Soundcast Interview: Brian Tyler (Thor: The Dark World)

Interview: Brian Tyler (Thor: The Dark World)

Composer Brian Tyler returns for his fifth appearance on The Soundcast to talk about his new, out-of-this-world original score for the THOR: THE DARK WORLD. He also talks about his pastoral score for STANDING UP, his magical connection to NOW YOU SEE ME, going small-er with ASSASSINS CREED IV: BLACK FLAG, keeping his TV-game going with SLEEPY HOLLOW (Fox) and how he went from wanting to score CAPTAIN ATOM to IRON MAN 3.

Episode Highlights

00:33 - Introduction
03:20 - "Standing Up" and "Inside" with D.J. Caruso
07:16 - "Now You See Me" and Tyler's magical connection
11:30 - "Iron Man 3" - What happened to Captain Atom?
15:18 - "Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag" - More Sherlock than Pirates.
19:11 - "Sleepy Hollow" - If it ain't baroque, don't fix it.
21:45 - "Thor: The Dark World" - Taking over the Marvel world
37:07 - What do you know about Captain America: The Winter Soldier?

Music Selections

00:00 - "Escaping the Realm" (Thor: The Dark World) by Brian Tyler
03:45 - "Standing Up Main Theme" (Standing Up) by Brian Tyler
07:18 - "Now You See Me" (Now You See Me) by Brian Tyler
12:48 - "Another Lesson from the Mandarin" (Iron Man 3) by Brian Tyler
13:49 - "Can You Dig It?" (Iron Man 3) by Brian Tyler
15:55 - "Main Theme" (Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag) by Brian Tyler
22:28 - "Sons of Odin" (Thor) by Patrick Doyle
25:18 - "Journey to Asgard" (Thor: The Dark World) by Brian Tyler
29:04 - "Main Theme" (Thor: The Dark World) by Brian Tyler
33:02 - "Marvel Studio Fanfare" (Thor: The Dark World) by Brian Tyler
38:25 - "Main Theme" (Thor: The Dark World) by Brian Tyler

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Buy Thor: The Dark World by Brian Tyler
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Other notes:

Brian Tyler on Facebook

*Special thanks to Dan Barry at Chasen & Company for helping to make the interview happen.


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Thor: The Dark World (Soundtrack) by Brian Tyler - Review

Thunderous

Review by Edmund Meinerts

Another day, another Marvel film…With no end to the superhero craze in sight, THOR: THE DARK WORLD sees the hammer-swinging thunder-god’s home, Asgard, under threat from the Dark Elf Malekith, wielding a strange and evil force known as the Aether, and things become so desperate that Thor has to turn to his imprisoned brother (and eternal fan-favorite, who once again gets to smirk behind bars) Loki for help. The first film was directed by Kenneth Branagh and brought with it a strong but divisive PATRICK DOYLE score that has been hailed by some as a successful update of the composer’s style into the modern Hollywood blockbuster arena, and derided by others as a dumbing-down and repression of said style. With Branagh replaced by Alan Taylor for this sequel, the odds of DOYLE returning were slim; initially, CARTER BURWELL (of all people) was announced as his replacement, but he was ultimately replaced with the far safer choice of BRIAN TYLER, fresh off of his own Marvel excursion with IRON MAN 3...

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Audio Evidence: 5 Composers (You Haven't Thought Of) That Could Score Thor: The Dark World

Audio Evidence: 5 Composers (You Haven't Thought Of) That Could Score Thor: The Dark World
by Christopher Coleman (@ccoleman)

With the untimely departure of composer Carter Burwell from THOR: THE DARK WORLD, the film music world has been left to speculate on who will be taking over the scoring-reigns.  While I've made it quite public that I think either ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL or HOWARD SHORE would be so-good-it-hurts-choices, neither are very likely...but not impossible.  Of course the most obvious choice would be to bring back PATRICK DOYLE.  This would bring some much needed musical continuity to the Marvel film universe, but, while delivering an adequate score for THOR, this choice doesn't seem to excite too many people for some reason.  So, let's see if we can present a few names that might excite some of you...

There are a great number of veteran Hollywood composers who could handle scoring duties for The Dark World, but let's, as we are prone to do around here, take a look at some names that you probably haven't thought about for this project.

Shall we begin?

Oscar Araujo 

One of 2010's most forceful video game scores came from Oscar Araujo.  CASTLEVANIA: LORD OF SHADOWS exploded onto the scene with it's brilliant brass and choir and with enough percussion to make the Thunder-god dance.  (Hint: you'll likely find these same ingredients in all of our five selections.)    In the second video, CASTLEVANIA LORD OF SHADOWS 2, you'll hear (and see actually) a style that is quite reminiscent of Patrick Doyle's score for the original Thor film.  Araujo leaves little doubt that he could bring in the full Asgardian funk the Thor sequel.

James Hannigan

Well known for his scores for the video-game-tie-ins for the HARRY POTTER franchise, James Hannigan, has oft-times outclassed the feature-film-counterpart-scores.  As evidenced here in "The Grave,"  we hear him make use of John William's thematic work initially, but soon takes things in his own dark and foreboding direction.   Perhaps a bit more than Oscar Araujo's work above, Hannigian's score here has a bit more of an air of royalty about it ...which, of course, suits extra-terrestrial heroes just fine.

Need more evidence?  This night suite of eight themes from Hannigan cement the fact that his talents could easily embrace Thor's diverse world of science and magice.  Besides more Harry Potter-ness, you'll hear his "Soviet March" from RED ALERT 3,  Somehow a Russian-flavored theme or two wouldn't see totally out of place in that world and his heroic "To Save The World."

Abel Korzeniowski

Fans have been pining for ABEL KORZENIOWSKI's score for BATTLE FOR TERRA for years.  While an official release seems unlikely any time soon, he has since gone on to dazzle us with his scores for ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW, W.E. and A SINGLE MAN.  While none of these might evoke thoughts of the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard...where the booming heavens roar, one listen to this piece from Terra and you'll see that Korzeniowski could easily bring his distinctive beauty to Thor's world and balance it with enough musical gravitas to satisfy even the most jaded Frost-giant.  It's only a matter of time before Korzeniowski breaks into the A-list of  the Hollywood composing ranks.  There's no reason why it couldn't be via Thor: The Dark World.

Arnau Bataller

Few composers out there can rival Elliot Goldenthal when it comes to sheer musical force; however,  Cue Award winner, ARNAU BATALLER is one of those few.  It will only take you a few seconds into the opening track from LA HERENCIA VALDEMAR to hear the evidence.  Brass and choir don't rise up much higher than this!   If Thor couldn't manage it on his own, Bataller's music could certainly be the musical-hammer upside his enemy's unsuspecting head!

Still not convinced?  Try this track from LA HERENCIA VALDEMAR 2: LA SOMBRA PROHIBIDA.

Bataller clearly shows he can balance his intensity with the melodically beautiful here.  With the love-trianglish tinge to the recent Thor trailers, the mastery of both styles of music evidenced in this single track would seem a very good fit.

Neal Acree

Ah.  Neal Acree.  He's been thrilling gamers with his immaculate and sublime creations for the World of Warcraft cutscenes for years.  Here in "Arthas, My Son" we get all the ingredients that a film like THOR: THE DARK WORLD deserves.  The innocent soprano vocal, the chanting choir, exploding percussions, war-crying-brass, and dissonant strings would easily flow through the streams, hills and corridors of Asgard. In the second track, "Westfall" from WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CATACLYSM we get the balancing, reflective, even tragic tone, that our next Thor experience is likely to contain.  Neal Acree has already seen and scored it all in universe of World of Warcraft.  Thor's world would be a cinch.

So there you have it.  Five samplings from five different composers that could do a fine job of crafting the musical personality of the next Thor film.  Just as Carter Burwell was not a name the immediately came to mind when considering who might score The Dark World, so these names above might also be overlooked.  But as you can plainly hear, they are names that should be considered.  Yes.  Most of these gentlemen are from the world of video games, but it is a comic-book film we are talking about here.  If there is any more natural cross-over point for a composer, I can't think of what that might be.

We'll see and hear what comes of Thor: The Dark World soon enough.  For now, let us know what you think of these selections or what other composers you feel could do Asgard justice in the comments below.