Thor

Marvel has had a shaky record when it comes to scores for their films, and when I say Marvel I mean Marvel Studios (which excludes Spider-Man and X-Men). Iron Man started off with a bang. They couldn't get Hans Zimmer but they got Ramin Djawadi to deliver an amazing score with a strong central theme. It strived in its simplicity and gave Tony Stark his rock star identity. Then with The Incredible Hulk Craig Armstrong while delivering a decent score didn't end up making a memorable stamp. The film didn't either. Then came Iron Man 2, and what does Marvel do? They toss out Ramin Djawadi and go with Jon Favreau's regular John Debney. While I respect Debney his score failed. At times it mimicked Djawadi, but Tony Stark lost his identity and lost everything that made the musical stamp memorable. So, with Kenneth Branagh on board for Thor he was able to bring Patrick Doyle to the project; his long time composer. Some may have questioned Doyle's ability to provide a thunderous score that needed to match Thor's thunderous personality. Thankfully Doyle rose to the occasion and delivered what is Marvel's best score to date. He also did something that till now only Djawadi did for a Marvel character and that was give him an identity. There are two central themes at play here; what I call the 'heroic' theme and the 'danger' theme. One is a sweeping and emotional theme that represents Thor and the other a percussive action styling that makes up the basis of all the action tracks, or whenever danger is present. The soundscape works off of these two sounds and Doyle will usually clash the two to create momentous cues that not only are intense but emotionally gripping. A lot of this comes towards the end though. The beginning of the album is more dedicated to setting up the characters, setting and story. Now you may say "well that's obvious." But honestly I have listened to many scores that seem to forget that they too need to set up character, setting and story. Gladly Doyle's experience does not let that slip by him. Now that the score is firmly grounded he can create all the variations he wants and it will still feel like a growing continuation of where the journey started. Our first battle cue is "Frost Giant Battle" which has a slightly different feel than say "The Compound", and I love that you can differentiate that these two action scenes take place in different locations solely by the music. In the early cues that percussive intensity completely washes out the heroism factor for just a moment and we forget our main character is a God. As the album concludes the hero theme comes back into play and grows and grows. The full meshing of the percussive action with the sweeping heroism comes with "Thor Kills The Destroyer" and now we have our hero back. The score is perfectly structured which really allowed me to get completely taken away by it. Patrick Doyle's themes are grand without ever being over the top and the simplicity in the melodies allows the music to reach amazing heights. I think Patrick Doyle has just proven himself to be quite a formidable talent in the realm of blockbuster score composers. The fact that the music is a symphonic score really gives it an organic weight that we don't hear too often. While I absolutely love synths and electronics in scores one can't deny that everyone is using them nowadays. It's really refreshing to have a big score such as this that doesn't rely solely on synths for an intense sound. Patrick Doyle's score pounds with thunderous success as he breaths life into Thor and gives us what is sure to be one of the most memorable scores of the year.

Patrick Doyle’s score for ‘Thor’ is both beautiful and includes a few key themes. With film composing nowadays, themes aren’t as important as they once were - and often there’s a 50-50 chance of getting a good theme in a soundtrack. Patrick Doyle definitely owns this score, as he’s captured all the right emotions for the action cues (fear, peril, fast-paced) and the emotional weight of the story. There are two themes for the character of Thor that I’ve noticed, the one in “Sons of Odin” and “A New King”, and both alternate at different times. The theme from “A New King” is used much more, and is included in action pieces such as “Thor Kills the Destroyer”, more climatic pieces such as “Earth to Asgard”, downbeat/sad pieces (‘Forgive Me’), etc. The theme from “Sons of Odin” is used when there’s more awe, joy or a sense of uplifting the listener. Both of these are amazing themes and I’m glad that Patrick Doyle used more than one. Also to be noted is the rhythmic cues for the more suspenseful pieces, such as “To Jotunheim”. It definitely captures the suspense, but it’s a little harder to connect this cue to the Frost Giants. I’m still giving this score five stars because it is such a breath of fresh air. Patrick Doyle’s style is more unique and more classical than most other film score composers today, and I’ve needed this kind of variety for a very long time. Definitely check this score out!

I've been a HUGE Patrick Doyle fan for awhile, but this is the only CD of his I was able to get my hands on, but it's a GREAT score to start with! Buena Vista Records presents Patrick Doyle's "Thor," containing 24 tracks and over 1 hour of music. This score is one of Doyle's finest, containing a grand, epic main theme, an energetic action theme, and an emotionally powerful love/sad theme. It's powerful from beginning to end, and it remains as one of my favorite scores from the Marvel music catalog! Best Tracks: Chasing The Storm Prologue Sons of Odin Frost Giant Battle Banishment The Compound Science And Magic Forgive Me Thor Kills the Destroyer Brothers Fight Letting Go Can You See Jane? Earth To Asgard With a rich set of sweeping themes, excitement, and emotion, "Thor" is a win in my book! If you're a Patrick Doyle fan or a Thor fan, then pick it up! You won't regret it!

Composer Patrick Doyle's previous work has been pretty great - he successfully followed in the footsteps of John Williams with his score for the fourth Harry Potter film, and has done other good work as well. But sometimes his action movie scores, while they have memorable moments, are largely forgettable on the whole. With Thor, Doyle's best work comes early in the album, with the track titled "Sons of Odin" - it's a very catchy and triumphant tune that highlights one of the more amusing and lighthearted moments in the film. But such tracks are too few in my opinion. Thor is just a bit more bland than the other soundtracks for the Marvel films (oddly, I feel the same way about the movie as a whole). Having said that, there are a few tracks that are really spectacular - and I've listed them below. FAVORITE TRACKS: [3] Sons of Odin [8] Frost Giant Battle [24] Earth to Asgard

I read Marvel as a kid in the 1960s so I'm a little prejudice towards Thor and Ironman and the Avengers. So... I really like the current run of Marvel movies. Movie technology finally advanced enough to make everything look real.

I love the movie and the music was amazing. When I listen to the soundtrack it feels like I am watching the movie in my mind.

First off: I loved the movie. The soundtrack behind it was excellent, so when I saw it on here, I went ahead and got it. Patrick Doyle made good use of the orchestra. "Chasing the Storm" starts off with some low choral sounds, transitioning into what is the base theme of Thor and then some lively action as Jane and her group are in pursuit. This theme is most prominent in "Prologue," "Thor Kills the Destroyer" and "From Earth to Asgard." There is an almost soothing subdued rendition in "Sons of Odin." All in all, an excellent addition. Patrick Doyle uses a lot of percussion, brass, and a few winds and strings. Even if you're not a fan of the movie or the movie genre, if you enjoy good instrumentals you'll enjoy this soundtrack.

My music tastes run from classical to hard rock to some rap. After watching the movie THOR I knew I had to buy the sound track! I like it so much I loaded it on my mini shuffle. I dance classical and modern and the music is so moving and powerful some of the tracks just 'move' me to get up and dance. For those who like sound tracks I reccommend this one for your collection..