Soundtrack Review: The Expendables (2010)

The Expendables Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score The Expendables by Brian Tyler.

"It's a solid action score and action fans will get excited by this"

Back in the 80s, I always wanted to see my two favorite action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger on the screen at the same time and it seems my wish came true. How do you manage to get Stallone, Statham, Jet Li, Lundgren, Rourke, Willis & Schwarzenegger in the same action movie? Stallone is the man to do it and even though Willis & Schwarzenegger only has small parts, kudos for getting it all together. I have been looking forward to this movie all year and of course Mr. Action himself, Brian Tyler is the one composing the music for it. The samples was released early on iTunes, but does it stand out or is it just another generic action score?

Track List

1. The Expendables	*****
2. Aerial	*****
3. Ravens and Skulls	****
4. Lee and Lacy	****
5. Massive	*****
6. The Gulf of Aden	*****
7. Lifeline	***
8. Confession	*****
9. Royal Rumble	****
10. Scanning the Enemy	****
11. The Contact	***
12. Surveillance	****
13. Warriors	*****
14. Trinity	***
15. Waterboard	****
16. Losing His Mind	***
17. Take Your Money	****
18. Giant With a Shotgun	***
19. Time to Leave	*****
20. Mayhem and Finale	*****

Stereotyping

On Soundtrack Fans I started a discussion about stereotyping certain composers and although it's a bad thing, I think it's inevitable. For me, Brian Tyler has put himself firmly in the action category despite him scoring in a few other genres. This can be both negative and positive for the composers. I think in Brian's case, he has proven that he can do other genres so he can break out, but most of his fans require a dose of some Tyler action.

Judging by the 30 second samples on iTunes I heard earlier it got me a little excited, but I also thought it sounded a bit like "heard it all before", but as we all know, judging a score by it's samples is a terrible way of doing it. The Expendables was just released, so I finally got to hear the full score.

More Action

When I listen to it, I can definitely hear that it's Brian Tyler and I was thinking of this like a more action-oriented Rambo score. Sorry to burst the bubble, but this is an all-out action score, even more so than anything Tyler has done in the last few years. It starts off with the title theme 'The Expendables' that spends the first 1 minute and 10 seconds establishing the main theme for the movies before it all goes predictably into some heavy action, albeit with an underlying theme. This theme is not very memorable and likeable like for example the Rambo theme that is perhaps the biggest problem I have with this score.

For action fans and even more so, Tyler action fans will get their fix and more with tracks like 'Aerial', 'Massive', 'The Gulf Of Aden', 'Warriors', 'Time To Leave' and 'Mayhem and Finale'. Brian Tyler has also brought back the guitar for tracks like 'Lee and Lacy', 'The Contact', 'Take Your Money'. 'Confession' is another track I would like to mention because it reminds me a bit of "The Lazarus Project" or some of his more thoughtful and calmer scores.

Conclusion

It's a solid action score and action fans will get excited by this I'm sure. I truly enjoyed it as a pure action score and I was not surprised by what I got. It perhaps lack a beautiful theme like Rambo had, but then again it compensates by having more action. It's a bit generic that's true, but I am not tired of Brian Tyler's action stuff yet and I have a feeling I never will. Get it if you like Brian Tyler's action score and action scores in general. Stay clear if you want something new and inventive.

CUE RATING: 83.3

->Buy the CD on Amazon<-

->Buy the MP3 Album on Amazon<-

Listen to The Expendables soundtrack by Brian Tyler below:

Find more videos like this on Soundtrack Fans