Every now and then comes along a massively popular summer action flick that garners huge amounts of attention, even huger amounts of hype, and millions of dollars at the box office. Pirates of the Caribbean 4 became the eighth movie to have broken a billion dollars, proving that even during a failing economy, entertainment is what really enamors people. Pirates of the Caribbean 4 also attracted many with its (admittedly) awful soundtrack, though many apparently thought otherwise. Various torrent websites show the seeders for the score numbering in the 500s, and sales on Amazon are high, to say the least. This phenomenon isn't uncommon; the original Transformers in 2007 was a great example of this. The soundtrack, while admittedly enjoyable, wasn't really anything truly special. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is yet another such phenomenon, as it is still raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in the box office while having Steve Jablonsky - Zimmer academy acolyte extraordinaire - compose the music yet again. Very simply put, nearly every Zimmer action cliche is apparent again. After hearing Crimson Tide reworked in so many ways, having it here again is simply tiresome. However nice the s-tyle may have worked before, it now grows frustrating. However apt the feel was before, it now grows overused. However epic the themes were before, they now grow monotonous.
It must be admitted that Jablonsky composed some music that very accurately mimicked Zimmer, but if you search for something truly intelligent or orchestral or even marginally original to stand up to the waves of movies soundtracks being produced, you will be disappointed. If, however, you simply loved both Transformers scores for their sheer enjoyability and want to hear that same amount of melodramatic synth-layered brass themes projected to massive heights once again, Transformers: Dark of the Moon may very well be one of the best scores of today.
Dark Side of the Moon: ***
Sentinel Prime: ****
Lost Signal: **/****
In Time You'll See: ***
Impress Me: *
We Were Gods Once: **
Battle: ****
There is No Plan: ****
We All Work For the Decepticons: ***
The Fight Will Be Your Own: *****
Shockwave's Revenge: **
No Prisoners, Only Trophies: ****
The World Needs You Now: ***
It's Our Fight: ****
I'm Just the Messenger: ***
I Promise: ****
Our Final Hope: *****
Dark Side of the Moon, the first track, hits you with pretty much everything the score has to offer. The frustratingly synth-layered soundscape. The repetitive use of cello and string ostinatos. The so-called "epic" brass themes. The atmospheric, deep, reverberating synth notes. The electronic percussion. If this sounds like just about every Jablonsky score you've ever heard, or every Ramin Djawadi score, or several Hans Zimmer scores, then you'd be right - the score does exactly zero things original. Dark Side of the Moon reprises several aspects of previous scores; you hear the first ringing beats of Soccent Attack in later moments, and the cello ostinatos from The Dark Knight show up in the opening, with oddly Tron Legacy-like synthetic beats. One can also discern a little Bumblebee Captured and even some of the music in the climactic battle of the 2007 Transformers. So, all you can call it is clever remixing and repackaging of intellectually unimpressive action music, and though some of the themes were once enjoyable, they've grown old. Why not try recording without synth, and simply go for an epic score performed by a 90-piece orchestra or something? Klaus Badelt proved that orchestra trumps synth in sheer beauty and brilliance through his outstanding work for The Promise, and David Arnold demonstrated that science fiction music goes brilliantly with orchestra. His work in Independence Day may go down in history as one of the greatest sci-fi scores of all time.
Sentinel Prime is an improvement, due to less emphasis on synth and more on themes. It opens with a piano playing the main theme, presenting the theme in a much simpler form that in Dark Side of the Moon, allowing you to actually appreciate it. In fact, listening to Sentinel Prime first and then listening to Dark Side of the Moon actually improves the latter track due to the listener being able to identify the theme. While the synth beats are obviously still there, they're more manageable due to their being toned down. The instrumentation here is also fairly consistent, though the theme is later transferred from the piano to the strings. It's interesting to note that this piece shares its instrumentation almost completely with All Spark from the first score, down to the light percussive beats weaving in and out of the strings. However, it is emotionally less involving and less obviously enthusiastic than its 2007 counterpart. What keeps Sentinel Prime from reaching a 5 star rating is the lack of originality to it.
Lost Signal is highly unenjoyable. It's practically an advertisement for Yamaha synthesizers: check out the soundscape we can produce!
The track's lone interesting aspect is the use of a cello beat underneath everything else. And it works; it sounds fairly nice. But for some absurd reason, Jablonsky decided to include the sound effects of doors closing and metal rubbing against metal inside the piece. They are especially apparent at 3: 05. In several instances, the cello beats very closely resemble Tron Legacy's synth beats in The Game Has Changed. At 3:14, the track actually becomes wonderfully listenable, featuring some great string work that is abruptly cut off at around 3:42 to be replaced by disappointing synth beats again.
The more you progress through the score, the more it disappoints. In Time You'll See features such blatantly dumb use of synth it's annoying; the constant buzzing synth underneath is frustrating. And the same old percussion is also annoying. The fact is that the tracks simply overuse the synth under the impression that it fits massive robots killing each other incredibly well. At some points, the choir is intriguing, but generally, the music here is so melodramatic it's just frustrating. Overall, however, it must be admitted that the piece is actually fairly listenable.
Keeping in tradition with typical Transformers scores, a comedy track is featured. The first score had Sam at the Lake, the second one had Einstein's Wrong's first half, and Dark of the Moon has Impress Me, another completely unenjoyable track filled with a frustrating bounciness and stupidly, synth. Thankfully it uses more instrumental stuff, but all in all, it still sucks.
We Were Gods Once shows that Jablonsky simply can't get enough of Zimmer's trademark sounds; he uses Inception's now iconic "super-low, ominous brass chords." The Fallen's theme from the second score is reprised here, though thankfully without the disturbingly high-pitched synthetic choir. Instead, it's on the strings, though the piece is is so fraught with typical Zimmer mannerisms it grows maddening. The piece is far from godly, as the title may suggest. Instead, its repetitive structure and overstay at four and a half minutes slam it down to a two-star rating at best.
Battle is one of the best tracks in the score, but as much as I may want to look past this piece's errors and grant it a 5 star rating, it really can only merit a four star rating. It takes to the Chevaliers DeSangreal pattern of music first established by Zimmer; how it works is you have the primary theme of the track established very early on, that repeats and repeats with each successive repeat louder and more powerful than the previous until it reaches breaking point, at which point it quietens down significantly and (sometimes) abruptly. However, this requires a number of things: first, a good sounding theme. When the theme itself isn't that attractive, hearing it repeated for 4 minutes is boring no matter how many extra instruments you add to it. Also, it helps if the track isn't played with massively obvious synth that can actually get in the way of the music. Battle's theme is actually fairly unimpressive; it's the instrumentation that backs it up, with fantastic sounding choir and brass carrying it along later. Were it not for the superb instrumentation, the overly simple theme would simply have fallen flat. Also, the track utilizes so much synth in its early stages it's infuriating, and while it eases up through the track, it still is a detracting issue. You can feel Jablonsky's enthusiasm in this track; he really wants to create a brilliant piece here, and he very nearly succeeds. There is no doubt that it is a piece that is easy to enjoy; intelligent it is not.
Arrival to Earth makes an appearance in this score; its theme is immediately apparent in There Is No Plan. It is significantly weaker than its appearance in the first Transformers score, that it definitely strikes the nostalgia chords at just the right spots. The largest issue is undoubtedly the weak instrumentation, translating the wonderful theme to the electric guitar, and while it works well, it is nowhere near the majesty of the original, obviously the highlight of the first score. The second half is occupied by the Bumblebee Captured theme, another highlight of the first score. As a result, There Is No Plan immediately snags itself a 4 star rating for managing to instill nostalgia while still managing to sound capable on its own. A highlight of the third score for sure, in spite of its imperfections.
We All Work for the Decepticons returns to the usual stylistic choices of Jablonsky in his action beats. The Inception horn bursts, the string ostinatos (ripped straight from The Dark Knight) and the synthetic riffs all make their appearances here. It's practically the embodiment of Steve Jablonsky's typical s-tyle, and as a result I can't give it too high a score thought it must be admitted it is a fairly decent piece, considering the score as a whole.
The Fight Will Be Your Own resurrects the somber feel of Bumblebee Captured and The All Spark of the first score. It thus feels more impressive than the rest of the pieces, and though the synth beats itself through monotonously, the synth solo choir sounds fantastic throughout the piece, lifting it above its sordid standards. The string theme also isn't half bad either, at last meriting a 5 star rating for the score. The final moments, where the track calms down from its Chevaliers DeSangreal buildup, again features the strings transitioning seamlessly to the choir. It's surprisingly well-done, and reminds slightly of the Fallen's themes in the second score.
Shockwave's Revenge reminds of several pieces: First, Here Come the Marteetee of the terrible score for Your Highness reminds hugely of the piece, completely with the deep synth riffs carrying the primary theme, together with the same beats and instrumentation. It also uses Inception's deep brass bursts. The rhythm is so similar to Here Come the Marteetee it's ridiculous, complete with the rising solo horn bursts littered throughout the piece. It's cliched and dumb, though likely to be enjoyed by various Jablonsky fans.
No Prisoners, Only Trophies returns to the listenable content of Sentinel Prime, with more emphasis on the piano. A simple synthetic reverb effect provides the background of the track, and strings enter around half-way through. The simplicity is the strength for this track, and the fact that the string theme itself isn't half bad either helps this track to 4 star status. The rather stereotypical Chevaliers DeSangreal feel again dominates this piece, and this piece very nearly manages to be a 5 star piece, but just misses the mark due to a lack of a truly memorable theme, as opposed to the wondrous theme that was Arrival to Earth. It still manages to cement itself status as a highlight of the score, however.
The consistency is instantly shattered by an ear-pounding burst of synthetic percussion for The World Needs You Now, a frustrating piece filled with dumb synthetic effects and repetition. Were it not for the great themes carry this track forward, it would instantly gain a 1 star rating. However, its reprisals of Soccent Attack and Arrival to Earth save it and help lift it to a 3 star rating. The reprisals are smart and utilize good instrumentation, meaning Jablonsky isn't completely devoid of intelligence.
It's Our Fight carries on the feel of The World Needs You Now, utilizing synthetic effects and percussive blasts to an alarming level. At around 1:15, an interesting theme with choir and strings kicks in, emphasized by the ridiculous sounding synthetic percussion. Later, as the brass joins in, one must wonder how good this piece could have been had it been recorded traditionally, as opposed to flat out synthetic instrumentation. The way it is now, it's frustrating. The main theme for Revenge of the Fallen, Prime, plays around 2:28 or so, showcasing the wonderful themes Jablonsky was able to come up with for the previous two scores. Later, some of the instrumentation in Soccent Attack arrives. Shockwave's Revenge gets a reprise here as well, along with Sentinel Prime. The smart meshing of the various themes in this track is what is particularly intriguing; the instrumentation and synth are nearly unlistenable, but the brilliant integration of the various themes for the entire trilogy as a whole make this track a great suite of themes that could appropriately be titled "Transformers Trilogy Suite." While it may not include some of the best themes of the trilogy (Arrival to Earth, The All Spark, Infinite White), it still is a surprisingly adept mixture of highlights for the scores. Were it not for the sordid instrumentation, this track would immediately snag itself a 5 star rating. As it is however, a four star is the most it can merit.
The track quickly transitions into I'm Just the Messenger, but later quickly loses the synthetic feel to It's Our Fight. It is a slower and more depressing piece, though it lacks what is necessary to make a piece truly great: emotion. You can scarcely feel any of it as the synth pounds off mechanically. The theme from Battle is reprised here as well, around 2:45 or so, in virtually the same way it first appeared, making it lack any significant development. This is disappointing. From there, the track transitions into more synthetic choir (good) but then ends abruptly, only to have a new theme pick it up again (bad). The Sentinel Prime theme is reprised in the final 20 seconds, a good ending to a rather unimpressive track. The ending is well-done, however, a decent cliffhanger.
I Promise opens in an awful manner, though the theme that follows - essentially a variation of Sentinel Prime - isn't bad at all. The synthetic choir that can scarcely be heard also appears here and there in good forms, and is surprisingly enjoyable. It manages a 4 star rating, and recognition as a highlight. It cannot possibly deserve a 5 star rating; its length and opening see to that. Were the opening different, and the track longer, the piece would automatically receive a 5 star rating. Disappointing to be sure, but at least it shows Jablonsky has potential.
The final track is arguably the most enjoyable of the entire score; Our Final Hope uses less obvious synthetic elements, and utilizes the "choir" and strings to a fantastic degree here, and the outstanding theme played through the usual Chevaliers DeSangreal pattern here merit it a 5 star rating. The score ends on a fantastic track; it's quite a nice piece, and one that deserves more attention. The final note is slightly ominous, though it provides the closure necessary for the trilogy. Considering this piece is the final piece for the entire trilogy, it is unworthy; however, as a closing to this score, it works. Well.
The Good:
- Good references to previous scores
- Use of synthetic choir is occasionally fascinating
- Great mimicry of Zimmer's s-tyle
- Simply enjoyable at times
- The Fight Will Be Your Own
- Our Final Hope
The Bad:
- Overuse of synth
- Overuse of synth
- Overuse of synth
- Highly unintelligent
- Highly inconsistent
- Boring instrumentation
- Plagiarism
- Impress Me
- We Were Gods Once
In the end, Jablonsky's work for this score is unimpressive. The overuse of synth is infuriating, and the lack of intelligence in his thematic patterns (Chevaliers DeSangreal almost all the way through) is also just as frustrating. The inconsistency in the score - i.e. how one track can feel so absurdly different from the next - destroys the listening experience. How can such a wonderfully pretty piece as The Fight Will Be Your Own immediately be followed by aggression as in Shockwave's Revenge? The mind boggles. Did someone actually think this album presentation would work at all?
Of course, the score isn't all bad. It's actually pretty enjoyable at times, with some works that might c-lassify as guilty pleasures. Also, the synthetic choir is also pretty darn intriguing and suits the score well. However, the best aspect to the score is how easily Jablonsky is able to tie in his previous works and reference them in intelligent ways. It's fantastic to see how easily he is able to twist his previous works and do them in great ways here, particularly in tracks like It's Our Fight and There Is No Plan. This shows that he isn't bad at all at writing music, merely that he is incapable of choosing effective instrumentation. If he were to utilize David Arnold's incredible instrumentation of Independence Day and apply it to his music, his music would be absolutely fantastic… as a Zimmer work. Jablonsky has yet to establish his own identity in his music, and this severely detriments his work. Once he finds his own personal identity in his work, and chooses better instrumentation, who knows where he might go?
IF GRADED ON PURE ENJOYABILITY: 7/10
OVERALL: 5/10