1 |
A Giant Transformation - Henry Jackman |
2 |
When You See (Those Flying Saucers) - The Buchanan Brothers |
3 |
Tell Him - The Exciters |
4 |
A Wedding Interrupted - Henry Jackman |
5 |
Meet The Monsters - Henry Jackman |
6 |
Planet Claire - The B-52's |
7 |
Do Something Violent! - Henry Jackman |
8 |
The Grand Tour - Henry Jackman |
9 |
Oversized Tin Can - Henry Jackman |
10 |
The Battle At Golden Gate Bridge - Henry Jackman |
11 |
Didn't Mean To Crush You - Henry Jackman |
12 |
Reminiscing - Little River Band |
13 |
Imprisoned By A Strange Being - Henry Jackman |
14 |
Galaxar As A Squidling - Henry Jackman |
15 |
March Of The Buffoons - Henry Jackman |
16 |
Wooly Bully - Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs |
17 |
Susan's Call To Arms - Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs |
18 |
The GInormica Suite - Henry Jackman |
19 |
Monster Mojo - Henry Jackman |
20 |
Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley |
SOUNDTRACK REVIEW:
We spy with our little eye, that the executive music producer of this soundtrack album is a certain someone named Hans Zimmer. Yes, that same composer who gave you the bombastic music scores from the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and The Dark Knight. Which is why it is no surprise then, that first time composer Henry Jackman’s music for this animated feature bears some resemblance to the zippy fun scores that Zimmer composed for The Simpsons Movie (2007) and Kung Fu Panda (2008).
Jackman kick starts the 65 minute disc with “A Giant Transformation”, a cue which begins with grand soaring brasses, towering choral vocals and feather light strings before launching into a full blown orchestration of wacky fun. With that three minutes, we are already compelled to continue listening. There is a nice variation of moods in Jackman’s works – the softer moments in “A Wedding Interrupted” (before things get a little nasty at the end), the sneakily comedic moments in “Meet The Monsters” (before things get a little foreboding at the end) and the pressing action in “Do Something Violent!” (before things escalate to a high at the end) display his talents. Having studied classical music in the UK at St. Paul's Cathedral Choir School, Eton College and Oxford University and worked on several of Zimmer’s projects, Jackman is probably one composer to look out for if the studios allow him more opportunities.
Our favourite track on this album has to be
“The Battle at Golden Gate Bridge”, an exciting six minute cue which holds no bars, going all out to inject ferocious fun into the action music genre. Brasses, strings, woodwinds, synthesizers and percussions all come out to play, and the result is a pleasurably agreeable piece of music.
Probably a marketing strategy, this album is also littered with songs like The Buchanah Brothers’ “When You See (Those Flying Saucers)”, The B-52’s “Planet Claire” and Sheb Wooley’s “Purple People Eater”, which, well lend to the content of the movie, but interrupt our enjoyment of Jackman’s commendable debut work.
ALBUM RATING:
 
Recommended Track: : (10) The Battle at Golden Gate Bridge
Review
by John Li |
