Album Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
3 min read
X-Men: Days of Future Past is the seventh installment of the X-Men franchise. As the films have grown in popularity, so too have the number of stars that join. This latest flick features A-list actors such as Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Peter Dinklage and Ellen Page, to name a few and had a whopping estimated budget of $200 million. Every great epic action adventure needs an equally epic soundtrack to guide the audience through the movie’s plot, and their own emotions. Emmy award winning composer John Ottman takes the reigns on this film, and composed the sountrack for previous X-Men flick X2.
In the Days of Future Past soundtrack Charles Xavier finally gets his own theme, entitled Hope, to symbolise Xavier’s journey to rekindle the hope he’s lost. The ballad is beautifully done, with a mesmerising piano riff the main melody. Violins come in gradually in the second half of the song, building to a lovely crescendo before dying off. If you’ve ever wondered what hope sounded like (weird phrase I know), Charles Xavier’s theme absolutely nails it.
Time’s Up is a great orchestral composition with an eerie sound. The violins are the constant underlying instruments, whilst brass instruments embellish the melody with their strong sound. The fast tempo makes the melody almost sound like chanting, so it’s no surprise when a choir is brought in and actually start chanting, making things all the more creepier (in a good way). Time’s Up has a huge climax at the end, but suddenly eases off to nothing.
Pentagon Plan – Sneaky Mystique features an intriguing intro with great percussion work setting the foundation for a big crescendo. Springing Erik is another track that features percussion quite heavily; percussion makes up the majority of the instrumentals of the track, making for something cool and unique. The collective sound of the orchestra, percussion section and terrific electric guitar can be summed up in one word: awesome.
Saigon – Logan Arrives has a great vibe between the solo electric guitar riffs and the brass section of the orchestra, not a pairing that often comes to mind. How Was She? is a really interesting piece to listen to, almost sounding as if you’re underwater, whilst All Those Voices is an eerie, violin centered song. Rules of Time adds a nice touch with a ‘tick tock’ able to be heard throughout the track, and Time’s Up is an epic battle number full of staccato beats and choppy violin playing. Join Me is a beautifully soft ballad that manages to evoke several different emotions, including sadness, hope and vulnerability (I actually had written down ‘evokes the feels’).
Overall the musical score for the latest X-Men film is a great accompaniment to the movie, even though I felt that the transitions between melodies were a little disjointed in many of the tracks. But if you’re a fan of epic movie music scores, then these compositions by John Ottman should definitely be on your list to check out next.
