Guardians of the Galaxy

Tyler Bates

 
" Tyler Bates is apparently one of the guardians of the musical Marvel galaxy! "

Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the deluxe edition

Behold! The Guardians of the Galaxy! One of Marvel's better kept secrets. Because for some, they just don't ring a bell as Spider-Man or The Hulk. But somehow these 5 different individuals are keeping the box office pretty busy, surprising young and old with a delicious mix of action, humor and heartfelt emotion. And I should know because I enjoyed every second of it. Reason enough to give Tyler Bates' score another chance. Because even if my first initial reaction wasn't that bad, I somehow "enjoyed" the effort on film more than expected. Because let's be honest, we have a heroic theme and a couple of lovely emotional goosebump moments that have their effect in the film. Add that to the incredible fun film experience and you can expect why this champion is beating the competition silly at the box office.

Though the album's mostly in film order, some cues make a weird appearance at the begin of the listing. Through that we do come in contact with the heroic theme rather quickly. In the film it was briefly spotted over the marvel logo, here it's first duly noted in "The Final Battle Begins". It's not the greatest theme, but it works and it gives the necessary punch to the galaxy and its guardians. It returns in a touching piano manner in "To the Stars", during better and less finer moments in the action packed "The Kyln Escape" and "The Great Companion" while "Guardians United" occasionally overkills it. "Black Tears" overkills it too, but in a good way I guess. The theme after some heavy minutes of power-play does make an impression.

In that aspect, the second track already confirms it. At times Bates' action music is just too damn busy. Too much. And even though this is not an issue during the film, it at times is during its listen. For instance "What a Bunch of A-Holes" starts to irritate more on disc than in the film, same for moments of "The Pod Chase" (all the while it has some riveting action music at times) and "The Big Blast". Another fact is that Ronan's theme (the evil protagonist) isn't that really memorable, not in the vein great villain themes would ought to be like. Though it adds some spunk to cues such as "The Great Companion" and "Black Tears" And there are bits and pieces that really don't do anything yet fill the void ("The New Meat", "The Destroyer", "Sanctuary").

Perhaps the biggest surprise comes when Bates tackles the more emotional moments of the film. And perhaps it helps due to the emotional level of the scene as well, but somehow I felt heartfelt emotion. And the music promises that on CD too. There's a magical quality in "The Collector" yes, but there's more emotional power in "Sacrifice". Furthermore there's a minute of fantastic old school heroism in "The Ballad of the Nova Corps." that does sell the theme immensely in the film, followed by the emotional roller coaster cue "Groot Cocoon". I mean it are these lovely cues that give us an extra dimension, one that separates it from the Captain America 2's of this world. Not the greatest I know, but it are moments like these that define an album's experience. And watch out for the Serenity playful emotion in "A Nova Upgrade" when we realize 4 is just a temporary number.

So, does this make Guardians of the Galaxy worth it? Hmn, tough one. I mean I like the exact same portions after I saw the film as I did before it. But now, those moments do mean something more to me. And despite the loud texture of the action music, I occasionally adore the ideas behind it. And in some way we should thank the lucky stars for at least giving us a heroic theme of some allure. Yes, because it are things like these that any Marvel film should have. And that pretty much makes or brakes an experience. The second part of the score holds more riches trust me. And there's a pretty good chance if you really like the film, you'll appreciate the score in context a bit more. All in all, I feared it would be much worse.

Favorite Moment - The Ballad of the Nova Corps. (0.21 - 1.28)
Hello, old fashioned excitement

Track Listing

1. Morag (1.58)
2. The Final Battle Begins (4.21)
3. Plasma Ball (1.18)
4. Quill's Big Retreat (1.37)
5. To the Stars (2.51)
6. Ronan's Theme (2.23)
7. Everyone's an Idiot (1.26)
8. What a Bunch of A-Holes (2.14)
9. Busted (1.34)
10. The New Meat (0.35)
11. The Destroyer (1.36)
12. Sanctuary (2.26)
13. The Kyln Escape (7.22)
14. Don't Mess With my Walkman (0.44)
15. The Great Companion (0.51)
16. The Road to Knowhere (0.37)
17. The Collector (3.20)
18. Ronan's Arrival (0.56)
19. The Pod Chase (3.55)
20. Sacrifice (3.20)
21. We All Got Dead People (1.45)
22. The Ballad of the Nova Corps. (1.48) Excellent track
23. Groot Spores (1.11)
24. Guardians United (2.46)
25. The Big Blast (3.20)
26. Groot Cocoon (2.28)
27. Black Tears (2.42)
28. Citizens Unite (1.15)
29. A Nova Upgrade (2.10)

Total Length: 64.50
(click to rate this score)  
 
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(total of 25 votes - average 3.5/5)

Released by

Hollywood Records D002014802 (deluxe edition 2014)

Conducted by

Tim Williams

Orchestrations by

Neal Desby, Drew Krassowski, Lewis Meyer, Edward Trybek & Tim Williams