The first game with Frank as lead composer came out 1 year after he joined Westwood and it was many "firsts" despite the number in the title: Dune II. Red Alert was released 4 years later.
This is THE song. Nothing screams tactical dominance on a supreme level quite like it. This song is, for many of us, the formative military song of our childhood.
Hey UncleJesse, glad to see you enjoyed the song! Hell March is the main theme of the Command and Conquer: Red Alert series of games, each one having a different remix of this theme as well. The second part of the song is part of it as one, but it doesn't show up in later remixes or live performances. Cant wait for you to hear more from the Command and Conquer universe! ✌
The Tiberium Suns was actually a fan band initially. Named for Command and Conquer: Tiberium Sun which Frank also did the OST for. When they did the remaster of the game Frank brought them on board to record everything.
"Tiberian Sons," actually. Y'know. It's a pun on the game name. They're *not* actually a "fan band" though; they _named_ themselves after Tiberian Sun, but they aren't specifically focused on C&C songs or anything.
The music absolutely fits! Red Alert is basically an alternate history version of World War 2, with lots of bombastic corny/badass scifi elements mixed in. It's like if you took a WW2 game and combined it with Starship Troopers, and it was made in the 90s so of course it's edgy and badass about it.
@@winspyy its a mixture of both. Spoilers ahead. The whole timeline is an alternate reality where Einstein creates a time machine and erases Hitler from history. As a result, Stalin and Russia instead invade Europe with no formal resistance for a while. So its kinda a mixture of the two.
@@infynity8015 Well, Soviet like them big and crazy, mammoth heavy tank (RA1) and apocalypst tank (RA2) are actually almost become a reality of Soviet's super tank project, well, if their economy not a clusterfuck like this.
For the record, the guy's shouting "Reform line, quick march". There were huge amounts of speculation on that in the community throughout the years, but they tracked down the original sample, and a former Canadian drill instructor confirmed that it was most likely a shortened form of the Canadian drill line "Reform line, remainder, quick march." Oh, and no, this is _not_ "from EA". This is from Westwood Studios, which got bought by EA when Virgin Games fell apart.
I thought it was "Die Waffen legt an" (ready the weapons in German) for a long time but even that seemed a bit off. Funny how long it took us to realize a song named Hell March would include "march" in the vocals.
@@Nirual86 didn't help that the composer himself didn't have a clue either and just said something like "sure, whatever" when someone proposed it could be that German line.
I grew up playing Starcraft, another RTS from the 90s. And while I'd never played it, I've always known of the existence of Command & Conquer: Red Alert. So my curiosity of this other popular RTS from that time made me click on this video. And all I have to say is... UMM WHAT??? HELLO???? (I would use stronger language but YT no likely) I had no idea there was music like this in that game! That was awesome, and I also immediately thought of Pantera. Thanks for the reaction and thanks to everyone who requested it. :)
Just in the chance you didn't know, you can get the C&C and Red Alert on steam, and right now it's even on sale until the 27 for a whole $7.00 right now. You can experience the game and the soundtrack all at once.
This song is so good! Might seem out of place for an RTS in theory but basically it only plays when you're playing as the soviets (or whatever they were called instead in RA). This song comes on and you have all sorts of crazy tanks and rockets and tesla coils and you're like... It's time to CRUSH lol. It's just iconic for the game.
The way the soundtrack worked in the original game was that there was a playlist of songs that just looped continuously during all gameplay (or shuffled if you enabled the option). No track was ever explicitly matched up with any particular gameplay section. The track list started out with just 5 or so songs on it in mission 1, and additional tracks were "unlocked" as you progressed through the missions, until you had the complete track list in the last mission. Each faction had a different song list, but with some overlapping songs. Of course, Hell March was on both factions' starting track list (track 2 IIRC, after a faction-specific track 1), so it was one of the tracks you heard more than any other from start to finish while playing as either faction. Edit: Oh yeah, this was also the BGM used in the trailer/intro cutscene when you first launch the game. So they definitely knew this was the flagship of the OST.
"This song is made to headbang, with that beat!" I mean, I feel it's made to march on Berlin and take it at all costs, but yeah, guess we can headbang on the way there.
The thing about RTS is that you get to charge a brigade of tanks to crush the puny enemies into red stains on the dust... So, yes. This metal music totally fits the tone of the game.
C&C holds a special place in my heart. The games are not at all my usual vibe, but back when I was a child there was limited choice in games, and something about that universe just sparked my imagination. The music was, I think, a large part of it, and especially this track. I don't think the franchise gets enough praise for its storyline. On the surface it might seem like your typical retro-future wargame, where swarms of units and tanks smash into each other across a map. And that's accurate, insofar as the gameplay goes. But there's so much more going on than just two sides at war: there's time travel assassination plots, there's fanatical cults, and eventually aliens even get involved. The plot is nuts in all the best ways, and is wonderfully portrayed through hammy live-action cutscenes with real actors, including (eventually) the likes of James Earl Jones and Michael Biehn. They're charming, low-budget, shamelessly earnest, cheesy as you like, and I absolutely love every second of it. If I'm honest, though, it really is all about Kane: one of the most compelling, charismatic characters in all of gaming history. Joseph David Kucan's screen presence is captivating and unforgettable, and those cutscenes are forever burned into my mind. I've occasionally looked up playthroughs on UA-cam just to see his performances again. Long live the Brotherhood. Kane LIVES!
As I read your comment all the memories of this game is just coming back this is brilliant I can hear all the VFX and voices. This game wasn't my genre either but in the same way this game sparked my imagination.
Red Alert takes place in a world where allied time travellers murder adolf hitler before the second world war, delaying it by a few years and relegating Germany to being a minor power at best, thus mutually assured destruction is never established, leading to an all out conflict between the western allies and the soviet union. the presence of time travellers from the future also caused a butterfly effect, leading to rapid technological developments on both sides. hell march is the intro theme to the game.
Which gets undone in RA3 when the Soviets go back in time to kill Einstein though this backfires in a way by allowing Japan to become The Empire of the Rising Sun, though we do get J. Jonah Jameson and later Michael Knight as US President, Frank-N-Furter as the Soviet Premier and Sulu as Japanese Emperor. Also fun fact the original Red Alert technically serves as a prequel to the Tiberium universe since Kane appears in Red Alert as an advisor for the Soviet Union.
KineticSoup here. So glad you got to this! To me this song has always been up there with One Winged Angel. (Disclaimer: Personal nostalgia) I'll say that this is probably the most iconic and distinctive of the CnC soundtracks, but there is much more gold to be mined. Looking forward to when you get around to the others on your list. :) And yes, as others have said, this matches the gameplay perfectly. The rocking bit fits the heavy tanks and bombastic action, while the electronic half fits the strategy/buildup phases. The game just ran a playlist basically, nothing dynamic, so most of the music multitasked a bit.
This song is way too good to made for a video game in 1996 tbh. I played the hell out of Red Alert back in the day and this song was on repeat through it all.
That second half is indeed part of the song. I believe this is the only rendition of Hell March that has that part on it. The future games with their own versions do not have that second half iirc. That being said, I'm personally a fan of that part. The game is an RTS, so not having the full song be go all the time works imo.
I distinctly remember the late John 'TotalBiscuit' Bain declaring his dream of organizing a concert featuring Frank Klepacki, Mick Gordon and one or two more composers/musicians, some of them having been personal friends of his. Sadly, he passed before seeing that dream becoming a reality.
I'm so happy to see this! The C&C franchise is my absolute favorite, the soundtrack is a huge part of that, and Hell March is certainly in everyone's top 10 list. It was so refreshing to see you as an absolute outsider get to experience this! I get what you're saying when you say there's a bit of a mismatch between the visuals, and to that I would say to go search for the intro to the game, it sets the tone for the game better than just screenshots ever could.
I never skipped the intro of the game just to hear this song. The beginning while we advance in that dark tunnel with the title scrolling always gave me chills.
Oh man, the Red Alert soundtrack is super iconic. All of the songs in this game are awesome. Lots of the music is electronic actually, Hell March is quite a unique song in the overall soundtrack featuring those guitar riffs you hear in the beginning.
fun fact, a bunch of other themes created for the earlier games have lyrics (or sometimes just voicelines going along with the music) that were removed for the ingame versions because the developers were worried about players getting confused between voices coming from the soundtrack versus ingame announcements (or the latter getting drowned out).
Literally the best real time strategy war game with real armies from the 90s. Nothing more nothing less. You could literally send hundreds of soldiers, 40 tanks and helicopters/airplanes and you could see them on screen. Pure mayhem. Without limits on how much army you can make as long as you found the resources. Way ahead of its time. Insane ost too, just insane. All the adrenaline pumping up with the soundtrack, as you send your armies to their death to finish your missions. Those were the days!
I LOVE this music. C&C Red Alert is a RTS where you build an army to defeat another army, and when you have like 20 tanks and starts destroying a base, and this music kicks in... it's PHENOMENAL. You feel invincible.
Frank Klepacki one of the original videogame music legends ahahaha , also your voice is quite soothing , it's like ASMR a little , bcuz unlike many many youtubers I watch who are like jacksepticeye , you sound like your whispering hahaha.
This song has multiple versions for all the Red Alert games, as well as at least 3 or so mixes of this first version. The second part that is more techno only plays during the credits. The main guitar part is always used in the openings. I love all iterations of this song.
Oh shit! I was there at this MAGfest show! Awesome show these guys put on! Never played the games but the songs still give me chills LOL, This song, above all others LOL!
It was my birthday 1996 in november. We had the family PC up for the first, even with internet. My dad said i was allowed to buy a game for the PC "like in his C64 days". There were a hundred of diffrent PC games in the local videogame store. And of all of these, i picked red alert. And boy...what was i glad that i took this one. I fully immersed myself in the missions, played skirmish against 6 diffrent AI's that made the PC run slow as heck. But man, it was a very cold but best winter ever. Then came tiberian sun. And my journey in the C&C Franchise had been cemented. Thanks Jesse for reviewing this AMAZING masterpiece of a soundtrack
Frank Klepacki and the Tiberium Sons are gods amongst mere mortals. I love his work, Brain Freeze is one of my favorites and the live version is absolutely face melting! 🤟😝
Hell March is the main theme to the Red Alert branch of Command & Conquer. The series takes place in an alternate timeline created when Einstein invents a time machine, goes back in time, and kills Hitler before he can start WW II. In absence of that the Soviet Empire invades Europe in the original. After losing, the Soviet psychic Yuri allows them to launch a full invasion of the United States in RA2. Hell March plays during each game's intro video, showing initial invasions. The expansion and RA3 branches off more alternate timelines that are to convoluted to quickly cover. I recommend checking out Hell March 2 and 3, as well as Drok, the main theme from RA2's expansion.
Originally Hell March Frank did to The Brotherhood of NOD to first Command & Conquer (Tiberian Dawn) 1995. But Westwood Studios save this track to main theme of USSR to C&C Red Alert 1996
I remember being 12 years old and getting this game for Christmas in 1996. Firing it up on my old Packard Bell and loving it. Then realizing this song reminded me of "Walk" by Pantera
The Command and Conquer series is a more fast paced and action filled RTS game, and the heavier soundtrack definitely fits far more than you'd think. Both for setting the more urgent pace of battles/building and just being perfect framing for the very loud war SFX. (hence the 'wide open' feeling. Gotta have space for the dialogue, noise, and the game to tell you when units and buildings are done) Hell March especially fits when you're going on the offensive and you see all the troops you've amassed rush into the enemy base, creating a trail of carnage in their wake. In fact it was such a good fit and a popular song, it was remixed two more times for sequel games.
You just made me search the concert and watch it all, got to tell you need to react to that final encore too, thats Hellmarch 2/3, basicly hellmarch adaptation in C&C Red Alert 2 and 3. Totally worth it.
Glad you enjoyed the song! I personally love the live versions of songs which is why I was a little shocked I didn't see anyone else request live version. While I prefer the live version for Hell March, I honestly didn't know that the second electronic phase of the song existed so you're not the only one who got thrown for a loop lol.
Loved this guy's compositions ever since playing Dune 2, incredibly evocative of Arrakis and the weird universe that Dune is set in. Listening to that while playing a sci-fi game on what seemed like a sci-fi computer system as a kid has been simply unforgettable.
Oh man, the memories... For many players of RTS game in the 90s /early 2000s, this song and Klepacki's main songs in general are legendary. He did most of the soundtracks for the whole C&C franchise and that franchise has been associated to that aggressive music style during its lifetime. BTW if anything the MENU song hits even harder than that (Grinder). I can't answer that last question from a neutral PoV since these music tracks are heavily associated with its gameplay in my mind. All I can say is that it fits the game, and very well. x)
On the subject of that second part: the C&C: Red Alert soundtrack was extremely experimental. A lot of the tunes switched from hard metal/industrial to softer electronic ambience. While it is a bit odd to switch to that inside one song, it actually really suited the bleak war scenario portrayed in the game. Look up the track "Trenches" from the game and you might see what I mean; that track just oozes WW1 style trench warfare; cold, desperation, and death. Now, do note this game has no context sensitive music; the C&C series is one of the very few game series I know that had an accessible playlist, with fully named tracks. But this means that it varies between these harder and softer ones all the time anyway. So having softer and harder parts inside one song didn't sound that odd.
You should definitely check out all the other version of Hell March, you can really hear how it evolves from game to game. You just listened to the first one (just so you know, Hell March is the main theme song of the Red Alert series). Then they released Red Alert on home consoles; called Red Alert: Retaliation which had a Remixed version of Hell March as the intro song: ua-cam.com/video/Aw9TmExJhg4/v-deo.html Then RA2 came out with the main theme; Hell March 2 which goes back to the metal sound but sounds more like the remix rather than the original: ua-cam.com/video/cyDwuwwlXcQ/v-deo.html Then there was RA3 which again had the main theme; Hell March 3, which is similar to HM2 but more orchestral: ua-cam.com/video/AM9uQ1fqV2I/v-deo.html Then, for the remastered collection which came out a few years ago they made a Hell March 2/3 medley that they performed at mag fest, which is one of my favourite live performances: ua-cam.com/video/_D060aTK6tU/v-deo.html And as a bonus I’d highly recommend the Grinder 1/2 medley: ua-cam.com/video/1I3BUYUELi4/v-deo.html
The vocals to Hell March are, Conscripts and GI infantry firing upon each other Mis-mached tanks firing cannons, SPAA rapid firing filling the skies with flak, Building exploding when hit with guided missiles, with a cold detached synthesized female voice calmly reporting the battle progress. The music always pulls me back to desperate even matches.
So about the drums, in the beginning of the song. I've watched some random videos of real miltiray marches with this song playing in background. Drums matches the footsteps of soldiers marching in every single one of those videos. It's incredible detail and I would have never noticed it myself or even came to think about it.
C&C up to Red Alert 2 is just wall-to-wall bangers (except for Tiberian Sun, which took a more ambient approach). You can't go wrong with Frank Klepacki.
Hell March, Vector and co all fit the game perfectly. C&C goes pretty hard, it's gritty and while it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is obvious from the live action cutscenes in particular, it's very visceral for an RTS from an era where the number of pixels on screen was still extremely limited. While the "action" on screen is obviously just RTS-style clicking, dragging and clicking more, queueing up production of units or putting down buildings, it's not a game to relax to in my opinion, but one that keeps you on edge. Units die fast, much faster than most RTS of its era. Where in, say, Warcraft you could reasonably save your troops by pulling back a bit and having the enemy's auto-targeting go for an uninjured unit of your own instead, C&C is very squishy. The announcer voice will repeatedly and rapidly inform you about a "unit lost". Heck, your troops can be simply *run over* by enemy vehicles! In many ways, classic C&C is more about the macro scale than the micro of something like Warcraft or even Starcraft. Individual units are deemphasized, with the hyperindustrial tone of building your base, recruiting units, and harvesting resources taking a more prominent place in how the game is presented. And then you have the storylines, which are a BIG part of C&C. It's often campy, but in the best way. Red Alert presents an alternate timeline, springing off from the original, where Albert Einstein's Time Travel experiments were successful. It literally opens up with going back to kill Hitler before he rises to power, and puts the Allied Forces against the Sowjets instead. The campaign map is engaging, there are even branching mission choices, and you'll frequently be called by live action FMV versions of your superiors or assistants during missions. The acting is glorious, often funny while still maintaining a serious tone overall. Things become even more trippy when Red Alert 2 introduces mind control. It's a fantastic series, and one EA did very dirty back then, after buying Westwood and basically gutting them out of business. C&C 4 was a failure in many ways and a departure from the established concepts, while Red Alert 3 leaned too heavily into the comedic aspects, even changing the visual style. A mobile game was attempted, with back-then popular gameplay aspects, but everything basically flopped and consigned the franchise to oblivion... until recently, when community people were assembled as an advisory staff for a proper, faithful Remake of CC1 & RA1, with all their expansions - and THAT was truly awesome, and a labor of love. Been praying for the same treatment for the sequels, particularly RA2, ever since!
You really need to listen to the rest of Frank Klepacki's stuff for the Command & Conquer series. I think you'd love pretty much everything. Songs like Crush, Act on Instinct, Grinder, Got a Present For Ya and Killing Machine are so iconic and there's nothing else quite like it in the RTS genre. Actually for the recent Remaster of the original C&C and Red Alert, him and his band remixed several tracks to put on the soundtrack, including Act on Instict (the most iconic track from the original game). Would love to see you check out both the original and the remix of that, since it's one of my favorite tracks in the series. Honestly though I could recommend the entire remix album they did for the remasters, every single track is a banger. It's 1 hour and 14 minutes of pure joy and passion for the series he was part of creating.
Command and Conquer Red Alert (including expansion pack) OST was my soundtrack for long drives across the US in my 20s. Passing by nuclear power plants, military bases, heavy industry at night in my machine. Some of it is atmospheric, slow, synth, but all of it is cold, industrial, military. Frank Klepacki called it industrofunk
Red alert on the ps1 hell march doesnt have the electronic part of the music, but i remember i’d leave the ps1 on while i was in school for no real reason than to return to the map covered in ore… i guess i was creative as the ai was basically beat! Lmao I sometimes still play to this day on pc, openRA and the remaster
Ok so i thought Hell March was a particular song I found long ago, but upon listening to this, it's not the same one? It's got the opening marching sounds, but the rest of the song that I recall hearing, was totally different. It had a lot more fast paced guitar elements and drums, a bit more game sounds mixed in, and felt a bit more EDM in nature? Anyone know the version I'm talking about? The impression I got was it was in the game, and not someone's remix of it, but I'm not sure now. I haven't heard that track in years so I don't recall the name on the clip.
I had no idea there was a live version. But yes, Hell March is a big deal. When I first played this game (at least 1997, probably later) I was blown away by the music. This is actually pretty darn close to FF7 or Symphony of the Night in terms of the music quality, plus the live action cutscenes portraying Stalin as well as many fictional characters. And the game is just plain fun.
I know you did Sonic Adventure 2 music, but you HAVE to listen to the Knuckles stages! They are called Wild Canyon, Pumpkin Hill, Death Chamber, Aquatic Mine, and Meteor Herd. They are rap songs that have a funk to them.
My brother played this game and I always beg to stay in the title screen so can I listen to this 😎🤟. I didn't play this game at all but still remember this song
This brings me back, i grew up with the C&C series(All hail Kane!) and Red Alert 1 was such a revelutionary game, both in gameplay and music and i'll never forget those songs. If u ever get the chance, check out the C&C remastered edition on Steam, they remastered all the songs(added a jukebox function as well) and that together with C&C 1 and Red Alert 1 u get one hell of a expirience for a low price :)' And yes, the music fits into the game perfectly, it has some quiet parts but usually ramps up when want it to. And Command and Conquer(Tiberium saga) and Red Alert are 2 series that were released side by side, just play one if u want to know how it is, u'll love it i'm sure.
If I could recommend some music to you, it would be the songs "first trumpet" "second trumpet" and "third trumpet" of the game Lobotomy Corporation. Its a bit of a more obscure game, but the music absolutly will not dissapointed. For a bit of context: the game checks in how much trouble the player is and adjust the music to the situation. "first trumpet" is for a situation where a player basically goes "oh crap", "second trumpet" is for "oh FUCK", and "third trumpet" for "everything is lost"
Hell march is basicaly the Main Theme of the Red Alert Timeline of Command and Conquer and fits the theme perfectly of those games as it basicaly always is a world war between the West and Sovjets (and later on imperial japan) For the Triberium Timeline there are also quiet a few iconic songs (Act on Instinct,Slave to the System and Nod Crunch)though none as consistend as Hell March wich also fits the overall chaotic Nature of the Tiberium timeline in wich basicaly the UN fights a world war against a combination of all terrorist groups+illuminaten+cult combined in one while the world gets destroyed by an alien crystal that is super toxic and an awesome ressource at once and later on some Alien Invaders join the fun too
Fun Fact: Frank Klepacki the composer was 17 when he joined Westwood and was either 17 or 18 when he made Hell March.
i was so unsure of this statement so i looked it up... 100%. he was 17. no way.... and won 2 awards for red alert. damn.... well earned.
The first game with Frank as lead composer came out 1 year after he joined Westwood and it was many "firsts" despite the number in the title: Dune II. Red Alert was released 4 years later.
He was 17 in 1991 I believe, he made hell march in 1997 which he would have been 23 when doing if
@@StorMRagE4EVA bloody impressive still
He woulda made these songs no matter what i think, maybe slight differ vibes.
This is THE song. Nothing screams tactical dominance on a supreme level quite like it. This song is, for many of us, the formative military song of our childhood.
IDK It's a close tie with Act on Instinct for me.
Oh I hope he hears brain freeze from yuris revenge
Hey UncleJesse, glad to see you enjoyed the song! Hell March is the main theme of the Command and Conquer: Red Alert series of games, each one having a different remix of this theme as well. The second part of the song is part of it as one, but it doesn't show up in later remixes or live performances. Cant wait for you to hear more from the Command and Conquer universe! ✌
The Tiberium Suns was actually a fan band initially. Named for Command and Conquer: Tiberium Sun which Frank also did the OST for. When they did the remaster of the game Frank brought them on board to record everything.
and did a fantastic job
"Tiberian Sons," actually. Y'know. It's a pun on the game name. They're *not* actually a "fan band" though; they _named_ themselves after Tiberian Sun, but they aren't specifically focused on C&C songs or anything.
Living the dream of guitars and green crystals.
The music absolutely fits! Red Alert is basically an alternate history version of World War 2, with lots of bombastic corny/badass scifi elements mixed in. It's like if you took a WW2 game and combined it with Starship Troopers, and it was made in the 90s so of course it's edgy and badass about it.
Except Red Alert is what if the Cold War actually wasn't so cold.
@@winspyy its a mixture of both. Spoilers ahead.
The whole timeline is an alternate reality where Einstein creates a time machine and erases Hitler from history. As a result, Stalin and Russia instead invade Europe with no formal resistance for a while.
So its kinda a mixture of the two.
sci-fi? 50% hehehe
look at the inventions of the soviet union hahaha check out some video of those crazy inventions for the time they were...
😂😂😂
@@infynity8015 Well, Soviet like them big and crazy, mammoth heavy tank (RA1) and apocalypst tank (RA2) are actually almost become a reality of Soviet's super tank project, well, if their economy not a clusterfuck like this.
@@Keldiur Spoilers for a 27 year old game.
For the record, the guy's shouting "Reform line, quick march". There were huge amounts of speculation on that in the community throughout the years, but they tracked down the original sample, and a former Canadian drill instructor confirmed that it was most likely a shortened form of the Canadian drill line "Reform line, remainder, quick march."
Oh, and no, this is _not_ "from EA". This is from Westwood Studios, which got bought by EA when Virgin Games fell apart.
I thought it was "Die Waffen legt an" (ready the weapons in German) for a long time but even that seemed a bit off. Funny how long it took us to realize a song named Hell March would include "march" in the vocals.
@@Nirual86 didn't help that the composer himself didn't have a clue either and just said something like "sure, whatever" when someone proposed it could be that German line.
RIP Westwood
Funny cause I thought it came outta ww2 Nazi Germany March. 😅 I mean I can dig it.
@@jawesomes6939 Ancient WW2 recordings don't tend to produce good quality audio samples.
This is not from EA. It's from Westwood Studios, which EA bought, slaughtered, and wore as a hat for a few weeks until it got tired of it.
Sounds like EA!
The original game studios on Tenaya Way in Las Vegas is now a professional plaza of office spaces for rent. Sad to see how the mighty have fallen.
Duuude I'm so glad someone requested this! One of the staple soundtracks of my childhood
Did a double take when I saw Jesse and Hell March in my feed. Hell YES I'm clicking that!! Glad you got to experience a headbanging classic.
I grew up playing Starcraft, another RTS from the 90s. And while I'd never played it, I've always known of the existence of Command & Conquer: Red Alert. So my curiosity of this other popular RTS from that time made me click on this video.
And all I have to say is... UMM WHAT??? HELLO???? (I would use stronger language but YT no likely)
I had no idea there was music like this in that game! That was awesome, and I also immediately thought of Pantera.
Thanks for the reaction and thanks to everyone who requested it. :)
Just in the chance you didn't know, you can get the C&C and Red Alert on steam, and right now it's even on sale until the 27 for a whole $7.00 right now. You can experience the game and the soundtrack all at once.
@@Krim04 damnit. Another game added to the backlog. 😂
@@Krim04 I went to a website and downloaded the cd
This song is so good! Might seem out of place for an RTS in theory but basically it only plays when you're playing as the soviets (or whatever they were called instead in RA). This song comes on and you have all sorts of crazy tanks and rockets and tesla coils and you're like... It's time to CRUSH lol. It's just iconic for the game.
the look of confusion when it got the second stage was everything i wanted to see
The way the soundtrack worked in the original game was that there was a playlist of songs that just looped continuously during all gameplay (or shuffled if you enabled the option). No track was ever explicitly matched up with any particular gameplay section. The track list started out with just 5 or so songs on it in mission 1, and additional tracks were "unlocked" as you progressed through the missions, until you had the complete track list in the last mission. Each faction had a different song list, but with some overlapping songs. Of course, Hell March was on both factions' starting track list (track 2 IIRC, after a faction-specific track 1), so it was one of the tracks you heard more than any other from start to finish while playing as either faction.
Edit: Oh yeah, this was also the BGM used in the trailer/intro cutscene when you first launch the game. So they definitely knew this was the flagship of the OST.
Laughed at confused headbanging, concerned head bobbing. OST of red alert is godly.
"This song is made to headbang, with that beat!"
I mean, I feel it's made to march on Berlin and take it at all costs, but yeah, guess we can headbang on the way there.
*Moscow
This song is made to send 200 heavy tanks into the Allies base.
ayyy I was at that live concert, good times! Love this track, and most of the Red Alert games' music
wow I surely never dreamed that someone in 2022 would still listen to Hell March. Great reaction man!
The thing about RTS is that you get to charge a brigade of tanks to crush the puny enemies into red stains on the dust...
So, yes. This metal music totally fits the tone of the game.
Hell March 3 is my FAVORITE. Hell March is probably the most recognizable RTS music
I'm kind of missing the soft pieces in HM2 and HM3. The RA1 soundtrack was delightfully experimental.
yes hell march 3 is awesome especially the Soprano version
C&C holds a special place in my heart. The games are not at all my usual vibe, but back when I was a child there was limited choice in games, and something about that universe just sparked my imagination. The music was, I think, a large part of it, and especially this track.
I don't think the franchise gets enough praise for its storyline. On the surface it might seem like your typical retro-future wargame, where swarms of units and tanks smash into each other across a map. And that's accurate, insofar as the gameplay goes. But there's so much more going on than just two sides at war: there's time travel assassination plots, there's fanatical cults, and eventually aliens even get involved. The plot is nuts in all the best ways, and is wonderfully portrayed through hammy live-action cutscenes with real actors, including (eventually) the likes of James Earl Jones and Michael Biehn. They're charming, low-budget, shamelessly earnest, cheesy as you like, and I absolutely love every second of it.
If I'm honest, though, it really is all about Kane: one of the most compelling, charismatic characters in all of gaming history. Joseph David Kucan's screen presence is captivating and unforgettable, and those cutscenes are forever burned into my mind. I've occasionally looked up playthroughs on UA-cam just to see his performances again.
Long live the Brotherhood. Kane LIVES!
PEACE THROUGH POWER
Tim Curry's "SPACE!!!" line delivery is still legendary.
@@secretagenttau2233 why does this moto sounds like Megatron's?
As I read your comment all the memories of this game is just coming back this is brilliant I can hear all the VFX and voices. This game wasn't my genre either but in the same way this game sparked my imagination.
@@windsgrace688 everyone forgets J.K. Simmons as the President of the USA in the third one. J. Johna Jameson as the Pres. It was great.
Red Alert takes place in a world where allied time travellers murder adolf hitler before the second world war, delaying it by a few years and relegating Germany to being a minor power at best, thus mutually assured destruction is never established, leading to an all out conflict between the western allies and the soviet union.
the presence of time travellers from the future also caused a butterfly effect, leading to rapid technological developments on both sides.
hell march is the intro theme to the game.
Which gets undone in RA3 when the Soviets go back in time to kill Einstein though this backfires in a way by allowing Japan to become The Empire of the Rising Sun, though we do get J. Jonah Jameson and later Michael Knight as US President, Frank-N-Furter as the Soviet Premier and Sulu as Japanese Emperor. Also fun fact the original Red Alert technically serves as a prequel to the Tiberium universe since Kane appears in Red Alert as an advisor for the Soviet Union.
30years old song made for a game, best soundtrqck ever made‼️
KineticSoup here.
So glad you got to this! To me this song has always been up there with One Winged Angel. (Disclaimer: Personal nostalgia) I'll say that this is probably the most iconic and distinctive of the CnC soundtracks, but there is much more gold to be mined. Looking forward to when you get around to the others on your list. :)
And yes, as others have said, this matches the gameplay perfectly. The rocking bit fits the heavy tanks and bombastic action, while the electronic half fits the strategy/buildup phases. The game just ran a playlist basically, nothing dynamic, so most of the music multitasked a bit.
This song is way too good to made for a video game in 1996 tbh. I played the hell out of Red Alert back in the day and this song was on repeat through it all.
That second half is indeed part of the song. I believe this is the only rendition of Hell March that has that part on it. The future games with their own versions do not have that second half iirc.
That being said, I'm personally a fan of that part. The game is an RTS, so not having the full song be go all the time works imo.
The Red March renditions for Red Alert 2 and 3 are also absolutely worth it
Yeaaaaaa man I love RA2, it has an industrial theme to it, with the expansion having more funky hiphop themes to them
I distinctly remember the late John 'TotalBiscuit' Bain declaring his dream of organizing a concert featuring Frank Klepacki, Mick Gordon and one or two more composers/musicians, some of them having been personal friends of his.
Sadly, he passed before seeing that dream becoming a reality.
The Command & Conquer series had some banger tracks back in the day that's for sure.
I'm so happy to see this! The C&C franchise is my absolute favorite, the soundtrack is a huge part of that, and Hell March is certainly in everyone's top 10 list.
It was so refreshing to see you as an absolute outsider get to experience this! I get what you're saying when you say there's a bit of a mismatch between the visuals, and to that I would say to go search for the intro to the game, it sets the tone for the game better than just screenshots ever could.
I never skipped the intro of the game just to hear this song. The beginning while we advance in that dark tunnel with the title scrolling always gave me chills.
Oh man, the Red Alert soundtrack is super iconic. All of the songs in this game are awesome. Lots of the music is electronic actually, Hell March is quite a unique song in the overall soundtrack featuring those guitar riffs you hear in the beginning.
Loved playing the Red Alert games when I was a kid, and half the reason was the soundtrack - hope we get to hear some more down the line!
fun fact, a bunch of other themes created for the earlier games have lyrics (or sometimes just voicelines going along with the music) that were removed for the ingame versions because the developers were worried about players getting confused between voices coming from the soundtrack versus ingame announcements (or the latter getting drowned out).
Literally the best real time strategy war game with real armies from the 90s.
Nothing more nothing less. You could literally send hundreds of soldiers, 40 tanks and helicopters/airplanes and you could see them on screen. Pure mayhem.
Without limits on how much army you can make as long as you found the resources. Way ahead of its time.
Insane ost too, just insane. All the adrenaline pumping up with the soundtrack, as you send your armies to their death to finish your missions.
Those were the days!
Like the game world in conflict
This and Mechanical Man are some of my all-time favorite RTS songs. So many memories
I'm a mechanical, I'm a mechanical, I'm a mechanical man.
I LOVE this music. C&C Red Alert is a RTS where you build an army to defeat another army, and when you have like 20 tanks and starts destroying a base, and this music kicks in... it's PHENOMENAL. You feel invincible.
Command and conquer red alert one of my favourite games from when I was a kid, didn't expect you to react to this, awesome.
Good god, I haven't thought about this song in decades, but damn was it a banger when I used to play C&C....
Imo Hell March one of the most iconic video game soundtracks, specially in the RTS genre.
Frank Klepacki one of the original videogame music legends ahahaha , also your voice is quite soothing , it's like ASMR a little , bcuz unlike many many youtubers I watch who are like jacksepticeye , you sound like your whispering hahaha.
Hell March makes you do stuff. Great for procrastinators.
"Grinder" in Red Alert is my favorite song
is Rock and roll
This song has multiple versions for all the Red Alert games, as well as at least 3 or so mixes of this first version. The second part that is more techno only plays during the credits. The main guitar part is always used in the openings. I love all iterations of this song.
Oh shit! I was there at this MAGfest show! Awesome show these guys put on! Never played the games but the songs still give me chills LOL, This song, above all others LOL!
Frank Klepacki's work is permanently ingrained into my brain. Anytime I hop into a tank in a game, I start hearing "Grinder" from RA2 in my head.
It was my birthday 1996 in november. We had the family PC up for the first, even with internet. My dad said i was allowed to buy a game for the PC "like in his C64 days". There were a hundred of diffrent PC games in the local videogame store. And of all of these, i picked red alert. And boy...what was i glad that i took this one. I fully immersed myself in the missions, played skirmish against 6 diffrent AI's that made the PC run slow as heck. But man, it was a very cold but best winter ever.
Then came tiberian sun. And my journey in the C&C Franchise had been cemented.
Thanks Jesse for reviewing this AMAZING masterpiece of a soundtrack
My next recommendation after this one is “Act on Instinct” from Command and Conquer remastered. Absolute banger
Guitar sets in: "Hah, he did not expect that :D"
Jesse: "I did not expect that..."
It's great when you have an accidental dialog :D
Song mentioned in this video;
Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People
ua-cam.com/video/Ypkv0HeUvTc/v-deo.html
Frank Klepacki and the Tiberium Sons are gods amongst mere mortals. I love his work, Brain Freeze is one of my favorites and the live version is absolutely face melting! 🤟😝
Completely agree. If I was ever going to make a platinum request it would be Brain Freeze. Really don't got that kind of free cash sadly.
Hell March is the main theme to the Red Alert branch of Command & Conquer. The series takes place in an alternate timeline created when Einstein invents a time machine, goes back in time, and kills Hitler before he can start WW II. In absence of that the Soviet Empire invades Europe in the original. After losing, the Soviet psychic Yuri allows them to launch a full invasion of the United States in RA2. Hell March plays during each game's intro video, showing initial invasions. The expansion and RA3 branches off more alternate timelines that are to convoluted to quickly cover. I recommend checking out Hell March 2 and 3, as well as Drok, the main theme from RA2's expansion.
Oh god yes! And I unironically love the techno part of the song as well! It's weird and confusing and yet it fits?
Originally Hell March Frank did to The Brotherhood of NOD to first Command & Conquer (Tiberian Dawn) 1995. But Westwood Studios save this track to main theme of USSR to C&C Red Alert 1996
I remember being 12 years old and getting this game for Christmas in 1996. Firing it up on my old Packard Bell and loving it. Then realizing this song reminded me of "Walk" by Pantera
The Command and Conquer series is a more fast paced and action filled RTS game, and the heavier soundtrack definitely fits far more than you'd think. Both for setting the more urgent pace of battles/building and just being perfect framing for the very loud war SFX. (hence the 'wide open' feeling. Gotta have space for the dialogue, noise, and the game to tell you when units and buildings are done) Hell March especially fits when you're going on the offensive and you see all the troops you've amassed rush into the enemy base, creating a trail of carnage in their wake.
In fact it was such a good fit and a popular song, it was remixed two more times for sequel games.
You just made me search the concert and watch it all, got to tell you need to react to that final encore too, thats Hellmarch 2/3, basicly hellmarch adaptation in C&C Red Alert 2 and 3. Totally worth it.
Glad you enjoyed the song! I personally love the live versions of songs which is why I was a little shocked I didn't see anyone else request live version. While I prefer the live version for Hell March, I honestly didn't know that the second electronic phase of the song existed so you're not the only one who got thrown for a loop lol.
Used to listen to watch this intro all the time back on my ps1 copy.
The opening intro to the game with this song as the title track was my introduction to the Command and Conquer universe.
This is one of the best pieces of computer game music ever created.
Loved this guy's compositions ever since playing Dune 2, incredibly evocative of Arrakis and the weird universe that Dune is set in. Listening to that while playing a sci-fi game on what seemed like a sci-fi computer system as a kid has been simply unforgettable.
Oh man, the memories... For many players of RTS game in the 90s /early 2000s, this song and Klepacki's main songs in general are legendary. He did most of the soundtracks for the whole C&C franchise and that franchise has been associated to that aggressive music style during its lifetime. BTW if anything the MENU song hits even harder than that (Grinder).
I can't answer that last question from a neutral PoV since these music tracks are heavily associated with its gameplay in my mind. All I can say is that it fits the game, and very well. x)
Frank Klepacki is a living legend.
The whole concert at MagFest was excellent and I can't recommend it enough!
Hearing this band cover Ace Combat tracks is something that 90's me wouldn't even comprehend, but here we are
On the subject of that second part: the C&C: Red Alert soundtrack was extremely experimental. A lot of the tunes switched from hard metal/industrial to softer electronic ambience. While it is a bit odd to switch to that inside one song, it actually really suited the bleak war scenario portrayed in the game. Look up the track "Trenches" from the game and you might see what I mean; that track just oozes WW1 style trench warfare; cold, desperation, and death. Now, do note this game has no context sensitive music; the C&C series is one of the very few game series I know that had an accessible playlist, with fully named tracks. But this means that it varies between these harder and softer ones all the time anyway. So having softer and harder parts inside one song didn't sound that odd.
You should definitely check out all the other version of Hell March, you can really hear how it evolves from game to game.
You just listened to the first one (just so you know, Hell March is the main theme song of the Red Alert series).
Then they released Red Alert on home consoles; called Red Alert: Retaliation which had a Remixed version of Hell March as the intro song: ua-cam.com/video/Aw9TmExJhg4/v-deo.html
Then RA2 came out with the main theme; Hell March 2 which goes back to the metal sound but sounds more like the remix rather than the original: ua-cam.com/video/cyDwuwwlXcQ/v-deo.html
Then there was RA3 which again had the main theme; Hell March 3, which is similar to HM2 but more orchestral: ua-cam.com/video/AM9uQ1fqV2I/v-deo.html
Then, for the remastered collection which came out a few years ago they made a Hell March 2/3 medley that they performed at mag fest, which is one of my favourite live performances: ua-cam.com/video/_D060aTK6tU/v-deo.html
And as a bonus I’d highly recommend the Grinder 1/2 medley: ua-cam.com/video/1I3BUYUELi4/v-deo.html
I feel like the bass parts are like wheel tracks of a heavy tank, so soothing but energetic at the same time
The vocals to Hell March are,
Conscripts and GI infantry firing upon each other
Mis-mached tanks firing cannons,
SPAA rapid firing filling the skies with flak,
Building exploding when hit with guided missiles,
with a cold detached synthesized female voice calmly reporting the battle progress.
The music always pulls me back to desperate even matches.
So about the drums, in the beginning of the song. I've watched some random videos of real miltiray marches with this song playing in background. Drums matches the footsteps of soldiers marching in every single one of those videos. It's incredible detail and I would have never noticed it myself or even came to think about it.
bloody roar 2 is STILL my favorite out of the franchise! awesome shoutout!
C&C up to Red Alert 2 is just wall-to-wall bangers (except for Tiberian Sun, which took a more ambient approach). You can't go wrong with Frank Klepacki.
The voice you hear shouts german btw. "Die Waffen - Legt an!" Translates to ready your weapons basically.
My favorite song in the entire C&C series, hands down.
Hell March, Vector and co all fit the game perfectly. C&C goes pretty hard, it's gritty and while it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is obvious from the live action cutscenes in particular, it's very visceral for an RTS from an era where the number of pixels on screen was still extremely limited.
While the "action" on screen is obviously just RTS-style clicking, dragging and clicking more, queueing up production of units or putting down buildings, it's not a game to relax to in my opinion, but one that keeps you on edge. Units die fast, much faster than most RTS of its era. Where in, say, Warcraft you could reasonably save your troops by pulling back a bit and having the enemy's auto-targeting go for an uninjured unit of your own instead, C&C is very squishy. The announcer voice will repeatedly and rapidly inform you about a "unit lost". Heck, your troops can be simply *run over* by enemy vehicles! In many ways, classic C&C is more about the macro scale than the micro of something like Warcraft or even Starcraft. Individual units are deemphasized, with the hyperindustrial tone of building your base, recruiting units, and harvesting resources taking a more prominent place in how the game is presented.
And then you have the storylines, which are a BIG part of C&C. It's often campy, but in the best way. Red Alert presents an alternate timeline, springing off from the original, where Albert Einstein's Time Travel experiments were successful. It literally opens up with going back to kill Hitler before he rises to power, and puts the Allied Forces against the Sowjets instead. The campaign map is engaging, there are even branching mission choices, and you'll frequently be called by live action FMV versions of your superiors or assistants during missions. The acting is glorious, often funny while still maintaining a serious tone overall. Things become even more trippy when Red Alert 2 introduces mind control.
It's a fantastic series, and one EA did very dirty back then, after buying Westwood and basically gutting them out of business. C&C 4 was a failure in many ways and a departure from the established concepts, while Red Alert 3 leaned too heavily into the comedic aspects, even changing the visual style. A mobile game was attempted, with back-then popular gameplay aspects, but everything basically flopped and consigned the franchise to oblivion... until recently, when community people were assembled as an advisory staff for a proper, faithful Remake of CC1 & RA1, with all their expansions - and THAT was truly awesome, and a labor of love. Been praying for the same treatment for the sequels, particularly RA2, ever since!
We have been waiting for this.
You really need to listen to the rest of Frank Klepacki's stuff for the Command & Conquer series. I think you'd love pretty much everything. Songs like Crush, Act on Instinct, Grinder, Got a Present For Ya and Killing Machine are so iconic and there's nothing else quite like it in the RTS genre.
Actually for the recent Remaster of the original C&C and Red Alert, him and his band remixed several tracks to put on the soundtrack, including Act on Instict (the most iconic track from the original game). Would love to see you check out both the original and the remix of that, since it's one of my favorite tracks in the series.
Honestly though I could recommend the entire remix album they did for the remasters, every single track is a banger. It's 1 hour and 14 minutes of pure joy and passion for the series he was part of creating.
Act on instinct
Nod Crush
Grinder
Command and Conquer Red Alert (including expansion pack) OST was my soundtrack for long drives across the US in my 20s. Passing by nuclear power plants, military bases, heavy industry at night in my machine. Some of it is atmospheric, slow, synth, but all of it is cold, industrial, military. Frank Klepacki called it industrofunk
This song made metal heads out of most computer labs back in the day
The 90ies.
Best Decade for media.
Red alert on the ps1 hell march doesnt have the electronic part of the music, but i remember i’d leave the ps1 on while i was in school for no real reason than to return to the map covered in ore… i guess i was creative as the ai was basically beat! Lmao
I sometimes still play to this day on pc, openRA and the remaster
Ok so i thought Hell March was a particular song I found long ago, but upon listening to this, it's not the same one? It's got the opening marching sounds, but the rest of the song that I recall hearing, was totally different. It had a lot more fast paced guitar elements and drums, a bit more game sounds mixed in, and felt a bit more EDM in nature? Anyone know the version I'm talking about? The impression I got was it was in the game, and not someone's remix of it, but I'm not sure now. I haven't heard that track in years so I don't recall the name on the clip.
I had no idea there was a live version. But yes, Hell March is a big deal. When I first played this game (at least 1997, probably later) I was blown away by the music. This is actually pretty darn close to FF7 or Symphony of the Night in terms of the music quality, plus the live action cutscenes portraying Stalin as well as many fictional characters. And the game is just plain fun.
This track, the Halo soundtrack and Below the asteroids were the songs that defined my childhood games. Great reaction!
just to make sure - the guy on the bass guitar in live of Tiberian Sons is Frank Klepacki (its polish name :) )
that opening "Meatball Sub with Sprite!"
I know you did Sonic Adventure 2 music, but you HAVE to listen to the Knuckles stages! They are called Wild Canyon, Pumpkin Hill, Death Chamber, Aquatic Mine, and Meteor Herd. They are rap songs that have a funk to them.
My brother played this game and I always beg to stay in the title screen so can I listen to this 😎🤟. I didn't play this game at all but still remember this song
I only played Red Alert 3, and I wasn't too into the gameplay, but I do love Soviet March. And George Takei. And the designs for stuff were cool.
Hell March 2 is my personal favourite
Greetings from Las Vegas! Frank Klepacki and this series are my Hometown Heroes!
The soundtrack fits in the intro of Red Alert. There's a montage in the intro that goes well along with the soundtrack.
This brings me back, i grew up with the C&C series(All hail Kane!) and Red Alert 1 was such a revelutionary game, both in gameplay and music and i'll never forget those songs.
If u ever get the chance, check out the C&C remastered edition on Steam, they remastered all the songs(added a jukebox function as well) and that together with C&C 1 and Red Alert 1 u get one hell of a expirience for a low price :)'
And yes, the music fits into the game perfectly, it has some quiet parts but usually ramps up when want it to.
And Command and Conquer(Tiberium saga) and Red Alert are 2 series that were released side by side, just play one if u want to know how it is, u'll love it i'm sure.
If I could recommend some music to you, it would be the songs "first trumpet" "second trumpet" and "third trumpet" of the game Lobotomy Corporation. Its a bit of a more obscure game, but the music absolutly will not dissapointed. For a bit of context: the game checks in how much trouble the player is and adjust the music to the situation. "first trumpet" is for a situation where a player basically goes "oh crap", "second trumpet" is for "oh FUCK", and "third trumpet" for "everything is lost"
its literally the best song in any video game ever!!!
"Soviet power supreme. It will soon be a wasteland."
RA3 had some insane songs. RA2 such a simple yet amazing game.
Hope you also get around to grinder, Brain Freeze and In Deep from Red Alert 2
Hell march is basicaly the Main Theme of the Red Alert Timeline of Command and Conquer and fits the theme perfectly of those games as it basicaly always is a world war between the West and Sovjets (and later on imperial japan)
For the Triberium Timeline there are also quiet a few iconic songs (Act on Instinct,Slave to the System and Nod Crunch)though none as consistend as Hell March wich also fits the overall chaotic Nature of the Tiberium timeline in wich basicaly the UN fights a world war against a combination of all terrorist groups+illuminaten+cult combined in one while the world gets destroyed by an alien crystal that is super toxic and an awesome ressource at once and later on some Alien Invaders join the fun too