Search - Steve Jablonsky :: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - The Score

FANTABULOUS!

J. Kent Layton | New York, USA | 06/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was one of those film score buffs who went berserk back in 2007 when Jablonsky's stunning score for the first Transformers was not released. Fortunately, that omission was quickly addressed and has not been repeated with the second film.



I was nervous before acquiring the score. The first one was so good -- how, I wondered, would Jablonsky pay homage to the original without copying it too closely, and without going too far away from those roots? I've been a huge fan of Hans Zimmer and his fellow posse of composers for many years, so my confidence was high -- but still, I knew it was a tall order.



I shouldn't have stressed. Jablonsky came through in spades. For this project, there was a new Linkin' Park song ("New Divide") created, and with the reported assistance of Zimmer, Jablonsky integrated the instrumental melody of "New Divide" into the score on Track 3 ("Nest"). There is the expected driving, pounding, energizing music in this score, and it works very, very well. But there is also much, much more depth and forethought.



Take Track 2, for example ("Einstein's Wrong"). It starts off with the rather comical sound from the first film that represented some of the more lighthearted moments (Sam at school, on the pink bike, arriving at the lake uninvited, etc.). But then it becomes something much deeper, with a chorus singing in the high ranges -- it's remarkable.



Another extremely pleasant surprise was the use of a talented female solo singer (Lisbeth Scott) in very much the same style that Zimmer used Lisa Gerrard for Gladiator, "Injection" from M:I-2, etc. The use of the solo singer begins in Track 6 of this disc ("Infinite White") and is used at various points from there in. I was also pleased to see that guitarist Heitor Perrera was brought back in to work on another Zimmer-team score. It's been too long since he graced such a score!



In short -- this is a fantastic, well thought out score. It is an easy favorite, and now I really can't wait to see the film. Kudos, Jablonsky and team!"

A great score!

Brian Bubnich | 06/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First I want to say that the first score was great! Along with the movie, I was not dissapointed. The second score makes me excited to see the movie tomorrow.

I'm not sure what movie the first reviewer was watching, but clearly it must have been some other movie than transformers. The first score was also great, along with this one. I guess some people think that they need to analyze everything, and they can't just enjoy good entertainment. Who ever said that Transformers was to be suffisticated and a true work of art. It is just a fun movie with a lot of explosions, and cool transformers! Whoever wants to enjoy a fun movie see both transformers, and enjoy the scores that go along with them!"

Brilliant!

Snow | New York | 06/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I absolutely loved the score for the first Transformers movie, and was one of the people who helped make a big enough fuss to ensure that it would be released. I was extremely skeptical that the score for TF2 could be as good as the first one.



My brother and I just finished listening to the CD, and all I can say is WOW! It was really amazing. If anything, the score for the second one is even better than the first. It's astoundingly good. It does NOT sound exactly the same as the first one, it's very different. Yes, the Transformers theme is carried over. That doesn't mean the whole score sounds exactly the same as the first one. It's also natural that the overall style that Steve Jablonsky has would be similar to Hans Zimmer's, since he is part of the Zimmer Posse. And Zimmer was actually called in on this CD too, and did a little work with Steve Jablonsky and Linkin Park.



The music on this CD is really, really fantastic. It's just incredible. There's nothing superficial or "dumb" about it. It's powerful, emotional, riveting, moving and exciting. I was just in awe. Hans Zimmer has been my favorite composer for a long time now, and this was as good as many of the scores that Hans Zimmer has come out with. I was thoroughly impressed with it. And SO glad that they decided to release the score this time, even BEFORE the movie came out! THANK YOU!!!



So yeah, the score can be summed up in one word, as far as I'm concerned, and it's the word in my subject line: BRILLIANT! Just brilliant music. I actually felt smarter after listening to it. Hahaha.



P.S., I LOVE what Brian Bubnich had to say, and I completely agree."