Space Battleship Yamato
By Naoki Sato

Every once in a while, we're reminded of how just good film music can be when its propelled by appropriate fanfare. In the soundtrack from this recent Japanese live-action film, the music of Yamato is proud and dramatic, hitting nearly all the marks that one would want from a classic sci-fi score. Tracks 1 & 4 in particular will allow you to revel in craftsmanship not heard since this side of John Williams and the Prequels trilogy!

The astute soundtrack fan will already know that this album has received quite a few raves from other critics, so it will not surprise them to hear me back up those accounts with some praise of my own. This is a beautful, rousing score that Hollywood needs to take note of.

Drive Angry
Composed by Michael Wandmacher

Can't say that I really meshed with Wandmacher's latest, but that has more to do with the type of subject matter it is more than it is a question of talent. For the rock'n' roll requirements of the film, this material suits it just fine. The intensity, however, was a bit much for my listening tastes and I would have loved to hear more of a rock/orchestra fusion in place. Still, there is still a bit of fun to be had with this mayhem, you'll just have to pick and choose the tracks that you'll want to rev your engine to.

Sanctum
By David Hirschfelder

David Hirschfelder has scored a few interesting titles in recent time, such as Australia, Legend of the Guardians, and now, the cavernous adventure, Sanctum. While I feel he has hit the mark quite solidly with the first two films I mentioned, it's his score for Sanctum that truly connected with me. In fact, I think it's a thing of beauty! In Sanctum, Hirschfelder channels a musical representation for exploring the unknown and also dials up a strong emotional current to tie-in the relationships between the characters. The result is a captivating world of music that is as fresh to me as the undiscovered caverns were to these explorers. Without overstating the accomplishment here, there is a uniqueness within this score's spirit that will positively impact you in some way.