The Dark Knight Rises (Soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer - Gang-Tackle Review

All Dark Things...

Review by The Tracksounds Gang

It began in 2005.  In the darkness, we put a smile on our face in 2008.  Finally, in 2012, all dark things must come to an end as Christopher Nolan's Batman revival rises one last time. Reduced from a dynamic-duo, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, finds composer HANS ZIMMER alone in his batcave providing the finale's closing notes.  With the new threat of Bane and maneuverings of Catwoman, the stage is set for Batman's last Nolan-directed, Zimmer-inflected, hurrah and the Tracksounds gang rises up to tackle THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

Once you have finished reading each and every one of these opinions, you have our permission to ... listen.

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The Amazing Spider-Man (Soundtrack) by James Horner is Gang-Tackled

Something Amazing...I Guess.
Review by The Tracksounds Gang

10 years ago, Sam Raimi’s SPIDER-MAN sparked a Hollywood revolution - one that has lead to Earth’s mightiest heroes dominating the world’s theatres every summer. Had Tobey Maguire’s portrayal of Peter Parker failed to ignite the box-office, where would we be now? Would Nolan’s Batman have ever faced-off with The Joker? Would The Avenger’s assembly have just remained a pipe dream? Perhaps superhumanity’s cinematic assault was inevitable, but the impact of the likes of X-Men and Spider-Man cannot be understated given the current climate of Hollywood.

Was it necessary? Well, that depends on who you ask. The box-office returns would suggest that it was, and with two sequels in the pipeline, Spidey is back in swingin’ form as if he’d never left the big screen.

Spider-Man introduced a new generation to DANNY ELFMAN, and perhaps THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is Hollywood’s roundabout way of reminding the world of JAMES HORNER’s many talents. HORNER was a surprise choice to many, given his back-catalogue being almost entirely devoid of anything like Marc Webb’s superhero adventure. It wouldn’t be the first time that JAMES HORNER has been written off, only to prove the doubters wrong, but how would he fare with New York’s greatest hero?

The Tracksounds gang swing in to provide judgment in this gang-tackle review of JAMES HORNER’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

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Prometheus (Soundtrack) by Marc Streitenfeld - Gang-Tackle Review

We Were So Wrong
Review by The Tracksounds Gang

As the world had become engrossed in a new, family-friendly, fantastic, galaxy not too close to here, Ridley Scott was preparing to unleash altogether different kind of sci-fi film upon us; one that was all too close, too real, and too scary. In 1979, ALIEN made us fear the front-rows of movie theatres again and helping to make the film something beyond just a piece of horror set in space was the great air of mystery that surrounded it all. Thirty plus years later, Sir Scott returns us to that universe with a film that was to finally shed some official light on those questions - PROMETHEUS.

While Jerry Goldsmith’s score was nominated for several awards, it had, at the director’s hands, morphed (or was manipulated) quite dramatically away from the composer’s original concept. Regardless, it’s effect on audiences remains as menacing as ever and is among Goldsmith’s most beloved works. The music for the Alien franchise continued to greatly evolve with each successive sequel, from JAMES HORNER to ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL to JOHN FRIZZELL. And now, this “para-prequel” finds itself in the hands of Scott’s most recent favorite composer-collaborator, MARC STREITENFELD.

The film and score was discussed at length in episode 49 of The Soundcast, but at the time of the launch of the home video release, the Tracksounds Gang returns to tackle the original score for PROMETHEUS.

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The Avengers (Soundtrack) by Alan Silvestri - Gang-Tackle Review

The Averagers

Review by The Tracksounds Gang

It was a hulk-sized gamble that Marvel took. Producing five feature films which would eventually tie together into one massive, climatic show starring each of the heros of the five preceding films. It was unprecedented and certainly had some wondering if they, or anyone, could pull it off. Additionally, they put writer/director Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Doll House) on the finale?  Fans of Whedon certainly salivated at the idea of having their champion put in charge, but for those unfamiliar with his previous works, the final success of this great film experiment was dubious at best.

By now, most of us have seen the final results...and seen them more than once to boot. It seems that the seemingly unthinkable was pulled off as most found Joss Whedon’s blend of superhero-action, comedy, and comic-geek-considerations pleasing enough to give up some $888 million dollars worldwide. The film has been an undeniable success, but how much did the original score play in that success?

Prior the release, the question on every soundtrack-genius’ mind was just what lucky composer would be doing the original score. The speculation ran rampant for months and at last it was announced that ALAN SILVESTRI would be moving right from his work on CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, to THE AVENGERS. So did Silvestri deliver the superhero-like effort needed to help elevate THE AVENGERS into the realms of unreached musical heights? The Tracksounds team gang-tackles this question.

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Thor (Soundtrack) by Patrick Doyle - Gang Tackle Review

Doyle and Thunder!
Review by Tracksounds Gang

The translation of THOR from Asgard to the big screen may prove to be the biggest challenge that Marvel Studios will face in its ambitious AVENGERS project. Granted, getting a human hunk of flying iron, a gamma-green behemoth, and genetically altered hero of WWII all into the same contemporary world is no small feat, but we are talking about a mythological god here.

The announcement of director Kenneth Brannagh as THOR’s director was met by a good deal of surprise and countless questions. Not the least of these was whether he’d bring along his long-time collaborator, PATRICK DOYLE, back into the breach. The thought of it was just full of the most electric of potential.

In THOR, Brannagh delivers a distinct Shakespearean edge to the Nordic triangle of power: Odin, Thor, and Loki, while simultaneously providing an approachable, contemporary world of New Mexico, which has just seen its first visitor from another world (at least outside of Roswell). We're then left with the question, "Just how well does Patrick Doyle's score perform in, as well as connect, those worlds?"

The Tracksounds staff gang-tackles that question...

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Rio (Soundtrack) by John Powell - Review

Is Powell's Score the Rio Dio?
Review by Tracksounds Gang Tackle

After the overwhelming success of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, expectations on the prolific composer could hardly be any higher. Somewhat stealthily, composer JOHN POWELL slid in an early 2011 project, MARS NEEDS MOMS and the effort was met with a general coolness. Perhaps it was because the marketing budget for the film was comparatively meager and people simply didn't have much advanced notice in which to let expectations build to an unfairly feverish pitch, or perhaps it was because Powell-fans were still stinging over the Oscar let-down. Whatever the case, by April most had moved on and were well into the music and movies of the new year. Unlike MARS NEEDS MOMS, Blue Sky's RIO has seen its share of publicity and so expectations on both the film and score are notabley higher.

In RIO, POWELL puts his talents behind the story of Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), a rare blue macaw, who ends up being snatched from his colorful world of the Brazlian jungle and tumbles into the slightly less colorful world of Minnesota. Domesticated and flightless, Blu is paired with a female blue macaw (Anne Hathaway) with the goal of propagating the species.  Snatched yet again and chained together, the two end up back in Brazil, but they must survive the dangers of the streets over the dangers of the jungle...

Read our first Gang Tackle review with thoughts from the entire Tracksounds review staff!