Children of Dune

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

As said, composer Brian Tyler is on his 3 week mission to proof the community of film score lovers that he means business. Already now he is getting assignments like no other and replacing top film composers of rocky scores, meaning people seem to believe in Brian Tyler as the new hot upcoming film composer. His Darkness Falls was a hit and as they say it, as a horror score it could not get better blasts and thrills. His other highly anticipated score is for Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, opening with good response on television. The same of course counts twice for the score of Tyler, receiving equally warm praise and of course you had to find out for yourself if it was worth it. No doubt about it, I started this score with the highest anticipation and after 8 tracks, it felt like it couldn't fail. Yet then, it simply stopped and I'm really amazed people give it quotations even reaching The Two Towers of Howard Shore. Simply to tell you, Tyler has a lot to learn if he wants to become the hot composer he is today. Again, I may sound negative but that is just because I expected so much of it, basically Children of Dune is capturing nice moments but the sheer over praising critics have made me so aware that Children of Dune is in fact a very normal album with a wonderful beginning. With over 77 minutes of music, this score captures perhaps 10 minutes that is very good, but then just 15 minutes repeated over and over in various tracks mixed in between. Making Children of Dune a score for the fans of newcomer Tyler as the countless fans of the show, but for normal people I recommend Darkness Falls over this one, because for me it offers a bit more thrills then this one.

Children of Dune is in fact a score very reminiscent of Gladiator. No doubt about it that producers have said to Brian Tyler to recreate the wonderful ethnic environment that Zimmer and co accomplished with just various instruments. Well, those various instruments appear here also and they listen fine but also just like Gladiator. More, the wonderful song is a typical spoof in that it uses Lisa Gerrard's song in the same vein to create applause. The moment where the two vocals add a higher spectrum is simply the same as in 'Now we are Free' and here I felt troubled by its common facts. Nonetheless, 'Inama Nushif (Montage)' is a wonderful 4 minute piece with great vocals and a very hummable sound, appearing in the trailers with equal effect. The other highlights of Brian Tyler's score are the opener 'Summon the Worms' where the main theme receives an excellent version of it and a different yet somewhat same sounding theme is saved for 'Main Title (House Atreides)', a militaristic mood is accompanied with bells for the pride of the Atreides. Yet here the highlights stop, and if you want to find the good moments, there all in the begin. 'Dune Messiah' has the main theme in a soft manner where flutes and the ever present duduk take center stage, 'The Revolution' has the main theme in a heroic action kind of way and 'Fear is the Mind Killer' has some brass blasts like heard in Darkness Falls, here showing a bit the roots of Brian Tyler. And last, a secondary theme that will not reappear further in the score is heard, a lovely string theme in 'The Arrival of Lady Jessica'. With the main theme, Atreidis theme, this love theme as the song theme, you have the basic material for the entire score, which I find a bit disappointing onto itself because they don't differ much apart from each other, except for the song theme.

Because the rest of the score is simply, and I mean that literally underscore of the highest order, even the underscore which were calm mysterious tones in Darkness Falls were more interesting at times then here, simply because again I didn't think it would stop just like that. Just the repetition of the wonderful main theme like heard in track 1 in 'The Jihad' is interesting as the song theme yet softly played at the end in 'Farewell'. The rest is briefly some louder material but mainly guitar, duduk and flute occasionally playing the main theme. Here it listens like Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, 'Trap the Worm' and 'Exiles' couldn't be more proof of the Zimmer style. And there you have it, a good but overlong album that is killed because of two things. First, I was expecting great things of Tyler after his exhilarating Darkness Falls but simply the sheer anticipation because of people praising this score to the death is simply what killed it in the process. Children of Dune is capturing especially in the begin good to great material but after the 10th track, this score falls flat with underscore which is nice but doesn't add a thing to the whole listening experience. That it takes influences from Gladiator isn't a tragedy but Tyler still seems to me a good composer, but not a great one. He still isn't capable in making an overall interesting score due to the lack of various themes as exiting music overall. That the mixing and presentation of his two latest scores hasn't helped much either isn't his problem nonetheless. Children of Dune is an overall good score, but a sad disappointment if you believe this score can compete with either Gladiator, The Two Towers as other high praising soundtracks.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Summon The Worms (3.49) Excellent Track

2. Dune Messiah (2.39)

3. Main Title (House Atreides) (1.36) Excellent Track

4. The Revolution (2.00)

5. Fear Is The Mind Killer (2.44)

6. The Arrival Of Lady Jessica (3.07)

7. Leto Atreides II (2.44)

8. Inama Nushif (Montage) (3.52) Excellent Track

9. War Begins (1.08)

10. Battle Of Naraj (3.15)

11. Rya Wolves (1.34)

12. I Have Only Now (3.12)

13. The Impossible Wager (3.00)

14. Face Dancer (1.03)

15. The Throne Of Alia (1.20)

16. Trap The Worm (3.03)

17. Salusus Secundus (1.04)

18. The Jihad (2.02)

19. The Ring Of Paul (3.50)

20. Exiles (1.28)

21. Sins Of The Mother (1.24)

22. Irulan's Regret (1.11)

23. My Skin Is Not My Own (1.22)

24. Reunited (2.28)

25. The Golden Path (2.10)

26. Child Emperor (1.18)

27. Sign Of The Bene Gesserit (2.08)

28. The Preacher At Arrakeen (2.32)

29. The Desert Journey (1.36)

30. The Ghola Duncan (1.37)

31. Leto And Ghanima (1.16)

32. The Fremen Qizarate (1.42)

33. Farewell (3.25)

34. Children Of Dune (1.16)

35. Horizon (1.34)

36. End Title (1.30)

Total Length: 77.24

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=== Link to Composer Site: Brian Tyler ===