{"id":3690,"date":"2011-10-20T17:04:23","date_gmt":"2011-10-20T21:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3690"},"modified":"2011-10-20T17:04:23","modified_gmt":"2011-10-20T21:04:23","slug":"cd-music-from-the-transformers-trilogy-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3690","title":{"rendered":"CD: Music from the Transformers Trilogy (2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>M<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: Silva Screen\/ Released: October 3, 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 16 \/ (58:11)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by Michael Beek.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Steve Jablonsky<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Silva Screen\u2019s compilation of themes and dramatic highlights from the three (thus far) Transformers<\/strong> films directed by Michael Bay is a fitting sampler of the musical heroism and melodrama steeped in each respective film, and the amalgam of cues performed by London Music Works and select cues by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra flow quite seamlessly to create a satisfying narrative.<\/p>\n

The trilogy\u2019s design follows the patented blockbuster sound of orchestral, choral, and electronic music pioneered and supervised by Hans Zimmer, and while Steve Jablonsky is one of Zimmer\u2019s primary prot\u00e9g\u00e9s, there are distinct aspects which reflect Jablonsky\u2019s own knack for melody and spatially enhanced chord progressions.<\/p>\n

Not unlike his prior score for Bay\u2019s The Island<\/strong> (2005), Jablonsky likes to bridge action and dramatic peaks with sustained or slowly shifting chords. Vocal lines, banks of strings and synth chords seem to expand and blur simultaneously, and the effect on the listener is akin to a slow, sinking sensation. It\u2019s a clever concept that\u2019s consistent throughout the suites in this CD, with some counterbalancing from an ethereal female voice, as in the moody \u201cInfinite White.\u201d<\/p>\n

The heroic theme and its variations are fairly generic, and bear more than a passing familiarity to the Zimmer-supervised music for the Crysis 2<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] videogame. \u201cOptimus Vs. Megatron\u201d also bears strong similarities to Clash of the Titans<\/strong> (2009), composed by Zimmer prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Ramin Djawadi, whereas the central percussion section of \u201cDark Side of the Moon\u201d evokes Christopher Franke\u2019s counterpointing rhythmic textures in Tangerine Dream\u2019s The Park Is Mine<\/strong> (1986). (Even if it the cue wasn\u2019t inspired by Franke\u2019s percussion style, it\u2019s a solid cue in its own right, but its resemblance to \u201cSwatting \u2018S.W.A.T.\u201d is quite striking.)<\/p>\n

Separated from Bay\u2019s cinematic bombast and wraparound surround sound mixes, it is pleasing to appreciate the nuances in Jablonsky\u2019s cues, particularly the character-driven cuts, such as \u201cSentinel Prime,\u201d with its keyboard intro that builds into a robust theme rendition with agreeable orchestral emulations. There\u2019s also nice contrast between the fat lower brass drones and warm, choral-drenched chords in \u201cIt\u2019s Our Fight,\u201d with a ricocheting backbeat and mechanical rhythmic pattern.<\/p>\n

Silva\u2019s CD features the label\u2019s sleek production values, and Michael Beek\u2019s liner notes expertly tread the fine line between acknowledging the value and efficiency of Jablonsky\u2019s music while paying note to the composer\u2019s stylistic lineage to Zimmer\u2019s, and the patented Remote Control Studios<\/a> sound.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0M<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ M . Rating: Very Good Label: Silva Screen\/ Released: October 3, 2011 Tracks & Album Length: 16 \/ (58:11) . Special Notes: 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by Michael Beek. . Composer: Steve Jablonsky . . Review: Silva Screen\u2019s compilation of themes and dramatic highlights from the three (thus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[817,818],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-Xw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3690"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3693,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690\/revisions\/3693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}