The soundtracks in the Marvel series of movies have been radically different in style, ranging from pop-oriented modernism to mostly orchestral in a traditional sense. The composers attached to these individual films changed with each entry, too, in conjunction with the shifts in director. With the exception of the two Iron Man scores (for which Ramin Djawadi and John Debney underachieved by pandering to the lowest common denominators of blockbuster film music), the results by Craig Armstrong, Patrick Doyle, and Alan Silvestri ranged from sufficiently entertaining to borderline excellent. For The Avengers, Marvel turned to their most recent collaborator, Silvestri, to bring the right tone to the ensemble picture, a logical choice given the composer's prior involvement in similar circumstances for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and The A-Team. While those scores did not particularly impress most Silvestri collectors hoping for a return to Predator, Judge Dredd, and The Mummy Returns form, they are representative of Silvestri's attempt to evolve traditional orchestral bravado in the era of obvious synthetic augmentation. A similar stylistic approach is applied to The Avengers, a generally symphonic representation from yesteryear blended with a few unique electronic accents for occasional color. Standard Silvestri techniques are present, including rollicking, percussion-led rhythms and ensemble strikes punctuated by aggressively slapped snare. A few more metallic percussion accents would have been merited. The wholesome innocence of Captain America: The First Avenger is largely diluted, Silvestri content to play the score safely generic as to not offend the sensibilities of any of the main characters. He devises two significant new themes for The Avengers, one a title identity that only truly enunciates its full form as the heroes coalesce with absolute unity late in the picture. Silvestri wrote the demo-like cue "The Avengers" early in the process, including some retro drum pads reminiscent of the 1980's, and director Joss Whedon insisted that the theme (and some of the same retro attitude) be utilized throughout the score. This main theme, while generic among Silvestri's anthems, is sufficiently memorable, expressed with brassy glory in several short snippets before achieving its natural culmination in "A Promise." It remains to be known, however, if this somewhat average identity can helm a series of movies of this magnitude. There is a "snazziness" factor that remains elusive in Silvestri's recent themes for ball-busting activities.

The second major new theme in The Avengers is an individual identity sought by the director for Natasha Romanoff's Black Widow persona. This distinctly Eastern European idea is a highlight of the score and occupies most of the memorably thematic moments of the score's first half. Introduced in eerie, plucked form in "Interrogation," this idea is developed well throughout "Red Ledger" before a short but redemptive and heroic statement in "I Got a Ride." Unfortunately, Whedon did not encourage Silvestri to utilize any of the themes from the prior movies, and the composer therefore missed a tremendous opportunity to create an intellectually pleasing score rather than a basically functional one. He did work his Captain America theme into several cues, with especially notable fragmentary references late in the score. While reprises of Armstrong's theme for the Hulk or Debney's underutilized identity for Tony Stark may not have been particularly effective with audiences because of their relative obscurity, the absence of Patrick Doyle's brothers theme from Thor is an obvious and curious omission from The Avengers. The dynamic between the two characters is clearly a central aspect of this movie, and the lack of any of Doyle's impressive thematic constructs for their universe is an major disappointment. Silvestri does sometimes suggest stylistic connections to his predecessor's scores, including some Djawadi/Debney contemporary keyboarding in "Stark Goes Green" and perhaps a touch of Doyle's rhythmic percussion in "Performance Issues." The most curious connection in The Avengers comes in the fantastic cue "Helicarrier," which seems to get sidetracked with Henry Jackman's unrelated Marvel music for X-Men: First Class. Overall, there is ten to fifteen minutes of noteworthy action material in The Avengers, but don't be surprised if some listeners find it to be too streamlined or even boring. A soft guitar passage at the outset of "The Promise" offers tonal deviation that would have been more welcome elsewhere as well. So much of this score still sounds like Silvestri on auto-pilot, and while enthusiasts of the movie could probably award this effort a solid four stars, those expecting the composer to match his top form and bring the franchise's identities together intelligently may consider it a more meager effort. The album situation for the score is somewhat unconventional, a commercial download release containing twelve fewer minutes of material than the CD alternative released by Hollywood Records and Intrada Records. Aside from the CD's addition of "Interrogation," most of the difference exists in the length of the available cues, the bulk of important material available on the shorter product. An adequate score all around, but not an exemplary one.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download