Power Anthems: Part 1

I've stated before my somewhat lukewarm feelings about Hans Zimmer in the wonderful post/essay with his name emblazoned on top. While he is not among my favorite composers, there is no denying that, especially in his earlier works, he has written some crowd-pleasing tunes. Although Zimmer has written his share of tender scores, he is most known for his action scores, combining synthesizer, brass, and low strings to create muscular blasts of music. He popularized the use of what has come to be known in film music circles as the "power anthem," a loud, melodic tune based on very simple chords that makes you want to go out and kick some derriere (or roll your eyes, depending on your level of exposure to these tunes that have admittedly become a bit overused). Power anthems have a lot in common musically with progressive rock, which, combined with the typical earth-shattering volume and emphasized bass, perhaps accounts for their popularity. Soon, Zimmer's acolytes also began writing these anthems, and the big studios' fondness for this style of writing has led to composers such as Patrick Doyle, Javier Naverrete, and Brian Tyler, not from Zimmer's Media Ventures/Remote Control studio, being asked to create this kind of music. Of course, there is no shortage of MV/RC graduates like Mark Mancina, Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell, Henry Jackman, Steve Jablonsky, and Klaus Badelt currently writing such tunes.

Of course, it is difficult (for me at least) to explain the properties of music without getting flowery, so let's use the most popular example of a power anthem: the "He's a Pirate" tune from the Pirates of the Caribbean films. As soon as the credits rolled for the first Pirates film, I was undoubtedly impressed at the macho, energetic sound. As with many in my generation and after, it was the first full-blooded power anthem I'd heard, but it would be far from the last. As I became more familiar with Hans Zimmer's catalog (especially Crimson Tide, The Peacemaker, Broken Arrow, and Drop Zone), the more I realized how derivative the theme was. Not that it isn't enjoyable, but it's not the unique, revolutionary, untouchable melody that some seem to think it is.

So... if "He's a Pirate" stirs your blood, here is a selection of power anthems that you should become intimately familiar with. Part 1 will include composers Steve Jablonsky and Brian Tyler.

Transformers-Steve Jablonsky
OK, it's not a great score, but the scores for the Michael Bay action-fest films are literally a string of power anthems strung together (with the exception of a blatant Thomas Newman rip-off theme for Sam Witwicky's more whimsical scenes). There are actually quite a lot of themes, but unfortunately, most of them sound the same. There is a reflective theme composed of two four-note phrases (heard in "Optimus Prime"), a churning, ostinato-based motif with male chorus for the Decepticons, an anthem for the military forces (heard in "Scorponok"), an action theme associated with Bumblebee and the other Autobots (heard in "Allspark" and "Bumblebee"), and the popular "Arrival to Earth" theme associated with Optimus Prime. Perhaps the most engaging theme is the one introduced at the beginning of the film and entitled "Autobots" on the soundtrack. This is the theme that gets stuck in my head the most often.

Transformers: Prime-Brian Tyler
This may not be a popular opinion, but I find Brian Tyler's score for this animated Transformers series to be superior to Jablonsky's efforts for the feature films. The main theme is a muscular, steadily rising march that combines the sound of MV/RC scores with Tyler's own melodic sensibilities.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3-Brian Tyler
For this installment of the blockbuster video game franchise, Tyler adapted the Zimmer sound to powerful effect. The main theme is not as memorable as the one for Transformers: Prime, but it still harkens back to the days when Zimmer and his apprentices actually composed themes like these instead of sonic wallpaper.

Battle: Los Angeles-Brian Tyler
MV/RC composers have always found a place for electric guitars, but Tyler uses them more for color and texture instead of playing rock riffs that have become somewhat cliche in film scoring. The track "Battle: Los Angeles-Main Title" (actually a suite of material from other parts of the score) contains most of the primary thematic material. The main theme is a simple but fairly long melody that starts out descending before slowly reaching upward, creating a mood of muted hope.

It should be noted that many of Brain Tyler's action scores are wonderfully powerful and owe a little to MV/RC influence, but not as much as the three mentioned above. Scores like Eagle Eye and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem are exciting, but they feature rapid, busy orchestral action as opposed to the simpler, slower chordal movement of power anthems.

Part 2 will feature the four best composers to emerge from MV/RC: Henry Jackman, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Mark Mancina. Part 3 will be devoted to the progenitor of all this madness, the Big Z himself. That means at least two more posts before I have to start thinking about writing actual reviews.