Prior to this album, Nicholas Hooper remains my favorite (I know, even ahead of John Williams!) as his understated, sentimental, humble, quiet  and a less in-your-face approach evokes the truest feeling of the magic of the Potter universe.

For Desplat’s part 1, I was mildly disappointed with the lack of thematic resonance from the composer despite showing some promise, the notable ones only coming from Obliviate & Farewell to Dobby. Let’s see how he does in part 2.

1. Lily’s Theme **** – As with Deathly Hallows part 1, this doesn’t begin with John William’s memorable Hedwig Theme. I would naturally dislike this break of tradition but this is a beautiful theme in its own right and it is one that will appear throughout the rest of the movie. In the album, it appears and disappears like a ghost but it works in the movie as the track title’s namesake is long dead and gone and this makes it appropriate.

2. The Tunnel *** – At just over a minute long, this is a heart thumping track with a memorable theme which ends a little too soon. Promising, but somewhat disappointing.

3. Underworld ** – Generally, a decently composed general tension/action filler track but overall, a track with a clump of familiar themes played in and out with jarring strings and trumpets in between for action. The highlight of this track would be the foreboding Horcrux theme (most apparent in Deathly Hallows pt 1′s The Locket track) but that’s all too brief. Again, my pet peeve of jumbled themes, loud then soft, fast and slow pacing of soundtracks revisited but that is the nature of movie scores it seems.

4. Gringott’s ** – Starts off quiet. Faint harpsichords reminiscent of David Shire’s Mombi’s Theme in Return to Oz. Overall pretty pleasant but too quiet and ambient to be considered anything other than mood music.

5. Dragon Flight **** – Other than the jarring start to this track, it ends up being splendidly grandiose akin to John Williams’ Buckbeak’s Flight in the Prisoner of Azkaban album, but thematically shorter with no second go around. Still worth the listen. That’s the thing with Desplat’s music, he never lets his themes stick, only a one time go around, and it ends. He should definitely come up with a concert with a symphony of his themes not confined to the pacing of film, because they really are quite excellent.

6. Neville *** – An above average filler track, nothing more. Mood somewhat evocative of a prison break movie.

7. A New Headmaster ** – The 7th track continues a lackluster trend of filler blah tracks so far. Desplat does it quite capably mind you, but as an album, I feel we can do without tracks like these. Bring on the themes! The arias! The prolonged action sequence music! Instead, here’s a quiet track with strings and filler mood music. The only interesting part about this track is the brief appearance of Hedwig’s Theme.

8. Panic Inside Hogwarts **** – Ooh, now this is more like it. Uneasy foreboding now blooms in full force. There’s a feeling of a war about to begin. If there’s something about Desplat that does really well is that he effortlessly brings out a mood that’s hard to achieve. It’s simple to say, sad theme, angry theme, happy theme… but how about a theme of “we’re about to go to war” sense of foreboding theme, or a theme of unsettled optimism. He’s really good at that. Still, this track’s a little short and he only really does a once over treatment.

9. Statues **** – An inspiring track which starts off grandly. One of the best themes of the album, which ends rather in an anticlimax. I reiterate, Desplat should do a concert with fully formed symphonies of all his greatest themes without having to follow the pacing of the movie.

10. The Grey Lady *** – A track with a bit of an identity crisis. Moments of quietness (Harry’s encounter with the Grey Lady) interspersed with tracks of moments of heart-thumping action. Despite that, one of the better and more defined filler tracks nonetheless.

11. In the Chamber of Secrets *** – A sense of mystery, an appearance of Hedwig’s theme, and foreboding drums make up this track which slowly builds to a frightening climax. Another short but mildly interesting track.

12. Battlefield **** – A nicely done inspiring track, making you feel like you want to jump straight into battle. Elements of militaristic drum beats and rousing trumpets throughout. One of the more memorable tracks.

13. The Diadem **** – The quiet unease returns which solidifies to a mood of uncomfortable wonder and transforms full-flow into a climax of horror to slowly fade away into a faint sense of hopefulness. Again, Desplat at his best at evoking moments of emotion and mood, but not so great in a music listening sense. Would love to hear the Horcrux theme inserted in here, but none of that.

14. Broomsticks and Fire ** – Loud and jarring, uncomfortable to listen, not the best track in a music appreciation sense, but one can’t help but get one’s heart racing while listening to it.

15. Courtyard Apocalypse ***** – The same theme that appears in Statues return, and in my opinion, better in its arrangement and a feeling of being complete. One of the rare occasions that Desplat actually settles on a theme and sticks to it for more than a minute and a half, and also arguably, one of the best track of the album.

16. Snape’s Demise **** – The solemn mood of this track is really marvelously dreamy, poignant and sad, and it could do without that brief horror moment somewhere in the middle. Lily’s Theme looms wistfully large and strong at the end. One of my favorite tracks, but darn that horror part in the middle!

17. Severus and Lily ***** – This is Desplat’s genius. He manages to evoke that certain mood again, and this track’s the best example of it. This time, it’s that feeling of unimaginable tragedy and sadness, lost childhood love, a ghostly memory of an almost forgotten time revisited. I might have glazed over this track if I didn’t have the context of the movie, complaining again about the lack of “stickiness” he gives to his composition, but now that I have seen it, I couldn’t help but keep revisiting this track again and again just to evoke that wonderful pensieve flashback scene in the movie. My undisputed sentimental favorite track of the album.

18. Harry’s Sacrifice **** – Now it seems that Desplat is saving the best for later in the album. Another good, quiet and understated track. Gentle strings for a moment of reflection.

19. Resurrection Stone ***** – Utterly beautiful, dreamy, tender. And best of all, the wonderful Lily’s Theme in its most complete and clearly defined moment. Definitely a highlight of the entire album and perfect from start to finish. No typical Desplat complaints here. Severus & Lily may be my sentimental favorite, but I feel that this may be the most generally aesthetically pleasing track to listen to, you could say, the “Oscar moment” track of the whole album.

20. Harry Surrenders *** – Do I sense a bit of “Dark Knight” theme here? Whatever it is, it works. Short and quiet at most parts, but it works.

21. Procession *** – A funeral dirge which starts off clearly defined but not really leading anywhere towards the latter part of the track.

22. Neville the Hero *** – Starts off the same was as the track before, like a slow funeral dirge, but with more sense of hope. (Desplat again at his masterful evocation of subtle themes) The 2nd part of this track proceeds along in grandiose fashion. A decent above average track.

23. Showdown **** – This track doesn’t really get interesting until at about 1:10 when the music proceeds at a faster more action packed pace. I usually don’t like action moments in a movie score because it seems to go from one place to another without being memorable in any way, but somehow this is not the case for this track as each variation is thematically strong. The best part has to be around 2:50 or so which aptly does justice to the title of this track… “Showdown”.

24. Voldemort’s End ***** – An effective climax doesn’t necessarily need to end in something loud, grand and pomp, and this track shows us why. In a sense, it’s quite unconventional and I love it so. There’s a sadness to the end, to the demise of the uber-villain instead of joy. No moment of celebration, happiness, but a sad respect for a powerful nemesis’ demise. Love it!

25. A New Beginning **** – The legendary John Williams also had another track with a same title, New Beginning, for Minority Report. Both have a feeling of hope and an opening of a new chapter, that a new adventure looms. Listen to this track and then John Williams’ version in Minority Report, it’s the best example of my pet peeve with Desplat. His themes are too brief and incomplete which makes me yearn for him to do a slightly different version, a more defined variant of all his themes much like what JW does for his.

Overall, this album gets a **** out of *****. The 2nd half of this album definitely makes up for the forgettable nature of the first half and to an extent, Deathly Hallows pt 1. Desplat really does evoke specific niche emotional moments and his themes are utterly excellent. I’d only wish he’d spent some time solidifying it in some form. Still, a wonderful effort and definitely an Oscar frontrunner.

But I digress. On to my first track by track soundtrack review of this blog, (which is increasingly schizophrenic. Comic strips? Advertising and design? Trekking blog?)

1. First Class *** – Inspiring and uplifting beginning, somewhat evocative and a more forgettable copycat of Daftpunk’s “Flynn Lives” in Tron. Not a fan of the 2nd part of this track when it goes into a hard rock WWE mode. But still fairly listenable and works well enough for the movie.

2. Pain and Anger **** – The pieces done for Erik Lensherr (Magneto) are one of the most emotionally evocative music in the whole album, this being the first. Ominous, and leading up to an explosion of fury, and dying down to a moment of serenity and sadness… one of the stronger and memorable tracks in the album.

3. Would You Date Me? *** – A quiet and intimate theme for Professor Xavier & Raven (Mystique), which ends a little too soon. This track consists of the main X-Men theme, scaled back to gentle piano and strings. Which ends on an ominous note (similar to the Pain & Anger theme)

4. Not That Sort of Bank ** – Another rendition of the Pain & Anger theme, with the menacing electric guitar (a la 28 Days Later, Inception, Once Upon a Time in the West) a little more prominent. One of the filler tracks you get during moments of tension. Not a track to dwell on.

5. Frankenstein’s Monster **** -  Ominous track with the electric guitar in full force! The longest and most developed piece which unleashes the Pain & Anger theme even more than it’s namesake.

6. What Am I Thinking? ** – Another filler tension piece against the backdrop of a military theme hopping from theme to theme with no real identity. Move along.

7. Cerebro *** – Evokes the main X-Men theme, holding back at the beginning, and slowly builds into a not-so-grand electronic climax.

8. Mobilize for Russia * – A tension filler piece. Short and not that sweet. Move along now.

9. Rise Up To Rule *** – A clone of Hans Zimmer’s Modern Warfare score,  electronic guitar, digital beats, here and there and not really settling on a theme or harmony. From loud to quiet. Quiet to loud. Jarring to listen to, and one of my pet peeves of movie soundtracks. Despite all that, it’s still one of the better tension and action filler tracks, a little more defined.

10. Cold War **** – One of the better tension filler tracks, more of the Modern Warfare-ish electronic beats, but somehow done with a little more coherence and a consistent rhythm and pace.

11. X-Training * -One of my most least liked tracks of the whole soundtrack, coming from someone who detest gratuitous WWE electronic rock elements in movie scores in a lame attempt to make the movie feel young and hip. A few out there may enjoy it as this track definitely sticks out.

12. Rage and Serenity ***** – My favorite track of the whole album, and one of the most emotional (as with all Magneto-centric tracks) but sadly, it’s copied straight from Hans Zimmer’s Inception, even the ominous electric guitar solo. Despite that, its sheer music listening pleasure when it builds makes it’s hard to feel a little roused or in awe.

13. To Beast or Not to Beast *** – The best and most developed of the quiet pieces in the album. Employs elements of the “Would You Date Me?” intimacy theme and hints of “Pain & Anger’s” ominous theme without going overboard. Then the jarring end spoils it all. My pet peeve lives again!

14. True Colors ** – More ‘Modern Warfare’ grandiosity. Short and only sweet at the final few seconds. Move along.

15. Let Battle Commence ** – More ‘Modern Warfare’ style action filler track. Stereotypical elements and pacing used in so many action movies, but that’s the way it serves its purpose in film these days. As a musical piece to be enjoyed only aurally, rather forgettable.

16. Sub Lift *** – One of the more epic tracks. Enjoyable the first part despite the electric rock elements, then later completely reduced to typical action filler music.

17. Coup d’Etat **** – Begins with a haunting choral piece, and brings to full circle, the Pain & Anger theme to a climactic finish. One of the more memorable pieces of the album.

18. Mutant and Proud ***** – Why does the Hans Zimmer elements keep coming up? This time, it’s evocative of “Silence” from  Thin Red Line. I’m really starting to think Henry Jackman’s a clone of Hans Zimmer who’s more and more a genius in my eye the more he’s being copied by so many others. Still, despite that, it’s a very listenable piece, the most epic and rousing, a respectable close to a really good movie.

19. X-Men **** – There’s an odd way of dividing the tracks. This one blends in from the previous, goes into a beautiful moment of intimacy and ends in a haunting dreamy choral aria halfway through this track. A moment of silence, then a blast of  full electronic rock WWE style again, which continues onto the next track. It’s quite inexplicable why the track didn’t end at the aria. I give this 4 stars mainly because of the wonderfully done first half of this track.

20. Magneto *** – Full electronic grandiosity done in true Magneto coming out of his shell style. If Magneto was a wrestler, he’d come out waving to the crowd with this music playing in the background.

Overall, this album gets a **1/2 out of *****. Minus marks for being a Hans Zimmer copycat album, I give it some points for a couple of well done tracks, namely “Rage & Serenity”, “Mutant and Proud” and the first half of “X-Men” but overall, a superhero movie soundtrack to be forgotten when compared to the much more superior Thor soundtrack.

2. I’m going APP crazy. You’ve got APPS for everything. Flashlight. Mirror. Dictionary. Language Translations. Games. Kindle. Currency Converter. Licquor Mixology. Astronomy Guide. Facebook. Twitter. Skype. Battery Doctor… and the list goes on… I’ve a small urge to get the Ipad, though I’m happy with my Iphone at the mo… Folks. Welcome to the future. a bit off tangent, but I think the future according to Microsoft would look like Star Wars. The future according to Apple would look like Star Trek. (don’t know if that makes sense)

3. Uploaded more images to my facebook page, and also perhaps some on my Flickr. I’m utterly annoyed at Facebook picture album though. “Upload Failed” a few times.Not sure how well Flickr integrates with FB or my blog site. Got to research on this. Maybe I’ll check out Picasa.

Also, scanned some of the illustrations I did during my trek and placed them in the Illustration page. Also added a Photography section for my best photos in lieu of my budding prosumer career with my D90… time to buy a drybox!

4. a. Movie watch: Shutter Island 8.5/10: The more I think of it, the more I love the movie. Plus, I am hypnotized by the music at the closing credits, Max Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight mixed with Dinah Washington’s This Bitter Earth.

I’ve heard both versions on their own, though I like Richter’s & Dinah’s music on their own, but gelling these 2 songs was genius and adds an extra emotional layer to this music.

b. How to Train Your Dragon in 3D was awright. Didn’t really justify the super-high rating it got on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. But thought that it was still way superior to other Dreamworks animations like Shrek, Ice Age & Shark Tales. However, the soundtrack by John Powell was really “Powellful”. hehe… saw what I did there? Powerful, Powellful… nevermind…

c. My most highly anticipated movie of the year: Tron Legacy. My bro had his Clash of the Titans which in the end disappointed… hope it isn’t the same for me and this one.

5. Caught up with my Lost episodes finally. And all I can say… awwwwwsheeeyyyat… things are really heating up now… awwwwwyyyyeaaah! Just downloaded SNL & 30 Rock but haven’t watched them yet. And the new South Park episodes are funny as balls (no pun intended as there are lots of scrotum jokes for some reason this season). The Facebook episode was just as classic as the Warcraft one.

And that’s that for now. Later, peeps.

1. I Am The One – Inon Zur (from Dragon Age: Origins)

2. Atolago (End Credits) – James Newton Howard (from The Interpreter)

3. Deep Blue – George Fenton (from Deep Blue)

4. Elysium/Honor Him/Now We Are Free – Hans Zimmer (from Gladiator)

5. Gods & Generals – John Frizzell & Randy Edelman (from Gods & Generals)

6. Freedom of the Wa – Klaus Badelt (from The Promise)

7. Resurrection – John Debney (from The Passion of Christ)

8. Give Me A Smile – John Barry (from The Beyondness of Things)

9. Climbing Up Iknimaya – The Path – James Horner (from Avatar)

10. Forth Eorlingas – Howard Shore (from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

Here’s my first quickie review of this fledgling blog along with my unique style of reviewing. Kicking it off with Armin van Buuren’s State of Trance, episode 381, a rather anonymous number to start, and somewhat old, but what the hey, anyplace is a good place to start. Just give it a read and find me crazy. :O By the way, the track timing doesn’t really depict the start of the track, only the time I start noticing the track changed and I made a mental note to write it down, ooh, and forgive me if I forget to write some of these down. Trance is all about the seamless experience, right? And it kills it if I start rewinding the track just to find out where it starts and then go back to where I left off, and then, the mood’s gone.

OK. So here we go…

* By the way, this is a second version. I’d earlier typed my review but lost it all when trying to install the “read more” function, and basically replaced the code wrongly… which really sucks! OK, so here’s a trimmed down version of what I remembered typing…

01. Dash Berlin feat. Cerf, Mitiska en Jaren – Man On The Run Armada Future Favorite (starts pretty slow and laid back, decent track, not highly memorable, but good)

02. Ashley Wallbridge – The Embrace (Aurosonic’s Waiting For Sunrise Mix) Dark Bird (11:30, rather forgettable track… just warming up I guess)

03. Myon en Shane 54 feat. Carrie Skipper – Vampire (Gareth Emery’s Garuda Remix) (18:00, here’s where things starts becoming interesting… dark, gothic, somewhat Dracula-like, … ohwait, this track’s called Vampire, duuuh…)

04. David Newsum – Spank Bank (Activa Deep Mix) Kill The Lights (23:00, pretty standard fare, like a filler item)

05. Mike Koglin feat. Tania Laila – Find Me (Orjan Nilsen Remix) (28:00, intense heart-thumpin’ bass beat here, if this was a live set, this is where the crowd gets going, nice, blends seamlessly to the next track)

06. BT – Force Of Gravity (Orjan Nilsen Remix) (33:00, classic BT…)

*sigh, still miffed I lost my earlier post due to the “read more” function fiasco… can’t seem to recapture my past spontaneity*

07. Cor Fijneman feat. Melissa Mathes Disappear (Cliff Coenraad en Thomas Hagenbeek Repimp) (38:00, … digging the vintage sounding vocals sung, not keen on the anthem tho)

08. Leon Bolier vs. Jonas Steur – Lost Luggage (Rank 1 Remix) 2Play (44:00, … love the ping pong pads melody, kinda like Popcorn! anyone remember Popcorn?)

09. Sebastian Sand – Creeps (Ronski Speed Remix) Euphonic (48:30, whoaaa… wonderful unique humming vocal melody in the background)

*dang, this dejavu review feels rushed, kinda like Bill Murray trying to force the date with Andie McDowell in Groundhog Day*

10. Rank 1 – L.E.D. There Be Light (Trance Energy 2009 Anthem) High Contrast Tune Of The Week (55:00, …  ooh, out come the creampads again [is that what you call the synthesizery dreamy sounding melody?] Popcorn revisited…, great track!)

11. Tiddey – Savage Emotions ProLogicMusic (59:00, nice dreamy piano echoes, albeit a little too conventional)

12. Alex M.O.R.P.H. – Sunshine (Nitrous Oxide Remix) Vandit (1:05:30, … Wonderful! this is probably the track to remember of this set, my fave of the set so far, crowd closes their eyes, hands raised and imagine that they’re flying through space, then the beat rises again… the crowd goes wild! Epic!)

13. Hodel en Avenger – Rebirth (1:11:30, … the crowd is back floating through space again, wow, excellent dreamy track, lovin’ it!)

14. Robert Nickson – Circles  (1:18:00, … repeating revolving melody, track is aptly named Circles, reminds me of a rotating helix…, another memorable track, best time to be on the dance floor for the past half hour now…)

15. Michael Angelo feat. Danny – Test Drive (Nitrous Oxide Dub) High Light (1:23:30, now it feels like coasting…, somewhat like a filler track here… hmmm, starting to appreciate AvB’s excellent pacing… the highs, the lulls… he knows when to bring it on and take a step back)

16. Oliver Smith – Cirrus Anjunabeats (1:27:30, wonderfully multilayered track with deep echo and angelic choral vocals, another great one…)

17. Armin van Buuren feat. Justine Suissa vs. Kandi en Nickson – Wall Of Rewire (Avenger Remix) (1:33:00, somewhat forgettable track, but builds up quite nicely towards the end with a heavy and grand feel)

18. Sam Sharp – Roundabout (Sander Van Doorn Main Mix) (1:40:22, the set changes to a slower pace, somewhat industrial, I like the faint background ringing somewhere around 1:42:50, makes you do a double take, wondering if there’s a fire alarm going off somewhere)

19. Robert Burian Casino (Re-Ward Remix) (1:44:30, the crowd starts to feel a lull now, take a breather, this is where I go off to take a toilet break at the club)

20. 8 Wonders – Everything’s Been Written (1:50:30, I think you can feel the set winding down now… not too memorable track here)

21. Paul Van Dyk feat. Hemstock en Jennings – Nothing But You  (1:50:30, not a big fan of PvD as I find his tracks a little monotonous and repetitive [even for Trance!], but I like the Indian elements to the vocals here. Felt like Armin dug this track up due to the recent Jai Ho Slumdog craze)

And that’s it! Had to write this out again and get it out of my system. I know if I didn’t do this, I’ll have that lingering unfinished feeling… kinda like doing some work on your Illustrator, then computer crashes, you lost your changes because you didn’t save… that feeling of anxiety as you redo those changes, up until that point where you lost your work, then after that, you feel at peace…