Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Steve Jablonsky
" Returning Autobots film receives too much dark music "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
A quick question, how much do a dozen or so robots cost that smash up everything that comes in their way? Reportedly 200 million $. What does it cost to release a soundtrack of a movie's score? Don't know but it seems Warner Brothers didn't care anymore, especially after the first title is now OOP. Yes, the score we nagged so loud about is now food for collectors while the second is released the day the most anticipated movie of the summer hit the Cineplex's. Welcome to the world of money and what's it all about.
Ignore that! What matters here is the music and the movie it accompanies. And for Steve Jablonsky there wasn't anything that was marked higher on his list than scoring Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I'm going to be brief about the movie. It is loud, fun and fast, complete with idiotic humour and stupid one-liners, lacking the magic of the first while being too long to watch it again and again. Oh and it is full of music, which you are getting 44 minutes of.
Ah Transformers. You know, I could listen to that first album all day long, and yet I think 44 minutes of the second are more than enough. And the reason is simple, this is an album that is both good and bad. It opens with "Prime", but we don't hear the main Autobots theme. In fact we hear the new Autobots theme of the movie. A less inspiring variation of the Autobots theme, it is the typical anthem with growing choir that works no matter how many times you have heard it by now.
In a way it is cool we receive a new Autobots theme, and in truth we receive a new Decepticons theme as well. After all it supports the demonic touch in "Einstein's Wrong" (even though it is Angels & Demons all the way through). And you may have guessed it when watching the trailers, but Transformers 2 is a lot darker in tone. And this soundtrack presents this in the best way of all.
We have a dark choir over a pulsating rhythm in "The Shard", dark underscore with ethnic vocals that represents "The Fallen", a John Carpenter beat that fuels the threatening music of "Heed our Warning" and more of that drum rhythm with the Fallen's theme in "The Fallen's Arrival". Luckily, not all is bleak and threatening. There's the ethnic vocals enlightening the new Autobots theme in "Infinite White" while we have that ethnic material back for "Tomb of the Primes" along with a powerhouse ending.
If you're wondering about the actual Autobots theme (which was heard pretty fast in the film), it shows itself for the first time during the battle between good and evil, this in "Forest Battle". This theme shows itself again during "Matrix of Leadership", "I Claim your Sun" (alongside that cool sounding newly formed Decepticons theme which I adored during the film) and during the last track "I Rise, You Fall".
And then there's the manner of additional music. After all, there were a lot of additional composers sighted on the set of Transformers 2. And besides the name of Hans Zimmer, the most important name that stood out was that one of Linkin Park. Yes, he used his 'New Divide' tune as the new "Nest" theme and the man immediately receives a place in the end credits, this alongside Steve Jablonsky. I wonder what kind of money was thrown into the barrel to compare one work of 2 hour-composing with another of 2 minute-composing and consider them to be equal.
So in conclusion, like the first film, the new magical aspect is gone. And while basically everything returns in the movie that was worth remembering (the Thomas Newman inspired piano theme, the Scorponok theme and even the magical "Arrival to Earth" music), there's a problem with what this album is presenting us. As said above, I could listen to that first album all day long. Yet here the listen is unbalanced, presenting too much dark music and not enough counterbalancing heroic music. And while it is true that the heroic music is basically a rehash of the first album, it feels a bit unrepresentative. Like the movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen isn't what I was hoping it to be like, but for its time it functions well and delivers me cool enough material for an occasional spin.
Autobots signing off.
Tracklisting
1. Prime (2.14)
2. Einstein's Wrong (3.35)
3. Nest * (2.08)
4. The Shard (2.42)
5. The Fallen (4.03)
6. Infinite White (3.58)
7. Heed our Warning (4.26)
8. The Fallen's Arrival (3.47)
9. Tomb of the Primes (2.47)
10. Forest Battle (2.04)
11. Precious Cargo (1.38)
12. Matrix of Leadership (3.50)
13. I Claim your Sun (3.06)
14. I Rise You Fall (3.35)
* Contains instrumental excerpt "New Divide" written & performed by Linkin Park
Total Length: 43.53
Ignore that! What matters here is the music and the movie it accompanies. And for Steve Jablonsky there wasn't anything that was marked higher on his list than scoring Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I'm going to be brief about the movie. It is loud, fun and fast, complete with idiotic humour and stupid one-liners, lacking the magic of the first while being too long to watch it again and again. Oh and it is full of music, which you are getting 44 minutes of.
Ah Transformers. You know, I could listen to that first album all day long, and yet I think 44 minutes of the second are more than enough. And the reason is simple, this is an album that is both good and bad. It opens with "Prime", but we don't hear the main Autobots theme. In fact we hear the new Autobots theme of the movie. A less inspiring variation of the Autobots theme, it is the typical anthem with growing choir that works no matter how many times you have heard it by now.
In a way it is cool we receive a new Autobots theme, and in truth we receive a new Decepticons theme as well. After all it supports the demonic touch in "Einstein's Wrong" (even though it is Angels & Demons all the way through). And you may have guessed it when watching the trailers, but Transformers 2 is a lot darker in tone. And this soundtrack presents this in the best way of all.
We have a dark choir over a pulsating rhythm in "The Shard", dark underscore with ethnic vocals that represents "The Fallen", a John Carpenter beat that fuels the threatening music of "Heed our Warning" and more of that drum rhythm with the Fallen's theme in "The Fallen's Arrival". Luckily, not all is bleak and threatening. There's the ethnic vocals enlightening the new Autobots theme in "Infinite White" while we have that ethnic material back for "Tomb of the Primes" along with a powerhouse ending.
If you're wondering about the actual Autobots theme (which was heard pretty fast in the film), it shows itself for the first time during the battle between good and evil, this in "Forest Battle". This theme shows itself again during "Matrix of Leadership", "I Claim your Sun" (alongside that cool sounding newly formed Decepticons theme which I adored during the film) and during the last track "I Rise, You Fall".
And then there's the manner of additional music. After all, there were a lot of additional composers sighted on the set of Transformers 2. And besides the name of Hans Zimmer, the most important name that stood out was that one of Linkin Park. Yes, he used his 'New Divide' tune as the new "Nest" theme and the man immediately receives a place in the end credits, this alongside Steve Jablonsky. I wonder what kind of money was thrown into the barrel to compare one work of 2 hour-composing with another of 2 minute-composing and consider them to be equal.
So in conclusion, like the first film, the new magical aspect is gone. And while basically everything returns in the movie that was worth remembering (the Thomas Newman inspired piano theme, the Scorponok theme and even the magical "Arrival to Earth" music), there's a problem with what this album is presenting us. As said above, I could listen to that first album all day long. Yet here the listen is unbalanced, presenting too much dark music and not enough counterbalancing heroic music. And while it is true that the heroic music is basically a rehash of the first album, it feels a bit unrepresentative. Like the movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen isn't what I was hoping it to be like, but for its time it functions well and delivers me cool enough material for an occasional spin.
Autobots signing off.
Tracklisting
1. Prime (2.14)
2. Einstein's Wrong (3.35)
3. Nest * (2.08)
4. The Shard (2.42)
5. The Fallen (4.03)
6. Infinite White (3.58)
7. Heed our Warning (4.26)
8. The Fallen's Arrival (3.47)
9. Tomb of the Primes (2.47)
10. Forest Battle (2.04)
11. Precious Cargo (1.38)
12. Matrix of Leadership (3.50)
13. I Claim your Sun (3.06)
14. I Rise You Fall (3.35)
* Contains instrumental excerpt "New Divide" written & performed by Linkin Park
Total Length: 43.53