> I'm sorry, I don't get this. Holkenborg's most symphonic and thrilling score of his entire career, and it's a 3.5/5? This is leagues ahead of anything Holkenborg has ever written, and your little write up (which is insightful and well-researched as always) sounded pretty positive. I have this one sitting at a 4.5/5, and 'London Suite in C Major' is one of the best single cues of the entire RC/MV lineage.

It's a higher-end ***1/2 score for me. Two things imperil a higher rating.

1) The 'heaviness' I've referred to in several write-ups. Holkenborg had a tendency at the time towards abrasive, unison lower brass outbursts, not exactly Inception BWAMs but in the same sonic universe, especially as they were usually accompanied by some manipulation. Even as his scores started to feature more orchestral intricacy, this raw sound (to borrow his phrase) was still quite present in Mortal Engines. Some folks like it, but this stuff tends to wear me out over time - it's in your face, and a good way to cut through sound effects, but it also makes the music feel more lumbering than it should.

2) It has a lot of themes (a bunch of the album is suites, including half of that London Suite track), but none of them stuck with me, and the score ends up feeling a little less than the sum of its occasionally impressive parts. I didn't have this problem with Alita.

> Again, confusing. I have this score as a 2/5, and all it takes to hear the very prominent stylings of Man of Steel/Mad Max rear its head.

I only recall the album-ending Motorball track doing that, and I think that one was in-film source music.