StreamingSoundtracks.com - Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole

#	Track Listing	Length	Played
01	To The Sky Owl City	3:35	153
02	Flight Home (The Guardian Theme) David Hirschfelder	3:50	64
03	Taken To St Aggeles David Hirschfelder	5:35	12
04	Welcome To The Pellatorium David Hirschfelder	4:49	14
05	A Long Way To The Guardians David Hirschfelder	5:55	15
06	You Know We're Flying David Hirschfelder	2:34	18
07	A Friend Or Two David Hirschfelder	5:15	14
08	The Boy Was Right David Hirschfelder	4:02	18
09	Sharpen The Battle Claws David Hirschfelder	6:19	19
10	Follow The Whale's Fin David Hirschfelder	5:07	11
11	Into Battle David Hirschfelder	5:05	17
12	Hello Brother David Hirschfelder	2:49	17
13	My Soldiers My Sons David Hirschfelder	3:26	19
14	More Baggy Wrinkles David Hirschfelder	3:17	21

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Reviewers Rating

1 review done for this album.

An Orchestra for Owls

By:	AdamR
Date:	5 Feb 2011
Rating:

David Hirschfelder, while he may not be a common or well-known composer in the film industry or soundtrack circles, has done well on the albums he has composed for, Elizabeth, Australia, and now for the owl fantasy story, Legend of the Guardians.

To begin the album, the track by Adam Young (aka Owl City) is ok. Its a typical synth-pop track, and the lyrics fit the theme of the story of learning to fly, take flight and do what you need to do. I'm not a big fan of pop music, but this song at least isn't bad, considering the lyrics and the purpose of the film.

Hirschfelder, with his score for Owls of Ga'Hoole, gave us something interesting - a fully instrumental score, a powerful main theme for the Guardians, and dark, eerie, underscores for a majority of the track. If you just heard the score and never saw the film, you'd know instantly this was not a young child's slapstick film. In fact, it would remind you of other scores like Jerry Goldsmith's Secret of NIMH...a score that takes its film seriously and sets the mood.

Hirschfelder focuses on one main theme throughout the entire album--the Guardians theme as presented in full glory on track 2, and is repeated multiple times (tracks 5,6,9,14). Instantly, the theme reminds you of John Williams' writing for his scores--and that's not a bad thing. Brass, strings, and soft woodwinds have made popular theme standouts in other films like Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones, and it works here to describe the effect of flying into the sky. Outside of the main theme, a lot of underscore is left with a play on the theme heard here and there, but without any serious cohesion. That can make the score hard to sit through and enjoy when it seems like tracks live independently of one another.

Don't get me wrong...Hirschfelder gave us a good score, but the tracks which fail to build on the main theme may tire some listeners or leave them bored. The release on SST here is the digital download release. The CD release I have lacks two tracks: "A Friend or Two" and "Hello Brother", but includes an awful (IMHO) piece from Dead Can Dance, "The Host of Seraphim". It works in the film, but not by itself. Some may like that song, but it seems very out of place in this score.

-Adam R.

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