Two of the tracks, The X-Jet and Final Showdown made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, honest to god.

Kamen has long been my favourite composer but his output over the last few years has been disappointing but with this score, he will be back. BIG TIME. It's back to his muscular old style sound, with a few modern electronics in places that I haven't heard from him before... and I like it.

I'm already giving this score 10 out of 10 -- I can't wait until it comes out, which supposedly is on the 11th July...

Check it out for yourselves:
http://www.soundtrackmag.com/

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Too bad Elfman didn't score it. While I'm certainly no Kamen-hater, it would appear as though he has composed yet another dud (though Amazon always chooses the worst portions of tracks for their samples). "Mutant School" sounds like it should be in an animated Disney movie.

Guess I'll know for sure when I see the movie, and the only reason I'm doing so is to see the film self-implode from it's overblownness on the big screen.

. . . that, and to see Famke Janseen in that leather outfit.
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Ever since Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Kamen's music has left me unimpressed, and this score sounds like it will continue the trend.

A shame, too, because I was really hoping that whenever the X-Men movie finally got made it would be really good, but it just looks like a total disaster.

I still crack up everything I think about the person in the theater who, when the trailer for the film was over, shouted out, "Get me some Advil!!"

NP: Sounds Exciting - "Narrow Margin: Choppers and Rails" *****/***** (Perhaps Broughton should have scored X-Men? This CD has some of the best, hard-charging action music I've ever heard!)

sorry. it was so funny

Personally, Kamen's score for Iron Giant was a much smarter score than anything written last summer. Perhaps people wrote it off because they've been SO NUMBED by the boring, thoughtless, factory-generated sound-a-like scores from the last 5-10 years?

Not to say everything written in the last 5-10 years was bad, but there are quite a few clones out there. Disagree?

PeterK

Bryan Singer is an excellent director, and I think his approach suits X-Men incredibly well. It's different than I thought it should be, but hey - it's his film, and Singer has never disappointed me before. Kamen has never disappointed me, and from the clips (video and sound) that I've been exposed to, well... I just don't think I'll be disappointed. In all actuality, I can't wait.

Saying that so-and-so and this-and-that are going to make the film a total disaster isn't fair. In fact, you are obviously unhappy with that conclusion - and to second guess a film before you've seen it in it's entirety sounds like the perfect formula for misery. I tend to take a positive approach on everything. Why? Because I enjoy being happy. I guess that's why I enjoy so many things... I'm rarely disappointed.

Just something to think about.

Jeron

NP - The Fugitive (JNH) *****/*****

My biggest problem is with the casting. Other than Patrick Stewart and Famke Janseen, everyone else looks out of place. I mean Ian McKellen as Magneto? A fine actor, but come on! He looks about as intimidating in that costume as a priest on Sunday. Sean Connery would've been the perfect choice for the role. (Though after the debacle of The Avengers, I doubt he would do it).

It just looks like a movie that is gonna try to be too much and fail in the process.

Really, The Iron Giant score was a brilliant piece of work. Listening to the whole score and following the developing motifs is like listening to an involving fable.

"Look here, it's a Hans Zimmer rip-off theme. Yum. You'll like this. Open up wide. Yumm. Now have some more. And some more. And some more."

"The only gripes that anyone can legitimately make, in my opinion, is that Michael Kamen’s score is white noise. Meaning Kamen has yet again completely FAILED the film he was brought on to. Last time out was with THE IRON GIANT, who’s only flaw for me was the score... which wasn’t awful... it just isn’t great. Again here... Kamen turns in a non-offensively bland gathering of instruments playing a seemingly tone deaf hum in the background. And with a great score.... Had they had John Ottman or Jerry Goldsmith or Basil Poledouris or James Horner or SHIRLEY WALKER or Danny Elfman or John Williams... well... my really really really liking the movie, would have turned into absolute love."

SOURCE: http://aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=6386

quote:

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Originally posted by Al:
[B]His music can be a breath of fresh air after listening to the same old run-of-the-mill (run-of-the-mediaventures?) scores where a big theme with simple orchestration is spoon-fed to you over and over.

"Look here, it's a Hans Zimmer rip-off theme. Yum. You'll like this. Open up wide. Yumm. Now have some more. And some more. And some more."[B]

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You have to keep mind that many people like the sound of Media Venture action scores.
What is a Hans Zimmer rip-off theme?

NP- Apt Pupil (John Ottman)

You also have to consider that many people have no musical taste whatsoever, and it seems that a Hans Zimmer rip-off theme is anything composed at Mediaventures by anyone except Hans Zimmer. This isn't true for someone like Marc Mancina though, who left and developed his own voice.

And another thing, I think all of the Media Venture guys have there own distinctive sound and ideas for themes....Even Trevor Rabin even though he's a MV wanna-be he still has his own sound.
And by that I mean when I hear thier music, I can almost always ID the composer right away.

NP: Goldsmith's "Patton"

quote:

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Originally posted by Observer:
Doesn't look to good for Kamen so far, Harry Knowles rails on Kamen in his advance review:

"The only gripes that anyone can legitimately make, in my opinion, is that Michael Kamen’s score is white noise. Meaning Kamen has yet again completely FAILED the film he was brought on to. Last time out was with THE IRON GIANT, who’s only flaw for me was the score... which wasn’t awful... it just isn’t great. Again here... Kamen turns in a non-offensively bland gathering of instruments playing a seemingly tone deaf hum in the background. And with a great score.... Had they had John Ottman or Jerry Goldsmith or Basil Poledouris or James Horner or SHIRLEY WALKER or Danny Elfman or John Williams... well... my really really really liking the movie, would have turned into absolute love."

SOURCE: http://aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=6386

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Yeah, there's someone who's opinions you can really trust. Oh boy....Anything Harry says I usually take as the exact opposite. I actually found the Iron Giant to be one of the more refreshing scores from last year. Based on some of the crappy animated movies Disney and others have been releasing, this one was overlooked and not really appreciated by many.

OH MAN!

Sorry, gotta hear the whole score first!

Gimme my two cents back!