Music Teacher Reacts: Ace Combat Zero - "Zero"

Took a recommendation from a listener on an old video game soundtrack, was pleasantly surprised! If you'd like to see me react to one of your favorite songs, leave it in the comments!
Link to full song: • Zero - 25/43 - Ace Com...

[@SolitarySpade_Davon]

"Did you know there are three kinds of musicians? Those who seek music theory, Those who live for the songs, And those who can read the tide of the composition. And him? He was a true musician." -Larry "Pixy" Foulke

[@agdgdgwngo]

Yo kid, you still practicing?

[@toonistiny]

It's time...

[@Karagee2]

this twisted orchestra need to be reset

[@SomeKrieger]

The lyrics are essentially the story of a mythical being in strangereal called The Razgriz who is essentially the demon of war and peace in a way. When history witnesses a great change the Razgriz reveals itself it’s wings a black sheath and rains chaos upon the earth. Man unites wielding a hallowed saber and slays the demon. Once man turns on man the demon reawakens, it’s wings now a majestic light. In strangereal two figures are particularly seen as the Razgriz, Razgriz squadron and Cipher the Demon Lord.

[@alpha-tomahawk532]

Razgriz also means "that who chewed up" or something like that in russian, like an animal who chewed its prey in half. Considering slav origin of the countries in ace combat i thought that may have some context in why he's named like that, or not, sometimes japanese devs just put some other countrys' words without the original meaning just to name something, so, that might be the case.

[@AmelpsXett]

@@alpha-tomahawk532 having russian as my birth language i never thought about that since everyone reads it completely different from разгрыз (something like razgryz) also if they actually meant it then its funny for a native speaker

[@jmdesertadventures803]

Blaze and Cypher are both incarnations of the Razgriz. Trigger is too, but to a much lesser degree. Anywhere that Belka's grey men do their black magic, the Razgriz will follow.

[@user-eu5qw7iw6r]

Actually, Razgriz literally means "Plan Wrecker".

[@BradSimsCPT]

Bro that's from AC5, not AC Zero

[@Galm_1]

The game first came out in 2006.... and it's still shinning like a gem. This game aged extremely well.

[@mercury1fatalshadow]

This song always brings me back. I'd downloaded the Japanese version to play on my modded PS2, like a few days after release cuz the USA version would release some time after. Maaaan was it hard to concentrate fighting Pixy, the song took me by complete surprise! Noise canceling earbuds with Zero playing, pure bliss!

[@Baddy_bunny]

It is a gem that will never lose its luster, people will live and die, until then it will shine bright for our souls.

[@lorenzosyperreck8941]

It hasn't aged yet

[@JessesAuditorium]

Hell yeah

[@iraqiwalker1436]

Yo! Uncle Jesse in the wild! Love your videos man!

[@maxtube444]

For context (spoilers): Cipher, the player character, had just finished what he thought would be the last battle of a great war between the fictional countries of Ustio and Belka. In this war, he had shot down countless enemy squadrons, destroyed superweapons, and during his most recent battle he had stopped a nuclear missile known as V2 from launching. He and his wingman, PJ, fly up from a tunnel which they flew through in order to stop the nuke. His wingman announced that he would be proposing to his girlfriend once he flew back home. Then, a flash of light came. His craft was destroyed by the advanced ADFX-02 ‘Morgan’. The Morgan was being piloted by your old buddy known as “Solo Wing Pixy”. He had become sick of war, and turned on Cipher because of it. The dogfight ensues like a dance, each pilot trying to counter and predict each other’s next move. Eventually, your AWACS tells you that an analysis of the craft had completed. It could only be damaged in the front air intakes, which results in something resembling a joust between Cipher and Pixy. It is also revealed that Pixy has control of the V2 from his Morgan. He launches it, and you have to race against time to destroy his aircraft to stop it. Eventually, you destroy your old buddy’s craft, and the V2 explodes at a high enough altitude to do minimal damage. Sorry if that was a lot to take in lol

[@Jc88500]

Zero is such an excellent song. It perfectly fits the aerial duel it plays in. The lyrics are actually the same as another track from Ace Combat 5 - The Unsung War. It tells the story of a popular fairy tale in the Ace Combat world, the protagonists of both AC5 and ACZ mirror this story throughout their journeys. Ace Combat never disappoints with its soundtracks. From Zero to Blockade. Daredevil to The Liberation of Gracemeria. There’s so many great tracks that it’s criminal that the AC soundtracks are so underrated.

[@joelzaloummusic]

I’m glad to have heard it, excellent composition! Thanks for filling me in on the story ☺️

[@surprisedchar2458]

Zero did it miles better than 5, too. 5 was just not good at telling its story, despite the potential it had.

[@ISAFMobius18]

What a great song to react to. Ace Combat has some truly epic scores and music. I highly suggest more. Like "Daredevil" From Ace Combat 7

[@diegoindaalamos5642]

Also Mimic - Rage and Scream kzbin.info/www/bejne/gabUZKepoqeGbpo

[@joelzaloummusic]

Thanks for the comment and recommendation, I’ll check it out 😀

[@Gammons211]

@@joelzaloummusic id recommend Near the border very heavy sad spanish guitar very beautiful end credit song for ace combat zero

[@dandybus1582]

Oh man, it’s such a guilty pleasure of mine to see people discover the Ace Combat soundtracks…

[@CreamTheEverythingFixer]

Magic Spear I and Magic Spear II from Ace Combat 7 might be another one you might like to listen to, it has some pretty good guitar rifts in it.

[@joelzaloummusic]

You will get your wish! Be on the lookout for this reaction next!

[@CreamTheEverythingFixer]

@@joelzaloummusic Nice, looking forward to it. Just be careful the Ace Combat soundtrack rabbit hole is deep.

[@benjaminurra2019]

I really recommend playing this game! It's one of my favorite Ace Combat games (by the way, you can pretty much start with any Ace Combat game in the series but Zero is the first one chronologically)

[@H31MU7]

second one, first was Air Combat

[@ScumbagKazuela]

​​@@H31MU7 the belkan war happens at the same time of the skully islands conflict.

[@alexfranz817]

Recent fans of the series will suggest tracks like daredevil or liberation. Older fans will recommend operatic operatic pieces like Zero, Megalith Or a straight rock track like Camona.

[@FreedomIII]

There are so many good tracks. Blockade, Agnus Dei, First Flight, Unsung War, Mayhem (moar cowbell!), and so, so many more.

[@hutaoonhigh7201]

Everybody gangsta till the combat flamenco starts playing

[@Zergbit]

It’s always a treat to see someone discover Ace Combat through its music. For more guitar centric song that go hard I recommend Magic Spear I and Magic Spear II from Ace Combat 7 🎸🛩

[@lorenzosyperreck8941]

That part at 4:33 is a gentle nod to the music that plays at the very moment the player take control of the aircraft for the first time (Glacial Skies), Zero is the track that plays at the final boss from the game. The same thing is played but on strings and brass

[@Gammons211]

Brother vs brother 2 conflicting ideals a battle to the bitter end. The fight for air superiority and the fate of the world . Demon lord of the round table we pray for your success…

[@fadeshade]

Your breakdown of this song is amazing, seeing you piece it back together on the spot again is a real show of talent.

[@joelzaloummusic]

Appreciate the compliment friend! Thanks for watching ☺️

[@stryfe7467]

I stumbled across this video while fishing for reactions to Ace Combat songs. I'm surprised you don't have more subs for how deep your breakdown is. +1 sub

[@joelzaloummusic]

Glad to hear it friend!! ☺️

[@user-rm1be2np1g]

You are really talented! I love how you got this within a minute, it took me a while to get it right haha

[@mohaa556]

The song is not an all out war song, it plays during the last mission, where you have to fight your buddy who used to be your wingman, but defected to a terrorist organization that wants to use high powered nuclear weapons to erase borders between countries and reset them to "Zero". While the song keeps ramping up you have to defeat him multiple times while he uses crazy weapons each stage, until you get to the final showdown, where you can only shoot his plane from the front, so you literally duel face to face like knights, all the while this song keeps repeating in the background until your duel ends. As for the lyrics under the video, they tell the story of an ingame myth: "When history witnesses a great change, Razgriz reveals itself... first, as a dark demon. As a demon, it uses its power to rain death upon the land, and then it dies. However, after a period of slumber, Razgriz returns, this time, as a great hero."

[@tenac2215]

This song randomly gets stuck In my head sometimes and I would never really choose to listen to anything like this on purpose otherwise. Truly special and memorable song writing.

[@Chasedtuna9]

3:10 "I dont know how this song would translate into a war song." For context, the player character is a mercenary pilot for one side of the war. Their wingman has gotten sick of the war and started/joined a third faction with the goal of ending all wars through world destruction, (or something like that. It has been a very long time since i was able to play as the game came out on PS2 in 2006). This song is played in the final fight of the final mission, which is a confrontation between the player and his former wingman. It is a duel between 2 pilots as they jockey for position in a dogfight, avoiding each others attacks while trying to get in their own, like a Matador fighting a Bull. Which pilot is which, is to be decided in the fight. Edit: I honestly never payed enough attention to notice that the lyrics were the same as The Unsung War.... at least the first half of the story...

[@raptors222222]

It's a duel. A dance of death. A fitting motif for the flamingo soundtrack.

[@paulolourenco8274]

Flamenco ​@@raptors222222

[@onehundredpicks5531]

[@marksayosmejia7251]

Id love to watch you do a cover of this song. Also glacial skies from ace combat zero

[@Hobbes7.62]

Your mid-song interjections with the guitar give much needed musical "context". Surprised you don't have more subscribers!

[@joelzaloummusic]

Appreciate it friend!

[@jamescarter8238]

If you enjoyed this, then you should check out "The Round Table". More flamenco goodness in the Ace Combat Zero OST. I'd love to see your reaction to that song.

[@johnnychopsocky]

"Like I just got dropped into a Sabaton song..." You have NO IDEA how much I suddenly want a Sabaton song about Ace Combat lore now. Anyway, Ace Combat is a videogame series about how planes are super cool and go fast and blow things up good, but also war is bad. And the music communicates all of these things perfectly.

[@onehundredpicks5531]

"Here comes the snow."

[@DireWolf505]

I hope you take the time to listen to some of the other OSTs, 4, 5, 0, and 7 are very good.

[@alexfranz817]

The idea was this would the be the music choreographing a jousting style duel between two pilots like the old knights of European fame.

[@bananaslamma35]

Something I don't see mentioned in other comments - while others bring up that this song isn't necessarily a war song, as it plays in a 1v1 duel between pilots, there's also another aspect of it. The final fight is actually as close as you can possibly get to a jousting duel between airplanes. The only way to actually damage the final boss is by using missiles from the front, nothing else will actually touch him, and the AI is scripted such that if you follow along, then the boss will actually play along with the jousting by making a beeline straight towards you. Considering the main character and some parts of the game's plot have references to El Cid, it all just comes together really well.

[@TheKutthroatKid]

it palys during a really intense dog fight. imagine flying through the sky in a fighter jet going up against the enemy ace.

[@JenkemSuperfan]

This song plays during a duel with the final boss that ends with an aerial jousting match, hence the spanish guitar

[@ruhooze]

You should listen to epilogue near the border next!

[@taliakuznetsova7092]

The guitar volume was slightly too high (I assume it's being fed by line in to recorder vs raw to mic) but other than that what impressed me the most is how fast and accurate you picked up the chords.

[@joelzaloummusic]

Appreciate the constructive criticism! Thanks for watching!

[@taliakuznetsova7092]

@@joelzaloummusic And thank you for making this video. If you do something like this again try to adjust the volume so its distinct from the instruments but not as jarring. Unfortunately that might need alot of test records and etc so it may take time. But other than always nice to see a professional view of a strong I like and I hope you have a nice day.

[@metalhev3989]

Its not really a song about a war. I think its really similar to skyrim's main theme, a tense buildup in the middle to a second half where the singers start exalting the foretold victory of a legendary hero. Its a final boss theme, where you're the final boss.

[@jocax188723]

Also see: "Near the Border".

[@chaoscommentary2179]

Should check out comona from ace combat 4 the definition of dogfight music

[@joshuabrown3525]

Imagine if you will, a dogfight between two aces. One is seeking to remove boundaries with a mega weapon called V2 in a state of the art plane armed with lasers, missiles, and an insane pilot at the helm. The other ace is a demon lord of the skies, (Galm 1, or player character), trying to prevent such a catastrophic event. Now, imagine yourself in the cockpit rolling, spinning, diving, and climbing. Add in the constant sounds a missile alerts, clouds along with yellow hue of skies all around you, as well as explosions everywhere and you get the idea of why this music is played. It's the last mission of the game too.

[@KairoValen]

3:14 in a dogfight, it's not about the war. It's about you... and your opponent. Lol

[@sanghoonlee5171]

This OST is so good that if it had been used in a feature film it might have won an Oscar. No joke.

[@ChickenatorJr]

Gerudo Valley vibes!

[@NSXtacy-]

I don't know if anyone has suggested this yet but you definitely need to react to Star Citizen - First Light, the composer Pedro Macedo has a talent for matching up music and in game experiences like I've never seen, but it's just as good if you've never even heard of the game. Hopefully you have not listened to it already but if you have, maybe Star Citizen - Arc Corp theme then. I promise you wont be disappointed!

[@sierra6993]

I mean, Elite Dangerous ambience music is absolutely amazing as well if we wanna get into the theme of space games. Like how you can hear the track getting a triumphant tone as you destroy an enemy ship or the quiet dreamy music when your in supercruise or exploring

[@linkkicksu]

For context, this song plays during the final battle in the game, a one-on-one dogfight between two former comrades, one of which defected to a terrorist organization with the intention of destroying the power structures of the world by nuking everything, because they believe there can't be war in a world without borders or nations. The protagonist has to fight head to head with his old wingman in a deadly jousting match as the nukes are launched into the sky. The only hope of saving the world is by destroying the wingman's plane, which is in control of the nukes. The fight is full of memorable quotes. "Those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they're invincible. I bet you do too, buddy." "Too bad, buddy. This twisted game needs to be reset. We'll start over from 'Zero' with this V2 and entrust the future to the next generation." "You and I are opposite sides of the same coin. When we face each other, we can finally see our true selves. There may be a resemblance, but we never face the same direction." "Now we find out who's number one. You fired up? Come shoot me down. Fire away coward! Come on!"

[@MatSpeedle]

Bob is correct, Pretty much the entire soundtrack for AC:Zero is just a work of art.

[@alexjhonson6724]

This game tells about the demon lord of the round table

[@user-uv4xm1lw9c]

A request for you to listen to Near the Border of AC0 same game but the ending music

[@mahamann7734]

Little did he know, he was gonna step into a way different soundtrack than Retro soundtrack.

[@XxBLOODZILLAxX]

HEY MUSIC TEACHERS, WE KNOW YOU CAN IDENTIFY KEYS!! We want you to "LISTEN AND REACT TO THE SONG". then you can show us the nerd stuff that we also like too.

[@GabrielTheGuitarist]

"I don't know how this song would translate into like, a war song?" Boi, sit down, let me tell you a story... no seriously, this song comes on during one of the most intense moments of the game when you know its life or death. the context makes PERFECT sense as a war song. if you haven't, go back and play AC:5 and AC:0. It is worth the effort. The soundtracks alone are beautiful, but the stories are great too.

[@mostlyirishcarguy8955]

Gigachad Guild player

[@chaoscommentary2179]

Yeah ace combat is not your typical war game it’s not American good vs terrorist bad it’s more of a gray area

[@panzerkampfwagen8439]

(spoilers) This song plays when you fight your former wingman over a dam. Disillusioned with the war, Pixy intends to launch the V2 nuclear weapon in an attempt to bring about a "World With No Borders". Pixy, a mercenary, fought against his own country, Belka - which detonated seven nuclear weapons over its own soil in a failed attempt to stop the invasion of the Belkan homeland. Pixy comes to realize that, above all, Cipher - the player protagonist - is the problem, continuing the war by pushing Belkan forces further and further back. Your first mission alongside Pixy was in April, in the mountains, in snowy conditions. Now, on New Year's Eve, Pixy faces you once more, as nuclear snow begins to fall. "Here comes the snow..."