Space Cadet Bling

In honor of one of the best games I’ve never played (thanks to the lack of time for video gaming & Youtube walkthroughs), I’ve put out this soundtrack review of “The Last of Us” after being thoroughly riveted by this game. Naughty Dog manages to do it again following their excellent “Uncharted” franchise, with excellent storytelling, characterization and dialogue. “The Last of Us” could possibly trump the almost perfect Uncharted series, at least in terms of emotional attachment to the characters.

So, enough about the game as there are plemty of websites about that, this is the review of Gustavo Santaolalla’s excellent score. Again, this is a track-by-track to help you sift through which tracks to purchase if you’re not interested in buying the entire album. But then again, if you find 9 or more tracks you find interesting, might as well purchase the whole album.

1. “The Quarantine Zone (20 Years Later)” **** (3:40) Listening to the first track, I can’t help but feel like a sordid story of the past is being told. Cue Santaolalla’s trademark guitar, but done in a somewhat disconcerting tune in minor key. To sum up this track in 3 words: A distant sadness. A must have. Purchase track

2. ”The Hour” *** (1:02) A quiet little piece, with chiming bells evoking the spirits of the South. Short and inconsequential. Give this a pass. Purchase track

3. “The Last of Us” ***** (3:04) The main theme of the game in its most complete form. Many versions of the theme would come later but this one is the theme’s defining track. Classic Santaolalla with melodious rhythmic guitars. Think Hunger Games meets Deadwood with a blend of BBC’s Sherlock. Essential purchase. Purchase track

4. ”Forgotten Memories” ** (1:08) Too short, just high pitched gentle meditative woodwind. In the end, this track is pretty, but will most certainly end up as a forgotten memory. Pass. Purchase track

5. ”The Outbreak” ** (1:32) A bit of Mychael Danna’s 8mm vibe in here. Eerie screeches & soft woodwinds. Feels like walking up a creepy old house a la Texas Chainsaw Massacre silent, except for its rusty windmill contraptions. Forgettable. Purchase track

6. ”Vanishing Grace” *** (2:09) Disconcerting Nine-Inch-Nail style synths. A little disappointed that this theme in its most complete form is executed in such version. I much prefer the “Childhood” version. Still, a good track. Purchase track

7. “The Hunters” **** (2:00) The chase and it’s time to run! The rhythmic drums makes you feel like a Native Indian going on a raid. You’ll feel like the spirit of the wolf is inside you while listening to this piece. One of the better tracks in the album. Highly recommended. Purchase track

8. ”All Gone” ** (1:13) This theme is better explored in the No Escape version. It’s only hinted at and never fully explored in this track. Save your money for the “No Escape” version. Purchase track

9. ”Vanishing Grace (Innocence)” *** (0:56) Less than a minute of nocturnal bliss with a hint of eeriness. Again, I wished this track could be longer. A decent purchase, but not essential. Purchase track

10. ”By Any Means” (1:53) * Drum beats. No melodies. Move along. Purchase track

11. “The Choice” (1:42) **** Deep bass guitar strumming. Quiet and understated in the classic Santaolalla fashion. I still can’t believe how simple his tunes are and still completely magical. Recommended, mainly because it’s one of the odd themes that makes just this one appearance. Purchase track

12. ”Smugglers” (1:38) *** A more upbeat track. Something like a “getting the job done” song. One of the rare synthesizery tracks. Feels like a montage scene of setting booby traps. Somewhat recommended. Purchase track

13. ”The Last of Us (Never Again)” ** (1:02) Just another forgettable & slightly creepy variation on the main theme. Pass. Purchase track

14. ”The Last of Us (Goodnight)” *** (0:51) A short guitar solo of the main theme, nothing else, if not pretty, minimalistic & understated. Shortest track on the album. Move along. Purchase track

15. ”I Know What You Are” * (1:22) Begins with drum beats, like the start to Underworld’s “And I Will Kiss” London Olympics. Except that it never escapes from those drum beats and ends with that. Move along. Purchase track

16. “Home” ***** (3:08) Words to describe this track. Dreamy. Wistful. Nostalgia. Memories of home. This theme makes its only appearance, and boy, it’s a beautiful guitar piece. Highly, highly recommended. Purchase track

17. ”Infected” ** (1:16) Heavy drums. Ominous horns, signaling the sound of war. The battle cry track of the album. Interesting, but unfortunately too short to be of importance. Purchase track

18. “All Gone (Aftermath)” **** (1:04) At just over 1 minute, it’s too short to be a worthwhile purchase, but oh, what a glorious 1 minute this is. Sad and evocative in a deep and grand scale. Purchase track

19. ”The Last of Us (A New Dawn)” *** (2:28) Starts off with the memorable trademark Santaolalla guitar strums made famous by his Iguazu track. But somehow shifts completely in tone in the middle to a ominous dangerous track with pounding drums. Not a fan of schizophrenic tracks, on its own this track serves its purpose for its mood. One of the weaker versions of the main theme. Purchase track

20. “All Gone (No Escape)” ***** (2.54) Clearly, the emotional core of both the video game and the soundtrack. Unofficially called “Ellie’s Theme”, this is the track that cues the most emotional part of the video game, near the climax. Despite strong similarities “Dreamers Awake” theme in Paul Buckmaster’s 12 Monkeys, arguably the best track on the album. If there is only 1 track you want to purchase from this album, this is it! Purchase track

21. “Vanishing Grace (Childhood)” ***** (1:41) This is the track to listen when you want a peaceful zen moment in the summer fields. Too bad it’s a little too short. Makes me wish that this is the version that is the longest of this theme instead of the previous track no. 6 with synthesizer guitars, even though it’s by a mere 30 seconds. This track is worth it! Purchase track

22. ”The Path” *** (1:29)You’d be better served getting the ‘A New Beginning’ version of this theme. They’re virtually identical. This one, minus the bridge. Purchase track

23. “All Gone (Alone)” **** (1:22) A quiet wistful version of the ‘All Gone’ theme. Sad cello accompanied by the light strums of the guitar. Think of a lonely brook in a meadow. Sadly, this cuts off somewhat abruptly into the next track. Purchase track

24. ”Blackout” (1:39) *** Something wicked this way comes. Eerie sustained strings and deep guitar strums signaling something bad about to happen. Doesn’t feel out of place imagining some mysterious dark gunslinger stepping into town. Purchase track

25. ”The Way It Was” ** Dreamy, Sad, wistful. Feels like experimental musings on the piano, not really developed into any substantial & recognizable theme. Short & not very memorable. Purchase track

26. ”Breathless” * (1:24) Creepy, ominous. Mostly ambient sound effects with heavy echoes and drones. Move along. Purchase track

27. “The Last of Us (You and Me)” **** (2:09) An ominous version of the main theme. Mostly guitar solo with the cello making a brief appearance. Understated and still beautiful. Recommended. Purchase track

28. ”All Gone (The Outside)” *** (1:58) The beautiful ‘All Gone’ theme is almost unrecognizable in this creepy, loneliness-driven dream-sequence version. Think Twin Peaks. Interesting, but not particularly essential. Purchase track

29. “The Path (A New Beginning)” ***** (2:47) If it feels like before, the music had been hanging on to the melancholy and holding its breath, waiting for a moment to relax and just shout for freedom, this track finally does it here with its relaxed, free flowing melody. Great for a drive along the countryside. Essential and one of the best tracks on the album. Purchase track

30. “Returning” **** (3:36) More meditative, quiet, strumming from Santaolalla’s guitar. Not as strong thematically as “All Gone”, “The Last of Us” and “The Path” but still highly recommended for being one of the longest tracks on the album. Anything longer than 3 minutes on a Santaolalla album is always worth your while.  Purchase track

As with much of Santaolalla’s music, this album is understated, yet emotionally evocative and memorable, much like Santaolalla’s previous film scores such as 21 Grams, Brokeback Mountain & Babel. The album is quite amazing come to think of it with its variety of themes, I can count at least five (not including the incidental action scenes), that are beautiful and unique. Fans might compare this soundtrack to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ The Road, though The Road is beautiful in its own right, the mood of that album is more repetitive and meditative compared to the more melodiously varied The Last of Us. Generally, even in film, you’re looking at the most, three different themes. So to compare it with Santaolalla’s Oscar winning scores, I’d say The Last of Us stands right up there as equals and could also possibly be his best and most memorable work to date.

Album Rating: ****1/2

Purchase the album

Purchase the video game

I wasn’t impressed with the version that ended up in the actual Marketing magazine when the printer tried to color correct it on their own without consulting me. Well, this was how it should’ve looked like.

I’ll go straight to the point and say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the music really stuck with me enough that once I got out of the cinemas, I went straight to find the soundtrack and write a review about it. Since this is not a review of the movie, I’ll leave my thoughts on it at that.

The soundtrack to Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion is a follow-up and clearly inspired by Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy score, with sweeping electronic orchestration on a grand scale. Though much of the middle of the soundtrack is the usual electro-synth scifi-action adventure filler music with drum beats & synth pads & violins, you’d be remiss if you ignore this album as some of the tracks here are far and away (another Tom Cruise movie, but I digress), the most memorable tracks in cinematic history. That said, I can expect that, just like the movie, opinions will be polarized depending on whether you’re a movie soundtrack traditionalist and a stickler for originality, or if you just appreciate the execution despite issues with originality, enough to marvel at the final product, sit back, and just enjoy the ride.

Listen to the first couple of tracks, skip the middle, then pay attention again to the 5 final tracks. This seems to be the pacing for most movie score albums these days, especially with the advent of digital orchestration and the “Zimmer”esque nature of movie score these days. The same even goes for ol’ evergreen John Williams too, which makes me think, why don’t we just skip to all the good parts with solid thematics and not filler ambient music. And then I remember, there’s iTunes for that where you can just buy single tracks. So hopefully, with this as a loose guide, I can show you the difference. As in the case of Oblivion, it’s pretty much the same, though there can be a few gems in the middle that over time, will win you over. And so off we go with this quick review, the one featured here is the 30-track Deluxe Edition.

1. Jack’s Dream (1:30)**** A quiet opening, with a sense of grand ominous foreboding, ending in a touching piano piece in the 2nd half of this piece which I consider the 2nd theme of the album. Short but beautiful, thus, RECOMMENDED for purchase. Click here to purchase this track from Amazon. Purchase Jack’s Dream from Amazon

2. Waking Up (4:18)***** I consider this the main theme, one of the highlight tracks of the whole album and the one that sets off the movie on a grand scale. Epic, sweeping, rhythmic beats reminiscent of Daft Punk’s “Disc Wars” track in Tron: Legacy, but so completely inspiring despite its familiar sound, enough to jump this at the top of my playlist at the gym, or when I’m trekking/driving through a majestic mountain vista. Expect this track to be played in numerous trailers and sports montages. This should be the first track you download from the album. RECOMMENDED, RECOMMENDED, RECOMMENDED! Purchase Waking Up from Amazon

3. Supercell (4:19)*** Slightly above average action filler music. Not completely original since you can insert this track into any of Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight movie and you wouldn’t sense it being out of place. Sweeping, but not grand, and features hints of the main theme heard in Waking Up. For that, I say, pass on this for purchase and go listen to the Dark Knight scores instead.

4. Tech 49 (6:01)**** It shifts moods various times, starting off with a pretty generic, quiet & tense moment, then one of horror, ending with a sweeping climax on a grand scale. But when it hits, wow, it HITS. You’ll hear for the first time the signature blending of rock & orchestra in the album which sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it really does in the album. RECOMMENDED but not essential. You can hear the 2nd part of this track in its more fulfilled form in Waking Up. Purchase Tech 49 from Amazon

5. The Library (3:27) * Completely cliched filler music. Even comes with overused low-bass “time-stop” sound effect you always hear in action/scifi movie trailers. Sigh. Move along.

6. Horatius (2:31) *** Drones, tension, a sign of dark things to come. These describe the mood of this track. Nothing too impressive to listen here unless if you like slightly above average filler score.

7. StarWaves (3:41) **** One of the few standout tracks in the middle of the album. I think of being an astronaut traveling in the ISS, looking down on Earth and enjoying the view of the Northern Lights at night. That is the sense I get from this magnificently dreamy track. However, it still feels like the track is stuck on constant 2rd gear in dire need of a good boost. Highly RECOMMENDED. Purchase StarWaves from Amazon

8. Hydrorig (2:23) ** Moments of tension and grand splendor, but still basically a filler track with futuristic beats & synths. Quite forgettable.

9. Crater Lake (1:28) *** Starts off like any other filler track, but ends more interestingly with a more understated version of the main theme. Pass on this with no big loss.

10. Unidentified Object (2:32) *** A taste of the 2nd theme heard in Jack’s Dream. Quiet moments of mystery interspersed with suspenseful rhythmic beats. I could easily classify this in the forgettable filler music class, but unique enough that I call this a borderline case of RECOMMENDED.

11. Odyssey Rescue (4:12) *** Foreboding on a grand scale and moments of intense action and quiet moments. Another filler scene track. There’s a brief moment which sounds a lot like Orbital’s Event Horizon at the 1:30 mark. Another borderline case of RECOMMENDED. Purchase Odyssey Rescue from Amazon

12. Return from Delta (2:22) ** Standard quiet mood music. In the end, basically, a theme of only 2 baseline chords which repeats over and over again with added sound effects. Pass.

13. Retrieval (6:48) *** Despite it being the longest track of the album, nothing much to listen here except for tension, mood, suspense fillers, loud moments, quiet moments, etc. I’d pass on this unless you like listening to background music while you’re doing something else.

14. Earth 2077 (2:23) **** Features the 3rd theme of the whole album. If memory served me right, it’s the opening credits track of the movie. Sweeping synths and drums, evoking a feeling of flying through the air. A highlight and definitely RECOMMENDED, but far from being the best track. Purchase Earth 2077 from Amazon

15. Revelations (1:43) ** More sense of foreboding. Short and forgettable. Pass.

16. Drone Attack (3:26) ** Quiet tension slowly building to faster action with electronic drums and beats. Another forgettable track. There’s a callback to an obscure scifi soundtrack, this time, Elliot Goldenthal’s Alien 3, in its final 20 seconds. I’d pass on this unless you like action filler tracks.

17. Return to Empire State (6:41) ***** The early parts are not especially inspiring, but once it hits the 4-minute mark, the moment becomes especially poignant. You can easily imagine looking at the stars, thinking of echoes of lost civilizations and forgotten tragedy. A short, but memorable main theme heard in Jack’s Dream, but in my opinion, the best version in the whole album. Only because of the last part, highly RECOMMENDED.

18. Losing Control (3:57) *** Suspense and uneasy tension. Slow build-up foreboding to a loud climax, but somehow still forgettable. Pass. Purchase Losing Control from Amazon

19. Canyon Battle (5:58) ** If you like generic fast-paced heart thumping action packed filler music, this track’s for you. Not especially memorable. You could easily cue this into any other action movie and you won’t even notice. Pass. Purchase Canyon Battle from Amazon

20. Radiation Zone (4:12) *** Filler music. Hints of Dark Knight. Ending in a rather out-of-place drum solo moment towards the end, the only time it feels really out of place in the album. Don’t really recommend it unless you’re curious about the whole drum thing. Purchase Radiation Zone from Amazon

21. You Can’t Save Her (4:59) *** Quiet moments of tension interspersed with moments of emotional poignancy. Sounds a lot like Zimmer’s Dark Knight Rises in the middle of which you’d be better off downloading that album instead of this track. For that, I say borderline pass even though I’d say this is a listenable track. Purchase You Can’t Save Her from Amazon

22. Welcome Back (1:47) *** Rhythmic drones, quiet foreboding. Sounds very familiar, and there’s a prelude heard in Jack’s Dream, without the payoff of the main theme. Pass.

23. Raven Rock (4:35) **** Quietly inspiring and a slow build. A weaker rendition of the theme heard in Waking Up and I’m Send You Away but still highly recommended. Purchase Raven Rock from Amazon

24. Knife Fight in a Phone Booth (4:39) **** Lots of heart-thumping synths and drums and a collection of sound effects. Combines moments of pretty much everything, Alien 3, low-bass time-stop SFX, the Waking Up theme, etc. Despite that, in my opinion, the best action tracks of the album. RECOMMENDED.

25. I’m Sending You Away (5:40) ***** And now it has come to this. This is the album’s emotional core. Slow spacey moments, building up to an epic rock drum beat that does not feel out of place at all. There is a hint of John Murphy’s Sunshine in here, but it works well nonetheless. Wonderfully topped off with a quiet moment of piano in the end. Inspiring, tear-jerking, emotional and highly, highly RECOMMENDED. If there’s a slight knock on this, it is the way it ends, which is rather abrupt continuation to the next track… but this gripe is tiny. TINY. Purchase I’m Sending You Away from Amazon

26. Ashes of Our Fathers (3:32) ** Download this only if you don’t want to listen to the previous track’s abrupt ending as these 2 tracks are mixed seamlessly together. Other than that, just move along. Generic tense action. Purchase Ashes of Our Fathers from Amazon

27. Temples of Our Gods (3:16) *** A dark desolate choral theme filled with low drones of grandiose horror. Borderline RECOMMENDED only if you’re a mood completist as this track is definitely different compared to anything else in the album. Purchase Temples of Our Gods from Amazon

28. Fearful Odds (3:11) **** The Waking Up theme builds to a climax through rhythmic drum beats and I love that it takes its time doing this. RECOMMENDED! Purchase Fearful Odds from Amazon

29. Undimmed by Time, Unbound by Death (2:27) ***** Features the theme heard in Jack’s Dream, but in it’s most complete form along with piano. Beautiful, dreamy, wistful, and evoking all the thoughts mentioned earlier in Return to Empire State. An essential track and highly RECOMMENDED. Purchase Undimmed by Time, Unbound by Death from Amazon

30. Oblivion (feat. Susanne Sundfør) (5:57) ***** It’s worth staying back to watch the ending credits just for this track. Grand, sweeping, beautifully sung by the feature artist, this track features the main theme previously heard in its orchestral form in I’m Sending You Away while the accompanying drum beats are equally impressive. You’ll find it hard not to play air-drum when this song gets going. It’s only fitting that it ends, much like I’m Sending You Away, in a quiet, emotion-filled piano piece. This would be a shoo-in for Best Song if only the Academy would recognize electronica as a viable genre of music. I can only hope. Wait for this track to be countlessly recut and remixed in many forms on House & Trance dance floors. Purchase Oblivion (feat. Susanne Sundfør) from Amazon

Opinions are surely going to be as divided on the soundtrack along with the movie. It depends on how much you value originality over execution. The movie seems like a collection of familiar tropes and visual elements seen in Tron, Matrix, Wall-E, Halo, Moon, and Prometheus as can be said with the soundtrack with elements of Tron, Inception, Nolan’s Dark Knight series, Alien 3, Event Horizon. With that, if you can appreciate both the movie and soundtrack as a collective work of art from all these other movies, it is a masterpiece in itself. It’s as if Joe Kosinksi tried to make all these movies, combine it into one, and make it better and the same can be said for M83 with the soundtrack.

Album Rating: ****1/2
(Note, Deluxe edition tracks without purchase links can be found only through iTunes at the moment.)

Great to see my Twisties art everywhere, even in the cinemas with the monkey graphic designer ad. As I did some of the layouts in addition to the illustration, I guess that makes me the monkey!

… NOT BAD.

A concept of a cartoon character in development. I call this one Barty, the Bear.

My mascot namesake which started out as a simple cartoon drawing in my early days revisited, inspired by the Draw this Again Challenge. The idea of Space Cadet Bling is a dumb, silly loopy kid who, how should we say… is as smart as a “space cadet”. Why Bling? Well, that’s short of my real name! I’d channeled the vintage look of 60′s space travel & Jetsons for this one.

Just did some drawings for Joseph Gordon Levitt’s site, hitRECord hoping to get chosen. A the Lumière brothers, a caveman & a demonic girl, with more to come! (Please click on the images & sign in to hitRECord.org to vote!)

When the enemy strikes, the “Jesters of Warfare” elite squad will come and save the day. Here’s the patch / coat of arms of this feared company.