Battle: Los Angeles Composed by Brian Tyler
Varese Sarabande (2011)
Rating:
8/10
More soundclips below provided by AmazonMp3
“BATTLE: LOS ANGELES
is an unremitting explosive ride, and if fully embraced with an open
mind, a ride you’ll be more than willing to experience several
times.”
Unyielding Barrage
Review by Richard Buxton
Planet earth has been taking a real beating in recent months. Having
only just recovered from the events of SKYLINE, the USA’s west coast is
once again the victim of alien invasion, an invasion choreographed by
South African director JONATHAN LIEBESMAN.
Having previously directed psychological thriller THE KILLING ROOM and
horror DARKNESS FALLS, both scored by BRIAN TYLER, the two join forces
once more for BATTLE: LOS ANGELES. With a worldwide invasion underway, the
film follows the efforts of a single Marine platoon against the
extraterrestrial antagonists. Prior to release the film was frequently
described as ”Black Hawk Down with aliens”, suggesting a more personal and
emotionally visceral experience when compared to most examples of the
alien invasion genre. What transpired was perhaps less emotionally
engaging than the filmmakers had hoped for, but BATTLE: LOS ANGELES pulls no
punches in its delivery of relentless action as mankind faces the greatest
threat of its brief existence.
Regardless of any shortfalls in the storytelling found in BATTLE: LOS ANGELES, the
nature of the film has provided composer BRAIN TYLER with the opportunity
to flex his action muscle, and he has certainly hasn’t shunned it,
providing audiences with a bombastic and relentless barrage of ubiquitous
action and bravado on an epic scale.
Having had extensive experience in writing for the action genre, Tyler has
generally been seen as consistently reliable, perhaps not reinventing the
foundations upon which action films are scored but providing an exciting
backdrop for each film he has written for. After a single play through of
the entire BATTLE: LOS ANGELES score a general “temp-score” vibe is immediately
apparent. More often than not listeners will find themselves searching
through their film score memory banks, desperately attempting to remember
where they had heard such familiar music before. The strongest connections
heard in the music are no doubt to the likes of STEVE JABLONSKY and
various other Remote Control composers. Normally this would be a major
criticism, but how this is interpreted largely depends on the listener. If
the thought of anything resembling a JABLONSKY score is downright
sickening, then BATTLE: LOS ANGELES clearly isn’t for you. However, those with even
the slightest affection for the Remote Control way will find that TYLER’S
score for this film is worth their attention, for it takes the majority of
what makes a stereotypical Remote Control score entertaining and
multiplies it, providing over an hour’s worth of heart-pumping, heroic
action music.
TYLER opens proceedings with “Battle Los Angeles Hymn” (1), a track
dominated by an evocative reverberating guitar lead that is somewhat
unrepresentative of the score’s overall makeup.
It is in “Battle Los Angeles Main Titles” (2) that the score begins in
earnest and the majority of the themes TYLER has concocted debut.
Beginning with the multiple orchestral blasts, a motif heard multiple
times throughout the score, the track is structured as a standard score
suite, each theme makes an appearance in fully fledged form, creating
momentum with opening builds before each theme announces itself in
spectacular, uninhibited and often breathless fashion. “Main Titles” is
undoubtedly the star of the score and the most satisfying track when each
track is considered alone. Variations on themes heard in “Main Titles” can
be heard across the entire score, the 6 note rally blasting it’s way into
most of the action-oriented tracks, while what is arguably the most
prominent theme, heard at 1:16 in “Main Titles” is given a dramatic
reprisal in the penultimate track “Battle Los Angeles” (21). This theme is
unashamedly heroic; the almost overbearing efforts to convey the valour of
our protagonists dominate the tracks that it appears in.
As for the aforementioned Remote Control Productions references, such
inspirations surface at multiple times throughout. The propulsive nature
of the strings in “Arrival” (3) the string ostinato in the closing moments
of “Main Titles” and the driving strings and brass in “Command and Control
Center” (5) all make for strikingly familiar tracks, but their
effectiveness is not lessened due to such attributes.
With such an emphasis on unyielding barrages of testosterone, it comes as
a relief to know that BATTLE: LOS ANGELES contains a number of pieces to break up
the pace, and these provide key elements in any attempt to produce a more
personal and emotionally effective film. TYLER’S efforts towards such an
objective are twofold. Route one consists of a direct attempt to elicit
melancholy through a slowed pace and reflective passages that are almost
entirely devoid of any of the percussive elements previously relied on to
drive the score forward. Examples of this can be heard in the beautiful
use of choir and strings in “Elegy” (6), a deeply evocative track,
portraying the almost familial struggle of the platoon. “Regret” (17)
similarly makes use of vocals effectively, leading into “Shelf Life” (18),
a wistful variation on “Battle Los Angeles Hymn” (1) that reminisces
pre-alien invasion life on the vast coast of California.
TYLER’S alternative method of constructing deeper emotional ties to the
plight of the marines is one closer in relation to the overarching themes
of the score, those being percussive and momentum seeking. “For Home,
Country and Family” (8) makes use of light percussion, electronic
percussion and reverberating piano chords to deliver a rising anthem of
optimism, only emphasized by the faint vocals and guitar in the climax of
the piece. “Marines Don’t Quit” (4) and “War Hymn” (9) both make similar
use of percussion in accelerating the contemplative strings towards a
catharsis.
One immediate obvious aspect of the entire score is how the minutes are
distributed between tracks. In total there are 6 tracks that amount to at
least 5 minutes in duration, suggesting that these 6 comprise the
highlights of the score and provide the greatest insight into what TYLER
has achieved in BATTLE: LOS ANGELES. On the whole this rings true. The all out
cacophonic action and suspense music is covered by the 8.5-minute
“Redemption” (7) and “Mobilized” (12), the softer side by “Elegy” (6) and
“To Hell and Back” (11) and the all-encompassing “Battle Los Angeles”
effectively rounds out the score with a strong echo of the main themes
previously heard. The reward of this is the listener being granted the
opportunity to effectively summarize the entire score in a few tracks,
previewing what the rest of the score develops further.
Thematically, the shortest tracks are undoubtedly weaker, being
underdeveloped and often consisting of only a single idea. This is no more
apparent than in “The World Is At War” (19), an entirely irrelevant
addition to the soundtrack that offers nothing but angst through
underscore. Thankfully, the existence of these “mono-thematic” is
justified in the likes of “Rebalance” (16) that creates ample anticipation
with a countdown-like percussive conclusion. “The Freeway” (13), is a
similarly simplistic but nonetheless invigorating composition, coming
across as an amalgamation of Bumblebee’s TRANSFORMERS theme and
JABLONSKY’S opening to “The Island Awaits You” (The Island).
In BATTLE: LOS ANGELES, BRIAN TYLER has produced an inexorable force of
action scoring. Therefore it is perhaps surprising that the score reaches
the peak in only the second track, “Battle Los Angeles Main Titles”.
Subsequently the score is undoubtedly an unremitting adventure of
unadulterated excitement, but it never quite manages to exceed the
monolithic nature of the second track. Despite this, BATTLE: LOS ANGELES
is a real assault on the senses and a true highlight in BRIAN TYLER’S
scoring career. He makes no attempts to rewrite the rulebook here, BATTLE:
LOS ANGELES is an unremitting explosive ride, and if fully embraced with
an open mind, a ride you’ll be more than willing to experience several
times.
