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| There are 528 Reviews Done |
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Andy Sturmer, Michael McCuistion Neil Patrick Harris, Grey DeLisle, John Di Maggio, Kevin Michael Richardson, Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, Lolita Ritmanis Neil Patrick Harris, Grey DeLisle, John Di Maggio, Kevin Michael Richardson, Tom Kenny, Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor (...) - Batman: The Brave And The Bold
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| If writing a good musical were easy, everyone would do it. |
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In October 2009, Cartoon Network produced a musical episode of its Batman: The Brave and the Bold series, which thereby joins the ranks of such shows as Buffy and Xena. Unfortunately, the result is only so-so. There’s plenty of music (at 18 minutes of songs, the episode was practically sung-through) and it isn’t bad, but the lyrics are only adequate in some places and truly terrible in others.
The songs were written by series composer Lolita Ritmanis, who worked with Shirley Walker on Batman: The Animated Series almost twenty years ago. The lyrics were written by series producers (and DC Animated veterans) James Tucker and Michael Jelenic. The former is clearly the better, as he penned the words for the two best numbers. “I’m the Music Meister,” in which the villain introduces himself, does a good job setting up the story. “Death Trap” is short and clever, and I like it. On the other hand, “Drives us Bats” and “The World is Mine” feature such clunky lyrics that they make me cringe. Even a reference to the Batusi can’t save them.
The Music Meister is played by Neil Patrick Harris, Dr. Horrible himself. He’s singing his heart out, and he’s good, but I expect no less from him. The female lead, Black Canary, is sung by Grey DeLisle. She gets the love song, “If Only.” The song is kind of drippy, but I actually think I like it better out of context, and only if I’m not paying too much attention to the lyrics.
The most attractive feature of this album is the Batman: Brave and the Bold theme, written and performed by Cartoon Network stalwart Andy Sturmer. It’s a catchy theme that fits the lighthearted nature of the series, and I really like the drum solo about halfway through.
Request: “Batman: The Brave and the Bold Theme” “I’m the Music Meister” “Death Trap”
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7 of 7 found this review helpful |
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Mark Isham, Bird York - Crash
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| Crash: Uncredited Female Vocals |
| By: |
Blue
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| Date: |
6 Nov 2009 |
| Rating: |
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On a shoestring budget, Mark Isham creatively incorporated female vocals from previously recorded music, as well as crafting original music from his own audio equipment, to produce a deeply emotional and atmospheric score for Crash.
According to the comments posted to the Soundtrack Info website (http://www.soundtrackinfo.com/title/crash2005.asp) by both fans and the artists themselves, there are 5 tracks containing uncredited female vocals:
'Safe Now', 'Negligence', and 'Saint Christopher' are sung beautifully by Catherine Grant, while 'Flames' and 'Sense Of Touch' incorporate a traditional Welsh tune called "Lisa Lan," recorded by Carol Ensley on the CD "Vocal Planet."
Per Carol Ensley, "Catherine Grant...did the Farsi (Persian) song and the Latin chant. She is a professional ethnic singer. Carol Ensley (that's me) did the other female vocals. I sang an old Welsh tune called Lisa Lan and Isham built his score around it." [quote found at: http://www.soundtrackinfo.com/title/crash2005.asp]
'Lisa Lan' is a traditional Welsh love song. Isham's decision to build this tune into the score was inspired and a show of brilliance. It is both beautiful and haunting and he manages to elicit the conflict of emotions that only death can produce - grief, love, pain, longing and hope. The first line of the song is "Bum yn dy garu lawer gwaith" or "I have loved you for a long time."
The track 'Flames' uses both Farsi and Latin lyrics and again is brilliantly written into the score by Isham.
Incidentally, both Grant (Seattle) and Ensley (Ocean Shores) make their homes in the beautiful state of Washington.
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4 of 4 found this review helpful |
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John Williams - Schindler's List
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| Just haunting |
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If someone knows, how to make a melody out of a feeling, it's Maestro Williams. "Schindler's List" is one of his masterpieces, absolutely haunting and exceeded in intensity of emotions only by the movie accompanied by the music. This score has really deserved the Oscar.
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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Brian Tyler - Eagle Eye
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| sheer adrenalin |
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This one of the - maybe the - most action-packed scores I know. Tyler created a exciting soundtrack with rhythm and great orchestrations. But there are also very emotional and mystical moments, which are all held together by two themes (they both firstly appear in track 1 "Eagle Eye") But after a while, the music gets montonous, because the cues are structured pretty similar and the themes are used quite extensive. So Tyler's "Eagle Eye" is an outstanding soundtrack, which works perfectly in the movie, but has a problem to become more than just sheer adrenalin.
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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David Bowie Trevor Jones, Trevor Jones, David Bowie - Labyrinth
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| A nostalgic favorite with a neglected score |
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As with many Disney soundtracks (one of which this is not), this album has two sides: the songs, written and mostly performed by David Bowie in character as the Goblin King, and the score, written by Trevor Jones. Both are products of their time. The songs feel very 80s in some places, and the score is mostly synthesizer.
The songs function best, I think, as a souvenir of the movie for those who want such a thing. They get requested a lot here at SST, probably for their nostalgia value. If they have that for you, as they do for me, then you already know what you want to request, and you should have fun. “Underground,” the song played during the main titles, gets a great gospel arrangement in the final track.
But the score is not bad at all, and I think it is underplayed here. The main theme is a favorite of mine, and its best statement is in the “Opening Titles,” which makes a good blend between the vocal and score sides of the album. “Sarah” and “Home at Last” are very pretty, and there is dramatic tension in “Thirteen O’Clock.”
Request: “Opening Titles,” “Sarah,” and “Thirteen O’Clock.”
Avoid: “The Goblin Battle.” This track demands much from the synthesizers, and they’re not up to it.
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5 of 5 found this review helpful |
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Shaun Davey - Tailor Of Panama, The
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| The Tailor of Panama |
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Shaun Davey has given the movie of John Boorman a pleasantly orchestralted soundtrack..
The lovely score is characterized by parts of south American folklore – with a very catchy main theme. Davey succeeds in working out a fitting score for the melancholic accents as well as the dramatic ones.
track 16 is a beautiful score that brings toether all the elements of the music and the final song - todavia cantamos - is beautifully sung by rita conelli.
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Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Francesco Lupica - Thin Red Line, The
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| A subdued Zimmer Score |
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This score might be Zimmers most subtle work.
Apart from martial brass sounds and marching rhythms Zimmer focuses on the inner life of the charcters and uses mostly strings and woodwinds.
The overall quiet music exhales loneliness and melancholy and acts partially minimalistic and meditative, which creates an agonizing feeling of inescapability.
Electronics are used quite unobtrusive, the Zimmer-typical “action-music” is non-existent.
Especially beautiful and moving tracks are Track 3 – Journey to the line, track 4 – light, track 8 – the village and track 9 – silence.
with this score Zimmer partly approaches his model (ideal?) Richard Wagner and his “Lohengrin” harmony
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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Michiru Yamane - Castlevania, Symphony Of The Night
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| A Vampire Hunter's Delight |
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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, originally released in 1997 for the Sony Playstation, is recognized as one of the best games in the series to date. The game is a prime example of the ‘Metriodvania’ style of gameplay design which allows players to choose their own path of exploration through areas of the game in a side-scrolling 2-D setting. SotN told the story of Alucard, the son of Dracula, who takes it upon himself to rid the world of Dracula’s evil forever. The game contains everything a Castlevania game should; an awesome hero, terrific boss encounters, and every distinctive horror genre specific element all rolled into one game. The soundtrack composed by Michiru Yamane is a thrill to listen to throughout the entire game as he successfully combines various musical styles to set the appropriate atmosphere while exploring the domain of Dracula.
The music from this game traverses across many different musical styles, genres, and instrumentations. The first four tracks of the album and game gives listeners a good idea for what kind of musical experience they are in for as it opens with the dark orchestral track of Transformation No. 1 (track title translations vary from source to source), the heavy rock track in the Prologue, a dramatic sweeping orchestral theme that nicely frames any battle against Dracula called Illusionary Dance, and finally with another gothic orchestral track to set up the storyline. The tracks then proceed to flow its many varied styles such as:
Wood Carving Partita – Baroque/Classic styled piece featuring the harpsichord.
Gates of Spirits – a suspense horror track.
Requiem of the Gods – a mournful choir piece with pipe organ accompaniment.
Pearl Dance Song (or Dance of Pales) – an orchestral piano waltz.
Awakened Soul (or Wandering Ghosts) – a jazzy, Latin styled guitar piece.
Young Nobleman of Sadness (or Tragic Prince) – a duet between rock guitar and a full orchestra.
The last track listed, Young Nobleman of Sadness, deserves a review of its own. The track truly earns the adjective of epic. It starts with a big orchestral flourish, slight pause, and then proceeds to rock out with heavy distorted rock guitar. Both the theme of the guitar and the theme from the orchestral strings hauntingly recall familiar tunes for Castlevania fans. Even though the track as the obvious video game loop point at the end, it is not at all in any way off putting as those heavy guitar power chords never get old.
If the album as any weak points, it only comes at the very end with the album’s final track, “I Am the Wind” performed by Cynthia Harrel. This soft pop song comes seemingly out of nowhere as the game’s credits roll. It is overly cheesy, and the lyrics hardly fit any of the game’s characters. There are parts of the song where the lead singer combined with the backup vocals that sound pleasing to the ear even if this genre seems to clash with the rest of the album. I do not know if this track is either the product of a localization choice replacing the Japanese song that was there, or if the song is an English translation. I tend to think it might be the later.
Overall, Castlevania: SotN is a wonderful video game soundtrack. It more than satisfactory performs its function as mood setting for its medium. It is a delightfully fiendish album that can easily be played from start to finish. The album seems to fly by with its total running time of 1:08:30. It provides pleasant background music for settings even outside of the game. Just try popping this in the stereo next time there is a Halloween costume party and watch the results.
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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David Arnold - Independence Day
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| A great piece of music |
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Arnold created a highly varied, big orchestrated Score.
He varies the rousing patriotic main theme (played in Track 1 by the trombone) masterfully, the dark 4-tone-alien-motif is heard first in Track 2.
Track 4 is a beautifully unobstrusive orchestration with harp and woodwinds.
Track 5 starts lyric, then accumulates to a thundering battle music with lots of brass and percussion, but also a very skilful use of the strings – whenever an energy beam destroys a building, a high string glissando sets in.
Track 6 peaks that – hard to listen to without the movie – wild, confused and screaming dissonant.
A soothing counterpart is track 7 – sad and melancholy notes, accompanied by a chorus, show the whole destruction.
Track 11 is a moving piece of music with the beginning of drums and the quiet first theme mounting to a march-like end.
Track 13 builds up the tension beautifully – starting with the trombone main theme repeated by strings and then developing into a wonderfully orchestrated “showdown”.
IMO the best track is track 14 – it starts with a new fanfare and all themes are presented again, with the main theme wonderfully arranged with the full orchestra – after a cello-solo and continuing reprise the music rises to an almost bombastic end with full brass, chorus, percussion.
A truly great piece of music!
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3 of 3 found this review helpful |
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Doyle W. Donehoo, Noobie Noobinson - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War II
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| Doesn’t stand up without the game |
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I downloaded this score because it was being given away for free, which is a trend I’m seeing in game music and totally support. Never having played the game, I find myself without a context for any of this music, so I’m afraid I’m unable to enjoy this score as a souvenir. I find that the music on its own is not very interesting. It’s big, and grand, as befits the space battles I assume are happening while it plays. But after a few months of having this in rotation, I can’t tell most of the tracks apart from the others, and after I write this review, I plan to delete this album from my library.
Request: The more interesting music, I think, happens in the second half of the album. So if you’re going to request, I’d start there.
Avoid: “Show Me What Passes For Music Among Your Misbegotten Kind.” There’s nothing special about this track except that it goes on for 13 minutes. Also,
“Meridian Nights (Noobie's Grim Dark Future Remix)” is electronic noise and dialogue. I found it dreadful, but if you like the game it may do something for you.
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2 of 3 found this review helpful |
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