Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
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Free Music Notes for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Free Music Review: If adventure music has a name, it must be Indiana Jones...
Hit: 4 Stars
John Williams rarely strikes out, and he has definitely not in this latest composition from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The Indiana Jones theme is what everyone remembers. I would rank it as one of the best motion picture themes. The rest of the soundtrack is very good. There is nostalgia woven throughout this soundtrack. Marion's theme is back and is found in several of the tracks, whether it be a a few seconds or not. Some of the Last Crusade music makes a return as well, at very appropriate times in the movie. I think it's an indication of how well the composition is by how well you are moved by the music and this made me recall all of the fond memories of Indiana Jones moments. There are some rather different themes at play but very much in tune with the theme of the film.
Until the other 3 soundtracks get re-released, this is your best chance to have the Indy theme.
Free Music Review: Thank God John Williams is back.
Hit: 4 Stars
He's my favorite composer, and I'm glad his first score after his hiatus is an Indy score. I was hoping he would have used more of the jungle-themed ideas he employed in The Lost World, but the few times he does are great anyway. My only gripe is the sound quality--it's too sharp and "digital." It's kinda hard to listen to sometimes. And the "Crystal" theme is a little lackluster. I like Mutt's Robin Hood-like theme, though it takes getting used to. Overall, a great score, definitely better than most of the crap that came out this summer.Free Music Review: Indie Jones still delivers the sounds
Hit: 4 Stars
The soundtrack to Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull is again written in the old hollywood action adventure sound, and we again thank you for it. Indiana Jones' music hurries you thru from one threat to the next but takes the time to let it all sink in with the music taking you from one cressendo to the next. Without it, Indie would just be another 5 letter word. See the movie, but make sure you buy the soundtrack!Free Music Review: A fun musical romp, but more of the same
Hit: 3 Stars
I've always been a fan of John Williams, but my devotion to his compositional prowess began to wax and wane around 1993. By 1998, his scores seemed to fall into an extremely safe production pattern, and nothing he's written in the last 8 or 9 years has been as memorable as some of the stuff he wrote in the 1970s and 1980s. I'd say that his last truly inspired score accompanied the Stephen Spielberg-directed box office bomb 'Hook', and that was released on CD all the way back in 1991.
I went into 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' with moderate expectations. While I was extremely satisfied with the over-all experience of seeing my first 'Indiana Jones' film in the cinema, the score itself is another matter entirely. On first listen it feels like the umpteenth rehash of stuff we've heard from Williams in the last 20 years. There's a very 'Hook' vibe to the album, which is a trend I've noticed with a lot of his more recent scores. He doesn't repeat any of the motifs from 'Hook', but a lot of these new motifs feel as though they'd be right at home in the film.
Now I'm not saying that the score is bad. It's actually a really pleasant listen, and there are a few tracks that stand out ('Call of the Crystal' is an interesting, eerie motif for the title artifact, although it's nowhere nearly as powerful as the 'Ark Theme', which ironically enough appears in all its glory on this score). The action cues are quite fun, and in the context of the film they work really well, but despite the fact that this is all new music, that familiar vibe to the motifs creates an atmosphere that feels a little less than fresh. It takes a couple of listens to really appreciate the quality of the album, which isn't a problem that some of his earlier work suffered from ('Temple of Doom', for example).
If you're a die-hard Williams fan, you'll probably enjoy this score no matter how familiar it seems, but if you're a casual fan who owns most of his well-known compositions, you won't be skipping anything integral if you give this one a miss.
Hook: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Free Music Review: I was hoping for a lot more...
Hit: 3 Stars
It was great to hear John Williams in action again with another Indy score, but to be honest, I was reluctant to give into this new CD. To me, the Indy series wrapped up nicely, and cleanly, back in 1989 with 'The Last Crudade.' A fine send-off to both the Indiana Jones character, and to Williams' rich thematic material. But nope, Lucas is off to milk the Indy cow again, even though Harrison Ford is really, really growing implausably old to be playing the adventure hero.
Anyhow, Williams - I consider John Williams to be the greatest composer ever. Granted, the prime of his scoring was around the late 1970's - mid 1980's, but I've inconsistently enjoyed a great number of his scores since then (I think the general rule is, the less serious the tone of the film, the more enjoyable the score that Williams writes.)
But this Crystal Skull score just does not work for me. We've got the main title, which sounds note per note identical to 'Raiders' (not even a slight variation from Raiders? Was this another cut-n-paste job, like the opening credits of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith?)
Then we get into the main score, which, to be honest, just isn't all that engaging this time. So much of it just sounds reminiscent of Sith, as if we're listening to more of Obi-Wan chasing after, er, whatever that big, skull-looking CGI-robot thing was called. Nothing here really made me take pause and think, 'Wow! Williams is back in action again!'
Instead, this CD sounded very much like a Williams-inspired FAN, writing music ala Williams: close sounding, but not quite right.
The one highlight to me, sadly brief, was the first minute of the 'Finale' with a very gorgeous retelling of the Marion theme. Over far to fast, then it's just another recap of the material.
Sigh.