Neon Night

Neon Night is the eighth track (Disc 1 Track 8) included in Halo 3: ODST Original Soundtrack, and plays in the Halo 3: ODST campaign level Mombasa Streets. It is composed of Where One Road Ends (0:00-1:27), Block by Block (1:27-2:15), Perception is Reality (2:15-3:03), and Pounding the Pavement (3:03-5:35).

Where One Road Ends (1:27) opens with a piano playing a mysterious melody signified by its single-note melody. As the melody repeats, muted percussion and synth notes enter. Strings join in briefly as accompaniment before ending. The piece plays in the campaign level during the cutscene following Kizingo Boulevard, then continues into the gameplay sequence afterwards.

Block by Block (0:48) features a crisp and rhythmic percussion with its volume gradually getting louder. The piece plays randomly when roaming in Mombasa Streets. It reprises in Let It Burn (from the later track One Way Ride) and Old Friend (from the later track Finale) with additional strings parts or effects.

Perception is Reality (0:48) is ambiance with synth effects. The piece plays randomly when roaming in Mombasa Streets.

Pounding the Pavement (2:32) fades in with a fast piano melody and slightly tribal percussion, accompanied by snippets from the saxophone. As the piano melody and percussion repeat, the saxophone improvises with various melodies. The piece slowly fades out. The piece plays randomly when roaming in Mombasa Streets, but the soundtrack version is noticeably shorter than the in-game version, which features additional improvisation snippets from the saxophone.

Production notes

 * Where One Road Ends was titled "Rain 4" during its composition. It opened with chords similar to the opening chords from Rain in Deference for Darkness. The piano melody in Pounding the Pavement was maybe titled "Rain 5" during its composition. Martin O'Donnell envisioned snippets of saxophone on top of the piano melody.
 * The name of the track may be a play on words to a Black Sabbath song of a similar name, Neon Knights, while referencing neon signs typically seen at night in neon-noir, which, like Halo 3: ODST and its soundtrack, draws inspiration from the film noir genre.
 * Before the release of the soundtrack, a section of Pounding the Pavement, along with three other pieces from the soundtrack, was offered for download by Bungie.
 * The percussive beats in Pounding the Pavement were later featured again in Swift, Strong, Brave (from Overture in Halo: Reach Original Soundtrack).