Soundtrack review: The Avengers (Alan Silvestri – 2012)
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Alan Silverstri’s second score for the Marvel universe was for the best movie of the series, “The Avengers”. This movie has a very high sentimental value for me: it was the movie my wife and I saw in London right after I proposed. I am glad I get to review this score now, a few months before Brian Tyler will come up with the score for the second movie and (hopefully? Probably?) blows this one out of the park, like he did with Thor.
Right off the bat I have a much easier time connecting with this one than I did with Captain America. The feeling is there, the heart of the score beats to a rhythm I enjoy. Six cues into the score and it is all excellence. A few more cue and I get the feeling of powerful and awesome I got from the movie as well. Alan Sivestri’s score is ballsy, exciting, and intense and a total pleasure to listen to. Tracks like “Hellicarrier”, “Don’t take my stuff” or “Assault” represent everything I wanted to hear in a score like this. “Performance issues” and “Assemble” simply shine from beginning to end.
The score doesn’t relent one bit. There are hardly any emotional and quiet moments, everything is about the action, the crushing, the drums. I’m OK with that. Let me rephrase some of that. Even the emotional moments like “One way trip”, the scene where Iron Man wants to sacrifice himself, are done with the same conviction and epic factor as the action moments.
The movie was epic, spectacular, and the score had to match it. I find myself avoiding monsters and dodging debris when I’m listening to this score. After the shaky and uneven score for Captain America, Alan Sivestri delivered what was demanded for this one, and, for me, it’s the most exciting Marvel score not written by Brian Tyler.
Cue rating: 86 / 100
Total minutes of excellence: 64 / 76
Album excellence: 85%
Highlights:
Arrival
Doors Open from Both Sides
Tunnel Chase
Interrogation
Stark Goes Green
Helicarrier
Don’t Take My Stuff
Assault
Seeing, Not Believing
Assemble
I Got a Ride
A Little Help
One Way Trip
A Promise
The Avengers