Godzilla - King Of The Monsters (Bear McCreary) 2019 iTunes Album

[gkgyver 1,645]

Let me start off by saying I've been counting the hours until the day this album got released. The Godzilla movie franchise is so full of really brilliant music, and I have the privilege of knowing all of it, and I assume so does Bear McCreary, since the few bits of score that were already out there focused on the Ifukube Godzilla March. So, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, let's see ...

 

This is one of these scores that I, and I assume plenty of others, can enjoy because of the personal affection and emotions for the source material, that the score tries to evoke, rather because of its own merits. There are usually three types of scores for movies that are made in a franchise series:

The first type tries to slavishly stay in tone, thematically and tonally (i.e. Jurassic Park series)

The second type abandons all themes and semblances to previous entries, and tries to recreate the same emotions differently (i.e. Dark Knight series, Spider-Man series).

The third type keeps existing themes and tries to embed them into a new sonic environment - such as King Of The Monsters.

 

And that's a very good thing because, putting it bluntly, without those classic Ifukube themes, McCreary's effort would fall way short behind Desplat's Godzilla 2014.

For those who know even cinematic trash like Son Of Godzilla, you are probably aware that the scores to those films play a major part in making them more appealing than they by all means should be. And that's because they have an essential thing: heart.

I feel no heart in King Of The Monsters whatsoever.

 

There is no shortage whatsoever of brass blasts, choir, churning rhythms, and a dose of classic themes. But none of it means a thing. I can't help but come back to the modern difference between a composer and a film composer. How is it that composers of merit can take one small aspect of a movie, and make it mean so much that it becomes an identity (i.e. Night On the Yorktown, Rose's theme, Hedwig's theme), but modern film composers can have 60 years and 30 movies worth of film music history at their disposal, just for one film, and then turn it into insignificance, or at most a cool moment?

 

And that's because this score is plagued by modern film music sores, the most significant one being that there is this draining compulsion to always keep the music moving, be it with string chopping, with drum smashing, or synth bomping. Fucking why? There are never these moments where the music just lingers in the moment, relishes in itself, and explores an idea further, except when you hear the melodic part of Ghidorah's theme for example.

Every time you start to hear a theme or a melody form for a few seconds, it's SNAP back to more chopping and droning. 

And it goes like that FOREVER, and after 30 minutes you just want to scream "Give me something to sink my teeth into!" A small setpiece, a militaristic march, anything!

 

Speaking of themes, this score does itself no favors by choosing to make the guttural droning chant of Ghidorah's theme its central focus. I realize that Akira Ifukube himself wrote tribal chanting into his Godzilla music on occasion, but it didn't take up major parts of his score. 

At first, for example in "Outpost 32" or "Rise of Ghidorah", it does really get you, and if I listened to that alone in the dark for the first time, I'd probably shit my pants. The chanting has its peak in "The Hollow Earth", where it ventures almost into Moria territory.

But it gets old. Quick. Very quick. Also because there is no melody to it, it's just one note/chord chanted.

There is no other main theme to the score that I can hear, except that four note motif in "Welcome To Monarch", but that's a whisper of a motif, not a theme.

There may be 17 or something monsters in the film, but you'd never know from this score. Godzilla has his theme, both the A and the B part, Ghidorah has his theme, Mothra's theme is there for dissapointingly brief moments, and that's it.

A track like "Mass Awakening" is just hugely dissapointing.

The inclusions of these themes I don't find organic at all, sadly, so with that, and the plague of modern film scoring techniques, lots of this score is just really sterile.

The Godzilla March Arrangement in "Main Titles" is orgasm inducing I want to say, but there really isn't much else in this score that elicits feelings of deep satisfaction. The Godzilla March finds a few uses, especially in "Rebirth" and "Battle Of Boston", but you really want to yell "Fuck, just let it fly, dude, stop mickey mousing a fucking Godzilla movie!!"

Also, there is no end credit music as far as I can tell.

 

I still have to give this one the edge over Desplat's score. The use of classic Ifukube themes will just do that, and in the end, Ghidorah's theme beats no real theme for the Muto in Godzilla 2014. Also, King Of The Monsters does have the better individual tracks, even though you can cut 30 minutes easily.

 

If I wanted to make a playlist, it will probably be this one:

 

1. Godzilla Main Title

2. Outpost 32

3. Rise Of Ghidorah

4. The First Gods

5. Rodan

6. Queen Of The Monsters

7. The Hollow Earth

8. Rebirth

9. Battle In Boston

10. Redemption

11. King Of The Monsters

12. Mothra's Song

13. Godzilla Main Title (reprise)

 

Favorite track beside the Main Title is probably "Rodan". There, I can finally hear some character in the music, and the rhythm partially reminds me of the 60s movies.

 

All told, the rating is heavily influenced by personal affection for Godzilla.

 

So, personally, this is a 3/5

Objectively, it's 2.5/5  

[John 2,032]

I thought you were banned from this site?

[gkgyver 1,645]

I thought you commented on my review. Guess not.

[Jurassic Shark 12,053]

12 hours ago, John said:

I thought you were banned from this site?

 

Apparently, you're allowed back in after a quarantine period, given that you acknowledge what you did was wrong.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I have this CD on order at Amazon so I can only listen to YouTube versions. There's a lot in this score that I like. The track "Goodbye Old Friend" was particularly effective in the scene where Serizawa explores the hollow earth caverns and the glimpse we get of the ancient civilisation's monuments to Godzilla. But I don't think Bear has the talent to create new themes for the monsters so it's probably a good thing he was allowed to raid the back catalogue of monster themes. Desplat made a decent effort in his one, but I still can't work out what his actual Godzilla motif is.

[gkgyver 1,645]

His Godzilla motif is $$$