Well, your screen name is appropriate, at any rate.

Silent Hill 2 has one of the greatest soundtracks ever, of all time. In the game, the dynamic sequencing of the music is incredibly effective at getting your heart racing as you step cautiously down a pitch-black hallway and begin to hear the inevitable abominations shuffle nearer. When you're in a "safe" location, it's just as good as soothing you into a temporary state of calm. All the compositions are more than formidable enough to stand on their own, outside the game's context, as well. My favorite tracks are probably "Theme of Laura," "The Darkness That Lurks in Our Mind," "Laura Plays the Piano," and "Betrayal."

The only other Silent Hill game I've played has been Origins, which also has some great tracks (see "Shot Down in Flames" and "Not Tomorrow 4"). I'm currently looking forward to Yamaoka's work on Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

The grungey, noisy, guitar-shredding stuff he did for Contra: Shattered Soldier is pretty abysmal, though. I guess no one's perfect.