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The atmosphere of Tyler's approach to Clouds, not surprisingly, echoes the kind of music that would have been within Sobiech's technical reach without outlandishly significant assistance. There is no orchestral presence in Clouds, leaving the heart of the work to intimate understatement. Tyler and co-writer Nathan Alexander performed the score largely themselves, with their ensemble consisting of extensive keyboarding, guitars, analog synth pads, xylophone, and chimes, the last contributor perhaps an intentional nod to the religious element in the story. At times, as in "Everyday," "Progression," "Driven," and the end of "Yours," Tyler cranks up the hip coolness factor for accelerated rhythms, highlighted electric guitar, and thus more of a traditional rock ambience. The most interesting layer to the score for Clouds is Tyler's own voice; performing wordless vocals at a relatively high pitch, his genderless tone is universally appealing and supplies almost the tone of a distant electric cello or guitar in cues like "Upward" and "Your Name in Lights." The use is reminiscent of A.R. Rahman's own tendencies, especially in "Upward." Melodically, Tyler utilizes one theme almost exclusively throughout the work, with very little development of the idea beyond its initial and consistent character. Interestingly, one would imagine that Tyler might have adapted the melody of Sobiech's "Clouds" song for this theme of the film, but he didn't explicitly go there. The theme is pretty and easily adaptable within the limited emotional ranges needed by the story, but it does get extremely redundant by halfway through the score. Hints of other lyrical support do emerge at times, "Playing the Metro" a nice change midway into the work. The romantic element is extremely subdued in the score, Tyler choosing not to electrify any of those relationships in his music. Rather, he maintains the smooth experience in almost every moment. The only outright electronic manipulation to break up the score's accessibly acoustic tone comes in the retro "Progression," an unfortunate distraction on album. The score on album loses some of its muster due to its intended redundancy, but that won't deter enthusiasts of the concept from loving every moment of its soft rock reverence. The "Clouds Main Title" track provided at the end of the album is a nicely condensed, emotionally powerful representation of the score as a whole. The extended variant of the same performance in "Clouds Theme" at the outset may comparatively run too long. It's a score with undeniable heart from Tyler, but one that packs its best punch in a shorter presentation.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Brian Tyler reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.2 (in 41 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.13 (in 19,672 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 59:00