 61:00

     With the departure of many key personnel from the Medal of Honor series, it fell into the hands of a newly assembled team to continue the series with the same high standards that the previous four games had set into motion. Music-wise, with Michael Giacchino also departing to handle scoring duties for the Call of Duty and Secret Weapons Over Normandy franchises, the assignment for the fifth game in the series: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, fell to composer Christopher Lennertz. Given that Giacchino had developed quite a distinguished sound for the series through his trilogy of scores, Lennertz was faced with a challenge to make Rising Sun a continuation of the series whilst tackling the subject matter of the Pacific Theatre that places the game in a totally different vein than what has come before. Thankfully, Lennertz more than rises to the task and provides a score that firmly stands on its own feet, while embracing the style of music that had come before.

     From the very beginning of the Main Titles, we find all the necessary elements of a Medal of Honor score. The rousing theme first comes into play and is one that stands unashamedly patriotic while acknowledging the supreme sacrifice that was made during those troubled times. The music then segues into the mournful refrains of the first appearance of the mournful theme for the Japanese soldiers. It is an excellent theme, but unfortunately it appears far less than it should, really only coming back in the last third of the score. From there, Lennertz jumps right into the action with the ethnically charged Taiko Brigade and the chaotic PT Attack for starters. The main action theme first appears in Deep in Guadal Canal and works wonderfully as an intense heroic theme that is strong in brass and thrillingly simple. Of all the pieces that I can remember from this score, the moments with that theme are the strongest. The quieter moments work just as well, with Requiem for the California being one of the best. Continuing the trend from Medal of Honor: Frontline, Lennertz’s use of the choir is wonderful and adds the epic feel to the music that is sorely needed for this type of score.

     While the score is rather conventional in its first half, the music begins to hit more of the Japanese-sounding pieces in the last half of the album and works exceptionally well, especially when used in contrast with the more Western action music. The general lack of reference to the previous Medal of Honor games is understandable for this new take on the series. While a few tracks are listed as containing themes from Giacchino’s scores, most of them are so de-evolved that it’s more of a same stylistic leaning than an outright quote. The only one that does exist is the Nazi fanfare in the Nazi Disguise cue. Even then it is so sarcastically blared that it loses the menacing power that Giacchino’s music contributed to it. What should have been an enjoyable reference turned out to be quite annoying. Still, even without relying on Giacchino’s previous work, Lennertz compositions are excellent and structurally pleasing with one exception. The cues are way to short. This album is a promotional release and as such is understandable that it exists only to show off the work of the composer for prospective clients, but there are plenty of cues that build and build and build and then just die. Such cues should easily run twice their length, and had the music been assembled into different “campaigns” (such as a suite of Pearl Harbor music and the like) then this album would have been far more enjoyable. As it stands however, several cues end on frustrating notes because I wanted to hear Lennertz continue to expand upon them.

     Despite its somewhat problematic arrangement on the album, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is an enjoyable score that is worth picking up for anyone who is a fan of the music from the series.

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