Real Steel by Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman's Real Steel score is an attractive, warm and enjoyable film score. It has a bit of magic, as was heard in Elfman's scores for Good Will Hunting and Big Fish, but instead of a celtic or mountain-music feel, he keeps things fresh, yet familiar, with electric guitar, rock beats, full orchestra and even a beautifully understated choir and female soloist. Some of the rock and blues elements nearly give the score a slightly dated sound, as if pulled straight from a mid-90s sports film, but the mix is right.

Elfman's music has a great energy and even a few beautifully chill-inducing moments as featured in the choir-laden "Meet Atom", the brief, yet stirring female vocal in "Parkway Motel" and the exuberant "Final Round".

It is great to hear Elfman getting a chance to once again expand on his gently dramatic sensibilities as heard in "Safe With Me," which gorgeously features an acoustic guitar, piano and light-choir. Real Steel is such a well rounded and beautiful score, the only thing holding this back from being a full four-star effort, in my opinion, is that this sort of music has nearly all been done before. For instance, in "Atom Versus Twin Cities" and "This Is A Brawl" there are moments that sound like they could have been directly lifted from John Powell's Bourne Identity scores. Not to mention the cue "Twin Cities' Intro" sounding remarkably similar to parts of John Powell's Paycheck film score, namely the "21 Items" cue. No matter, Elfman is a class-act and successfully pulls off his own take on the edgy string and electronic beat combo.

Danny Elfman has simply utilized what works. He certainly seems to have come to this project inspired and invigorated and ready to make us feel the same.

Overall ScoreCrave Score: ***1/2

Tracks

1) Charlie Trains Atom ****
2) On The Move ****
3) Into The Zoo **

4) Why We’re Here (feat. vocal by Poe) ***
5) Meet Atom ****
6) It’s Your Choice **
7) Safe With Me ****
8) Atom Versus Twin Cities ****
9) … For A Kiss ***
10. Get In The Truck ***
11) Bonding ****
12) Twin Cities’ Intro ****
13) Parkway Motel (feat. vocal by Poe) ****
14) This Is A Brawl ****
15) You Deserve Better ****
16) Into The Ring ***
17) Taking A Beating ****

18) Final Round *****
19) People’s Champion ****

ScoreCrave Meter:

* : Hated it.

** : It was tolerable.

*** : Liked it.

**** : Really enjoyed it.

***** : Crave it!

Green Lantern by James Newton Howard

I have not been this disappointed in a JNH film score in quite some time. You would think a superhero movie that is inhabited by alien beings, a mystical ring and a mad scientist would be great territory to work in for a film composer.

Apparently, it was not.

Either JNH was completely tied to temp track and was advised to stay away from inspiring super hero themes (or themes period), or it was just that JNH knew this film was horrible, disjointed and cartoonish and wanted to accentuate that fact.

This film score is an unoriginal, directionless effort, lacking in any kind of real emotional connection or satisfying build up.

Amidst the headache inducing cues there is a glimmer of beauty that is worth the download if you are a diehard James Newton Howard fan.

Track 10, "We Are Flying Now", is easily the best cue on the album. It is a not-so-distant cousin of the flying music for JNH's Peter Pan score, though it is entirely too short and under-developed. Like a sweet morsel buried within a Zimmer-esque wall of synth sounds, random beats, loops and electric guitar.

I do have to mention that the brass fanfare for the Green Lantern that shows up prominently in the first track and several moments throughout the score is fairly interesting, but never gets a true chance to flourish, not to mention that it sounds tremendously similar to a Jerry Goldsmith fanfare.

I realize that I have spent a lot of time in this review saying how much bad the score is, but I do have to say that it is not entirely unlistenable, it just okay and that is what is so disappointing. Compared to other James Newton Howard scores such as the epic The Last Airbender, the breathtaking Lady in the Water and the wonderous Atlantis: The Lost Empire, it doesn't hold a candle.

However, if you are a fan of modern, electronic scores penned by Ramin Djawadi, BT and a majority of the members of the Hans Zimmer gang, do check it out. You may find something to enjoy.

Score Crave Rating: ** (out of 5 stars)

New Reviews Coming Soon

I will be doing my best to write some fresh, new reviews as soon as possible! Thank you for your continued support.

Have a great weekend!

P.S.

If there are any film scores in particular that you would like a review for, please let me know in the comments section of this post.

Legend of the Guardians by David Hirschfelder

Legend of the Guardians by David Hirschfelder is a complexly orchestrated straight forward fantasy effort that should tide over the appetite of anyone that is a fan of the genre - at least until Alexandre Desplat's first score for a Harry Potter film next month.

As talked about in other reviews on this score there are some striking similarities to previous film works of the genre and their composers. John Williams, Elliot Goldenthal and Harry Gregson-Williams come to mind.

All this being said, the theme may not be the most original but the orchestrations are impeccable and needless to say, very interesting. I caught myself listening much more closely to this album than other recent scores just to hear what kind of textures and instruments I would "discover" next. There is a lot of fluttering of the woodwinds to represent the fluttering of wings. There is a dulcimer and duduk and an odd piano and string bass mixed into the story-telling at unexpected times, which helps to keep things unusual and moving forward.

I have not heard a lot by David Hirschfelder besides his score for Australia and Elizabeth, but I can firmly say that I hope to hear much more from him in Hollywood films to come. It is always refreshing to hear a modern composer - in the 2000's - that has such a great command of the acoustic, traditional orchestra.

Having listened to this score many times over, I can easily hear the good and the bad.

The good being the engaging textures and intriguing use of choir and instruments with a fairly memorable main theme. The bad being nearly every time the music becomes stunning and triumphant it almost always ends, either abruptly or just from the music being slightly frenetic in nature - following every action or situation on screen - though it isn't exactly "mickey-mousing".

This can be highly frustrating for score fans, based on the fact that most of us expect some kind of suite or complete musical story to be told from track to track, without leaving us hanging or asking the questions - "Where is the rest? Is that it?"

All in all, LOtG could have benefited greatly from a more expansive release of the action material and less of the jazz influenced and fluttering meandering - though I have to admit, it is all very well done. As an overall product, I have to say that Hirschfelder's latest entry into his musical career is regularly top notch, but shy of classic due to some unoriginal themes and the lack of complete battle music cues.

Overall Score Crave score: ****

Tracklist:

1) To The Sky - Owl City: N/A

2) Flight Home (The Guardian Theme): A well done opening title track. It accurately portrays the Guardian theme without the full development to come in latter tracks such as "The Boy Was Right". A good part of the horn section and fantasy music actually reminds one of a mid-90's James Horner fantasy score. ****

3) Taken To St Aggeles: Fluttering woodwinds and slightly ominous horns and strings start the cue. A jazzy piano and bass playing interrupt, playing the role of the evil yet somewhat dull owls taking the young owlets to St. Aggeles. A catchy and suspenseful string and woodwind ostinato pushes forward until the end. ***1/2

4) Welcome To The Pellatorium: The piano and bass are back, keeping things jaunty in the midst of some sinister and exciting music featuring choir and the woodwind and string ostinatos from the previous track. ***1/2

5) A Long Way To The Guardians: One of my favorite tracks of the score. It seemingly incorporates tastes of the styles and orchestrations of John Williams, Danny Elfman and Hirschfelder, himself. It really is wonderfully bombastic and exciting stuff. *****

6) You Know We’re Flying: A playful cue that gives a joyful rendition of the Guardian theme at the last moment. I found it entertaining, but brief. ***

7) A Friend Or Two: This is an extremely multi-faceted cue. It starts out a bit ominous, then bursts into a frenetic version of the main theme, which is thoroughly enjoyable for anyone who loves exciting action music. The strange thing is, the exact part that I mention actually sounds tremendously similar to John Williams' E.T. score. Thereafter, in the middle section of the cue it goes into a smaller ensemble sound, resembling some of Bruno Coulais' latest work. Finally, it ends in a more traditional manner, closing out the cue with horn calls of the main theme. ****

8) The Boy Was Right: One of the best cues on the album and as heard in the film, itself. The chorus is absolutely goosebump inducing when combined with the visuals. The Guardian theme is heard in all it's glory, thoroughly sumptuous and full of wonder.*****

9) Sharpen The Battle Claws: A great dramatic track. This could have be in any epic war film, which is a compliment, considering this is a children's film. The cello adds a lush compliment to the string section. ****

10) Follow The Whale’s Fin: This is a strong tension filled track which seems to be building to the battle action music. Whirling strings and osinato stir things up, but it's nothing you haven't heard before. ***

11) Into Battle: This cue sounds like Hirschfelder's take on a MediaVentures approach to battle music - it was interesting on how my ear actually was able to overlay certain music from recent Harry Gregson-Williams efforts such as Kingdom of Heaven and Chronicles of Narnia. After the first couple of minutes this track goes into fairly generic action music territory. ***1/2

12) Hello Brother - An atmospheric piece with a forbidding tone. The male choir dominates, making it much more interesting then it could have been. ***

13) My Soldiers My Sons - This cue is what I had expected from "Into Battle" - it features some electrifying moments, especially towards the end, with an all too short chanting choir. This will have score fans keeping a look out for a complete score release. ****

14) More Baggy Wrinkles - A nice closing to the score, reprising a fairly emotional take on the main theme, not dissimilar to the track, "The Boy Was Right". ****

Mother and Child by Edward Shearmur

Released May 11, 2010 by Varese Sarabande this album has seemed to pass under the radar, largely unnoticed.

If you are someone, such as myself, who wished Thomas Newman would get back to his "roots" and compose scores as lovely as Fried Green Tomatoes and How to Make an American Quilt, then Mother and Child may be just the album you were looking for. It is lovely in every way, a feel good, yet familiar confection.

If you enjoyed Edward Shearmur's quietly dramatic score for the modern drama, K-Pax, then you will certainly find much to like in this work. It is perfect for reading on a lazy Sunday. The music flows effortlessly between strings, acoustic guitar, oboe, and piano creating a fluid and emotional atmosphere.

However, if you are in any way against composers clearly emulating Thomas Newman's unique style and compositional techniques and orchestrations, I would stay away from this one.

Though with some exceptions (Wall-E, Angels in America and moments from A Series of Unfortunate Events) I really, truly find myself missing Thomas Newman's work throughout the 90s (How to Make an American Quilt, Meet Joe Black, Fried Green Tomatoes, American Beauty). It is almost as if the director felt the same way and specifically asked Mr. Shearmur to create a Thomas Newman score without actually hiring Thomas Newman just to do the job himself. Edward Shearmur handles this score with complete class and adds his own touches of magic here and there with simplistic waltzes and a "catchy" motif like theme that is welcome each time it is played by the guitar and piano.

Tracks of special note are "Elizabeth's Letter" which is allowed to be a cohesive mix of a gentle waltz and the main theme, presenting a small emotional climax before the beautiful stunner entitled "Karen's Letter", which is the last track of the album. It features one of the most exquisite oboe solos and counterpoint in recent memory.

This score is not original enough to be labeled a classic but Mr. Shearmur really showcases his ability to pull emotional strings without being overtly sappy as well as respectfully presenting his own take on one of the most prolific composers of our generation.

Overall ScoreCrave Score: ***1/2

Tracklist:

1. Little One (song by Lucy Schwartz) n/a
2. Karen ****
3. A Dream ***4. Nora Takes A Turn ***
5. Elizabeth ****
6. Elizabeth And Paul ****
7. A Kind Word ***
8. Paco ***
9. A Wedding ***
10. Elizabeth Alone ****
11) Elizabeth’s Letter ****
12) Mother And Child **
13) Ray Keeps The Baby ****
14) The Letter Is Found ****
15) A Waltz For Karen ****
16) Karen’s Letter : One of the most thoroughly lovely pieces of music I have heard this year. *****

Runtime - 40 mins