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Reviews - Soundtrack
Street Date: February 23rd, 2010
Languages: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Run Time: 75
Rating: PG-13
Media Quantity: 1
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
Track Listing (Total Run Time: 59:58)
1. Break In
2. Finish What the Jester Started / Main Title
3. Only Surviving Member / Police Station / Of Course We'll Help
4. Headquarters Battle
5. Battle in the Sky
6. QED Monologue / Crime Syndicate / Made Men / Flash and Jon
Shipyard Battle
7. Sup and Lex Fight Jimmy and Ultraman
8. Owlman Multiverse Monologue / President Office Monologue
9. Rose Garden and Ultraman Intimidation / Superwoman Toys with
Bats / Batman Pissed at Luthor / Sniper Red Archer / Owlman Gets
Quantum Trigger
10. Perimeter Breach Watchtower
11. Rose and Jon Mindmeld / Owlman's End / Batman Owlman Fight
12. Moonbase Intro / Is This Just a Little Too Easy / Moonbase
Battle
13. Teleport
14. Jon Says Goodbye / Johnny Burns Out / Cavalry
15. Ending / End Credits |
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Review (by Zach Demeter)
James L. Venable has definitely had quite a career thus
far. He’s no stranger to animation, having scored the entire Samurai
Jack series and he’s also had his brush with live-action
with him being Kevin Smith’s go-to guy for a majority of his
pictures. While he’d never touched DC Animation before Crisis,
you wouldn’t know it by listening to what he brought to the
film. The soundtrack is very diverse, mixing in the right
superhero flavor in with the real-world drama that the film
attempts to present to the audience. There’s a sense of wonder
and excitement to some of his tracks (especially the “Rose and
Jon Mindmeld” piece, which in of itself was an intense moment in
the film that was only further driven home by Venable’s piece),
while in others there is more of a subtly to it.
Variety on these DC Universe titles is nice, but when I saw that
Venable would be doing the score for what would essentially be a
re-telling of a lost story from the old Timm-universe series, I
was mildly worried that it was an attempt to help diversify it
from the series even further. But Venable’s score came closer to
mimicking the Ritmanis, McCuistion, and Carter ways of composing
that was so prolific throughout that universe. In fact a lot of
the music in the score, even early on with bits like “Break In,”
(though it should be noted that that particular track was
composed by Christopher Drake, I believe)
there was a definite vibe of DC animation scores of old; the
bursts of activity in that first track on the disc are
reminiscent of something from Mask of the Phantasm.
One of the things that stuck out to me while watching the film
were the main titles; I’ve heard it been said that noticing the
music in a film is a detractor because it distracts you from
what’s going on on the screen, but I’m of the mind that you can
have it both ways. A rousing score will raise the goose bumps on
your arm just as much as an exciting visual will (and, in fact,
I’ve found it’s the score that’s often solely responsible or any
goose bump creation) and Venable really just did an amazing job
on this film. There were moments that I was so wrapped up in the
film that the soundtrack is often what I found being the driving
force behind it; granted, all of these DC Universe productions
have had truly fantastic scores, but there’s just something more
grandiose about Venable’s work here that makes it stand out a
bit more from the rest of the pack.
I think it might have to do with the scope of the film; Green
Lantern came close with more of a focus on sci-fi drama and
Robert J. Kral’s score there drove that point home. But Crisis
concerns an infinite number of Earth’s being affected so by
default the scale of the story just got infinitely bigger; true
we only focus on two, but the principal is still there.
Venable’s score just has a much more space opera type feel to
it—there are a lot of melodic pieces for the quiet moments
(notably the moments between Rose and Jon), but when it needs to
it kicks it into high gear with the more intense elements (the
upbeat finale with “Cavalry” on track 14 especially)
It’s really in the opening and closing titles, as it should be,
that you get an idea of what the score is capable of. It’s like
a “best of” for the entire score and by the time the end credits
role in the film (or on this soundtrack, whichever method you’re
currently listening to it on) you’re going to take notice of the
score of this film. It’s hard to ignore, which some may find
off-putting but for me it stood out just as much as it needed to
without being distracting. Now as the final track on the disc is
rolling the hairs on my neck and arm are raised up in attention
as it shifts between an orchestral classic to one mixed with
some electric guitar. That, again, is really an indication of
what you can expect from this score—it’s a wild mix of new and
old super heroic sounds. There are elements that sound like
something John Williams might have composed for Superman
or other segments that sound straight out of Batman Beyond.
Of course it should also be noted that the packaging states that
“Themes and Additional Music” were composed by Christopher
Drake, who I believe did most of the score up until Luthor met
with the Justice League; after that it was all Venable. To
Venable's credit there really isn't a lot of deviation from
Drake's early work, so there's a nice flow that's never really
broken.
There is definitely a lot to enjoy about Venable’s score for Crisis
on Two Earths and with each repeated listen I’m finding more
and more to like about it. Highly Recommended.
The CD
The CD itself arrives in a standard clear jewel case. A single
booklet lists album credits and inside has some photos from the
film (no words from the producers/composer this time around).
The package looks admittedly rather home-made, with a rather
slick label applied to the disc and a weird texture to the
ink/paper used on the booklets and inserts…but, all minor
quibbles considering they’re all “made on demand” via Amazon.
It’s just nice to have a physical option in addition to the
digital formats available online as well.
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