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Michael Giacchino's Star Trek Into Darkness


Jay

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My quick thoughts on the samples:
1 Logos/Pranking The Natives 03:01
This track is clearly an edit / album assembly - in between the opening logos and the first action scene, there is a scene with Harrison and then setup for the action scene (at least there was in the IMAX preview)
2 Spock Drops, Kirk Jumps
Awesome action music, love the driving grand piano behind it!
3 Sub Prime Directive
Awesome new rendition of the Cadet's Theme!
4 London Calling
Wow, lovely piano work!
5 Meld-merized
Love the blend of strings with Harrison's theme!
6 The Kronos Wartet
Male choir chanting! Must be Klingon music!
7 Brigadoom
Brief quiet moment amidst all the action
8 Ship To Ship
Great frenetic Giacchino action music featuring Harrison's Theme!
9 Earthbound and Down
Great suspense music leading to another awesome new rendition of the Cadet's theme!
10 Warp Core Values
Seems like a revamped / modified version of the Cadet's theme
11 Buying The Space Farm
Quiet contemplative music
12 The San Fran Hustle
This action music reminds me a LITTLe bit of the "Apes" cue from John Carter
13 Kirk Enterprises
A reworked That New Car Smell
14 Star Trek Main Theme
Like the 09 end credits

Overall, it was refreshing how NEW it all sounded - only in the final 2 tracks (at least in the samples) does he repeat anything from ST09 closely - and other than the few Cadet Theme variations in the earlier samples, it was all COMPLETELY new stuff. The action music is very fresh - you still know it's Giacchino, but it doesn't sound derivative of his prior action music (except for *maybe* The San Fran Hustle a little bit)

Can't wait for Saturday night!

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Wojo, I think it sounds pretty different from the 09 score, actually. I was happily relieved to hear very little right out of the 09 score

You know, I just realized this is the first score Giacchino's written since 2011! The year off has definitely been good, everything here seems so new and fresh!

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Most of the samples are a little boring, I agree with Wojo. But from what I've heard of the rest of the score, I think the samples are an unfair representation.

They are very cold and rhythmic without any clear themes. That's not true of the rest of the score.

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Based on Jason's initial impressions, this score is probably going to be awesome for me. I no longer listen to sampes because I feel like experiencing the score for the first time either in the cinema or on the OST.

I'm not happy about the short duration :angry: but if Varese is looking at their bottom line, I suspect a double dip deluxe edition within the next year or so. I'm just really hoping all the important cues are on the OST.

I'n seeing the movie on opening day here in Ireland on Thursday. Can't wait.

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I almost wish I had the willpower to hold out for the real CD instead of just having samples, but then I also like getting to hear new music as soon as possible :)

Agreed - if the OST was 70 minutes, it would probably indicate a DE wasn't coming. At 44 minutes, I would be REALLY shocked if a DE wasn't out within a year.

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I wish the OST was released earlier than the movie. At least then I won't hear some awesome cue in the cinema only to discover it isn't on the OST. If we could hear the OST earlier, at least we'll be prepared in terms of whats on the album.

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Oh, I'm sure the OST will be on iTunes next week some time, or the week after at the latest, no worries about that

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I wish the OST was released earlier than the movie. At least then I won't hear some awesome cue in the cinema only to discover it isn't on the OST. If we could hear the OST earlier, at least we'll be prepared in terms of whats on the album.

Ah, so you can hear an an awesome cue in the cinema, and remember it was not on the OST?

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True, neither situation is good but I like knowing as I'm watching the movie if it is on the OST especially for an important score like this one (at least important for me)

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From the samples it sounds like a better score than the first one. John Harrison's theme sounds actually interesting, if somewhat Inception-like.

Karol

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I know it's nothing alike, but the way the Villain Ostinato plays in track 5 makes me think on A.I.. You know, that kind of sci-fi sound. I don't know how to call it.

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Most of the samples are a little boring, I agree with Wojo. But from what I've heard of the rest of the score, I think the samples are an unfair representation. They are very cold and rhythmic without any clear themes. That's not true of the rest of the score.

Wait, are you saying that samples... don't represent an entire score? :o

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The samples tell me that if you wanted to hear more of the theme from the previous movie, which many people didn't like or consider a memorable theme, you'll get it in this score. But the non-thematic material sounds interchangeable.

But don't worry. There's no way I'm not buying this.

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Thanks! It's just started!



Well, they played two tracks - haven't really paid attention to it very much due to work, but liked what I heard, though was not overwhelmed. Giacchino still seems stuck in the gamey-action music. That said, it was pleasant rather than grating (as sometimes is the case), a bit in the style of MI 4. And not sure because of the bitrate, but I thought it sounded better than Wallin.

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Damn, I was sound asleep and missed it. Did you record it by any chance fommes?

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Kirk Enterprises feels like its about segue off into Jerry's TMP/Star Trek theme at any moment.

Clever bastard that Giacchino. His little theme has a lot of plasticity.

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Are you really reposting the video you complained about two pages ago?

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23022&page=6entry899070

Embeds are superior to links!

Iwataki's mixing of the Main Theme is great!

Indeed. I'm assuming you're hearing it on WQXR. Everything has a very sharp and energetic bite to it. It sounds impressive even through crappy radio quality which compresses the dynamics a lot.

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Yeah, when the Courage theme came in, it sounded so much "nobler" than the 09' equivalent.

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Iron Man 3 seems to be a fairly accurate representation of what STID's mix will be like.

It seems Iwatake didn't change much between the two scores. Medium-scale recording (not too dry or close, not quite Goldsmith wet and wide), percussion given a satisfying bassy "oomph" (as anyone who has heard a bass drum live will tell you!). Sparkly trumpets and squeaky strings that make your ears ring.

Not quite Botnick level. But a monumental improvement over He Who Must Not Be Named.

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OK I have listened to the 5 WQXR cues several times now. I am thoroughly impressed! I am glad he picked the tracks they did, as they showcase the variety of the score... ie they didn't just play 5 action tracks. The sound quality of the little clock radio my smartphone is plugged into here in our hotel room doesn't let me comment on the mixing if the music at all, but I am glad to read the positive comments on the mix! However I can comment on the music itself!

01 Logos / Pranking The Natives - Logos is practically identical to "Opening" from ST09. Pranking the Natives is a fun action romp cue. The Main Theme makes a quick appearance, as does the Cadet Theme and Spock's Theme!

02 London Calling - still love this piano work! The entire track is nice, I love the dark turn it takes at the end.

03 Ode to Harrison - LOVE this piece. Probably my favorite of all the tracks. I don't think Giacchino could have written this even 5 years ago. Without seeing the movie I just feel like it takes us across as aspects of the John Harrison character, and on its own its just a satisfying listen. I am fairly sure this will be one of my top tracks of 2013!

04 The Kronos Wartet - love all the choir chanting here, and the percussive elements remind me of Horner's Klingon music from ST3.

05 Ship to Ship - The least interesting track, and its still an awesome ostinatto based action cue! Fun string runs, and a brief appearance of the main theme from '09.

Now bring on the iTunes release!

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I'm surprised you didn't comment on the fact that even the Kirk Documentary I posted last week is using an alternative to Pranking the Natives. ;)

We haven't even seem the movie yet!

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In the end I stayed up (here in Italy the transmission began at 3:00 at night) and I was not disappointed: Giacchino seems to have matured as shown in different parts of John Carter and this maturity would seem grim to full development in Into Darkness.

On my blog I wrote a couple of words (in Italian) and I uploaded the various tracks that I ripped from the podcast of the program.

http://empireofdreams905.blogspot.it/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness-anteprima-dalla.html

The music I ripped from the preview IMAX at the time could be an alternate version of London Calling.

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In the end I stayed up (here in Italy the transmission began at 3:00 at night) and I was not disappointed: Giacchino seems to have matured as shown in different parts of John Carter and this maturity would seem grim to full development in Into Darkness.

On my blog I wrote a couple of words (in Italian) and I uploaded the various tracks that I ripped from the podcast of the program.

http://empireofdreams905.blogspot.it/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness-anteprima-dalla.html

The music I ripped from the preview IMAX at the time could be an alternate version of London Calling.

London Calling goes with the scene

Where one of John Harrison's recruits kills himself at the beginning of the London attacks

But I think the new piano theme is the replacement for the theme heard in the IMAX preview.

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I like the preview. Sounds better than the previous score to my ears.

So we'll have around 53 minutes of the score, given that Ode to Harrison is not on the album.

Karol

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I counted up 44 minutes of score based on the lengths Varese posted. I wish it were longer--and that Ode to Harrison was included--but I enjoy The Kronos Wartet and some of the other songs from the radio interview Saturday, so I'm still pretty psyched for this.

I still hope we get a Deluxe Edition someday, though.

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Judging from these excerpts, I'm not sure I like this as much as the first.



By the way, does anyone else get a strange vibe related to Sherlock from the percussion melody starting around the 2 minutes mark in "Oder To Harrison"?

:D

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oh yeah btw, the snare drums actually sound like snare drums now, instead of some weird sound...

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Judging from these excerpts, I'm not sure I like this as much as the first.

By the way, does anyone else get a strange vibe related to Sherlock from the percussion melody starting around the 2 minutes mark in "Oder To Harrison"?

:D

"Odor to Harrison?" Guess he's not better at everything if he still needs deodorant just like every other person.

As for the music, I was originally planning to wait for a deluxe edition, but the tracks they played on WQXR were so good that I've changed my mind. Sounds much better than the last score imo.

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Here is the translation of what I wrote in my blog (probably the translation affected of my imperfect English, sorry):
Last night the radio station WQXR in the transmission "Movies on the Radio" has hosted the composer Michael Giacchino, and sent about 22 minutes of music from his upcoming soundtrack for the new film by JJ Abrams, "Star Trek Into Darkness".
Along with clips from 30 seconds released from the site of the Colosseum we pretty much more than half of the album to be released on 28 May and, while waiting to hear the soundtrack in its entirety, we can begin to make some comments.
Although the quality of the podcast of the broadcast is not outstanding (mp3 128kbps), the thing that catches ears is the sound quality: abandoned the slightly muffled sound, reminding the recordings of the '60s, by Dan Wallin, here we find a mix extremely clear and powerful made ??by Joel Iwataki, able to bring out the fullness of the orchestral sound as it rarely happened in Giacchino's soundtrack.
Coming to the music itself feels like the year of self-imposed break has done well to the composer. The year 2011 proved to be an extremely rich (maybe too much) and has seen the creation of six feature films (although "John Carter" was released in March 2012, the score was composed in the previous year) and three short films: despite some signs of artistic growth, excessive production has led to the creation of products that, ranging from discreet ("Cars 2") to the excellent ("John Carter"), in each case show a clear sign of a lack of refinement due to the narrow (and often overlapping ) deadlines with which the work was done.
So it was with some trepidation that I waited this "Star Trek Into Darkness", especially to really understand if the flashes of growth shown in previous works here could find a complete development.
And from what heard so far, it seems that Giacchino has reached an important step in his career.
The thing that we can immediately notice is more work on the contrapuntal and greater complexity and maturity in the use of the various sections of the orchestra: just make a comparison between the track "That New Car Smell" from the previous "Star Trek" from 2009 and 30 seconds preview of "Kirk Enteprises" which essentially takes what has been done before, but widening it and layered in an extremely fulfilling.
The music is fresh, full of ideas and Giacchino manages every time to give them an interesting development, without ever leaving a feeling of incompleteness as happened in other cases.
While the action musics of the latest Giacchino seemed to work more on an accumulation of events, rather than on a more consistent and satisfying development of the piece, we find here the discursive and acrobatic skills that the composer seemed to have put aside which is revived here and expanded: it seems that the stylistic differences between the roaring and unstoppable Giacchino of the beginning and the more personal of recent years have been ironed out and balanced.
The research orchestral timbre is accompanied by an important and thoughtful use of electronics that, though in Giacchino I was never able to appreciate that much so far, here seem to have been cast in the best way.
In addition to the return of the main theme, the theme of Spock, the theme of the cadets (probably the theme of the crew here) and of course the classic theme by Alexander Courage, for now we can hear the introduction of two new thematic ideas: one dedicated to the new villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch, John Harrison, and one dedicated to the Klingons.
The latter is a theme flavor primitive and violent, accompanied by a frenzied chorus singing in Klingon language in the track "The Kronos Wartet", and characterized by percussion and metallic sounds.
But is the theme of Harrison to do the lion's share in the score. Consists of several ideas which make up the structure, the theme appears at the same time threatening, inevitable, but tragic: compared to the bombastic theme of Nero, the villain of the previous film, it is more subtle and psychological, but also comes with a dramatic grandeur unexpected. A brilliant theme (probably one of the best composed by Giacchino) that in the score is repeated several times under always different clothes (amazing the action version that we can hear in the stratospheric "Ship to Ship").
Unfortunately the album that Varèse Sarabande will present on May 28 will only contain 44 minutes of music (less than half of the music composed for the film): that there are behind speculative reasons or actual problems of royalties is extremely annoying to have to wait until it's released in the future the remaining music, producing in fact the inability to declare a full review on the music composed by Giacchino.
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I do agree that it seems this score has surprassed the 2009 score.

I'll look forward to a 2-CD set of it from Varese. Honestly I hope they release a 2-CD set of Star Trek Nemesis first!!!!

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But we already have a great foot warmer for Nemesis. Bring on the brand new stuff and put out Nemesis later! It's not like any of the other scores came in order.

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But we already have a great foot warmer for Nemesis.

But its incomplete without good sound (and who knows what alternate takes the expansion team could dig up?)

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Here's Saturday's Movies On The Radio, embedded for your convenience!

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Here's Saturday's Movies On The Radio, embedded for your convenience!

I know I said embeds are superior...but that one is annoying. It starts downloading whether you want it to or not!

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