Soundtrack Review: Conan The Barbarian 3D (2011)

Reviewer: JØrn Tillnes
Conan The Barbarian 3D Soundtrack Review

Conan The Barbarian 3D Soundtrack Review. This is a review of the film score Conan The Barbarian 3D by Tyler Bates.

"It isn't a bad effort by Tyler Bates, but there's more opportunities missed than fulfilled."

Conan brings back memories of childhood for me. I remember reading the comics and watching the films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's a great character for sure, and I can see the reason they decided to make another film in the franchise. The score to the previous Conan films have an iconic status and were composed by Basil Poledouris. This film however is composed by Tyler Bates.

Track List

1. Prologue****
2. His Name is Conan*****
3. Egg Race****
4. Fire & ICce*****
5. Cimmerian Battle****
6. The Mill***
7. 12 Years Later****
8. Freeing Slaves***
9. Prison Interrogation***
10. Monastery Approach****
11. Off With Their Heads***
12. Horse Chase****
13. Death of a Priest***
14. One Way Ride***
15. Outpost***
16. Fever***
17. Victory****
18. A Kiss****
19. The Temple***
20. Oceans of Blood***
21. The Dweller***
22. Skull Mountain***
23. Wheel of Torture***
24. Zem's Demise***
25. Conan Returns Home****

Personally I think Tyler Bates have had a great year so far with some superb music. Conan is a different beast to Super and The Way and requires something special to please the fans. I decided long ago when the score was announced that I wouldn't try to compare Basil Poledouris score with Tyler Bates score. There's no point doing that as times are very different.

What I have enjoyed about Tyler Bates music this year is that he is trying to be more melodical in his approach. In Super and The Way he certainly proved to me that he really can write great themes and melodical music. I feel Conan The Barbarian 3D need a bit of that to succeed.

There are two great tracks that provide me with some musical food I can truly enjoy. First there's 'His Name Is Conan' that has a great theme and also music that really inspires me. Then there's 'Fire & Ice' which is another melodical piece of film music

There are unfortunately far too many tracks that doesn't seem to go anywhere. I like the choral use in a lot of the tracks, but there is just too little going on to keep me interested.

Conclusion

It isn't a bad effort by Tyler Bates, but there's more opportunities missed than fulfilled. Too many tracks doesn't do anything for me and I would love to have them refined a little bit. Some good and interesting material here for sure, just not the cutting edge I was hoping for.

CUE RATING: 70.4

->Buy the CD on Amazon<-

->Buy the MP3 Album on Amazon<-

->Buy the Album on iTunes<-

Listen to the Conan The Barbarian 3D soundtrack by Tyler Bates below:

blog comments powered by Disqus