Anyhoo, it's a few months old but new to me: Variety has an in-depth article about Steve Jablonsky and his career, including how he got started in film and television composing. I'll heartily recommend it not just for fellow Jablonsky fans but also for anyone budding composers who want to take a stab at working in the industry.
Big tip o' the hat to good friend Mike Casteel for the great find!
Until we have something more substantial to go on (and I tend to believe that it will be coming sooner than later) here's something ya might wanna check out: Music from the Transformers Trilogy!
Performed by London Music Works, this CD includes 16 tracks from the three movies: six tracks each for Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and four tracks from Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Some great stuff here (though I'm a bit disappointed that "Decepticons" from the first movie didn't make the cut). I don't own this yet but based on the samples on the Amazon.com page this is an amazing composition and definitely well worth investing in! I was especially impressed with the recording of "Arrival to Earth" (a track so beautiful that it has been used at weddings!). It's currently going for $14.08 at Amazon and I'm certainly ordering a copy right now :-)
And if you're feelin' lucky punk, ScoreKeeper at Ain't It Cool News is giving away five copies of this sweet album! Deadline for the contest is this coming Sunday, so click on the link and give it a try :-)
But a package arrived in the mail this week: a copy of the CD of Gears of War 3: The Soundtrack, composed by Steve Jablonsky.
Hmmmm. The score CD for the next Gears of War game. Composed by the dude who did the score for Gears of War 2, the Transformers movies and a bunch of other great stuff! Y'all think I'm not gonna review this bad boy?!
The thing is, I can listen to this abundawonderful score all I want... as I already have! But until I play the game itself, there's nothing to put this music in context with. I've done reviews of Jablonsky's Transformers scores and posted a review of Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack three years ago.
But writing a review of a Steve Jablonsky album without first experiencing the work that it's been composed for? That's a new one...
Okay so here's what I wound up doing. I set this CD a'playing and as each track ran, I composed my thoughts for it. So what you're about to see is something of a "running commentary" for the score.
I'll preface that stream of consciousness by saying this: that Gears of War 3: The Soundtrack is already one of my favorite scores for any medium! This album easily represents Steve Jablonsky's finest work to date. His Gears of War 2 score was already one of the most-played on my iPod (it's terrific listening for when you're in the chair at the dentist's office) and for Gears of War 3, the man has ratcheted up his game to intense new heights of instrumental emotion. Jablonsky's work on the previous game garnered great acclaim and some awards... but what he has turned in for Gears of War 3 will arguably set a whole new standard for the art of video game music. This is legendary accompaniment for a legendary saga.
Awright well, on with the tracks!
1. “Restless” – Some subdued strings building up to... something. Trailing off with a nice bit of piano.Gears of War 3: The Soundtrack by Steve Jablonsky is published by Sumthing Else Music Works, and will be available on September 20th from Amazon.com and other fine retailers. But if you just can't wait, you'll be pleased to know that it's already available via Apple's iTunes Store! So you can buy it now and buy it next week too (hey, I wound up getting it from iTunes as well as the nice shiny physical media currently and legally in my grubby lil' paws).2. “Gears Keep Turning” – This must be the “main” theme music of the game. The now-familiar Gears of War titles that Jablonsky so beautifully elaborated upon in Gears of War 2, given a drastically industrial tone. LOVE THIS TRACK!!
3. “Meanwhile Below Deck” – Lot of rising tension. About what, I haven’t a clue. Brief but wicked.
4. “Stalk City” – Having read all of Karen Traviss’ Gears of War novels (including Coalition’s End released last month) I’ve a pretty darned good idea what’s going on here. The Lambent are coming, people... and now we have proper music for it!
5. “High Seas Tension” – A bit sneaky and espionage-ish. Why am I thinking of Chairman Prescott when I listen to this?
6. “Infected Large and Hungry” – Hard, harsh, fast and riveting! Whatever this is music for, it sounds honkin’ big and pure angry. No doubt something that needs to be killed in the worst way...
7. “Marcus’ Rock” – More industrial with lots of heavy drums. Well, it’s a track named for a heavy guy, ain’t it?
8. “Calm before Chaos” – A quieter piece with underlying menace.
9. “Bridge Too Far Indeed” – Probably a track for an extended action sequence in the game with heaps of frantic. At 3:42 this is the longest track of the CD so far.
10. “Those Aren’t Stranded” – A piece with an urban edge to it. Can’t help but wonder if this might be used with Ice T’s character somehow...
11. “Forever Omen” – One word has come to best describe the Gears of War saga in my mind as this story has progressed over the past five years: “desperation”. This track, more than anything else on the CD thus far, evokes that sense of dread and increasing hopelessness. A beautiful and provocative piece.
12. “Hanover’s Favorite Son” – Didn’t Augustus Cole play thrashball for Hanover? Seem to recall that from the books. So I’m thinking this track has to do with Cole. Starts off surprisingly quiet then uplifts to a very patriotic-sounding crescendo. Another beautiful piece!
13. “Fence House Suicide Pills” – Something terrible is happening alongside this track, and I could write that even if it had been named “Happy Little Squirrels Dancing”.
14. “Ghost Town” – This brings to mind the journey to Mount Kadar and into Nexus from Gears of War 2. Maybe the fight through the ruins of Landown as well.
15. “A Fine Mess” – Most likely something for another crucial battle scene.
16. “Loss of a Leader” – Some mournful segments throughout this piece. But as for which leader (and who or what he/she/it is a leader of) I can’t clearly tell, though there is a COG-ish suggestion to it.
17. “Deadland Dance” – At 5 minutes and 17 seconds this is the longest track of the Gears of War 3 score. Somewhat bifurcated around the 2:20 mark, make of that what you will. The second part is fraught with increasing tension. Love how Jablonsky has worked the Gears of War main theme into this (as he is doing with much of the score already).
18. “Creeping Dread” – This has me thinking of the very first time that I played the original Gears of War, that first level where Dom breaks Marcus out of the Slab.
19. “Hammer Meets Anvil” – The title of this track alone has me giddy! The Hammer of Dawn being used at Anvil Gate perhaps? Hey, I’m stoked simply about the fact that Anvil Gate is reportedly a location in the game! A hard, brooding and threatening piece ending with what could be a countdown chanted by the Locust Horde’s Kantu priests.
20. “Corpser Ambush” – Another action-ish track. I’m guessing it has the player shooting at a Corpser. Maybe even more than one...
21. “Last Resort” – I have no idea what this is supposed to be music for. It’s beautiful, but... it could be set to anything.
22. “Full Circle” – Opens as if it’s written for a dramatic cutscene then quickly jumps to fast-paced action, before resolving into an even deeper and darkly brooding piece and ending with soft piano interlude. Something massively important is taking place here... I can feel it.
23. “Jumped Species Barrier” – That doesn’t sound good. If you’ve read the last two Gears of War novels, then you know that doesn’t sound good at all. This track echoes that.
24. “Ashes Fall Down” – The second-longest track of the CD (4:02). A wrathful piece of sound and fury.
25. “Fathoms Below” – If this is supposed to be “fathoms below” the surface of the ocean, there’s an awful lot of combat taking place down there. Or it could be fathoms below down in the Locust tunnels.
26. “Gasbag Airways” – Does this mean we’re gonna ride a torture barge again? Track continues the fast action pace of the previous few.
27. “Paradise Found” – There is a slightly alien sound to this track. Or at least exotic. And then it ramps up fast and crazy toward... what?!?
28. “Father and Son” – Another track whose title alone makes me eager with anticipation. Listening to it, I honestly can’t help but envision Marcus Fenix and his father Adam Fenix having their reunion. Gears of War has become a multi-generational epic on the same level as Star Wars and Harry Potter (not to mention The Godfather saga). This piece resonates that quality.
29. “Fury of the Tempest” – Stormy and apocalyptic. Full of rage.
30. “Live for Me” – A track of tragedy. Reminds me too much of “With Sympathy” from the Gears of War 2 score and if you played that game, you know what scene it was set to. Are we gonna cry just as when we get to this part of Gears of War 3? But no time to be tearful ‘cuz then it finishes on an action-suggestive tone.
31. “Finally a Tomorrow” - WOW!! The chorals alone set this track apart from darn nearly anything else we’ve heard from a Gears of War game. Could it be? Dare we hope that… there really will be a happy ending to this story after all?! Jablonsky is evoking an optimism that we just haven’t heard at ALL in this series. This is the flip side of the coin from the sinking of Jacinto at the end of Gears of War 2. And it sounds stunning!
However it is that you buy it, Gears of War 3: The Soundtrack gets this blogger's highest recommendation! Go get it. Or perish in flame. It's your choice. But, not really.
So without further ado, here is Mr. Jablonsky...
Hi ChrisIn the past 24 hours a wazoo-load of folks have written in, wondering if there was going to be a CD at all, based on a number of indicators. But there it is from the man himself: Transformers: Dark Of The Moon: The Score WILL be coming out on nice and shiny physical media... and in comparatively the same amount of time that we had to wait for Transformers: The Score. Which in retrospect wasn't too awfully long a wait. It's just that too many of us wanted Steve Jablonsky's beautiful work to get the respect that it deserved... as it indeed it is getting this time, without a doubt :-)Nice to hear from you. As you probably know the score is now up on iTunes. The physical CD situation has been more complicated. I finished the album weeks ago, but we didn't actually finalize it until a few days ago. Michael Bay is really happy with the score and he wanted to check out the album before it went out. As you might imagine, he's a busy dude. He's been flying all over the world promoting TF3, making it difficult to get approval. But I was happy that he wanted to be a part of the soundtrack and I did not want to release anything before he had his say. The record company tells me they need 4-6 weeks to get the album produced and into stores, which would put us into August at this point. A lot of discussion went into this, but the decision was made to wait on the physical CD, and release some kind of special edition alongside the blu-ray release (maybe autographed copies or other goodies, we don't know yet).
I know people are probably disappointed. Believe me I wish I could get physical CD's out there tomorrow. But it's just the way things went this time around. I can see why Paramount would rather not release a score CD almost 2 months after the movie release. To them it makes more sense to do something special around the blu-ray/DVD. I understand that.
So anyone interested in a CD should rest assured that it WILL happen. It just won't happen until later in the year unfortunately.
These big movies are so complex sometimes!! I hope you've been well!
Steve
In the meantime however, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon: The Score is already available on iTunes! I purchased it last night and have been listening to it like crazy all day!! This whole album is amazing and there are some positively powerful tracks on here. "Sentinel Prime" is particularly haunting (but that's all I'm gonna say, for sake of those who haven't seen the movie yet but who no doubt wil be doing so soon ;-)
So there y'all have it: the score CD is gonna be rolling out soon! Thank you Steve, for passing along the word :-)
Seibertron.com is reporting tonight that Transformers: Dark Of The Moon: The Score is now available on iTunes!
All of you know what I will be doing for the next few hours :-) And now you know where to find it too. So go buy Steve Jablonsky's epic score now!!! Or, perish in flame.
It's your choice. But, not really.
It's still listed as "Currently unavailable". But we've got the album cover art.
That has to be mean something good, right?
(Incidentally, at this moment I've got iTunes playing "Decepticons" from Transformers: The Score. With this one track composer Steve Jablonsky did something that had never adequately been done before in the whole history of the Transformers franchise: conveyed the utterly alien nature of the Transformers. I love this music!!)
Awright, so we've got the third movie coming out next week. And a lot of you have been writing me about the score that Steve Jablonsky has composed for his third outing with the Transformers saga. Maybe the inquiries are coming here because of, ummmmmmm... how totally crazy I went for Transformers: The Score four years ago. Longtime readers remember how this lil' blog sorta wound up being where many people coalesced their desire to see that score released. We eventually got it and four years later, I've heard from bunches of people how it gets consistently played on their iPods or whatever (including my own :-). And thankfully we didn't have to go through that in order to get Jablonsky's score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (a score which was no less epic than the one for the first film).
But what about the score for Transformers: Dark of the Moon?
Hmmmm...
I'm inclined to believe that it's gonna be coming out and sooner than later (likely much sooner) 'cuz Film Music Reporter has snagged the complete track listing! It's there if you wanna read all the track titles, but be warned: there might be (read as: "definitely are") some spoiler-ish details about the movie that can be gleaned from them.
Oh yeah, that's not the official album cover art either. Just a placeholder that I'm seeing on a few sites. No doubt the real score album cover is gonna look much better :-)
Anyhoo, there y'all have it. Don't fret: Steve Jablonsky's Transformers: Dark of the Moon score is heading our way. We aren't going to have to fight for it this time either! And there's a good chance that a week from now we'll all get to have it in our grubby lil' paws.
Good times! :-)
Two years ago, an online petition drive spun out of this very blog and may or may not have convinced The Powers That Be to release a CD of Steve Jablonsky's amazing score for the motion picture Transformers.
In 2009, Warner Bros./Reprise did release a CD of Jablonsky's score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. And everything was cool this time, right?
Well...
A LOT of folks have written in here over the past few weeks about how much of Jablonsky's score for the new movie is missing from the current CD release. And we know for certain that there were plans to publish the full score (or a much bigger chunk of it than we have now anyway) but now, those plans have been officially dashed. It's currently not set to happen.
But now, a warrior has arisen "to light our darkest hour"!
Mike Casteel, a fellow fan of Transformers and Steve Jablonsky, has started a NEW online petition dedicated to getting a full score CD of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It just went live tonight... but we all know how fast the last one drew support, aye? Let's hope and pray that Mike's will get even more! And I'm heartily asking EVERYONE who signed the one from two years ago to please sign this new one.
Have faith, friends. I believe that there will be a release of this CD, if there is substantial enough support and we nicely convey that. And from what I've seen on this end, the support is definitely there! So be a good fan of Transformers and Steve Jablonsky and everyone else at Remote Control who worked on this score, and sign the petition today!
Good friend of this blog Kartik Kaul has passed along the word that Steve Jablonsky's score soundtrack CD for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will go on sale June 23rd! Also on the same day will be a "Music From..." CD for the movie. Which is all well and good but uhhh... as most people know it's the orchestral score that we are mostly interested in on this blog :-P
Here's the link to the score CD's page on Amazon.com where you can pre-order it. Which I've already done for mine :-)
Our friend Greg at Music4Games.net passed along the terrific news that Gears of War 2 has won "Best Sound in a Video Game Production" at the Third Annual ELAN Awards. ELAN is the Canadian Awards for the Electronic and the Animated Arts.At the ceremony, hosted by SpongeBob Squarepants' Bob Kenny, Gears of War 2 was honored for its audio engineering, which included a full-length score composed by Steve Jablonsky (who has also composed Transformers and its upcoming sequel, Desperate Housewives and many other films, games and television projects).
Congrats to audio director Mike Larson, composer Steve Jablonsky, sound designers Jamey Scott and Joey Kuras, and everyone at Epic Games on your win!
And for a complete list of winners at this year's ELAN Awards, mash down here.
And if Hans Zimmer rings a bell, it's prolly 'cuz he has worked on the scores for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, and a ton of other good movies.
Just from a musical perspective, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is sounding pretty epic. Can't wait to see - and hear - it come June.
A little over two weeks ago we started a contest on this blog. The spoils? Three copies of the Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack CD... personally signed to the winners by composer Steve Jablonsky (the creative force behind the musical scores for Transformers, Desperate Housewives and a wazoo-load of other movies and television shows and other stuff). But in order to be eligible to win one of 'em, entrants were asked to send in a picture of themselves doing their best impersonation of any character from established Gears of War canon. Not a "costume contest" so much as that this was about conveying character and heart.So we were giving away three Steve Jablonsky-signed copies of Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack... and this was an easy contest to judge 'cuz three is exactly the amount of entries that came in! So the following three individuals will soon be getting their grubby lil' paws on one of the CDs. Thanks to everyone who entered and thanks to Steve Jablonsky! :-)
The first winner is Mike Casteel from Burlington, Kentucky. Mike sent in this photo of himself posing as Chairman Prescott, the leader of the Coalition of Ordered Governments. Looking at this great pic, you can practically hear "Armored Prayer" playing in the background...
The next winner is Adam Solomon from Bay Shore, New York. He sent in this pic of himself as Marcus Fenix. Or as I like to call it: "Marcus getting out of the shower in the morning after a night of killing Grubs"...
And finally, there is Jay Ballance from Cranbrook, British Columbia. And Jay did not play it safe. He made what some might consider to be a very risky move by portraying a Gears of War character that we don't have a single image of at all! What did Jay do? In his own words...
"Carlos (Dom's older brother, from the book. From the chapter where him and Marcus are guarding the emulsion pipeline, in freezing temperatures.....lol)"Yup, Jay went with Carlos Santiago from the novel Gears of War: Aspho Fields, complete with cold-weather garments (and check out that awesome cardboard Lancer!)...
Congrats to Mike, Adam and Jay! And we appreciate the effort and cleverness that you went to in this contest :-)
Just a friendly reminder that there are now five days remaining to enter the contest to win one of three copies of Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack, signed by composer Steve Jablonsky (who has also composed the scores for Transformers, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and ABC's Desperate Housewives in addition to a ton of other good stuff).By the way, these copies will be personally signed by Steve Jablonsky to the winners! So if you're name is "Barney Spepple" and you win one of 'em, your copy will be signed something like "To Barney..." etc.
How do you enter again? Well, here are the rules once more...
1. E-mail your entry to theknightshift@gmail.com with GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK CONTEST in the subject line. GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK CONTEST has to be in the subject line.Remember: this is not a costume contest! Don't let your lack of real Coalition of Ordered Governments armor deter you from entering! If you have a face (let's hope you do :-) and you think you can channel and project the spirit of Marcus, Dom, Anya, or any other Gears of War character with it, then get your entry sent in today!2. Include the following information in your entry:
- First and last name
- Mailing address
- Phone number
- The name of the Gears of War character you are impersonating
3. And then, attach a photo of yourself doing your best impersonation of a Gears of War character. It can be anyone from established Gears of War canon (the games, the comic book, the novel Gears of War: Aspho Fields but you'll have to be especially imaginative, anything that's been authorized by Epic Games as being legit part of the Gears of War mythology). Keep in mind that this is not a costume contest! If you're the kind of person who likes to parade around Comic-Con and Dragon-Con wearing a full set of COG Gear armor, you're more than welcome to pose wearing that. But this is all about character. This is a contest focusing on raw persona. In short: do you "get" what Gears of War is all about? Can you make that come across with nothing more than your own countenance? If so, pick a Gears of War character and show us what you got! Doesn't matter if you're male or female: plop on a do-rag and show us your best Marcus Fenix mug. Or give us Dom or Anya or Baird or Cole or Dizzy or Tai (ooh-boy I'm eager to see if anyone attempts Tai) or heck, even a Locust grub or the Locust Queen herself! Extra points will be given toward creativity and originality, but as I said this is about channeling character more than it is about costume ingenuity. Also, please try to keep your image size to 1 megabyte or less.
4. No age limit but this contest will enforce a "one entry per person" limit. So like shootin' a gun in a Gears of War game, make it count!
5. You'll have between now and until 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on December 18th, 2008 to e-mail in your entry, so that gives you a bit more than two weeks to come up with something.
6. Judging for the contest will be conducted by a three-member panel that has already been pre-selected. Their decisions are final.
7. By entering you are giving consent to have your photo published on The Knight Shift blog (the one you're looking at right now). So make sure your photos are "family-friendly", folks :-)
8. In addition to the three final winners, this blog reserves the right to also publish "honorable mentions" if there are any.
9. Insofar as real life will cooperate, the winners will be announced sometime on December 19th 2008 and the signed CDs will be rushed to each of the winners as soon as possible.
There's been resounding agreement across the board that Gears of War 2 is the must-play video game of 2008. The sequel to Epic Games' 2006 smash hit original is impressing people all over the place with its groundbreaking combo of technical achievement, poignant storytelling, and the hope and heroism and humor that's come to be expected from the Gears of War franchise.And just as the game is being hailed as a mighty accomplishment, so too is the amazing orchestral score by Steve Jablonsky getting raves for being a profound work of art in and of itself! I've talked to several people who've bought Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack since it came out last week and without fail, each of 'em have told me that they have felt seriously moved by Jablonsky's music. And if you're a longtime reader of this blog then y'all know how I went a bit nuts for Transformers: The Score. Well like I wrote in my review last week, his work on Gears of War 2 might be even better (and that's sayin' something). My own iPod has been playing it like crazy, especially "Hope Runs Deep": a great track for driving on I-40 between Greensboro and Burlington to :-)
Soooooo last week I had a crazy idea, and I asked the man himself and he's happy to oblige...
And now The Knight Shift blog is pleased to announce that we are going to give away THREE COPIES of the Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack CD... signed by composer Steve Jablonsky!
So, you want one? Groovy! But like everything else with Gears of War, you’re gonna have to earn this. But don't worry: you won't have to chainsaw your way to goryglory this time.
Here's what you must do to offer yourself for consideration toward winning a copy (in legalese, these are the "Official Contest Rules")...
1. E-mail your entry to theknightshift@gmail.com with GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK CONTEST in the subject line. GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK has to be in the subject line.Also, please bear in mind that this isn't a contest run by Epic Games or Sumthing Else Music Works or Microsoft or any other corporate entity. Neither am I personally profiting from it as the guy who runs the blog. This is just something that we thought would be way fun to do, for everyone who chooses to get involved.2. Include the following information in your entry:
- First and last name
- Mailing address
- Phone number
- The name of the Gears of War character you are impersonating
3. And then, attach a photo of yourself doing your best impersonation of a Gears of War character. It can be anyone from established Gears of War canon (the games, the comic book, the novel Gears of War: Aspho Fields but you'll have to be especially imaginative, anything that's been authorized by Epic Games as being legit part of the Gears of War mythology). Keep in mind that this is not a costume contest! If you're the kind of person who likes to parade around Comic-Con and Dragon-Con wearing a full set of COG Gear armor, you're more than welcome to pose wearing that. But this is all about character. This is a contest focusing on raw persona. In short: do you "get" what Gears of War is all about? Can you make that come across with nothing more than your own countenance? If so, pick a Gears of War character and show us what you got! Doesn't matter if you're male or female: plop on a do-rag and show us your best Marcus Fenix mug. Or give us Dom or Anya or Baird or Cole or Dizzy or Tai (ooh-boy I'm eager to see if anyone attempts Tai) or heck, even a Locust grub or the Locust Queen herself! Extra points will be given toward creativity and originality, but as I said this is about channeling character more than it is about costume ingenuity. Also, please try to keep your image size to 1 megabyte or less.
4. No age limit but this contest will enforce a "one entry per person" limit. So like shootin' a gun in a Gears of War game, make it count!
5. You'll have between now and until 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on December 18th, 2008 to e-mail in your entry, so that gives you a bit more than two weeks to come up with something.
6. Judging for the contest will be conducted by a three-member panel that has already been pre-selected. Their decisions are final.
7. By entering you are giving consent to have your photo published on The Knight Shift blog (the one you're looking at right now). So make sure your photos are "family-friendly", folks :-)
8. In addition to the three final winners, this blog reserves the right to also publish "honorable mentions" if there are any.
9. Insofar as real life will cooperate, the winners will be announced sometime on December 19th 2008 and the signed CDs will be rushed to each of the winners as soon as possible.
Okay well, what are ya waiting for?! Get to work on your entry! :-)
(And thanks Steve!)
Today marks the release of Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack, featuring the score that Steve Jablonsky composed for Epic's already mega-selling game. Last week I won the single-player campaign and a few days later an advance copy of the CD arrived in the mail. I've been listening to it non-stop ever since! It's also now a proud addition to my iPod, and I had it blaring out of my car's stereo on the way to and back from rehearsal for Oliver Twist last night.Okay, so for a proper review...
Many of y'all know how this very blog ended up the focal point for the drive and petition to see a release of Jablonsky's score for the movie Transformers and I was honored to be able to write up the first review anywhere of that soundtrack. So pretty much everyone knows that I'm a huge fan of Steve Jablonsky and his work.
Well folks, I gotta tell ya: as much as I loved his Transformers music, Jablonsky's score for Gears of War 2 might be even better!
Why is that? I thought the music for Transformers brilliantly evoked the sense of majesty and raw power of the Autobots and Decepticons. "Arrival to Earth" is still one of the most-played tracks on my iPod, and I continue to be haunted by the utter alien-ness that Jablonsky brought to his track "Decepticons". Many times I have said that Jablonsky's music was one of the bigger reasons why Transformers the live-action movie finally brought the whole concept to the level of maturity that it deserved to be at and could at last be appreciated for by the widest-possible audience.
Okay well, that's doing music for big robots. It's something else altogether to compose for the human condition. Especially one that covers such a spectrum of emotion as the Gears of War mythos. But here again, Jablonsky has triumphed immensely.
Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack begins with "Return of the Omen", the music from the opening screen. The next track is my favorite: "Hope Runs Deep", the piece that plays over the end credits. Track 6, "Armored Prayer", is the composition from the part when Chairman Prescott is making his speech to the assembled army while we watch Marcus, Dom and the rest of the Gears heading off to rendezvous with the derricks. Most of the soundtrack is "situational" music lasting less than two minutes, which is to be expected from a score for a video game... but Jablonsky's "heavy metal mayhem" style means that they are still tracks that you should be careful playing while driving your car, 'cuz the beat will more often than not entice you to drive a little faster :-)
And then there is "With Sympathy". If you've played the game then you probably know which part of the story this piece is from. I've played it three times now. And that's as much as I can really bear to listen to it so far, it has so darn nearly brought me to tears. Of all the tracks of music from Gears of War 2, "With Sympathy" is the one that brings the whole thing from the level of mere "video game" and takes it into territory that only movies like The Empire Strikes Back have enjoyed. Jablonsky poured his heart and soul into "With Sympathy", making it a grief-stricken aria of despair and brutal necessity. It is an overwhelmingly heart-rending work. For this one track alone, Jablonsky deserves a wazoo-load of awards.
The other track that I think is going to be a favorite is "Finale", the music from the last scene of the game as Marcus and Delta Squad are beholding their handiwork, as we listen to the Locust Queen talking about unintended legacies... which is no doubt a hint of what is to come in a future installment.
Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack should be at your friendly local electronics and entertainment store, or you can purchase it from Amazon and it's on iTunes as well. This one's destined to be a classic, folks. Highly recommended not just for fans of Gears of War, but for all fans of Steve Jablonsky and every earnest soundtrack collector.
And if you want to know more about Steve Jablonsky and his work on Gears of War 2, check out this in-depth interview conducted by Music 4 Games.
Music composer extraordinaire Steve Jablonsky (who among many credits also does the music for Desperate Housewives and did the score for last year's hit movie Transformers, which longtime readers will remember this very blog going more than a little crazy about) gets interviewed by Music 4 Games about his work on Gears of War 2, due out next week.Here's some of what Jablonsky has to say about working with Epic, Cliff Bleszinski and music director Mike Larson (who also gets interviewed) on the second chapter of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad's war against the Locust Horde...
For Gears 2, the guys at Epic wanted every aspect of the game to be bigger, darker, and crunchier than the original game. And I guess they had heard some of these qualities in my film scores. I love writing for orchestra and choir, but I also love experimenting with electronics and different types of percussion. I basically use anything I can get my hands on when composing a large scale score like Gears. Epic gave me a blank canvas, which was really great. I experimented with a lot of hybrid organic/electronic elements, and combined them with the power of a large orchestra and choir. The one thing that we discussed keeping from Gears 1 was the Locust riff. It's a short aggressive rhythmic phrase that works really well in the original game, and they asked for my take on it. The rest of the material and themes are all new. Mike and Cliff made it clear that Gears 2 is bigger, meaner and even more insane than the original game. So I knew I had a big task ahead of me, and the music had to match the intensity of the game.Click on the above linke for plenty more. And Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack is due for release on November 25th.
Thanks to Greg from Music 4 Games for the heads-up!
Wanna know why?
'Cuz its soundtrack was scored by Steve Jablonsky! Yup, the same good dude who scored Transformers.
That makes Dragon Wars darn nearly mandatory viewing, so far as this blogger is concerned :-)
Seriously though, it's an awesome soundtrack! Jablonsky sent me a signed copy last year along with the ones for Transformers: The Score and I've listened to it a lot off my iPod while driving. And the movie is pretty good in spite of its production values: I think it's kinda like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Reign of Fire.
Anyhoo, check it out if ya can!
While I was gone for over a week (and I'm working on getting a report, some photos and video of the trip up soon) a number of people wrote in asking if I knew anything about whether or not Steve Jablonsky (left) would be returning to score the sequel to last summer's smash-hit movie Transformers (right now the next chapter is being called Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but I'm still wondering if Michael Bay might have another title up his sleeve). Anyone who's read this blog over the past year will recall how it became a focal point for the drive to have Jablonsky's amazing music for Transformers released on CD. Happily it was, but it's now no longer being published and unless you pay literally hundreds of dollars for it on eBay the only way you can get it is via iTunes or Amazon's digital download. Hopefully we'll see it released again in time for the sequel.Anyhoo, I did some checking and it turns out that this past week at E3 it was announced that Steve Jablonsky WILL come back to score the next Transformers movie!
But... that's not all! According to the same report at Music 4 Games, Jablonsky is also composing the soundtrack for Gears of War 2, due out this fall.
This is awesome news! Y'all wouldn't believe how much I listened to the Transformers score on my iPod during the drive out there and back. And I'm a huge fan of Gears of War. The sequel is supposed to be a much deeper and more emotional story. Throw in the heavy-metal mayhem that the first game was known for, and Steve Jablonsky becomes the perfect choice to tap for the soundtrack. Can't wait to play - and listen - to it!
So, wanna know what the money went toward?
The original plan was to assist the funding of a special concert for the elementary students because at the time we didn't know if we would be able to have it this year. Fortunately that was taken care of. But we were still able to put the proceeds to some good music use.
This is what's called an Orff Xylophone. Its specially made for use with the Orff Approach to music education. Most of the funds from the auction went to purchase this for Monroeton Elementary School in Reidsville.
In the end, just as we'd stated, 100% of the proceeds from the auction got a lot of nice materials for music education here in Rockingham County. I just wanted to make a note of it here, for disclosure's sake (because lately I seem to be doing nothing but disclosure of finances since I'm treasurer of a political campaign and I might as well be on a roll :-)
If you've been reading this blog for awhile, then you're no doubt familiar with the hijinks (among numerous others) that happened this past year regarding the movie Transformers and it's amazing orchestral score by composer Steve Jablonsky. After seeing the movie I went looking for the score's CD in stores. It wasn't available. I made sure to write about it on this blog that I was looking forward to a release of Jablonsky's Transformers score. Lots of people were looking for it too and began coming to this blog, seeking any information for it. Almost on a lark, I set up an online petition requesting that the Powers That Be release the score. And it got slammed! Some drama ensued and I tried to chronicle it here. In the end, Warner Bros. Records published Transformers: The Score on October 9th, 2007. It sold very well on Amazon and became highly sought-after in stores. And for a time, everyone was happy...
Okay well...
It now looks like the victory was short-lived, because Transformers: The Score is no longer being published. At least in hard-copy CD. It's still available as a music download via Amazon and iTunes. But that's not good enough and the demand is still enormous for the Transformers score CD.
How enormous? Right now I'm looking on eBay: there are currently 20 bids for a copy of Transformers: The Score and it's now up to $83. During the past few months I've seen other copies of the CD that have likewise sold at astronomical prices.
So now, once again, there is... another online petition for the release of Transformers: The Score!
I've gladly signed this one, but otherwise I'm not involved in this petition. But I do wish them all the best, because this is a movie soundtrack that stands as tall as any other, and it deserves to have some more enduring space on the music rack in stores or wherever. Months later, and I'm still listening to Transformers: The Score quite a lot! And who knows: maybe Warner Bros. Records is still working on that 2-disc set that we've heard rumored about. If so, I can accept that. But if that's not in the works, then they should seriously consider re-issuing the original Transformers: The Score.
So... ya wanna sign? Because you know that you should. It's your choice, but not really.
the Transformers: The Score
re-issue petition.
Thanks to Benechia for the heads-up!
"Transform and roll out..." them CDs! :-)
