Danny Elfman's DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022)

[crocodile 7,973]

It's interesting that the main titles present a collection of thematic material rather than just one theme. Strange's new theme, Wanda's theme, The Wolfman-like motif, the "Flash" theme.

 

Karol

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Can't wait to listen to this this weekend!

[mstrox 6,637]

Still waiting for this sucker to pop up on iTunes US.

[Jay 37,249]

https://music.apple.com/us/album/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness/1621749422

[mstrox 6,637]

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness/1621749422

This is what I get when I click that link:

[Jay 37,249]

The link works fine if you open it in a web browser instead of the itunes app

[mstrox 6,637]

Well I’m not gonna buy a computer for this, I’ll just wait for the store to update and keep listening to Another Side of Bob Dylan

[Faleel 5,326]

LOL who said anything about using a computer?

[Jay 37,249]

Your smartphone has a web browser

[Faleel 5,326]

Just now, Jay said:

Your smartphone has a web browser

He's most likely using it right now!

[mstrox 6,637]

I am!  Pasting the link in either web browser (Safari and Chrome) on my iPhone displays a blank screen and launches me directly into the iTunes Store app, which does not have the album yet for me.

 

Don’t worry about old Mike - it’ll show up soon enough.

[Faleel 5,326]

Does it have a "view desktop site" setting?

[mstrox 6,637]

Nope, just a completely blank screen in the browser and a “Not available” screen in the store app.  These things happen - if having to wait for an Elfman score is the worst thing that happens to me this week, it’s a pretty good week.  In the meantime, I got a copy of the Black Beauty OST in the mail this afternoon which I’ve never heard - probably a better choice than DS anyway.

[Faleel 5,326]

Hmm, shows right up for me, maybe its a regional thing, aren't you Australian?

[mstrox 6,637]

I’m as American as apple pie and pornography.

[Faleel 5,326]

You must be in an alternate universe then

[Jay 37,249]

I actually think what happened with this album is Disney decided to make it steaming only and not purchasable.

 

The Apple link will let anyone with an Apple Music subscription stream it, but not buy it in iTunes

 

The Amazon link will let anyone with an Amazon Music subscription stream it, but not buy it as mp3s

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09Z779JDZ

 

qobuz's page indicates "Download not available"

 

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness-danny-elfman/lt3p4goxsvola

 

It is not on HDTracks or 7Digital at all.

 

etc

[Faleel 5,326]

Thats...... 🕶😎 Strange.

                🙂

[crocodile 7,973]

Yeah, I noticed that this morning. At the moment, for whatever reason, you can't purchase it anywhere.

 

Karol

[mstrox 6,637]

Gross!

[Jay 37,249]

It might be purchasable come Friday, or this could the start of a new trend for Disney Records

[JAMOcl 14]

After listening two full times I must say that Elfman was kinder with Gia's theme than he was with Spidey's. But still Danny Elfman bases his score in his own material. I can hear some structure reference to Wandavision by Beck in this "new" Wanda theme, but its pretty annoying that everytime a new composer comes to the MCU, they seem to trash all from previous films. (Specially the harpischord, which was great).

I think the Wanda's character is the most damaged of the MCU in terms of thematic material. She had a great, mysterious and badass theme by Tyler (mostly part of the rejected score, also great), then this Twins theme by Elfman, then Christophe Beck's awesome motif, now this by Elfman and let's not forget that short pieces by Silvestri for Avengers. 

Hope Giacchino doesn't throw everything from Thor, specially given that Mark Mothersbaugh, bringing his own theme, respected both Doyle and Tyler's scores.

 

aside from this issue, the score is fun, bombastic and clearly an Elfman sound, even a la OingoBongo at times.

[thestat 342]

This score has really made my ongoing struggles with Elfman apparent. I became a film music afficianado because of Batman 33 years ago. Since then, I have had my ups and downs with Elfman but I have more or less struggled with his action music. In Batman, the action stuff was the highlight, dynamic and driving.

 

In the past 33 years, Elfman has been very inconsistent - the Burton stuff is absolutely brilliant, the rest is meh. I mean Dumbo has one of the greatest tracks of this decade.

 

One thing I struggle with is Elfman's action music - it is so discrepant, so harsh, so mickey mouse like. Of course, the original Batman has some of the gold standard action stuff ever, but I now increasingly think that must have been Walker's 'guiding' hand since Elfman has never been that dynamic since.

 

Long rant short - Dr Strange has some good stuff, I don't know if the Ang Lee Hulk is part of the multiverse but it sounds like he has the main theme here. The melodic stuff is okay but the rest is just orchestral bashing - goes in one ear, out the other with no mark, like literally Elfman's action stuff for the past few decades.

 

Again, Elfman's Spiderman was bashed back in the day for no theme - nowadays, it's such a great theme - but who remembers the abrasive nonsense action music around that.

 

There is nothing in Strange that even comes close to the clarity of the action music here or the performance by the Sinfonia of London:

 

And it's probably worth noting that Raimi and Elfman are a discrepant pair - really, what have the two of them done together that is awesome? March of the Dead? Raimi works much more efficiently with Young but sadly he is not part of the equation.

 

Compare Strange with what Burton got out of Danny just recently:

 

 

[Alex 2,833]

Well Elfman is making all the right people mad online for some of his choices for this film. Snyder fans have never quite got over his Justice League score. The idea that those people are suddenly concerned with musical continuity (TASM2 anyone?) is hilarious.

 

I just watched the film and I thought the music really elevated it. 

[HunterTech 982]

I bet you the minute you point out to them that Holkenborg himself abandoned the Batman theme in BvS for a new one in ZSJL, they'll just say that you shouldn't criticize it because it had purpose to the story (which seems to also be the case for Elfman transitioning from Gia's to his own in MoM).

You just never win with these people.

[bored 301]

5 hours ago, thestat said:

Again, Elfman's Spiderman was bashed back in the day for no theme - nowadays, it's such a great theme - but who remembers the abrasive nonsense action music around that.

 

 

I remember every piece of action music, especially from the first Spider-Man. His clever uses of the different sections of the Spider-Man theme, the way he contrasts it with the Goblin and Doc Ock themes, the set-piece motifs he creates for tracks like "The Fire". Honestly him and Young are often neck and neck in terms of action music for me, as Elfman's is stronger thematically, but Young's is more bombastic and heart-pounding. 

5 hours ago, thestat said:

And it's probably worth noting that Raimi and Elfman are a discrepant pair - really, what have the two of them done together that is awesome? March of the Dead? Raimi works much more efficiently with Young but sadly he is not part of the equation.

 

 

I realize it's all opinions, but the entirety of Elfman's scores for the first two Spider-Man movies are awesome to me (minus the thankfully scrapped montage pieces from the second movie, and Elfman's versions of the "Peter's Turmoil"/"Cake Girl" and "Pizza Man" cues. 

[Alex 2,833]

6 minutes ago, HunterTech said:

I bet you the minute you point out to them that Holkenborg himself abandoned the Batman theme in BvS for a new one in ZSJL, they'll just say that you shouldn't criticize it because it had purpose to the story (which seems to also be the case for Elfman transitioning from Gia's to his own in MoM).

You just never win with these people.

Yeah. No spoilers, but having seen the film, it’s clear why Elfman made certain choices.

[HunterTech 982]

The harpsichord sound being missing stays the one complaint I find legitimate (especially when Elfman wasn't afraid to get weird at points, so it's an odd exclusion), but otherwise I'd say you could explain away a lot of the "critiques."

[Drawgoon 100]

I listened to Elfman's work earlier and unfortunately it wasn't for me. The whole thing felt like one lengthy collection of random orchestral pieces. Are there themes in there? From what I've been reading around, it appears that there are. Plenty of them in fact. I wish they were immediately noticeable or memorable for me too.

 

In an ideal world, Elfman had worked on that Spidey film earlier (even though I totally enjoyed MG's work on that), and MG had scored this one.

[greenturnedblue 371]

23 hours ago, LewWho95 said:

Stranger Things Will Happen at 1:20 has what appears to be a reworked version of Elfman’s Flash theme from Justice League which is nice. That was a good theme and I’m happy Elfman found another place for it. 

 

One of the few aspects of Whedon JL I prefered over Snyder's 

[Giftheck 916]

I'm going to have to agree to some points here. It's hardly a crime that Elfman decided to go with more original material over Giacchino's themes, but there are a few elements that should have been in there at least - the harpsichord and electric sitar I would have definitely considered as being tied to the soundscape of the music of Doctor Strange and their absence is definitely noticed. It's like excluding the piledriver from The Matrix (yeah, thanks for that, Tywker and Klimek).

 

And here's where I go against the grain a bit: I know people have said that the incorporation of Giacchino's themes wasn't as good as it could have been in No Way Home, and I agree. BUT! I think he did better there than Elfman did with Giacchino's theme. That there's only one instance of it on the OST that I've noticed so far (Battle Time) is highly surprising, TBH.

 

In a weird little twist, it seems Elfman gives about as much time (at least on the OST) to Giacchino's theme as Giacchino did for his Spider-Man theme in No Way Home.

[Davide Leo 0]

I think the most controversial aspect of this score is that Wanda’s theme is a rip-off from Charlie and the chocolate factory’s “The Golden ticket/factory”

[crocodile 7,973]

I know what you're saying but I myself had no trouble spotting Giacchino's theme right away.

 

Elfman of today is bit of an odd creature. While the complexity of writing has increased, the accessibility of his work has diminished significantly. I can completely understand how a lot of people would find his modern work off-putting. I myself try to keep an open mind and try to listen to the stuff he wrote rather than the one I wanted him to write. Hopefully, the film will clarify some, if not all, the choices.

 

Karol

[Richard Penna 3,662]

I started playing this just now and yeah... it comes across as a bunch of nice orchestral pieces but with nothing really drawing me in. Not the sort of reaction that usually ends up with my repeatedly listening or buying the score.

 

Anyone know which track (if any) the invisible monster/bus scene is in?

[Alex 2,833]

2 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Anyone know which track (if any) the invisible monster/bus scene is in?

 

Gargantos. I believe there is more music in that scene which is not on the album.

[Richard Penna 3,662]

Well I don't hear the brass bit where the monster appears, nor the rapid strings when his cape catches the falling woman.

 

Typical 

[JNHFan2000 2,938]

There are a few scenes in the film that have more music in them than there is on album. One fight scene is completely left off. Which I find strange.

 

Other than that. Giacchino's Strange theme disappears completely after 50 minutes into the film. Which is weird because in the final third of the film you see the most of him and it would've been awesome to get different variations & orchestrations on the theme. And I really missed the sitar.

 

I just don't get why Wanda has another theme. Some say that it's a B-phrase of the motif he wrote for her in AoU. But I don't hear it. I mean it's a good theme and cements itself kinda well into the film. But I really miss Beck's theme. That captured the character perfectly and for me is Wanda/Scarlet Witch the same as Olsen is her. It could've been used in so many different ways. I just don't get it.

 

America Chavez's theme is maybe the best new theme. The way it grows throughout the score & film is cool.

 

The motif for Wong is also cool, but underused.

 

Spoilers about the film.

Spoiler

Some other small things I thought were weird is that Captain America's theme is used for Captain Carter. Why not Karpman's theme.

 

And I think that the interplay of character themes could've been done better. Let Captain Carter & Wanda's theme do battle. Just as Giacchino's theme and Wanda's theme could've done battle in the 3rd act.

 

I think there were some missed opportunities, but I still really like the score. But I think that for me the first Dr. Strange score is better and I still would've liked Giacchino to score the film.

[Alex 2,833]

As I said in another thread, this film is a bit of mess, which probably affected some of the music choices. It is stuffed with characters and jumps from location to location. There´s also an argument that there are three leads. 

 

I´m all for musical continuity, but the film has a completely different tone to the first one. Elfman has a job to capture that tone, dictated by Sam Raimi, and the score, in the end, works extremely well. It is well mixed and spotted. He used Doctor Strange´s theme at appropriate times, and his arrangements are way better than what Giacchino did with his music in NWH. 

 

Also, if Elfman already introduced a motif for Wanda in AoU, why is Beck not being criticised for not using that in Wandavision? 

 

Anyway, as had been said, Elfman can´t win.

 

 

[Edmilson 7,367]

7 hours ago, Drawgoon said:

In an ideal world, Elfman had worked on that Spidey film earlier (even though I totally enjoyed MG's work on that), and Christopher Young had scored this one.

Fixed. 

 

I'd love to hear what Young could've done for this movie.

[mstrox 6,637]

I’ve never cared for Giacchino’s original, so if Elfman truly utilizes very little of it, I’ll be a happy camper.  Hopefully Disney Records releases it via a method I’m willing to listen to soon!

[JNHFan2000 2,938]

I've made a chronological order of the score:

 

1. On The Run (extended in film)
2. Strange Awakens
3. Are You Happy (I think it's not used in the film) but I thought this was the best part for it)
4. Gargantos (Extended in film)
5. Wanda At Home
6. The Apple Orchard
7. Battle Time (Extended in film & I believe the statement of Giacchino's theme at 2:03 is not heard in the film)
8. Not A Monster
9. Discovering America
10. Strange Statue
11. A Cup Of Tea
12. Home?
13. Forbidden Ground
14. Illuminati
15. Journey With Wong
16. Tribunal
17. Illuminati Vs. Wanda
18. They're Not Coming Back
19. The Decision Is Made
20. Grab My Hand
21. Buying Time
22. Book Of Vishanti
23. Looking For Strange
24. Strange Talk
25. Lethal Symphonies
26. Getting Through
27. Only Way
28. Trust Your Power
29. They'll Be Loved
30. Farewell
31. An Interesting Question
32. Main Titles
33. An Unexpected Visitor
34. Multiverse Of Madness

 

I couldn't figure this one out.

- Stranger Things Will Happen

 

Stranger Things Will Happen might be a theme suite, but I'm not sure. I wasn't able to recognize the piano part from the beginning in the film.

[ddddeeee 242]

While I definitely do miss the Eastern influences of Giacchino's score, and that perfectly captured the mysticism of this part of the MCU, I do think Elfman better captures the psychedelic, odd tone of Ditko's other universes. The start of this track for example

 

 

 

Giacchino's score never quite got weird enough. 

[crocodile 7,973]

Well, I've seen the film. Wasn't terribly impressed. I get what they were going for but it just felt off as a whole. I wasn't really engaged at any point which was the worst thing of all. I liked some ideas here and there but that's not much. One definitely good thing is that, for once, it actually does feel like someone directed this. Raimi's style is often on display. It's just that this doesn't make it any better. 

 

Is the score good in the film? There are parts where it works really well, there are parts where you can barely hear it. Overall, it feels like it lacks certain focus (like the film itself).

 

What I thought was Strange's theme is actually America Chavez's theme? 🤔

 

Karol

[ddddeeee 242]

I just got back too. Thought the first half was off and absolutely loved the second half.

 

Seemed like all of the Giacchino quotes bar the first one were cut? Really missed that version in 'Battle Time'. At the same time, Elfman quotes Silvestri's Captain America theme and the animated X-Men theme. There's a lovely tribute to the WandaVision theme (the 'WandaVision, Wa-WandaVision jingle, not Wanda's theme') before Elfman's theme takes over.

 

The mix seemed pretty great to me. A lot of the action was inevitably buried, but the score was at the forefront of the mix several times, too. 

 

And yeah, I assumed that new theme was for Strange when it was for Chavez. Turns out there's another theme and it's for Strange. Progression-wise it seems very similar to Wanda's - need to spend more time with the album to unpick it all.

Sam has apparently forgotten that 'A Simple Plan' exists or that Chris Young scored Spider-Man 3....

 

'I couldn't make a movie without him.'

[Edmilson 7,367]

Just finished listening to the album.

 

I liked it! It's obviously not as good as his Batman or even his Spider-Man scores, but I still think it's tied with Justice League (which is very underrated and unfairly maligned thanks to the Snydercut trolls) and better than Age of Ultron, even though he just wrote half a score for that movie.

 

Still, DS2 has a lot of Elfmanisms and some really cool moments for choir and orchestra, but the album goes on for a little too long, which makes the climax seem a little muted.

[DangerMotif 1,037]

I think the “on the run” theme is Chavez and the one from the beginning of the main titles is Strange’s theme.

why Strange needed a new theme idk??

[HunterTech 982]

I suspect Elfman took the JL criticism of "the Superman theme isn't utilized greatly" to heart, and tried flipping it to where he starts with Gia's before transitioning into his own. Of course, an argument can be made that he could've easily mixed both like he did with Silvestri's Avengers theme and his own for AoU, but I suppose he didn't want to get told once more that enough wasn't done to make it feel sinister. 

[greenturnedblue 371]

It wasnt greatly utilized because it only played when Supes was evil! If he was going to include it at all, he shouldve used it to score an important heroic Superman moment

[crocodile 7,973]

4 minutes ago, greenturnedblue said:

It wasnt greatly utilized because it only played when Supes was evil! If he was going to include it at all, he shouldve used it to score an important heroic Superman moment

Well, he did use it when Superman comes to save the day at the end. Curiously, the album features two versions of that moment between the two "final battle" tracks.

 

At 2:43:

 

 

And at 9:24:

 

 

Karol

[HunterTech 982]

It gets more audible airtime in the Hero Park scene though, since it's sort of easy to miss in the climax (given the universal complaint of the music being poorly mixed throughout the film, plus the full statement being inexplicably missing from the noncondensed versions of the final battle track). As such, it's fairly likely every criticism of the theme use only remembers the first bit.