Lorne Balfe's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING (2023/24)

[Richard Penna 3,694]

17 hours ago, antovolk said:

Probably the best sample of the score so far - from the premiere red carpet footage

https://youtu.be/1igxAQ8KiJ0

 

Not the best indicator of the score tbh, just a lot of generic percussion and brass. Hopefully the score has some actual highlights, although (apologism incoming) it's just possible they deliberately chose something standard and not very busy as it's in the background.

 

However, the first score was a mix of some pretty good action here and there together with some pretty bad material elsewhere, so my hopes for this one are middling at best.

[iamleyeti 114]

His score for Fallout was decent. The disc is too long and that abominable chorus at the end don't really support my theory, but it's actually very effective in the movie.

 

Now… Joe Kramer… please… bring him back… please…

[DangerMotif 1,038]

54 minutes ago, iamleyeti said:

Now… Joe Kramer… please… bring him back… please…

Yep, crazy he hasn’t really gotten much work since Rogue Nation. Rogue Nation is easily a top 5 score of the past decade for me

[iamleyeti 114]

Rogue Nation and the first (and only, in my book) Jack Reacher.

[Laserschwert 475]

Speaking of Balfe: How is his Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack 90 minutes long, on a single CD? What witchcraft is this??
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZTLQ6TB/

[Mephariel 451]

On 28/06/2023 at 5:53 AM, DangerMotif said:

Yep, crazy he hasn’t really gotten much work since Rogue Nation. Rogue Nation is easily a top 5 score of the past decade for me

 

The most overrated score imo. But I found all the MI scores to be overrated or underwhelming in some way. 

[A. A. Ron 1,742]

On 3/7/2023 at 11:22 AM, Mephariel said:

But I found all the MI scores to be overrated or underwhelming in some way. 

 

I would agree with this. I don't play any of the albums all the way through. I prefer Kramer's orchestrations to everyone else's and the less said about the mixing on the Giacchino scores, the better.

[Courtney Sees Ghosts 269]

16 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

 

I would agree with this. I don't play any of the albums all the way through. I prefer Kramer's orchestrations to everyone else's and the less said about the mixing on the Giacchino scores, the better.

Love me some Rogue Nation score. Though Fallout is probably my favorite. 

[antovolk 95]

 

https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-lorne-balfe-main-theme-1235662195/#recipient_hashed=d50ccaff8bc483c71cad746241c16fe11d44283d4f5fac424a5b48006edf9afe&recipient_salt=1a225b53121e2d95a792b225a0bf401093e5b13fc575ea89c5d39ea4530ae81c

[mstrox 6,651]

I didn’t know Lorne Blafe wrote that song

[Edmilson 7,466]

The kids are going to love it!

[JTN 2,030]

2 hours ago, antovolk said:

 

https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-lorne-balfe-main-theme-1235662195/#recipient_hashed=d50ccaff8bc483c71cad746241c16fe11d44283d4f5fac424a5b48006edf9afe&recipient_salt=1a225b53121e2d95a792b225a0bf401093e5b13fc575ea89c5d39ea4530ae81c

More bongos!

[Mr. Who 919]

12 hours ago, antovolk said:

 

https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-lorne-balfe-main-theme-1235662195/#recipient_hashed=d50ccaff8bc483c71cad746241c16fe11d44283d4f5fac424a5b48006edf9afe&recipient_salt=1a225b53121e2d95a792b225a0bf401093e5b13fc575ea89c5d39ea4530ae81c

I prefer this to the Fallout Main Titles. The tempo is higher and it has more energy.

[iamleyeti 114]

I must admit, it's quite nice that he is citing his collaborators:

Quote

But, Balfe also largely credits the film’s music editor Cécile Tournesac. “She was an integral part of the creative process. What I’d written for one scene, that scene could get removed and she would make that music cue work in a different scene by reducing elements of it,” he says. “There are many of us who made the soundtrack — the orchestrators and additional composers who helped get us to this line.”

 

[Archive Collection 214]

 TRACKLISTING from the description of the video above.

 

1. A Colourful Past

2. A Ghost in the Machine

3. A Most Probable Next

4. Chaos on the Line

5. Chasing Grace

6. Collision Alarm

7. Consequences

8. Countdown

9. Curtain Call

10. Dead Reckoning Opening Titles

11. Get Out Now

12. He Calls Himself Gabriel

13. Hit It

14. I Missed the Train

15. I Was Hoping It'd Be You

16. Key Details

17. Leap of Faith

18. Mask of Lies

19. Murder and The Orient Express

20. Ponte Dei Conzafelzi

21. Roman Getaway

22. Run As Far As You Can

23. Rush Hour in Rome

24. Should You Choose to Accept

25. The Entity

26. The Moment of Truth

27. The Phantom

28. The Plot Thickens

29. The Sevastopol

30. The Sum of Our Choices

31. This Is Not a Drill

32. This Was the Plan

33. To Be a Ghost

34. What Is Your Objective

35. You Are Done

36. You Are Dunn

37. You Stop the Train

38. You're Driving

39. Your Mission...

 

I'm very confident that LB's score will be effective in the film, but unfortunately, the Opening Title track sounds anonymous and unremarkable from a production standpoint. This score was recorded with live players in a world-class recording space, yet the result sounds 'fake' because of how overproduced and excessively layered it is... somewhere in the mix, there is probably a great score hidden away, but as it stands it just sounds like a wash of noise.

 

Balfe's treatment of the M.I. theme in Fallout was very awkward and didn't work for me, and from some of the excerpts of the score I've heard in promotional materials (e.g. the premiere, where they are presumably playing the actual score), it sounds like, once again, Balfe is very happy to use the theme a LOT, but doesn't know how to actually apply it in the score.

 

Compare Balfe's treatment of the theme, to Joe Kraemer's excellent application of Schifrin's original M.I. material: e.g. the fantastic Morrocan variation of 'The Plot', his interweaving of the main theme into the action cues. Even Giacchino (who I'm not a great fan of...) used the theme well in his two scores - the main theme playoff after the Vatican sequence in MI-3 comes to mind, or his integration of the 5/4 pulse into many of the action cues.

 

Both composers knew where and how to apply the theme for maximum impact, whereas Balfe's score has it plastered everywhere, yet doesn't do much with it (his reharmonisation of the main theme gets old very quickly). His two-note villain motif (derived from 'The Plot') isn't too offensive - it's small enough to sneak under your radar when you're listening. However his treatment of the M.I. theme sounds like it's trying too hard to be epic... the irony is that Fallout didn't need its music to compensate or do any heavy lifting, and early reviews would indicate the same is true with Dead Reckoning.

 

I suspect that Rogue Nation's score will age the best of the series, because it leans into the traditions of the original television scores, whereas Fallout and Dead Reckoning have gone for a contemporary sound which will be antiquated in a few decades' time (much like MI-2's score sounds today). It's a tragedy that Kraemer never was asked to return for the sequels... but I can understand why the 'classic' sound may not have suited Fallout. Still, a more sophisticated composer like John Powell or even Hans himself (he did a fine job with 007's No Time to Die) could have produced a better score.

 

Thanks for coming to my TED talk!

 

5 hours ago, iamleyeti said:

I must admit, it's quite nice that he is citing his collaborators:

 

Yes, he also gave plenty of credit to his collaborators in his commentary for Fallout.

 

For all my criticisms of his music for Mission Impossible, I can't fault his character, he seems like a very nice guy.

 

[Edmilson 7,466]

I just listened to the Main Titles and unfortunately I don't think I'm going to like this score much. LB, like the Variety article says, uses hundreds of musicians to record hours and hours of music, and yet the result is always so... thin. So processed. He tries so hard to be grand and epic, but doesn't know how to get there except by creating this "wall of sound", one of Zimmer's worst tendencies that Balfe exaggerates.

 

It's kinda like Shakespeare (?) quote: "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".

[Gabriel Bezerra 302]

14 minutes ago, Archive Collection said:

 TRACKLISTING from the description of the video above.

 

1. A Colourful Past

2. A Ghost in the Machine

3. A Most Probable Next

4. Chaos on the Line

5. Chasing Grace

6. Collision Alarm

7. Consequences

8. Countdown

9. Curtain Call

10. Dead Reckoning Opening Titles

11. Get Out Now

12. He Calls Himself Gabriel

13. Hit It

14. I Missed the Train

15. I Was Hoping It'd Be You

16. Key Details

17. Leap of Faith

18. Mask of Lies

19. Murder and The Orient Express

20. Ponte Dei Conzafelzi

21. Roman Getaway

22. Run As Far As You Can

23. Rush Hour in Rome

24. Should You Choose to Accept

25. The Entity

26. The Moment of Truth

27. The Phantom

28. The Plot Thickens

29. The Sevastopol

30. The Sum of Our Choices

31. This Is Not a Drill

32. This Was the Plan

33. To Be a Ghost

34. What Is Your Objective

35. You Are Done

36. You Are Dunn

37. You Stop the Train

38. You're Driving

39. Your Mission...

 

Why is it in alfabetical order? Oh my, this one is going to be a pain to sort chronologicaly

[Archive Collection 214]

6 minutes ago, Gabriel Bezerra said:

Why is it in alfabetical order? Oh my, this one is going to be a pain to sort chronologicaly

 

Oh god... I didn't even notice that. Honestly, I don't think that's the final order of the tracks (notice how there's a track called "Your Mission..." and another called "Should You Choose to Accept". Maybe this is just a mistake by Sony Music? =I have no doubt we'll be able to sort out the chronological order!

 

If this is the final tracklist... okay...? Cool. I really don't see the point in an alphabetical tracklist. Still not as bad as Giacchino's pun tracklists.

[Gabriel Bezerra 302]

Just now, Archive Collection said:

 

(notice how there's a track called "Your Mission..." and another called "Should You Choose to Accept".)

I'm pretty sure there are tracks from Fallout with the same names... how original.

 

1 minute ago, Archive Collection said:

Still not as bad as Giacchino's pun tracklists.

Ah... I like them

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

It's not. This is the correct order.

 

1. The Sevastopol
2. The Phantom
3. Collision Alarm
4. A Ghost in the Machine
5. The Sum of Our Choices
6. Dead Reckoning Opening Titles
7. The Entity
8. Your Mission…
9. This Is Not a Drill
10. The Plot Thickens
11. You Are Dunn
12. Get Out Now
13. A Colourful Past
14. Rush Hour in Rome
15. Roman Getaway
16. You’re Driving
17. Hit It
18. He Calls Himself Gabriel
19. A Most Probable Next
20. Run As Far As You Can
21. You Are Done
22. Chasing Grace
23. I Was Hoping It’d Be You
24. Ponte Dei Conzafelzi
25. To Be a Ghost
26. What Is Your Objective
27. Murder and The Orient Express
28. Mask of Lies
29. I Missed the Train
30. Key Details
31. The Moment of Truth
32. Should You Choose to Accept
33. Leap of Faith
34. Consequences
35. You Stop the Train
36. Chaos on the Line
37. Countdown
38. This Was the Plan
39. Curtain Call

 

 

https://filmmusicreporter.com/2023/07/07/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-part-1-soundtrack-album-details/

 

[Niktob 4]

My son and I are seeing it on Sunday and I can't wait. Although, kind of like Infinity War, I hope they give part 2 its own name when it comes out. 

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Probably not.

 

Infinity War & Endgame were named differently before the ad campaign of Infinity War started.

Here they fully commited to the Part One subtitle.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

That is certainly an energetic title sequence! Great performance. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Too bad he kept the EPIC choir.

[JTN 2,030]

8 hours ago, Edmilson said:

LB, like the Variety article says, uses hundreds of musicians to record hours and hours of music, and yet the result is always so... thin.

“John Williams was able to write this at a piano! With a bunch of pencils!”

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

He wouldn't have been able to write that uninspired ending to the track.

[John F 100]

Wonder if the digital release and La La’s release are identical… 

[Archive Collection 214]

3 hours ago, John F said:

Wonder if the digital release and La La’s release are identical… 

 

Probably not… last two Mission scores had bonus tracks!

 

Not crazy about Balfe’s scores, but I appreciate how much music we’re getting. I always prefer to have (almost) too much rather than not enough. 

[JTN 2,030]

2 hours ago, Archive Collection said:

but I appreciate how much music we’re getting.

I wonder how 2 CDs can hold 14 hours of music Balfe recorded for the film. Maybe it’ll be in .mp3 format.

Or maybe we’ll get a Mondo deluxe edition with “The Mission Sketchbook”. 

[PrayodiBA 517]

Just saw the movie.

And like what I wrote in the other thread,

 

Lorne Balfe’s score works super wonderfully in the movie.

If not for the score, the movie will not work great as it is now!

A rare case where the score is one of the most important aspect of a movie.

Balfe’s music truly lifts the emotion, especially in an important scene in the middle of the movie.

The score is also mixed powerfully (this is a testament of how happy the filmmaker was with the music)

Again, sorry Balfe hater, he truly shines in this movie! Further cementing him as one of the most sought after (if not the most) movie composer out there!

But somehow, afer very well acknowlodging how great the score works in the movie, I’m not really eager to listen it on its own. 
As Balfe only plays with “repeating”, “rising” “epic” progression, which is maybe the cheapest trick in the book to make audience’s emotion “lifted”.

But the good news is, is not really generic as I can hear some interesting orchestration here and there.

 

But overall, Lorne Balfe has done a really wonderful job here!

 

[DangerMotif 1,038]

I’m sorry but 9 additional music composers is a joke

[TolkienSS 407]

10 composers on one score.

[Chewy 2,391]

12 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

39 tracks + the Teaser Trailer Music on the LLL release.

 

39 tracks were announced for the digital release too, so no CD exclusive bonus tracks!

[DangerMotif 1,038]

4 minutes ago, TolkienSS said:

10 composers on one score.

Plus 5 orchestrators

[TolkienSS 407]

24 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

Plus 5 orchestrators

 

I get the orchestrators. Orchestration can get very time consuming and tedious real fast. Especially if it's not exactly peak craft, like these RC scores.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

In its simplest form it's probably a combination of two things - Balfe giving new composers an opportunity and experience writing a few minutes of a major score, and major time crunches meaning that if Balfe needs to revise cues, someone else in his team can help.

 

McCreary said this directly on a podcast - his team helps him on his TV shows when a lot of minutes are needed quickly and no one composer can physically do it all, especially when there are revisions.

[DangerMotif 1,038]

22 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

In its simplest form it's probably a combination of two things - Balfe giving new composers an opportunity and experience writing a few minutes of a major score, and major time crunches meaning that if Balfe needs to revise cues, someone else in his team can help.

 

McCreary said this directly on a podcast - his team helps him on his TV shows when a lot of minutes are needed quickly and no one composer can physically do it all, especially when there are revisions.

Balfe said he wrote over 14 hours and spent years on the film

[TolkienSS 407]

8 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

Balfe said he wrote over 14 hours and spent years on the film

 

That's really sad if you think about it. 

Can't a good composer get this time for a change?

[DangerMotif 1,038]

1 minute ago, TolkienSS said:

 

That's really sad if you think about it. 

Can't a good composer get this time for a change?

Kraemer and Elfman didn’t have much time and delivered greatness

[TolkienSS 407]

3 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

Kraemer and Elfman didn’t have much time and delivered greatness

 

Elfman's is still the best one. I like the minimalism.

[JTN 2,030]

14 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

Balfe said he wrote over 14 hours and spent years on the film

He wrote 14 hours of music + had 9 additional composers. All this for a 163 minute action film. 
 

Howard Shore didn’t write this much music for the entire LOTR Trilogy.
 

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

It's probably mainly lots of alternates with minor differences. 

[fommes 153]

Having seen the film, the score suffers from the exact same problem as in Fallout, namely it's like being hit with a hammer for 3 hours, the hammer being the two M:I themes heavily RCP-style processed.

It's a shame, I had higher expectations after Balfe scored His Dark Materials.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Rough calculation suggests that for a 2 1/2 hour score, 14 hours is about 5 versions of every cue. I've seen sessions where there are that many variations on half the cues.

[leeallen01 2,136]

After seeing the film and being physically annoyed by the score, I wont be listening to it on its own.

 

It seemed the entire film was just a deafeningly loud constant repeat of the same 3 descending notes of the theme.

 

I don't recall the last time I was actually seriously pis**d off with a score during a film. 

 

I actually wanted to leave about 30 mins into it, because the film was laughably bad and the score was already repetitive.

[Chewy 2,391]

Out in NZ: https://www.qobuz.com/nz-en/album/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-part-one-music-from-the-motion-picture-lorne-balfe/ym9mkss9ht9ea

[MaxMovieMan 273]

I feel like I’m at a college football game listening to this score.

[DangerMotif 1,038]

I prefer the other 5 scores to this one, including fallout. Nothing much for me except 

Spoiler

Isla’s death music

 

[Mephariel 451]

On 10/07/2023 at 12:04 PM, TolkienSS said:

 

Elfman's is still the best one. I like the minimalism.

 

I agree. Elfman's score is still the best. Not really because of minimalism but because it is the only score in the franchise that really nails that suspense, noir thriller feel. 

 

For me, Elfman's score is the best, Zimmer's score is the most fun, and I don't have any positive things to say about Giacchino's scores. Kramer's score has by far the best opening and ending cues though. Fallout is ok, but I thought the score got old very fast in the film. 

[Bellosh 3,419]

5 minutes ago, Mephariel said:

 

the only score in the franchise that really nails that suspense, noir thriller feel. 

 

yeah true but also the only one FILMED like a noir thriller