Buy it... if you're interested in Brian Tyler's evolution of this franchise's music towards a standard, orchestral blockbuster sound, despite the lack of spirited electronic pizzazz that comes with that shift.

Avoid it... if the more prominent role for guitars, percussion, and a variety of electronic overlays gave the previous entry in the series the engaging spark of energy you prefer to hear in a hybrid score for the muscle car genre.

Tyler

Fast & Furious: (Brian Tyler) Box office gold awaited the reunion of the original cast of The Fast and the Furious for the fourth installment of the franchise in 2009. Set preceding the events of the previous film chronologically, Fast & Furious places the friendship between Vin Diesel and Paul Walker's leads once again at the forefront, pitting the savvy brutes against each other in terms of the law but as usual wavering Walker's enforcement commitment in the process of sympathetically pursuing Diesel's vigilante justice. The film concentrates on a Latin American theme that includes chases between Mexico and America, as well as the expected role of the drug trade in that action. Interestingly, the muscle cars on display in Fast & Furious are focused much more heavily on American brands, perhaps a nod to the patriotism rallied behind domestic auto companies at the time. Intelligence still lacks in the franchise, however, though expectedly poor critical response did nothing to deter undereducated audiences from making Fast & Furious the most profitable entry in the series at the time (with an astounding $360 million in worldwide grosses). With director Justin Lin firmly planted at the helm for this and Fast Five in 2011, composer Brian Tyler returned for both. Tyler had competently adapted the style of Brian Transeau and David Arnold's prior contributions to the franchise into his own action/electronica style for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, an extremely dense score with a fair share of highlights but also some pre-records and loops that are painfully intolerable outside of context. One can't really fault Tyler for driving home his talents in the area of his guitar and percussion performance capabilities, because of all of his career assignments, these merit such an approach more than any other. Anyone familiar with Tyler's personal interest in exotic, extremely expensive European vehicles, racing in them, and playing video games emulating them knows that he is certainly more than entitled to getting rowdy with the concept. But the lack of much style or even intelligent secondary lines in the music, often favoring brute force or saturation of genre cliches instead, is something of a disappointment given Tyler's talents. Unlike Arnold's music for 2 Fast 2 Furious, for instance, Tyler has never seemed inclined to actually employ automotive-related sound effects in his arsenal of manipulated noise for the concept, a nagging and curious absence. Unfortunately, even fewer interesting choices were made in the assembly of Fast & Furious, which plays like a surprisingly pedestrian score by comparison.

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The ingredients in Fast & Furious have been shifted around by Tyler, emphasizing a larger orchestral ensemble in an increasingly melodramatic stance. The more traditional dramatic power of the group is conveyed for both the symphonic version of the "Letty" theme and in the numerous chase scenes. Strings, horns, tubas, and a lone oboe supply this depth, lending something of a blockbuster tone to the franchise despite the infusion of Latin-tinged rap songs. The "Landtrain" cue is the action highlight of the score, though Tyler reinforces perceptions (here and in other strong action cues such as "The Tunnel" and "Dom vs. Brian") that he has adopted the Hans Zimmer/Remote Control methodology of broad, low brass and string ostinatos for such situations. The role of pre-recorded drums and guitars is still prominent, but not as overbearing in most situations. It seems that Tyler was bridging the gap between the role of guitars in the previous score and his forthcoming Battle: Los Angeles, by which time he had found a way to make the instrument a really effective member of a larger ensemble. Thematically, the main melody from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift returns in hints and fragments, heard in the middle sequences of "Landtrain" and "Dom vs. Brian." Additionally, an aggressive motif hovering around key in "Fast and Furious" seems to suggest a resurrection of Arnold's thematic material, and the overarching identity of Tyler's music for the concept may ultimately resolve to a series of three blasts on guitar or brass in the bass (which carries over to several cues here). Like the previous score, a subdued, pretty secondary theme exists, this time in mourning mode. Introduced in "Letty," this idea is gracefully carried on acoustic guitar in several places, including "Memorial," and is handed to the orchestra in the redemptive "Suite." While such respites (extending to "Amends") are nice, they remain somewhat anonymous. In fact, the entire score suffers from an anonymity issue, especially given that it lacks the flair of its predecessors. That doesn't mean that Tyler doesn't let rip with obnoxious sampled effects in brutal loops; "Accelerator" and "Outta Sight," the latter complete with the silly vocal overlays inspired by an equally wretched That Handsome Devil song, are just as hideous as their equivalents in the previous score. The only use for such music outside of context is for the torture of plants, animals, and fellow human beings who have fallen out of favor. Overall, Fast & Furious is a more consistent listening experience on album than The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but the first score in the pair has more intensity and personality in its enduring highlights. A very long album presentation for Fast & Furious contributes to a feeling that the score is both adequate and evolutionary, but lacking a degree of gutsy horsepower, responsive handling, and throaty exhaust. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Brian Tyler reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.24 (in 22 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.11 (in 12,201 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.