{"id":6936,"date":"2013-08-29T16:42:02","date_gmt":"2013-08-29T20:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6936"},"modified":"2013-08-29T16:42:02","modified_gmt":"2013-08-29T20:42:02","slug":"cd-thundercats-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6936","title":{"rendered":"CD: Thundercats (2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>T to U<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Label: La-La Land Records<\/a>\/ Released: October 16, 2012<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: CD1: 11 tracks \/ (64:17) + CD2: 14 tracks \/ (50:20)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 12-page colour booklet with liner notes.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Kevin Kliesch<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Based on the 1985-1989 TV series, this rebooted version of Thundercats<\/strong> features an unusually epic score built up from orchestral and sampled sounds, with some beautifully detailed orchestrations. Kevin Kliesch has scored a variety of animated, TV, and videogame projects, but his experience as a top orchestrator included many high-profile productions, such as brooding actioner X-Men 3: The Last Stand<\/a><\/strong> (2006), and the dynamic Kung Fu Panda<\/strong> (2008).<\/p>\n

As the CD\u2019s liner notes detail, Kliesch was asked to emulate several key composers known for their orchestral scope \u2013 John Williams, Howard Shore, and James Horner, but one can also hear a little bit of Alan Silvestri in some spots (namely \u201cSong of the Petalars\u201d). Some of the cues do pay very close attention to the inspired sources, and while they\u2019re not outright soundalikes, the clustered trumpets in \u201cSight beyond Sight\u201d immediately recall Williams\u2019 Star Wars <\/strong>prequels; the buoyant opening and sweeping strings and trilling flutes also recall a handful of Steven Speilberg-produced kid-friendly adventures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAncient Spirits of Evil\u201d follows Horner\u2019s classic 80s brass fanfares, and his identifiable chord progressions are also up front in \u201cLegacy.\u201d The homages aren\u2019t distracting, but when whole suites of episodes are placed side-by-side, it can sound like a pastiche of Horner & Williams, with Kliesch\u2019s own material seemingly functioning as bridge material.<\/p>\n

That said, there\u2019s no denying Kliesch\u2019s firm grasp of the orchestra, and there are several cues which feature his own material, especially his action writing which is first-rate. Whether it\u2019s the extreme shifts in tempo within \u201cOld Friends\u201d or the contrasts between furious action and mystical thematic material in \u201cBetween Brothers,\u201d each cue is filled with energy and substantive orchestral details. If there\u2019s any issue with the score, it\u2019s the recurrent use of choral samples which have a generic sound after the first few iterations, but it is part of the epic sound sought by the series\u2019 producers; on an episode-per-episode basis, it\u2019s less repetitive, but the samples lack the dramatic diversity in the orchestra parts.<\/p>\n

Probably the score\u2019s strongest parts are Kliesch\u2019s brass writing \u2013 the action cues are especially punchy, and one can easily see the composer branching off to an epic live-action saga, or a hard, experimental work \u2013 and his ability to maintain continuity between dramatic sections. Thundercats<\/strong> has great continuity, and Kliesch knows how to make his material flow like a dynamic, fast-twisting rollercoaster ride.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2013 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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Select Merchants:<\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" —\u00a0BSX<\/a> —\u00a0Intrada<\/a> —\u00a0SAE<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0T to U<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ T to U . Rating: Very Good Label: La-La Land Records\/ Released: October 16, 2012 Tracks & Album Length: CD1: 11 tracks \/ (64:17) + CD2: 14 tracks \/ (50:20) . Special Notes: 12-page colour booklet with liner notes. . Composer: Kevin Kliesch . . Review: Based on the 1985-1989 […]<\/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":[2184,2185],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1NS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6936"}],"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=6936"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6956,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6936\/revisions\/6956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}