About the Soundtrack: In perhaps a bit of an unfair calculation, the score album for "Fast and Furious" was pushed back until three weeks after the film's release. The reason, it seems, is so that the commercial song album did not get confused with the score version. In my opinion, the labels and studios should trust their audiences a bit better than that. With that said, Brian Tyler's material will be made available by Varese Sarabande in late April and it pretty much offers the entire score from the picture with this release. The style of Tyler's music is modern, as one can anticipate, but also a bit more dramatic than what we've been used to in the series, making this an interesting "next step" in the series.
What You Need to Know: This soundtrack is a prime example of why it's best to wait to hear the score in a film before passing along judgment. Granted, I can't always follow this strategy due to time restrictions, but in this instance, I wanted to give the score a ride as it played out in the film before I wrote my review. I'm glad I did. You see, when I first listened to this material apart from the movie, I was ready to suggest that perhaps Brian needed a bit of a break from the series. It was until I saw the action on the screen that I realized just how well tailored this score was for the picture.
The direction that worked best on this soundtrack was the touch of emotion that Brian successfully conveyed during the dramatic, slower moments of the score. The use of spanish guitars in particular were spot on and added to the subtle punch that the soft melodies offered. Had this been a different type of movie, these are the cues I would have wanted to hear more of, but that wouldn't have made the film fast nor would it have lent to its fury. Brian had to pick his spots to work these tracks in. As far as the racing music goes, there is plenty of that on the score as well, and in fact, is the predominate tone of the entire soundtrack. Though the ramped up, adrenaline boosting moments were slotted well alongside the sound effects in the film, it was a bit too jarring for me to listen to apart from it.
When I look at this effort in total, I conclude that this simply is a score that finds an effective niche within the confines of the movie but not as much success away from it. If the only time we were to hear the music was when we watched the movie, than I would have to bestow quite a bit of praise for it. Unfortunately, and this is the part of being a "critic" that I don't enjoy, I have to pass on the score album as a stand-alone experience. One needs to hear this score in its proper environment to truly appreciate it.
Final Score: "Fast and Furious" is a focused, fast charging bit of soundtrack fare but it's not the kind of score I can really get into away from the source material; it's too one-dimensional without the visual accompaniments. Expanding upon the dramatic moments within the score would have made for a nice equalizer and a better soundtrack experience. Catch this one on the big screen instead.
