Avatar by James Horner (Review)

So, does James Horner’s score live up to the images in James Cameron’s film? You bet! James Horner is a fantastic talent and I’m glad Avatar was able to bring him out of this slumber he’s been in for the past couple years.

Avatar is such a grandiose and melodramatic story that it of course was going to require an epic sound to carry it. It takes a while before it hits the ground running but once it does it carries you through romance, tragedy and inspiration. The score has an overall mood and quality that calls on the native american culture and sounds for obvious reasons. Horner uses vocals beautifully. A small chorus for the live renewing sections of the score that bring on a feel of tremendous beauty and lets the story sore. For the tragic parts of the film he utilizes a heart-wrenching solo vocal accompanied by his 4-note “danger motif” that is his signature in almost every score.

The question for Horner was how was he going to score such an overused story to make it feel fresh and new. I mean, we can all agree that the story in Avatar is nothing new here (Dances With Wolves, The New World, The Last Samurai, Ferngully, etc). Hell, even the love story in Titanic can be compared to it. The romance of the score lies within the heart of the film. Horner fans will instantly pick up sounds and arrangements that call back to his work on Braveheart and Titanic. Horner uses synths and electronics more so in this section of the score than anywhere else.

The last third of the score is where all the action music lies. Now, this is where I was taken by surprise. Maybe in a good way or a bad way. I haven’t really decided yet. All the action cues in the score to me feel uninspired mostly because they follow the Hans Zimmer style in such obvious places. Most of it sounds like a hybrid between Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky. So much of it reminded me of the score to Gladiator and in some instances Transformers. Don’t believe me? Listen to “Gathering all the Na'vi clans for battle” from Avatar and immediately listen to “The Might Of Rome” from the Gladiator score. While the score works to tremendous success I was hoping for a little more “Horner” in the arrangements. One last weakness to the score is the lack of a strong central theme. There is one and it’s best heard at 3:45 into the track “Gathering all the Na'vi clans for battle”, but it lacks a commanding presence.

Is this score a masterpiece? No. Is it highly effective, emotional and entertaining? Absolutely. I still think The Perfect Storm is my favorite Horner score if anyone wants to know what standard I’m holding his work to. Avatar is an exciting romantic epic melodrama that will not disappoint. The film however will mostly be remembered by audiences for its breathtaking visuals rather than its story. James Horner’s score carries this film without a doubt but in this case is only as good as the film can be, which is really good but it’s no masterpiece.

The Prisoner by Rupert Gregson-Williams (Review)

Rupert Gregson-Williams is usually a name associated mainly with Adam Sandler comedies and some Dreamworks Animation films. Oh yeah, and he’s the little brother of one of the best composers working today. Fortunately I don’t have to make an effort in writing to state how much of a singular voice he is. His writing thus far in his career hasn’t been anything stellar, it’s true. He has had some good scores but finally we have something that makes us sit up and take notice.

The Prisoner was a miniseries on AMC and Rupert got assigned scoring duties. The score is fantastic. The score is a very subtle one, but it’s one of constantly ascending emotions. Utilizing electronics in a way that his brother does he is able to weave a blanket of intrigue and curiosity. There is also a sense of emptiness and longing within the soundscape of the score. I was surprised at how powerful this quiet and somewhat unthematic score turned out to be. The main reoccurring theme is a seemingly out of place waltz that pops in and out.

If I had to describe this score in one word I would say “delicate”. It’s a delicate weaving of sounds that form an atmospheric blanket. It’s not hard to dub this as Rupert’s most mature and complete work to date.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 by Lorne Balfe [Themes By Hans Zimmer] (Review)

So, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was poised to be the most anticipated game of all time. Was it? Pretty much, yeah. It blew away sales records and pre-order records. The fact that it was a muti-system game definitely helped. So, music-wise the first Modern Warfare was a huge iconic success. Stephen Barton and Harry Gregson-Williams delivered a hard electronic sound that followed in the Hans Zimmer tradition of the “modern warfare” sound. This “sound” was established in 2001 when Hans Zimmer scored Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. A score that would forever change how we would expect “modern warfare” to sound. In that time many composers have tried to mimic that sound that Zimmer set as the standard (Newman’s score to Jarhead / Elfman’s score to The Kingdom).

The big question was who could fill the shoes of the one-two punch combo of Barton and Gregson-Williams? How about the master and owner of the “modern warfare” sound himself? Yes, it was revealed very late in the game that Hans was indeed doing the score. What boggled me was how he was going to fit it into his busy schedule then of course we learned once the game came out that in the credits Hans Zimmer was only credited with doing the main themes, very much like Harry Gregson-Williams did on the first Modern Warfare. Hans’ collaborator Lorne Balfe was the head composer as he lead a team of half a dozen other composers who all helped finish this massive project in a short amount of time.

The score is pure vintage Hans simply put. It meshes his sound that he created with Black Hawk Down with the good ol’ action music of the 90’s that he pioneered. Yes, it’s synthesizer heavy but so was Black Hawk Down. It’s thematic and melodic and carries the action and the gameplay. Some elements will stand out as being familiar. The airport massacre is very reminiscent of Hans’ work for The Joker in The Dark Knight being it’s more of an exercise in sound design in an overall soundscape to hone in on a certain emotion of terror and uneasiness.

The weaknesses? The score fails to be a cohesive whole. With so many composers working on the game in such a short time that was bound to happen. There is nearly 7 hours of music in this game. The themes get muddled and we get more or less themes for certain levels rather than a “main” theme for the entire game like Harry did for the last one. Yet, Zimmer shows us yet again that scoring is a collaborative process just like every other aspect of filmmaking. I asked Atli Örvarsson who worked on the score what the scoring process was like and he said “MW 2 was really a team effort but I'd say Lorne pulled it all together and definitely deserves the credit. I did mostly the Favela stuff.” As of now Lorne Balfe and Hans Zimmer have confirmed that an official iTunes release of the score is planned, but as of this writing there is no release date set.

*NOTE: The cover art provided is art that I created and is not official.

Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier by Jim Dooley (Review)

Out of nowhere comes the digital release only of James Dooley’s score to the PSP game, Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier. Thing I love most is finding great scores in the most unexpected places. Who would think such a low profile game would get such a wonderful effort from Dooley? Well, it does.

The opening track kicks things off in the good ol’ Zimmeresque swashbuckling fashion. So many parts of this score are reminiscent of the Pirates scores. They have “adventure” written all over it. There are some weaknesses to the score. Some of the tracks are clearly meant to be background music to the gameplay, and while that was expected I can’t help but compare every game score to the greater ones.

In my book the top two game composers are Harry Gregson-Williams and Michael Giacchino. Those two have made video games huge chunks of their careers. Giacchino being especially impressive because he really only scores FPS’s which really lack dramatic structure and are more about the action. Yet his Medal Of Honor scores are FANTASTIC!

Now, Dooley’s effort is an extremely fun one. I wasn’t expecting huge dramatic arcs for a Jak & Daxter game for the PSP. However, when looking at it as a standalone effort it lacks in that part. The rest of the score is extremely fun and listenable though, but when listening through I got the sense that no other track lived up to the explosiveness of the first track. He implements a chorus for the action heavy tracks, which made me smile because they reminded me of his Position Music work for trailer music.

In the end this is a great score from an unexpected place that is worth a look. It’s tons of fun, and even though this is a fully synthesized score it still packs a fun emotional wallop.

The Fourth Kind by Atli Örvarsson (Review)

Atli Örvarsson’s latest effort is a unique and fresh scoring style to the horror genre. Lately the “horror” genre has mainly been monopolized by either Steve Jablonsky (all the Michael Bay produced remakes) or Charlie Clouser (Saw franchise). While The Fourth Kind can be considered a “B” movie it is nonetheless a very hard concept to score. The score itself acts more like an atmospheric ambience using simple melodic progressions. Atli also incorporates haunting female vocals and some bizarre insect-like percussion.

The female vocals are my favorite part of the score as they are part of the main theme. They remind me very much of the solo vocal that was in his score for Babylon A.D. which was Agora’s Theme. The hallow vocals give the score the sense of the unknown, which is most appropriate. The insect-like synthesized percussion I mentioned earlier weaves in and out and adds a very unique element.

Towards the middle of the score we lose all the familiar rhythms and melodic structure and stray into atmospheric ambience. If anyone is a fan of Akira Yamaoka’s scores for the Silent Hill game franchise then you may know what I mean when I say atmospheric ambience. The track “They’re Not From Here” really stands out in that sense.

While the film itself may have been a poor execution on an interesting subject the score nonetheless rises above and stands on its own. It has Örvarssons style all over it and so many hauntingly beautiful elements that I must recommend it even to the casual listener. Just a note, the film ends with a series of descriptive texts. My rule is that if the film ends in texts summing up events and the composer can make the texts dramatic then you know the score is doing its job.

Where The Wild Things Are by Carter Burwell (Review)

Carter Burwell continues his collaboration with Spike Jonze with the long delayed and much anticipated Where The Wild Things Are. Filming began in 2005 and this film has been delayed for over a year due to complications and re-shoots. The final product is an incredibly astounding and surprisingly adult result.

I remember reading Where The Wild Things Are as a child and I’m sure many others in my generation do as well. The film itself takes the themes of loniness and acceptance and shines them under a more mature light than what we originally remember. Burwell’s score accompanies these emotions with perfection in his trademark simplicity. The main theme “Lost Fur” is merely comprised of a few plucks on a bass and a solo piano while accented by a guitar.

The music does make a transformation once Max enters the world of the Wild Things. Once he gains acceptance and feels needed and understood the music sheds its dreary isolated tone and brings us back into the light. Karen O’s songs work seamlessly with the score as they bring us back to those childhood moments of fantasy and wonder where we own the worlds we’ve created. The film spirals back down to reality really fast as things fall apart and our characters come to realize that worth and happiness are not easy to come by. The emotional conclusion is carried all by Burwell and then ends on an incredibly touching note. This is one hell of a score not just because it’s simple in its emotional effectiveness, but because it can seamlessly work with another artist’s creations for the musical soundscape of the film. This isn’t a kiddy film and Burwell did not deliver a kiddy score.

Burwell’s score is a digital download only on iTunes and Amazon MP3 while Karen O’s songs for the film did get a CD release. I recommend getting both of them for your solo listening experience. It’s definitely worth it.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves by Greg Edmonson (Review)

Greg Edmonson returns to the successful Sony franchise for the PS3. Game scores have become a new breed. Looking back at game music history is fascinating. I can honestly say that today game scores are identical in function to film scores. Michael Giacchino helped blur the lines with his magnificent work on the Medal Of Honor series, but real credit goes to Norihiko Hibino who scored Metal Gear Solid for PS1. That score was the first game score that had to work with characters and cinematic developments or in simpler terms a story with a hero and a goal.

What Greg Edmonson has done here is successfully created a sound for the Uncharted universe. In what can best be described as a modern take on classic adventure scores this score is massive in scope and scale. Percussion, strings and brass work in grandiose arrangements to transport you to the story’s exotic locales all the while keeping tension and excitement at a maximum.

I definitely think that this score is a huge improvement over what he did for the first game. He does use many variations of Nate’s Theme throughout the game. Instead of blatantly placing it in the score like say the James Bond theme he will instead weave it into the arrangements to avoid it being “cheesy” or just over the top. New this time around is the use of vocals. At first you’ll get airy female vocals, which is perfect for the exotic and mysterious aspect of the story. Later as you plunge deeper into darker territory he’ll bring in the droning throat singing male vocals, which is a perfect accent since the game deals with Shambhala and throat singing is a custom of the Inuit people in that part of the world.

All in all Greg Edmonson has found his shining achievement. I never got into his music because looking at the nature of his filmography it ranges from shows like Firefly and King Of The Hill to some obscure films. Uncharted is an amazing musical accomplishment and stands with Harry Gregson-Williams’ work for the Metal Gear Solid franchise and Michael Giacchino’s work as some of the best game scores of all time. It works as background score for the gameplay and seamlessly transitions between cutscenes and gameplay to mesh the two in a way where you feel the entire game is one huge cutscene and your experiencing it front and center. This album is a digital download only just like the first score. So check for it on iTunes.