Loved the first film, "eh" about the score. It was completely serviceable, but I can't help thinking that a grander score in the vein of James Horner's 80s science fiction or even David Arnold's Emmerich/Devlin scores would have made it even better.
James Gunn was on facebook live a little while ago, broadcasting from the scoring sessions at Abbey Road. First clip heard from the score. Video can be viewed at:
James Gunn was on facebook live a little while ago, broadcasting from the scoring sessions at Abbey Road. First clip heard from the score. Video can be viewed at:
Music sounds wonderful. Right on par with the best tracks from the first score.
Also, I love that they're doing these social media marketing videos now, giving previews of recording the scores. Great way to give fans a little look behind the scenes and whet the appetites.
I was a very harsh critic of Bates before the first Guardians, mostly due to the damage done to Goldenthal's career, which is not really his fault at all. After I heard Guardians, I was shocked by the level of composition and the reaction I had to cues like Black Tears which sounds like Murray Gold at his best.
I contacted Bates in an emotional state of mind and told him of my dislike of his earlier work and my growing appreciation for his work here.
Now, as most of you will know, most composers do not like critical fans hassling them with questions. Bates contacted me back and we had a very frank discussion of his working methods etc. which made my appreciation of him as a human being and a composer grow immensely. To take that time and to appreciate someone coming at him with critical questions and answering them with patience is very impressive.
I can only look forward to his latest work. At least, he is a good composer and an excellent human, much like the films he is scoring here.
I was a very harsh critic of Bates before the first Guardians, mostly due to the damage done to Goldenthal's career, which is not really his fault at all. After I heard Guardians, I was shocked by the level of composition and the reaction I had to cues like Black Tears which sounds like Murray Gold at his best.
I contacted Bates in an emotional state of mind and told him of my dislike of his earlier work and my growing appreciation for his work here.
Now, as most of you will know, most composers do not like critical fans hassling them with questions. Bates contacted me back and we had a very frank discussion of his working methods etc. which made my appreciation of him as a human being and a composer grow immensely. To take that time and to appreciate someone coming at him with critical questions and answering them with patience is very impressive.
I can only look forward to his latest work. At least, he is a good composer and an excellent human, much like the films he is scoring here.
wow... Can you tell us maybe a little bit more about his tough position on the 300/Titus score situation?
They announced details of the Soundtrack album yesterday, and in the fine print of some articles mentioned that the score would be available for order at a separate date. I'd love to have the OST/score in a deluxe package again too. Details on the tracks below.
1. "Mr. Blue Sky," Electric Light Orchestra "I've always said that if the Guardians had a house band, it would be ELO," says Gunn, "and 'Mr. Blue Sky' is one of my favorite songs by them. We had a hard time getting the rights. We had to really fight to get the song, and I personally appealed to Jeff Lynne." Lynne had previously approved a song for the first Guardians that Gunn ended up cutting, which made the process harder this time. But in the end, Gunn says, "I think we made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
2. "Fox on the Run," Sweet "Fox on the Run" is a trailer-only song that doesn't actually appear in the film, much like "Spirit in the Sky" from the first soundtrack LP.
3. "Lake Shore Drive," Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah "'Lake Shore Drive' is a song that I grew up with," says Gunn. "It was a regional hit and only in, like, St. Louis and Chicago, so a lot of people don't know it, but it is truly one of the catchiest songs ever written, and I knew that there were a thousand places that I could've used it easily in Guardians because it's so easy to fit into the movie."
4. "The Chain," Fleetwood Mac "There are two songs that are the most deeply embedded into the fibers of the film," says Gunn. "'The Chain' is one because it is about the Guardians, at least in the way we use it, and we use it a couple of times in the movie. And the other one is 'Brandy,' which is an incredibly important song in the movie. Both happen to be two of my favorite songs from the Seventies."
5. "Bring it On Home to Me," Sam Cooke "It's just a really beautiful song," says Gunn. "In Quill's mind, it's about Quill and Gamora."
6. "Southern Nights," Glen Campbell Campbell's groovy 1977 version of Allen Toussaint's song was a childhood favorite for Gunn: "It's a little bit of a different flavor for the movie."
7. "My Sweet Lord," George Harrison "It was one of the first songs that I picked out to try to use in the movie and it has to do a little bit with the origin of Ego," says Gunn, referring to Peter Quill's alien father (full name: Ego, the Living Planet), played by Kurt Russell. "And there's this big creation myth about how he came about and it was kind of lined up with that. I've always been into Hindu creation myths and there's some similarities there."
8. "Brandy You're a Fine Girl," Looking Glass Gunn has long adored this cheeseball 1972 smash ("It's always a song I've sort of sadly, tragically related to"), which plays a key emotional role in the new movie, appearing in the very first scene.
9. "Come a Little Bit Closer," Jay and the Americans This 1964 hit, one of the oldest songs on the soundtrack, scores an action scene that Gunn previewed at Comic-Con where the heroes "enjoy a little bit of ultra-violence while it's playing and it's really fun."
10. "Wham Bang Shang-A-Lang," Silver Ever since the first film, fans and friends have been proposing Seventies songs to Gunn for the new soundtrack – and almost always, he'd heard them before. But when someone sent him this sugary pop tune, it was entirely new to him, and he loved it. "It was so weird," says Gunn. "For a minute I wasn't sure if I was being tricked because I had never heard the song. I wasn't sure if was a modern band doing a retro version of a song or if it was actually an old song."
11. "Surrender," Cheap Trick By including this 1978 Cheap Trick classic, Gunn repays a favor to the band, which let him use "If You Want My Love" in his 2011 indie film Super for nearly nothing.
12. "Father and Son," Yusuf / Cat Stevens Gunn was inspired to use this thematically appropriate 1970 ballad after hearing Howard Stern attempt to perform it on acoustic guitar on his show.
13. "Flashlight," Parliament It's hard not to picture Baby Groot dancing to this one. "You'll see," says Gunn. "But it's just one of my favorite funk songs."
14. "Guardians Inferno," The Sneepers featuring David Hasselhoff This comedic original, co-written by Gunn and score composer Tyler Bates, is meant as a sort of Guardians take on Meco's disco Star Wars theme. Gunn is particularly proud of a line that rhymes "procyon lotor" – i.e., "racoon," as in Bradley Cooper's Rocket – with "motor." They recruited David Hasselhoff as vocalist largely because he's supposed to be one of Peter Quill's childhood heroes.
Has anyone seen a pre-order for the score? Can't find it anywhere.
Would love to see them do a deluxe edition again, with both score and soundtrack combined in a two-disc set.
-- jR
Not yet, though according to filmmusicreporter, the score album will be announced soon. http://filmmusicreporter.com/2017/04/19/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-soundtrack-details/ I am holding out ordering anything until the score album is announced. If they do the deluxe edition again, that is what I will be ordering. The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are among the few releases where I want both the songs and score.
I also liked Bates' thematic approach to the first film and I'm looking forward to hearing his second offering for this franchise. I just re watched GOTG and it's score holds up well.
