Customer Reviews

Blade 2: Bloodlust

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Wake up, people- this is a film score. that means that you get some kick a** music but none of the techno. A lot of people have asked about techno songs from the movie, and I will help if I can- the bloodbath song is, of course, Confusion by New Order, and as another reviewer said the music Frost is listening to in the archives is Call and Response by Source Direct. I have heard that the bar scene (with the japanese school girls) is Ah, Singapore by Shonen Knife but I have not found the right mix yet- anyone know where to look? The first song from the end credits is Southside Reverb's "Go Get On it". If anyone has info on the bar song or any other songs email me at event_horizon@techie.com Even if you just want the techno, buy this CD anyway, it has some good stuff.

The score was actually allright. Most of the tracks sounded the same but there were some cool beats. Those of you looking for the blood bath music in the beginning aren't gonna find it here.

To all those who are using your reviews as bulletin board messages to find the pop songs from the film: GO COMPLAIN ON THE "POP SOUNDTRACK" PAGE, NOT HERE. THIS IS THE SCORE. To everyone else: this is a unique, neo-gothic electronic/symphonic film score. I've never really heard anything quite like it, and it was perfect for the film. My only complaint is it could have been longer with more variation. Most scores are actually much longer than what's used on the film, so I suspect there was plenty of written material that simply wasn't fully produced. Isham should have added some extras for this release.

Actually, whoever wrote review # 1 is a bit confused. The CD does not contain any of the "songs" from the movie! What it does contain is the music that takes place in between the "songs". You know- dark, moody sounds, etc. There are no lyrics on the CD, and certainly none of the thumping techno you may be looking for. If you want some moody stuff that played in the background of Blade, this is for you, if you want the more lively stuff, you are better served by going to the "other" Blade CD. On that one, I must agree W/ the reviews that state "don't buy it for the techno", as only the last 4 songs ARE techno. The bulk of the CD is hip-hop & rap. But I bought it anyway, because the New Order remix of Confusion is so delicious that its worth the price of admission alone. Makes me want to go kill a vampire or two myself! (But please note, you can get the same track on a New Order remix CD W/O and of the other stuff, & I believe its even longer too!). Peace.

Mark Isham'score for Blade is not a traditionally written or conducted score. What becomes clear about the score, once listened to apart from the film, is that it's a great horror score.

The music is, more than anything, about setting or augmenting atmosphere. As such, the music throbs with deep bass while being punctuated by crashes or cymbals.

By far the best piece is the opener - "Intruder." It's probably the closest to a conventional score track as the album gets, but will rattle your windows with the thunderous drums and bass beats.

"The Temple of Light" is another memorable track, but can be a bit disturbing with its chorale elements and building sense of danger.

As mentioned before, this is NOT an action film score, but more a collection of pieces that add touches of mysterious horror to the story. It does not fare all the well on its own, as the lack of ear-friendly themes or pieces can make for difficult or frustrating listening.

I've found the score works perfectly as background music for creative work - as long as you're in the mood for something dark and kinetic. It also makes for great driving music if you're in the car in those magic moments before a storm hits, when the sky has darkened, the air is thick and the world waits for the tempest to break.

Bottom line: if you're looking for a great action movie score, keep looking. If you're wanting something brooding and dangerous to set a mood, give it a try.

With "Blade", Mark Isham has created a score that is more along the lines of "Kiss the Girls" than of a lot of his recent action/suspense scores, like "Timecop" and "The Net". When you turn on "Blade" in your CD player, you'll be catapulted right into the complications of Blade's birth suffered by his mother (right before the first dance club song plays) and then into a gunfight appearing later in the film in the vampire temple (they don't always sequence the tracks chronologically). My favorite parts of this album are probably toward the end, where we hear almost all of the score involving the big vampire ritual in the temple---right before Blade shows up for the final confrontation and puts a stop to Donal Logue and his goonies, once and for all. Great for Halloween, I should think!

In 1996, Marco Beltrami surprised a lot of filmmusic fans all over the world, including me, with his suspenseful and beautiful emotional score for the Wes Craven slasher-hit Scream. In the years who followed, I started to pay attention to Marco Beltrami, but with none of his followed up scores he came to the great level of Scream. Not even with the sequel to Scream, he just turned to plagiatrism and took a piece of score from Hans Zimmers Broken Arrow which he just used as Deweys theme. To me, that just broke the entire movie.

Now he's back with his score to the much anticipated sequel to Blade, which original score was written by Marc Isham. But Guillermo Del Toro changed the complete Blade formula (less drama and dept, more horror and action) so Marco had to change as well. And that was just what he needed, a little change.

When watching the movie, it immediately shows that the score goes perfectly with the movie. We get great rhytms and drums which go perfect with the hard fight scenes and even give it a certain quality. It makes you get exciting and finally, we are getting the feeling Marco Beltrami has started to show his talent again. Even in the emotional parts, he shows us his talent by a lovely, but not out of it's place theme.

But when you listen to the score on it's own, you start to understand why the score is released in such a small way. Marco just lacks the originality to come with something new and we never hear something we haven't heard before. Even Nyssa's theme reminded me of some of Hans Zimmers music for Gladiator (from More Music from Gladiator, to be exact)

But that doesn't mean we don't have an entertaining CD. The rhytms are still uplifting and the action music is very enjoyable, especially when you've seen the movie. Highlights are Family Feud and Nyssa Over Easy. But the Blade II theme still sounds out of it's place... As if it was originally meant as a Shaft theme, instead of something for a horror/action movie...

After first hearing Mr. Beltrami's work on the Scream movies, i became more and more interested in his work as a composer and after hearing his work on The Faculty and Dracula 2000 I became very enthusiastic when I heard he would be doing the score for the much anticipated score for Blade II (especially after Mark Isham's somewhat moody and eneven score for Blade 1)
The result is a wonderful score which combines the best elements of what a good horror score should entail, terrifying emotion, great percussion to underlie the action sequences, Beltrami even manages to throw in a romantic theme for one of the characters. Also included is the main theme which was also on the original soundtrack which also features Danny Saber.
If I have any complaints about this album it's that I wish it were longer, I've noticed lately that there seems to be a lot of score albums which don't even clock in at a half hour then later on I discover bootleg promos that span two discs. But this complaint is but a minor one, this is an excellent score combining classic brass, well used violins, electronic assistance and an almost Asian feel to some of the percussion (particularly on Track 11).
Now if only the powers that be would release the score albums for both the Faculty and for Dracula 2000, trust me guys there is an audience out there for these CD's.

This vampire horror film is complemeted well by Beltrami's great technological score. The futuristic theme of this horror movie goes along great with this musicd which sounds like its from the future. With songs titled "HOUSE OF PAINCAKES" and "SUCKHEADS INFILTRATE" how can you go wrong?

I must admit that I had gret expectations concerning this score. I have Marco Beltrami's excellent music for Dracula 2000, and while seeing Blade 2 I could find some good music supporting the shocking images of that great movie. However, now that I have listened to the cd several times, I think that the score of Blade 2 is not what I really expected. Obvioulsy, it is not bad, but it is not an excellent score neither, as many people at Varese Sarabande have pointed out.
The biggest problem of this score is all the amount of noise, heard in tracks like House of Paincakes. Whether or not you like action music (I do), I think that there should be something else in there, otherwise it is rather hard to enjoy, specially when there is an abuse of noisy sounds. However, in this score this is not the case, and even though many parts are really impressive, thanks to the powerful sound of the taiko drums, I find this noisy music particularly unpleasant to listen. Also, the main theme by Beltrami and Saber is really awful. I mean, what has this track to do with a vampire film like Blade 2??. This pathetic "main theme" should have been included only on the soundtrack cd, 'cos this kind of music has nothing to do with Beltrami's style, either. I have the same opinion of the equally awful last track. They are completely unnecesary, disturbing tracks, and even now, I have no idea about their role or importance on a cd like this.
But this score does indeed have excellent tracks that compensate the bad ones, and that are responsible for my 3 stars. The first track is powerful, menacing, and quite appropriate for the images of the film and for the character of Nomak. The Nyssa theme, heard in two tracks, is beautiful and lyrical, although the most beautiful, moving, lyrical and amazing track has to be Family Feud. It sounds similar to the music heard on Dracula 2000 (especially with regard to the percussion used), but it is really one of Beltrami's best tracks ever. A true jewel.
To sum up, is Blade 2 the best score of Marco Beltrami?. No. Dracula 2000 is. But if you like strong action music, or Beltrami's style, or vampire movies, most probably you will (in fact you should) give this a try.
Luis