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Composed by
BRIAN TYLER
Rating
***
Album running time
77:22
Tracks
1: Summon the Worms (3:49)
2: Dune Messiah (2:40)
3: House Atreides (1:36)
4: The Revolution (2:01)
5: Fear is the Mind Killer (2:44)
6: The Arrival of Lady Jessica (3:08)
7: Leto Atreides II (2:45)
8: Inama Nushif (3:51)
9: War Begins (1:08)
10: Battle of Naraj (3:15)
11: Rya Wolves (1:33)
12: I Have Only Now (3:12)
13: The Impossible Wager (3:00)
14: Face Dancer (1:02)
15: The Throne of Alia (1:20)
16: Trap the Worm (3:03)
17: Salusus Secundus (1:04)
18: The Jihad (2:02)
19: The Ring of Paul (3:50)
20: Exiles (1:28)
21: Sins of the Mother (1:24)
22: Irulan I's Regret (1:11)
23: My Skin is Not My Own (1:23)
24: Reunited (2:28)
25: The Golden Path (2:09)
26: Child Emperor (1:18)
27: Sign of the Bene Gesserit (2:08)
28: The Preacher at Arrakeen (2:32)
29: The Desert Journey (1:35)
30: The Ghola Duncan (1:37)
31: Leto and Ghanima (1:18)
32: The Fremen Qizarate (1:42)
33: Farewell (3:25)
34: Children of Dune (1:16)
35: Horizon (1:35)
36: End Title (1:31)
Performed by
Orchestrations
Engineered by
Released by
Artwork copyright (c) 2002 Blixa Film Production; review copyright (c) 2003 James Southall
UNNAMED ORCHESTRA
Conducted by
ADAM KLEMENS
ROBERT ELHAI
DANA NIU
BRIAN TYLER
JEFF VAUGHN
Produced by
BRIAN TYLER
VARÈSE SARABANDE
Serial number
VSD-6454
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CHILDREN OF DUNE
Tyler the Gladiator
A review by JAMES SOUTHALL
Brian Tyler's star is clearly on the rise, and Children of Dune, the third of the Tyler Triumvirate released by Varèse Sarabande in March 2003, shows why: epic melodies, exciting action, pleasant listening. But if anything, it also reveals something of a worry: where's his style? His action music seems disturbingly similar to Elliot Goldenthal (step forward, Robert Elhai?) and there's a whole load of Hans Zimmer's Gladiator in here, from almost identical usage of ethnic components to the Lisa Gerrard-style vocalise. Anyway, let's not dwell.
Of the three scores, Children of Dune seems to be by far the most popular in the film music world of fandom, I guess as a consequence of its easy-listening style, but I must say I think it makes for a slightly weaker album than the other two. Things get off to a super start with the strident main theme, which appears in "Summon the Worms". Each of the following five or six cues gives us something to cheer as well, and one might start to believe that this is going to be the score of the year.
Unfortunately, from then on, things become considerably more hit-and-miss: any album that's 77 minutes long has to be something really special in order to sustain interest throughout, and in Children of Dune it doesn't really take too long for interest to flag. People always hate me for saying it, but this album is ruinously over-long - there's probably a five-star 35-minute album in here, but the other 40 minutes just aren't good enough to appear by their side.
The disappointing Gladiator influence aside, there are indeed some very strong moments in Children of Dune, but casual listeners expecting to go in and be as blown away as most film music webmasters seem to have been will probably come away rather disappointed. The hard-as-nails The Hunted and thrilling Darkness Falls seem to offer far more promise.
Still, at least it's better than Graeme Revell's score for the original tv miniseries of Dune. Mind you, so is having an anvil dropped on your head from a great height.