Jurassic Park (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Jurassic Park (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 

Music by: John Williams 

In light of the fact that i just saw Jurassic Park in 3D, and that my very best friend suggested it, I will review the soundtrack for this movie! 

Now, as you will come to know, John Williams and Steven Spielberg are like Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. You don't get one without the other (usually). That being said, Williams' sounds is very recognizable. This particular soundtrack stands out from the rest. Williams has created a sound/song that anyone can pick out. His soundtrack and theme for Jurassic Park has lasted over 20 years and that is saying A LOT. Not many soundtracks have lasted the test of time. Jurassic Park, however, is one of them and is a very brilliant piece.
The theme starts out with trumpets and brass come in followed by clarinets and flutes. solitary notes all moving in unison until the flute goes into the melody for one line. Then after winds, violins, cellos you name it! They take over and then a full orchestra comes and brings the full intensity of the piece. A big bang out of all the instruments and then soft again. That part is when Dr. Grant is looking out at the dinos in aw, VERY speechless. Then again the orchestra comes back up towards the end and then finishes with the flute and clarinets again. This is such an iconic piece theres really not much to say about it! If you haven't seen or heard anything about this movie, GO SEE IT NOW! 

How To Train Your Dragon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

How To Train Your Dragon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music by: John Powell

AH! Oh my goodness, I've missed two weeks! so bad. Let's get this show on the road with a really fun soundtrack!
John Powell has a great list of movies under his belt, from Kung Fu Panda, to P.S. I Love You. Along with being a fantastic movie, How To Train Your Dragon has a fabulous soundtrack, really giving you the feel of being a viking. This is a big movie with great character and so the music needed to equal that. We have the big orchestral pieces for when the dragons are in flight and soft when they begin to glide. A perfect example of both are "Test Drive" and "Romantic Flight." Test Drive is when Hiccup (the main character) rides his dragon for the first time and it does a great job of making you feel like you are flying as well. The trumpets and the violins coming together, cymbals and timpani's collide making for a fantastical song. This is the theme that is carried out through the rest of the movie and adds an sense of excitement every time. 
The second song "romantic flight," is when, well, Hiccup takes a date for a ride. This song brings a sense of calm and makes you feel like your gliding across the sky. It is Absolutely magical in every way and depicts the perfect emotion of flying with his little crush. This song starts off with just one violin and slowly a harp comes in behind it. Then we get the full effect when the rest of the violins and cellos come in with the chimes to add the twinkle. After the climax of the song the trumpets come in and make it grander and more full. Each instrument, I feel is a certain feature of the sky. The first violin that comes in are the wings of the dragon, then when the others come in its the riders, and the clouds. The trumpets being a bit more heavy is the town they fly over and its people.
Such a fantastic movie and a wonderful soundtrack. I would rate this as buy the movie AND the soundtrack. SO AMAZING. GO WATCH IT!

Treasure Planet (Original Animated Score)

Treasure Planet (Original Animated Score)
Music by: James Newton Howard

I felt that I needed to go back in time a little bit. Treasure Planet as a movie is SO underrated and so, naturally, the music is also. James Newton Howard has been the composer for some great films like; The Bourne Legacy, The Dark Knight, and I Am Legend. His music for Treasure Planet is just as good. Even though it is an animated film, the soundtrack carries the emotion and depth as a life action film. The movie is set some time in the future with cool gadgets and gizmos, so you would think the music would have a futuristic sound, right? Nope. Howard had a different idea for this movie. The music is almost a mesh of several types of music blended together to get that pirate-in-space feeling but also keeping it in terms of character and mood. There is a song on the soundtrack that I feel showcases all the best parts and aspects of those types of music. "Silver leaves" starts out with a sailor type of sound in music; a little tune that makes you feel you're aboard a ship. Then is slowly moves into a Celtic feel with the violins and a flute to give the melody. This melody is the theme that is played throughout the movie and is so beautifully put into this piece. After a clarinet takes over and the whole orchestra comes in building the melody to its full measure. The emotion that goes with the particular song is very clear, even if you haven't seen the movie. It makes you feel EXACTLY the way you are supposed to feel. You get a sense of calm, and resolution, like everything in the movie was leading up to this moment and this song. Soon after with a very smooth transition, the song goes to a joyous, and exciting party song. This, of course, being the end of the film you have to have your happy ending song. Howard did his job in that the ending the "Silver Leaves" leaves the audience satisfied and with no regret. It is so beautifully composed and so fitting to the movie, that there really isn't any room for disappointment and this is just the last song in the soundtrack. The rest of it is just as fulfilling and amazing. I would say my rating for this is buy ALL THE SONGS, and listen to them ALL THE TIME. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDv2CzEI1N8

Skyfall (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Skyfall  (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music by: Thomas Newman

So I know its not Sunday, but I saw Skyfall and decided to wait and do my review on that. SO Skyfall. Fun movie! More importantly, the soundtrack. Thomas Newman has done the  music for WALL-E, Wreck-It Ralph, and The Series of Unfortunate Events. All kids movies, or at least less "epic" then a James Bond, but this soundtrack was spectacular. Obviously, he was keeping to the original James Bond theme song, which is always a fun thing to hear when the movie is first starting and as the movie progresses. What was so great about this theme, was that Newman arranged it to go into other pieces to different songs. It would start out with the typical James Bond trumpets and the sound of arrival and then lead into a completely new "theme." For this being such an action packed movie, I was very surprised with how much of a musical soundtrack it had. Usually when there is a lot of shooting and fighting, and the ever so popular car chase scenes, sometimes the musical score is lost or diminished. Not, so with Skyfall. I feel that this movie had the perfect bled of music and action. During the scenes where there was tension between characters, there isn't a silence, but the music to go with the emotion of betrayal, or grief and is so brilliantly put at the right moment. I would say, after listening to the soundtrack there is a sense of consistency. Every song is linked to the next sequentially. Some soundtracks you can skip around and it will still sound ok. With Skyfall I feel every song is linked to the next and that is how it should be heard AND IS SO FANTASTIC. I would give this soundtrack the rating of; buy ALL THE SONGS. That and that fact that you will feel SO COOL listening to it while you drive. haha!

I Am Sam (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

I Am Sam (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music by: John Powell

Now, I have realized that most of my reviews have all been positive ones; this is where things get hard. Writing a review that isn't so grand. Don't get me wrong this particular movie is absolutely beautiful buuuuuuuut...the music didn't really quite fit.
John Powell is an incredible composer and has done FANTASTIC soundtracks like; How to Train Your Dragon, P.S. I Love You, and The Bourne Ultimatum. So, naturally it came as a shock to me that he did this one. This reason I feel this soundtrack wasn't a good one is for the sole fact that to me, it didn't fit well with the context of the movie. It didn't really help the movie along with emotion or feel of the movie at all. I Am Sam is a very heavy weighted movie. It deals with very serious issues and a par of life that no one could ever have imagined. The music did not combat that. Most of the soundtrack are songs recorded by The Beatles and other such bands. NOT saying at ALL that they are bad, but for the movie in the background when a more subtle melody was required, these songs just got in the way. There are a few that were instrumental and that were gorgeous pieces, but not put in enough to keep up with the rest of the movie. I wouldn't go so far as to say that is was a sucky soundtrack and that NO ONE should ever get it. I'm just saying that one could buy it and it would be as if they were listening to the album of the artist was singing and would never connect it back to the movie. In the end, I would say my rating for this would be, Eh. maybe I'll listen to it on youtube...when im bored...
I will say again that the movie itself is beautiful and will probably make you cry ;)

Pixar's Short: Paperman and Wreck-it Ralph (Original Animated Film Soundtrack)

Paperman (Original Score)
Music by: Christophe Beck

If I'm going to review the music for Wreck-it Ralph, OF COURSE I have a few words about the short before it! Paperman, as a short itself is such a great short; it's black and white with only the red of the lipstick of a pretty girl that caught the eye of a "paperman." The music is a great compliment to the short. The way it was put together making the music feel like paper did in fact have a sound is brilliant. A soft twinkle of a sound representing the paper flying through the air and bringing to the two lovers together. The music made it seem like the paper had a personality. Watching the man and the woman come together makes it all the better. The music crescendos perfectly with the anticipation of them being face-to-face once again. The music to the short embodies everything message, every theme, and every word that was meant to be perceived. I love this short, and I would recommend buying the song. ITS ONLY .99!! on iTunes at least.

Wreck-it Ralph (Original Animated Film Soundtrack)
Music by: Henry Jackman

The music for Wreck-it Ralph is just as good as the music for the short right before it. Henry Jackman as done the music for movies like; The Dark Knight, X-Men: First Class, and The Holiday. I bring up these particular movies because it shows that he can and is able to do music for an animated film with ease. The mixture of the techno sound and video game noises with a full orchestra can't be easy, but Henry pulled it off. It gave the movie that extra something to make is stand out and for one to remember the music. The music made you feel like you were really in a world for the characters in the video game life. The song "Wreck-it Ralph" and "Arcade Life" are perfect examples. They both have a video game feel with all the beeps and robotic sounds, but also had an orchestral background so it had depth to it. There are points where the music comes in and really makes you feel for the character and what is happening. Moments that can make you tear up and others that get your feet tappin. The way I see it is that the music is young enough to where you can have it playing for your kid in the car, but old enough to where a parent or an over-teenage-years person can enjoy it as well. I would rate this as buy ALL THE SONGS, because it's fun, and lighthearted and full of life! such a great soundtrack to an awesome movie!

Licoln (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Lincoln (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music by: John Williams

Now, as you all know, Lincoln has been nominated for best picture, and for best picture so I don't think that I have to go in  much detail about how great the movie is. I will, however, geek out over the music. John Williams has done the soundtrack for STAR WARS, Indiana Jones, and a few of the Harry Potter movies but I feel he did a fantastic job fitting into and "American classic" feel. The music was very much patriotic and everything you would expect in a film about the U.S. in its early years.
For the most part every film has a theme that is carried out throughout the entirety of the movie. It is introduced during the first few minutes of the film and then brought back during key moments such as; big speeches, emotional moments, troubled times and so forth. The theme for Lincoln is the first song on the soundtrack called, "The Peoples House." This song is so beautifully put into the movie. The woodwinds hold most of it for a time and then for a more reflective feel, a piano will take the melody. When I was first thinking about it, trumpets, while gorgeous instruments, always seemed to be more of a "I'm going to battle" kinda of instrument. The arrangement of notes and the key that the piece is written in changes that completely. a solitary trumpet giving a few notes followed by violins and cellos then picked up by a clarinet with the melody so perfectly gives the movie a sense of patriotism that equally matches the words being spoken. For example, there is a point in the movie where Lincoln is talking to his advisers about why he has to push for this amendment to pass. The trumpets start off soft, presenting the melody while the president is speaking. As he gets more passionate, the music rises and a full orchestra comes in adding the build up of tears to any one who is listening.
Another song that is my personal favorite is, "Equality Under the Law." Film is what you see, the music in not only what you see, but you feel and let me TELL YOU, this song made me feel. Such a sense of triumph and victory has never been put more perfectly for a movie based on the triumph and victory over slavery. So many tears were shed...on my part, anyway.
How to rate this soundtrack? I would say, I would buy ALL THE SONGS! Because it is very much worth it. I will post one of the song I mentions above so you will HAVE to listen to it ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_CRcTYPSps