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| 4/30/11
- | Testament/In Country: (James Horner)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
on the Romanian bootleg release containing both scores if you appreciate James Horner's more
somber, humbling dramatic works for solo instruments over very basic orchestral accompaniment.
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Avoid it... |
if only the quality of the finale from In Country is worth the trouble of finding that rare
collection of early Horner music, because while Testament is an interesting score, it is a
frightfully depressing listening experience on its own.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 4/27/11
- | Fast & Furious: (Brian Tyler)
- All New Review |
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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.
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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.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 4/24/11
- | The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift: (Brian
Tyler)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek a good summary representation of the musical identity of this franchise's initial
four films on one product,
initially the sole score-only album to exist for any of the Fast and the Furious soundtracks.
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Avoid it... |
if the inevitable aggressive loops of electronic attitude and major roles for guitar and
percussion detract from what could
have proven to be a more consistent hybrid score when involving Tyler's usual ballsy
orchestral style.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 4/21/11
- | Law Abiding Citizen: (Brian Tyler)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if there are no limits to your desire to hear yet another predictably effective Brian Tyler
action/thriller score.
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Avoid it... |
if the composer's sufficient but rather mundane methodology for this type of hybrid
orchestra/synthesizer music fails to connect with you in ways similar to equally generic
B-rate Remote Control efforts.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 4/18/11
- | Rambo: (Brian Tyler)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you respect Brian Tyler's ability to pay homage to Jerry Goldsmith's legendary themes for
First Blood while also updating the franchise's sound to meet the expectations of more
densely-weighted blockbuster music in the 2000's.
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Avoid it... |
if that revision of Goldsmith's iconic style for the famed, lonely war veteran is
understandably unacceptable to you, especially in Tyler's efforts during this period of his
career to adopt many of the same overbearingly masculine tendencies as Hans Zimmer and his
many associates for a sound that ultimately betrays John Rambo's personality.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 4/15/11
- | Julie & Julia: (Alexandre Desplat)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek an extremely cheery and whimsical musical souvenir from the film that proves to be
one of Alexandre Desplat's more accessibly affable lightweight works.
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Avoid it... |
if the only thing even worse for you than hearing Desplat's usual methodology once again (in
terms of rhythm and orchestration) is the addition of stereotypical French elements on top of
that distinctly dry sound.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 4/12/11
- | The Taking of Pelham 123: (Harry
Gregson-Williams)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
only if the most generic techno-thriller scores of the 2000's still manage to tickle your
fancy, because this entry is dull even by the standards of Harry Gregson-Williams' normally
predictable genre contributions.
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Avoid it... |
if tired sample manipulations, basic string lines, electric guitar explosions, and token
thematic development on piano at the end literally give you too much Deja Vu to handle.
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| Rating: | *
Read the entire review
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| 4/9/11
- | The Mechanic: (Mark Isham)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if hard, cool attitude from menacing guitars, gritty percussion, and aggressive strings is a
perfect accompaniment for your foul mood.
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Avoid it... |
if the undeniably engaging moments of brash attitude in Mark Isham's score can't compensate
for the many sequences featuring the composer's usual ambient droning for the thriller genre.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 4/6/11
- | 48 Hrs.: (James Horner)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
only if you consider yourself an absolute completist of the James Horner library, because 48
Hrs. is a predictable entry in the composer's badly dated, steel drum-laden contemporary
action style of the 1980's.
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Avoid it... |
if you are among the few who still really dig Horner's blend of electronics, steel drums,
saxophone, and limited orchestra in sonic wallpaper mode for action applications of that era,
namely Commando and Red Heat.
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| Rating: | *
Read the entire review
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| 4/3/11
- | Cliffhanger: (Trevor Jones)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you, like most film score fans, are mesmerized by Trevor Jones' most majestic title themes
of noble brass and high strings and seek a robust action score to go with that identity.
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Avoid it... |
if you found nothing attractive in Jones' dominant title theme for Last of the Mohicans, a
very close cousin to that of Cliffhanger, and be careful with the 2011 Intrada album unless
you can satisfy yourself with an occasionally awkward re-mixing of the score.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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