Soundtrack Nerd

2012 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS:

Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production Adam Berry ‘Penquins of Madagascar: Private and the Winky Factory’ – Nickelodeon Animation Studios Alf Clausen ‘The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXIII’ – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV Frederik Wiedmann ‘Green Lantern The Animated Series: Into the Abyss’ - F. Wiedmann, Composer Guy Moon ‘T.U.F.F. Puppy: Really Big Mission’ – Nickelodeon Animation Studios John Paesano ‘Dragons: Riders of Berk: How to Pick Your Dragon’ – DreamWorks Animation Michael Rubin ‘Bubble Guppies: Bubble Puppy’s Fin-tastic Fairytale!’ – Nickelodeon Animation Studios

Music in an Animated Feature Production Alexandre Desplat ‘Rise of the Guardians’ – DreamWorks Animation Bruce Retief ‘Adventures in Zambezia’ – Saltzman Communications Henry Jackman ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ – Walt Disney Animation Studios Joel McNeely, Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda ‘Secret of the Wings’ – DisneyToon Studios John Powell, Adam Schlesinger, Ester Dean ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’ – Blue Sky Studios John Powell, Cinco Paul ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ – Illumination Entertainment Mark Mothersbaugh ‘Hotel Transylvania’ – Sony Pictures Animation Patrick Doyle, Mark Andrews, Alex Mandel ‘Brave’ – Pixar Animation Studios 

Like I said Annie Awards never fail to impress me. In the 'Animated Television/Broadcast production' section we have two series that are above the others and that are: ‘Green Lantern The Animated Series: Into the Abyss’ by Frederik Wiedmann which has got many reviewers raving about and ‘Dragons: Riders of Berk: How to Pick Your Dragon’ by John Paesano in which they included the themes from the Annie winning Award Motion Picture scored by John Powell.

The 'Animated Feature Production' category has a balance between obvious choices and some not so obvious. My prediction for this is ether 'Brave' or 'Frankenweenie' and for me both of them deserve it. As a close outsider we can consider 'Rise of the Guardians'. The impressing thing in this category is that they haven't included animated films like 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' or 'ParaNorman' and yet they have ‘Adventures in Zambezia’ by Bruce Retief. By all means I'm not complaining because 'Adventures in Zambezia' is a very good score but still I'm amazed that they included it. If you want to listen to the 'Adventures in Zambezia' here is a short(and with awful quality) video.

JOHN WILLIAMS

The living legend is an obvious choice who created the first 6 scores creating the classic Star Wars sound, a theme that will never be forgotten plus bringing always something new in every Episode. He is one of a few bunch of composers who brings his A game in every score that he makes. Last year he showed us that he didn’t forget how to make mesmerizing scores with The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse and this year with Lincoln. I think it’s every fans wish to bring John Williams back to the Star Wars franchise and if they bring him back they won’t make a mistake.

MICHAEL GIACCHINO

Yes probably the closest composer to the John Williams touch is Giacchino who is also one of the most respected composers in the game today. This year he had his own ‘Star Wars’ with John Carter and he nailed it. It’s the score of the year till date (waiting for Hobbit and Lincoln). If they are planning not to bring any of the themes from the films before, he would be a perfect choice to make something memorable. He did score Star Trek and it would be very silly if he scores Star Wars too but it won’t be a wrong choice. His John Williams impressions can be heard most in his earlier scores like the score for the Medal of Honor games.

ANDREW LOCKINGTON

He is probably one of the most underrated composers today. He has not just the potential to score this film but to make an amazing score just like John Williams did with his first one. His scores for the two Journey films and especially for City of Amber are gorgeous and have that tone that Star Wars needs. Lucas said that “It’s time to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers’ so why not pass the composing also to the new generation. The next Journey film called Journey 3: From Earth to the Moon comes in 2014 so I hope he’ll make something even better than his great fantasy scores and open the eyes of the director and producers for the new Star Wars.

JOHN POWELL

The master of animation, made a splash with he’s early scores for Antz, Chicken Run and Robots. His works for every animation film are unparalleled and he proved that he is one of the biggest composers today with his score for How to Train Your Dragon which is probably in Top 3 scores of the decade. You can’t go wrong with John Powell and it’s not just with his animated films. His works also for X Men, Hancock, Bourne are also great.

MURRAY GOLD

Here we have a wonderful composer who resurrected the Doctor Who series and gave the series a unique sound and brilliant scores. He is unmistakable when it comes to Doctor Who and when you think he can’t bring anything new in the next series, he proves you wrong. The Doctor Who scores have everything that the new Star Wars film needs, a bombastic theme, amazing dramatic cues, perfect action cues and wide sounds. Outside of the Doctor Who series he hasn't done any big films which is a pity.

MARK MCKENZIE

Yes, it’s last year’s Soundtrack Nerd Award winner for Best Film Score. The Greatest Miracle is just brilliant and jaw dropping from the first till the last cue on the soundtrack. The adventure factor can be heard also in Dragonheart A New Beginning where he takes the theme from Edelman for the previous film and updates it which can be very useful in Star Wars. He still hasn’t scored a big film which is a step backwards for him but he is a very underrated composer that in need of that chance. Again if the studio is looking for a new theme and a new direction he will create something memorable guaranteed.

ALAN SILVESTRI

Very experienced composer that creates high quality scores for blockbusters. He always knew how to create a memorable theme and is one of the few composers who can bring something interesting in the action cues which is remarkable. He has been busy with Marvel in the last two years creating the score for Captain America with an amazing theme and for The Avengers. His work through the years has been remarkable from Back to The Future, The Mummy and Forest Gump. It won’t surprise me if he’ll be given a chance to score the new Star Wars film.

NAOKI SATO

I know that the chances for this to happen a practically none but just imagine what he can bring to the table. The best word that suites him is epic which best can be heard in his 2010 score for Space Battleship Yamato. If that is not enough for you look for the Sword of the Stranger score and you’ll be hooked up. The only reason I picked him and not Joe Hisaishi is because the epicenes in his scores is just unreal. Again this is probably never going to happen but hey .. use a little imagination Disney.

DANNY ELFMAN

Another very experienced and also very good composer that will bring his thematic material in the Star Wars franchise. His last score for Frankenweenie is beautiful and comes back to his work for Edward Scissorhands which for me is his best score. Themes aren’t his problem and if Disney want to bring the best music for the dark side this is probably the best man for the job. He has been nominated for 4 Academy Awards and has a chance to be nominated again this year for his work on Frankenweenie.

DAVID ARNOLD

The phenomenal David Arnold is a British composer who is very fond of the Sci-Fi genre. His last score was for the film Paul which he did a brilliant job winning him a Soundtrack Nerd Award for Best Comedy Score. Before that he also did the amazing fantasy score for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. His themes are also very memorable like in Independence Day and Stargate and he has shown that he can even create a very good score that already has a theme like he did in the two James Bond films.

7 extra runner ups that didn’t make the list:

1.      PATRICK DOYLE – a very consistent but yet failed to make my top 10 list (first runner up). His best efforts that are close enough to the Star Wars sound are Eragon and Thor.

2.      ALEXANDRE DESPLAT – Nothing bad to say about Alexandre. His scores are amazing but except for Harry Potter he hasn’t scored a film like that which is why he is a question mark. This year he scored Rise of the Guardians which I still have to hear but has positive reviews already.

3.      CHRISTOPHER YOUNG – He is an underrated composer who innovates the Horror scores in a brilliant ways and makes them not just listenable but enjoyable and memorable. He should be considered if they want to make a darker Star Wars like they did with the Spiderman 3 which he scored it perfectly.

4.      HOWARD SHORE – He did a great job on the 3 Lord Of the Ring films and has yet to score the 3 Hobbit films.

5.      JAMES NEWTON HOWARD – Not very consistent but when he brings his A game it’s amazing. The Last Airbender and Lady in the Water are incredible.

6.      BRIAN TYLER – He is a composer that I respect but lost his touch in recent years. Battle LA is one of his best effort in these couple years but his most amazing work is for the series Children of Dune which is very similar to the Star Wars franchise.

7.      HARRY GREGSON WILLIAMS – When it comes down to adventure films he can give his best to do a great job. Last year Arthur Christmas was a very good score and also the Prince of Persia one. He is in Remote Control Studios which is one of the reasons that he’ll be considered.

Maybe You'll Get Some, Maybe You Won't - 5/5

Syncing Feeling - 5/5

Army of Assholes - 5/5

A Row Of Circles - 4/5

Proof Of Something - 5/5

Toy Computer - 5/5

A Glow You Know - 5/5

The Red Bull - 4/5

Last We Spoke - 4/5

Monsters - 4/5

Lobby Music - 4/5

The Fantabulous World Of Jimmy 3 Guts 4/5

The Other Castle - 5/5

Young Lungs - 5/5

Waiting For Gomez - 4/5

My Deepest Flaws And Vulnerabilities - 4/5

Big Win - 4/5

Trust - 5/5

Chips at Sea - 4/5

Forever Beta - 4/5

Harsh Tags Pt 1 - 4/5

The Maelstrom - 4/5

Harsh Tags Pt 2 - 5/5

Sympathetic Syntax - 4/5 

The world of Indie Games is rising very fast nowadays and the reason for this is that this kind of games don't have boundaries, are very unique and always try and bring something new in the game world. This documentary, created by James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, follows 3 separate stories for the games Super Meat Boy, FEZ and Braid. The documentary opens up the door into the crazy world of Indie Game development and shows the pressure, hard work and in the end the happines that this people are going through to create their game and realize their dreams.  

The score is composed by Jim Guthrie who is very popular among indie gamers and game music listeners. He is a Canadian composer/singer best known for his album "Now, More Than Ever" and for scoring an indie adventure game called "Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP" which makes him a perfect choice for this documentary.  His experimental distinguished style from "Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery" is all over this soundtrack.

The soundtrack starts very strong with a very sweet melody played by a xylophone in " Maybe You'll Get Some, Maybe You Won't" (1). In the second part of the cue comes the synth and opens the cue at which point your inner child will jump. The same melody continues in "The Other Castle" (13), but it's more quiet and closed.

"Syncing Feeling" (2) is a dark motif cue with a simple piano expressing those awful moments of the developers in the movie. It's one of those cues on the soundtrack that you don't want to hear on repeat. Right in the next cue "Army of Assholes" (3) the fun continues with a filtered trumpet in the beginning and then joining in a xylophone which is featured in a couple of tracks on the soundtrack and a guitar pad. It's a simple and effective cue.

"Proof Of Something" (5) is a very thoughtful cue playing in the background when they show Johnathan Blow, creator of Braid, for the first time in the movie. The beginning of the cue sounds like you are listening to it backwards, which absolutely captures the sound and dynamic of Braid.

Jim Guthrie has a very minimalistic approach but that's why he excels in sound design and creates mesmerizing sounds which with a little guitar here and there or other instrument capture the moment perfectly making things easy and enjoyable for listening. "Toy Computer"(6) and "A Glow You Know" (7) are the cues that integrate everything that is in the previous sentence.

"The Red Bull" (8) reminds me a lot of the Tron Legacy Soundtrack. Maybe it's because of that synth sequence in the beginning or maybe because it has a similar buildup. "Monsters"(10) has a very nice guitar but it's very short and doesn't reach a culmination. The guitar plays a significant part in the next cues especially in "The Fantabulous World Of Jimmy 3 Guts" (12).

"Young Lungs" (14) is my favorite cue from the soundtrack and I can listen it for hours (already have done this). It starts quietly with simple chords on a guitar and then comes the second part of the cue when a synth, drums and an awesome guitar melody collide and create an unforgettable experience. The second best is a tie between "Trust" (18) and "Maybe You'll Get Some, Maybe You Won't" (1). "Trust" (18) is an original song from a previous album from Guthrie called "A Thousand Songs". It's a lo-fi indie song that plays when the credits roll tricking you to stay just to finish listening this great song. 

"Chips at Sea" (19) is an interesting cue with a choir in the background for a couple of seconds and is the closest thing to a chiptune cue. "Harsh Tags Pt 1" (21) and "Harsh Tags Pt 2" (23) are very enjoyable cues with a cameo from Jim Guthrie's cat in the background.

With "Indie Game: The Movie", Jim Guthrie once again has done a very successful job. In the movie the score works very well and excels every moment when it sweeps from the background. Just the soundtrack is also enjoyable, clearing your mind and making you relax. Game music listeners, synth lovers and open minded will enjoy this soundtrack more than the non synth, only orchestra lovers. This will probably end up on the IFMCA nomination list for "Best Original Score for a Documentary Feature" and it won't be a surprise even if it wins.

The Neglected Garden 5/5

Our House Below (Movie Version) 5/5

Our House Below (Instrumental Version) 5/5

The Doll House (Instrumental Version) 4/5

Sho's Lament (Instrumental Version 1) 4/5

Arriety's Song (Instrumental Version) 5/5

The Neglected Garden (Instrumental Version) 5/5

Sho's Waltz 4/5

Spiller (Instrumental Version) 3/5

Rain (Instrumental Version) 4/5

The Wild Waltz 4/5

Sho's Lament (Instrumental Version 2) 3/5

An Uneasy Feeling 3/5

With You 3/5

The House is in Silence 3/5

Sho's Song (Instrumental Version) 5/5

Precious Memories 5/5

Goodbye My Friend (Instrumental Version) 4/5

I Will Never Forget You 4/5

Arrietty's Song 5/5

Tears in my Eyes 4/5

Goodbye My Friend 5/5

Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to "borrow" scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts. But when 12-year-old Shawn (David Henrie), a human boy who comes to stay in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty's family from the home and straight into danger. Another Ghibli Production film and every soundtrack lover expected another Joe Hisaishi brilliant score but Ghibli announced that the compositor will be Cecile Corbel leaving the Hisaishi fans gutted. Cicile Corbel is a French singer, plays the harp and she never before composed for film. This score has in every track Corbels harp guitar and the flute. Starting off with 'The Neglected Garden'(1) you couldn't ask for a better start in a soundtrack really. A brilliant track that has Corbel's sweet voice mixed with the guitar and harp and at the end comes the flute completed this brilliant track. The track in the film is used in the most heartwarming scene which makes it even more perfect. The 1 minute instrumental version is in 'The Neglected Garden(Instrumental Version)'(7) which has only the melody. After 'The Neglected Garden'(1) comes another great track 'Our House Below (Movie Version)'(2). Again same recipe like in 'The Neglected Garden'(1) but a different melody and unsurprisingly the same result. Again Cecile Corbel delivers big and the the instrumental one 'Our House Below (Instrumental Version)'(3) is awesome too. Very warm easy for listening and charming. 'Sho's Lament (Instrumental Version 1)'(5) is also very strong with another unique melody and it's surprisingly the most used theme featured also in 'Sho's Waltz'(8), 'Rain (Instrumental Version)'(10) and 'Sho's Lament (Instrumental Version 2)'(12). Then comes another big instrumental 'Arriety's Song (Instrumental Version)'(6). Another new theme and another very catch melody played by the harp and flute. And to make it even perfect Cecile Corbel made lyrics and sang for it in 'Arriety's Song'(20). But it's not just emotional and slow songs, starting with (7) which is a very percussiony and faster track than the others, 'Rain (Instrumental Version)'(11) which also has a fast tempo and nice energy and the tense one 'An Uneasy Feeling'(13). This is the time when the soundtrack takes a small slide but takes a fast comeback with 'Sho's Song (Instrumental Version)'(16) and till the end continues the greatness of this soundtrack. 'Precious Memories'(17) is another sweet melody with a great uplifting motif. 'Goodbye My Friend'(22) is the last song and it great sums up the soundtrack. It's step up from the instrumental version 'Goodbye My Friend (Instrumental Version)'(18). It's not that 'Goodbye My Friend (Instrumental Version)'(18) was bad, far from that, but for perfection you sense that something is missing and 'Goodbye My Friend'(22) shows that the thing that is missing is Cecile Corbel's voice and lyrics. In conclusion this is another unique soundtrack from a Ghibli studio film and an amazing first score for Cecile Corbel. The score perfectly fits film and without this score definitely wouldn't work.

Forest Park 4/5

Going Home 2/5

Empty House 3/5

Police Are Waiting 2/5

Jill Runs For Her Life 2/5

Darkness Falls 2/5

Alameda Car Pursuit 3/5

Confronting Jim 4/5

Molly Is Safe 2/5

Evidence 4/5

Leaving the Forest 3/5

End Titles 4/5

In the new suspense thriller Gone, Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried) comes home from a night shift to discover her sister Molly has been abducted. Jill, who had escaped from a kidnapper a year before, is convinced that the same serial killer has come back for her sister. Afraid that Molly will be dead by sundown, Jill embarks on a heart-pounding chase to find the killer, expose his secrets and save her sister. The composer scoring this is David Buckley who is a British composer who is very known for his works with Harry Gregson Williams on the game Metal Gear Solid 4 and The Town. The soundtrack starts strong with the first track('Forest Park') which sounded a lot like a cue created by Clint Mansell with soft piano, monotonic cue. The same piano which is the main theme, an octave down is also played in 'Confronting Jim'(8) and present in 'Evidence'(10) and in 'End Titles'(12) where is culminated with a female solo. I don't really need to mention any of the ques from 'Empty House'(2) to 'Darkness Falls'(6) because there is nothing to write except the dark motive and the hard to listen part. 'Alameda Car Pursuit'(7) is a your casual action cue with no innovation at all. It's a hard soundtrack to swallow because it's one of those which better work in the film. It has some cues good for listening but nothing beyond that. 

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Flatonse 4/5

Following Mooch 3/5

On More Dead 3/5

Gym Shooting 3/5

Morelli Steals The Keys 3/5

Rex Going Nowhere 3/5

Bullets And Butt Fat 3/5

Pauback Time 3/5

Morelli's Apartment 3/5

Mr. Earling 3/5

Snagging The Master Fuse 2/5

Morty Byers Is Back 2/5

Handcuffed In The Shower 3/5

Finner And A Sleepless Night 3/5

Finding Flatnose 3/5

Steph Tails The Truck 2/5

Big Blue 3/5

Gruesome Discoveries 2/5

Jimmy Alpha 2/5

Vinnie Pays 2/5

To The Dock 3/5

A proud, born-and-bred Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum's got plenty of attitude, even if she's been out of work for the last six months and just lost her car to a debt collector. Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company as a recovery agent. True, she doesn't even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn't stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny's biggest. 44 minutes of Deborah's music with some pop tunes at the beginning is the structure of this soundtrack. Surprisingly that there are 44 minutes of actual score. I really liked the start in 'Flatonse'(6) with the guitar and string piano in the background creating a theme which was repeated in a weaker way in 'Finding Flatnose'(20). The soundtrack had a good start and I thought maybe this was a different approach to an action-comedy film. I was wrong. It's not that the other tracks are bad but are a cliche. It's the casual jazzy approach to a comedy with some bass guitar in the background having just a groove. The score overuses the guitar and the piano and later on the bass guitar creating a loop with nothing really to hit it off. The soundtrack is consistent and smooth almost for every track for listening and I'm pretty sure that works well with the film but it's just dull for a soundtrack fan just waiting for that cue which will break the monotony. Disappointed with this one especially when you have Debrah's score for '9'. It's just a steady soundtrack with a good start and slight fall with not one amazing cue. Overall this is one of those soundtracks which very fast will be forgotten.

Melon 2/5

Luxury Comedy Theme 4/5

The Decision 2/5

Eyeball Seesaw 4/5

Take Your Little Black Pants Off 1/5

Ghost of a Flea 4/5

The Jelly Fox Part One 1/5

Surrounded By Shape Shifting Werewolves 3/5

Bing Bong Changes 3/5

The Jelly Fox Part Two 1/5

Me and My Flamingo 5/5

Moon Dog 1/5

Mash Potato Brothers 3/5

Spanish Brothers 1/5

Swing Ball Blues 2/5

Brown Hatted Son of a Birch 4/5

The Jelly Fox Part Three 1/5

Strawberry Sunrise 1/5

The Adventures of Fantasy Man 1/5

Fantasy Man Theme 3/5

Alan Hansen's Peg Bag 3/5

Bye Bye Baby 3/5

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy is a British sketch television series written and directed by Noel Fielding and Nigel Coan. The series stars Fielding, his brother Michael Fielding, Tom Meeten, and Dolly Wells. It is described on the Channel 4 website as "a psychedelic character based comedy show half filmed and half animated" which is just like the soundtrack is. The Loose Tapestries are a group formed by Sergio Pizzorno(guitarist of Kasabian) and Noel Fielding which is the shows star.

I didn't know what to think about this when I got it. Without any thoughts before listening I get right into it and had an unpleasant time with it. The total time of the soundtrack is 31 minutes which gives you how short are some tracks. It's a really crazy approach to release a soundtrack which has a lot of short tracks which don't even have music in them. Just people talking or having some jokes like in 'Alan Hansen's Peg Bag'(21). The unpleasant experience was this tracks which I don't know why are even on the soundtrack and I don't know what were they thinking with putting them on the soundtrack. I gotta say that I really much enjoyed the original songs created even tough they are not a lot of them on the soundtrack. The production of the Loose Tapestries is spot on starting from the 'Luxury Comedy Theme'(2) which is great, funny theme with very good harmonics by the guys singing it. 'Eyeball Seesaw'(4) is just a excellent approach creating a great indie track. 'Ghost of a Flea'(6) with some strange but funny lyrics but still you can hear the nice production again. 'Me and My Flamingo'(11) is the best track on the soundtrack having a brilliant production and a very funny text. 'Brown Hatted Son of a Birch'(16) sounds like a track from some western films. Like I said the production in spot on even though every song is a different genre. I really feel sorry for Loose Tapestries here. If the structure of the soundtrack was better without any doubt the score would be bigger and people would enjoy more the soundtrack.

Labyrinth of Mist 4/5

Lilac Mist 4/5

Cleave 3/5

Gate of Memory 3/5

Illegal Hole 3/5

Premonition 3/5

Return to Mind 3/5

Hallucination 2/5

Soul to Wander About 2/5

Vacuous Pressure 4/5

Decayed Edge 3/5

Stray 3/5

Clear Pace 3/5

Peaceful 2/5

Temptation 3/5

Illusional Defense 3/5

Small Hope 4/5

Beyond The Labyrinth 3/5

Profusion of Flowers 4/5

Ask for Light 3/5

Ailing Clouds 2/5

Triangle Shines 4/5

Progresses Straight 3/5

End-title Roll 5/5

Paladin's Theme (Search For The Dragon) 5/5

You're Doing It All Wrong 4/5

A Paladin's Journey 5/5

The Dragon Kills 4/5

In Training 5/5

Will And Kate 4/5

Dragon At The Castle 4/5

The Search For Kate 4/5

The Dragon Lurking 4/5

Forbidden Love 5/5

The Battle 4/5

Alone In The Cold 4/5

Rise Of A Paladin 5/5

The Duel And The Dragon 5/5

A Triumphant Return (Suite From Dawn Of The Dragonslayer) 5/5

This is the first time I hear something from Panu Aaltio and it's pretty hard to expect anything especially for a B rated film that probably had even more limited money for music. But who ever decided the composer and the film to have this kind of score should be congratulated. I've watched the film which was ok and nothing more but I think if it wasn't the music this film would have been terrible. It's amazing when you realize the effect of the score for a film. The Paladin's Theme is perfect in every way. It's amazing and heroic just like the character in the film needs. It starts brilliantly in 'Paladin's Theme (Search For The Dragon)'(1) with the brass section blowing this fantastic fantasy sound which would have done even more wonders to an amazing film. It's one of those scores that rely on the theme and it's a great example how it's done properly. The amazing theme is also featured in 'A Paladin's Journey'(3) and even more expanded to a more wonderful journey of listening with the sweetness of the strings. In 'In Training'(5) the the theme is featured with faster pace and an action interpretation in the background. And in 'Rise Of A Paladin'(13) at the mere end it's featured again ending another great cue from the soundtrack. But it's not all of this theme. Another theme is feature in some of the cues and it's the romantic theme. The romantic motive is first shown in 'Will And Kate'(6) with some snippets of the paladin's theme. The romantic theme is involved in 'The Dragon Lurking'(9). It's used as a pad for the Paladin's Theme. The Dragon in the film involves  a few dark cues like 'The Dragon Kills'(4), 'Dragon At Castle'(7) and 'The Dragon Lurking'(9). They all have the action interpretation with the brass and percussions and at the same time with the choir which was a really smart thing to do. The involvement of the choir expands every cue that has it even the Paladin's theme feels more heroic than it is when the choir is involved. At the end we have the cue 'A Triumphant Return (Suite From Dawn Of The Dragonslayer)'(15) which contains the suite of the Paladin's theme remarkable for listening.

In conclusion this is a massive job well done by Panu Aaltio. It's remarkable what score he created for a film with such low budget so I hope he'll be involved with projects with more money so he could include a bigger orchestra to bring even more epic sound from himself.

Vernian's Believe 5/5

The Attic 5/5

Helicopter Crash 4/5

Island Reveal 4/5

Lizard Chase 4/5

The Treehouse 5/5

Discovering Atlantis 5/5

Who's Up for an Adventure 5/5

Gold Dust 4/5

Bee Chase 5/5

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Campfire 4/5

The Swamp 3/5

Trident Cliffs 3/5

Finding the Nautilus 4/5

Let's Power This Thing Up 4/5

The Nautilus Escape 5/5

Sean's Birthday 5/5

Mysterious Island Main Titles 5/5

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In this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit Journey to the Center of the Earth, the new 3D family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island begins when young Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson, reprising his role from the first film) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. It's a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean's new stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever. It looks like a Hollywood blockboster that spends money just on effects and not on a story but at least we have a great score to talk about. Andrew Lockington who was signed on the first project 'Journey: Center of the earth' in 2008 was signed for this project to make an even better score. Also there will be a third film 'Journey 3' which Lockington will score. The score for the first film was adventures and full of epicness like it should be but believe it or not that was not his best score that year. The same year he scored 'City of Ember' which was an outstanding soundtrack nominated for Best Original Score for Fantasy/Science Fiction Film by IFMCA. He spent a month backpacking in Papua New Guinea just to get his mood right to score this film and it did work. The soundtrack starts very strong with 'Vernian's Believe'(1) containing the original Journey theme but better orchestrated this time. This is one of the 3 themes that has this soundtrack. It's incorporated in most of the track that contain the second and most repetitive theme 'Mysterious Island Main Titles'(19). It's a brilliant theme which is repeated in a lot of cue which sometimes can be a bad thing. But in this case this is an exception because the theme is very catchy brilliantly done and makes the cues that contain it very nice for listening. This is the highlight cue firstly shown in 'The Attic'(2) which has a brilliant piano start. In 'Island Reveal'(4) there is a slower version and in 'Discovering Atlantis'(7) we hear a female vocalist covering it which expands the cue even more. The female vocalist has a wonderful voice and she is on more cues like 'Bee Chase'(10) and 'Let's Power This Thing Up'(16). And if this is not enough for you the choir in the background in 'Finding the Nautilus'(15), 'The Nautilus Escape'(17) and (19) expands the theme even more giving it the classic Lockington fantasy motive. There is also a third theme which is shown in some of the action cues interpretated with strings like 'Lizard Chase'(5), 'Bee Chase'(10), 'The Swamp'(13) and 'The Nautilus Escape'(17). The action cues are splendid and the Guinean inspiration is among them the best with tribal percussion keeping the pace up and running. Lockington shows again how good he is and picks up his form from the last two soundtracks. He is a very talented composer and someone should give him a chance to score a better film because that is the only way his scores are going to be picked for awards which he deserves.

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