Soundtrack Review: Transformers by Steve Jablonsky (2007)
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This is a review of the motion picture score for Transformers by Steve Jablonsky.
It’s been on top of the MP3 Soundtrack charts for a while so I thought I would re-visit this one. One of last year’s big movies of course had to have a big score and this is where Steve Jablonsky comes in. A prodigy of Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions, he has composed for movies such as The Island, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Steamboy and D-War. This is the track list for Transformers:
- Autobots
- Decepticons
- All Spark
- Deciphering The Signal
- Frenzy
- Optimus
- Bumblebee
- Soccent Attack
- Sam At The Lake
- Scorponok
- Cybertron
- Arrival To Earth
- Witwicky
- Downtown Battle
- Sector 7
- Bumblebee Captured
- You’re A Soldier Now
- Sam On The Roof
- Optimus Vs. Megatron
- No Sacrifice, No Victory
Steve Jablonsky made a lot of music for this movie, 20 of his songs made it to the score for a total playtime of just about 1 hour. There should be enough material for an extended edition, maybe 2 CDs as I have a 52 track promo version with a play time for about 1 hour 20 minutes. People say this is a guilty pleasure. It is said to be the scores even Media Venture haters secretly listen to. What is it about this score that is so special? It sets the standard right from the start. It’s like Steve Jablonsky decided to make the perfect action score. Is it perfect? It’s pretty damn close.
The sound in the Transformers score is something different. It makes great action score like The Rock sound a bit light. This is the real deal, it’s heavy, and it won’t let you rest. It has a distinct military feel over it, but it wouldn’t be good in a war movie, but for giant robots fighting on earth, this is just musical heaven as far as I am concerned. I don’t call it a guilty pleasure, I call it a great soundtrack and I am happy to admit that. It’s quite possibly the best action score I have heard and that’s saying something because I have heard a lot. Steve Jablonsky might not win a cold academy award, but he has won the people with one of the most selling soundtracks of last year. Listen to Transformers by Steve Jablonsky below:
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(8 votes, average: 8.75 out of 10)
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Comments
Hi Scott!
Well, on MP3 its easy. You can buy it from iTunes, Amazon etc. When it comes to getting it on CD, it’s difficult. I’ve seen a few on ebay, so you might try there.
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Alright! A sound track that I COULD NOT WAIT to be released. I feel in love this score at first watch. The sad part is this score didnt come out until 8 months or so after the movie, which I did not understand. But it is an awesome score…
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This film, and it’s score, were my guilty pleasures early last year. I loved, loved, loved them to bits. The score stood out for me, and when the film drifted between boring and insane, the score was there to comfort me 
Very, very nice review.
Nick Plowman’s last blog post..Review: Grace is Gone (2007)
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Ando: I think what happened was that they didn’t realize the potential of this score, so they released a soundtrack with songs instead. I bet they got a lot of pressure from people to release the score, and they finally did to great success. Now it’s almost impossible to buy on CD, unless you are lucky or rich. Anyway, I’m glad they released it and I’m glad I got it.
Nick: Can’t agree more, except the guilty pleasures bit ;). I will happily shout it to the world what a great movie and score this is, because it is, simple as that.
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I’m so glad to see I agree with everyone! The score is pretty darn near perfect - in fact, I can’t stop obsessively listening to it. I bought it the instant after I saw the movie for the first time (I wish I hadn’t waited sooooo long to see it! It was AMAZING). I’m pretty much judging future soundtracks against it (as long as they aren’t epic movies like Lord of the Rings, of course).
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As far as action scores are concerned, this one is one of the best, if not the best action score. It has it all, great themes which just get me emotionally and it gets my pulse going which is awesome. If you liked this you might want to check out The Island and D-War by Steve Jablonsky which both are great scores in my opinion.
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Soundtrack Geek, do you know where I can still find this album for purchase? I’ve been searching and can’t find the album anywhere. Even big online retailers like amazon don’t seem to have any in stock.
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