But this week I have been sadly disappointed...not one mention of feedback on Michael Giacchino's breakout feature film scoring debut, The Incredibles. So I'm taking the liberty of doing it for you.

There are so many things done right in this score, it's hard to know where to start. One thing that has always bugged me about most Pixar scores is the fact that they just don't flow well on album and aren't very fun to listen to. Good in their films, yes, but how many times do I really pull out Toy Story 2 to listen to it?

From the opening action cue, The Incredibles is a step up. A big part of this is that the score as a whole just plain rocks...but another part of it that shouldn't be ignored is that Chris Tilton puts together a darn fine album for us to enjoy.

But now let's talk about the music. The liner notes (more on them in a minute) talk about Giacchino and director Brad Bird trying to find the "sound" that defined the glory days of super heroes and that they decided it was everything from fast 60's jazz to big brassy fanfares, and that's what Giacchino delivered. This score has style that must be heard. There hasn't been a "cool" score like this in years.

But the great things about this score don't stop at just the music. The liner notes are easily the best of any score release this year, with notes by Brad Bird and discussion of the music by Paul Tonks. To hear how Giacchino and Bird designed the music for this film, you can truly see that they, and other like-minded directors and composers are the future of Hollywood film scoring. This excerpt from the notes sums it up:

<i>"Bird and Giacchino also rejected a scoring approach most typical today; a bombastic wall-to-wall underscore featuring electronic beats and rhythms, occasionally punctuated by contemporary songs."</i>

Take notes, Mr. Bruckheimer, this is how things should be done.

And finaly, something that The Incredibles does exceptionally well that even John Williams has been slacking on lately: a dedicated, specificly composed End Credits cue. A rollicking, big-time tour-de-themes with a new spin to signal the musical close of a story. Brilliantly done here.

I have to hand it to Giacchino...just when we've got him pegged as WWII score guy, he turns around and hands us the dark modern style of Alias. Just when we've got him pegged as a modern TV spy composer, he turns around and hands us the edgy, dissonant brooding of LOST. And just as we have him pigeon holed into a creative TV composer, he gives us a big "BOOYAH!" large-scale 60's style thematic fun-fest with The Incredibles. Is there anything he can't do?

-Brendan

p.s. in case you haven't figured it out yet, I highly recommend The Incredibles.

Where you been bro? I totally can't wait either. I'm going tommorrow (after the big studio shoot on campus) and it's gonna rock!

**** Disney!

--Brian
Unoffical Pixar Guy

I wanted to grab this CD, but refused to pay $20 for any domestic CD from Tower Records and I haven't found it at a reasonable price elsewhere...yet.

I am an avid admirer of Giacchino's work since discovering him via his TV scores. The fact that he also uses Tim Simonec for his orchestrator/conductor is a great sign. Tim's a wonderful composer in his own right and a good guy. I was lucky enough to have the aquaintance of Tim and his wife Janet about 10 years ago and feel bad I've haven't travelled in the same circles to keep in touch with them.

I'll be seeing "The Incredibles" tonight hopefully and will be sure to chime in with my review once I've heard the score.

James

P.S. Don't read or browse that "Art of The Incredibles" book if you don't want the film to be ruined for you. There are major character spoilers in the book.

Jz

Enjoy,

James

*************************************

Moriarty: In terms of the score, you cut that original teaser to the Propellerheads version of the “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” theme...

BRAD: Actually, that was a live performance than we recorded, because we messed with it a little bit. We got the rights to that piece of music and kind of reorchestrated it.
Moriarty: Very early on, there was some talk about John Barry working on the score.

BRAD: Yeah. We worked on it for a little while, and I’m a huge fan of John Barry. But I kind of wanted him to go back to a style that he used in the past, and use that as kind of a starting place. I think he kind of felt like he’d already done that. So we’re still in touch with him, and he’s going to see the movie in New York. He was all right with us trying to find someone who could be, uh... perky and fresh about going backwards because John certainly had already done a lot of that style.
Moriarty: I think he’s got to see this as a giant love letter to his work. Michael’s score is so rich.

BRAD: Thanks! We tried to capture a whole raft of ‘60’s style, jazz style... and also, one of the good things about Michael Giacchino is he was able to capture that style but not be a prisoner to it. He created great original themes for these guys, and we’re incredibly happy with the music. He had trouble getting people to give him a break in movies, and I think people won’t leave him alone after this.
Moriarty: As much as I’ve enjoyed his work on ALIAS and LOST, this is a huge leap forward, and I think it’s the lush size of the thing. He really gets to play this time.

BRAD: Yeah, yeah, he had a blast, and he’s fabulous.

After giving it a good once over I really enjoy it- and it seems to get better evertime. I start to pick up new themes with every listen [That Michael-- he's crafty]

I was wondering what themes you've picked up on, big and small. What I'm really looking for is a thematic breakdown of the music.

Clearly there is a heroic theme which is heard in the first cue- GLORY DAYS, and a kind of secondary heroic theme also heard in moments on the first cue- I want to say that KRONO'S UNVEILDhas Sympton's theme in it, because it keeps popping up in place Syndrome appeared in the film...

quote:

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Originally posted by Jeremy:
Anybody else? Themes? Motifs?

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Yes, Giacchino slips in his Medal of Honor rocket theme on a shot of (gasp!) the rocket. The theme appears on the album quickly by solo piccolo in the cue "Lithe or Death."

Besides that, there is clearly an "old school" hero theme (from "Glory Days") the main Incredibles theme (the one in 5/4 time that starts out the "Incredits") and the playful Dash theme (most prominent in 100 Mile Dash) to name a few.

The movie's a lot of fun, too. Took my son and 10 of his friends to see it Saturday for his birthday.

quote:

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Originally posted by Marc Flake:
Took my son and 10 of his friends to see it Saturday for his birthday.

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You are a braver man than I.

He and his (almost)7-year-old brother are reallly enjoying listening to the music though.

Afterward, I played the "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" CD for the 7-year-old to see if he heard any similarities.