I hope you like it. Don't be discouraged by the first 3 tracks. They might work well in context in the film but they aren't much to listen to on the CD. From Track 5 onward it's amazing. I listened to ELEGY again this morning and I get shivers down the back.
To me, this music is how a modern Godzilla should be scored.
Well….this is different! Definitely nothing like any other Godzilla score from any of the studios. David’s comments were bang on but i was still not quite ready for hearing this approach. Its very atmospheric .. the Gorecki reference is pretty on the nose. Its really…’dark’. Makes me look forward to the film even more as it all sounds really serious and heavy. Do I like it. …. not sure. I’ll need to give it a few more gos. Its certainly very powerful and heavy but on a first listen for a Godzilla score i’d have to say i was a bit disappointed. I think I’ll grow to really appreciate it after the first.. ‘shock’ though. I think with any Godzilla score there’s a certain expectation of what you’re in for, even with all the variations. SHIN GODZILLA was a pretty serious film compared to a lot of the rest but its scoring approach was like a slapstick comedy compared to this one! I do think, whatever I feel about the score though, the traditional Godzilla Ifikube moments kind of stick out like a sore thumb on the album amongst all the rest. Be interesting to see how they work on the film. All in all for me, i get the feeling i might have a similar feel about this in the end as i did to A HAUNTING IN VENICE… wasn’t that impressed initially but a few proper listens quickly changed my mind.
Well….this is different! Definitely nothing like any other Godzilla score from any of the studios. David’s comments were bang on but i was still not quite ready for hearing this approach. Its very atmospheric .. the Gorecki reference is pretty on the nose. Its really…’dark’. Makes me look forward to the film even more as it all sounds really serious and heavy. Do I like it. …. not sure. I’ll need to give it a few more gos. Its certainly very powerful and heavy but on a first listen for a Godzilla score i’d have to say i was a bit disappointed. I think I’ll grow to really appreciate it after the first.. ‘shock’ though. I think with any Godzilla score there’s a certain expectation of what you’re in for, even with all the variations. SHIN GODZILLA was a pretty serious film compared to a lot of the rest but its scoring approach was like a slapstick comedy compared to this one! I do think, whatever I feel about the score though, the traditional Godzilla Ifikube moments kind of stick out like a sore thumb on the album amongst all the rest. Be interesting to see how they work on the film. All in all for me, i get the feeling i might have a similar feel about this in the end as i did to A HAUNTING IN VENICE… wasn’t that impressed initially but a few proper listens quickly changed my mind.
Glad to read your thoughts! I think those Godzilla Suites were only inserted into the album to break up the somber tone of Sato's score. I removed them and I think it plays better without them. I also find I start with DIVINE and move on from there. The first 3 tracks might be really effective in the film but don't really offer any interest on a stand alone listen.
My sense is Sato didn't have a big group to record the score with. I had a bit of an inner ear infection when the score first arrived so my hearing was altered (no upper or low frequencies) but it's returned and I have listened again to this score. I find the orchestra is swimming in reverb which sounds tacked on after (perhaps to give the music a more vacuous large sound). The film's budget is a mere 15 million and the CD booklet doesn't show a lot of orchestra players so I think Sato layered real instruments over samples and blended them with reverb FX after. He is largely successful on tracks like Divine and Resolution but other tracks show the limited orchestral resources he appears to have had.
I still love the score. I think it is in keeping with the dark tone. If anyone wants a general idea (no spoilers) here is a glowing review:
A few names kept popping into my head while listening: Ligeti, Penderecki, Górecki, Marshall, Reich… Not Heisi or Showa, though. And while Sato's Ifukube arrangements are notable in themselves, the three suites do stick out like giant mutant thumbs amidst Sato's collage of mood pieces.
Also, I'm afraid there's only so many times you can build to on an unresolved crescendo before it ends up sounding like a gimmick. I mean, how many of the current crop of composers lean on this trailer music trope?
Opposite of Mr. Coscina, I dig the first three tracks. Track 3 "Confusion" impressed me particularly. Came across as a sort of "Music for Civil Defence Siren" with its sustained intensity recalling Penderecki's "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima". Ghostly and foreboding, I think it's the most evocative track on the album.
For Solium: There are no B movie licks to be heard here. This is very much a "We're making ART here, dammit!" take on monster as metaphor, so don't hit play expecting to hear any sorta classic kaiju romp and stomp.
All that said, Sato's contribution to the Godzilla lexicon is well worth an undistracted listen.
A few names kept popping into my head while listening: Ligeti, Penderecki, Górecki, Marshall, Reich… Not Heisi or Showa, though. And while Sato's Ifukube arrangements are notable in themselves, the three suites do stick out like giant mutant thumbs amidst Sato's collage of mood pieces.
Also, I'm afraid there's only so many times you can build to on an unresolved crescendo before it ends up sounding like a gimmick. I mean, how many of the current crop of composers lean on this trailer music trope?
Opposite of Mr. Coscina, I dig the first three tracks. Track 3 "Confusion" impressed me particularly. Came across as a sort of "Music for Civil Defence Siren" with its sustained intensity recalling Penderecki's "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima". Ghostly and foreboding, I think it's the most evocative track on the album.
For Solium: There are no B movie licks to be heard here. This is very much a "We're making ART here, dammit!" take on monster as metaphor, so don't hit play expecting to hear any sorta classic kaiju romp and stomp.
All that said, Sato's contribution to the Godzilla lexicon is well worth an undistracted listen.
Great post. I have to give track 3 another listen when my hearing is back to normal (eustacian tube dysfunction has rendered low frequencies inaudible at the moment).
I don’t disagree about the unresolved endings. It reminds me of Nyman’s The Piano in some regards. Once or twice would have been okay but it does become a little one note after a while. The reviews of the film indicate the movie is really serious so it sounds like Sato was following the mandate to provide an appropriate score tone.
I still really like this score. It’s not a traditional approach which I admire even if it borrows off of concert composers.
I could listen to it twice so far. It's an impressive soundscape. I'm quite sure the music will further grow on me when it's connected to the images and narrative force of the movie. A lot of the low key tracks seem to cater to the human drama and emotions rather than the sight of a monstrous creature. But when it does, boy, it does so with the heavy weight of a monstrous drama. I'm happy that the score delivers what the trailer (and its music) promised. Long live the King!
I love that it's set in the post-WWII period, like the original film.
Some of the new scenes look great but this new trailer is everything that is wrong with modern NA cinema (at least for the big commercial ones). It’s got no sense of narrative structure and no build. The music is standard trailer fare which bludgeons the listener. The JPN trailer released a few weeks ago on the other hand features Sato’s Divine track and is one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen. Beautifully edited and paced.
One fan review said this new film has more focus on Godzilla as a sea Monster and likened it to Jaws in places. I think that’s fantastic because we haven’t seen a lot of Zilla in the ocean.
Here's the score chart if you don't want to read the whole review:
Grade: Overall : A- Story : A- Music : B- + A fantastic premise (Godzilla attacking war-torn Japan) and a solid emotional core. - A bit too much melodrama and hit-or-miss CG.
Here's the score chart if you don't want to read the whole review:
Grade: Overall : A- Story : A- Music : B- + A fantastic premise (Godzilla attacking war-torn Japan) and a solid emotional core. - A bit too much melodrama and hit-or-miss CG.
Thanks for posting! This confirms what I was expecting based on the trailers and the score. I’m really looking forward to it.
A friend of mine who is in Japan currently and has seen the movie three times already has confirmed that the suites do play in the movie. They are not just an addition to the disc or just act as end titles music.
Which is pretty a similar recipe as in Shin-Godzilla, where old Ifukube tracks were used in a mix with the newly composed score.
A friend of mine who is in Japan currently and has seen the movie three times already has confirmed that the suites do play in the movie. They are not just an addition to the disc or just act as end titles music.
Which is pretty a similar recipe as in Shin-Godzilla, where old Ifukube tracks were used in a mix with the newly composed score.
yes there is a YT Godzilla guy who flew to Japan just to see it and mentioned that. I wonder how that plays given how morose Sato's score is by comparison?
Geez I cannot wait until Dec 1 (or Nov 29th- I have read there will be advanced showings, hopefully in Toronto since it's a major city in Canada).
A friend of mine who is in Japan currently and has seen the movie three times already has confirmed that the suites do play in the movie. They are not just an addition to the disc or just act as end titles music.
Which is pretty a similar recipe as in Shin-Godzilla, where old Ifukube tracks were used in a mix with the newly composed score.
Ifunkube music in Shin was way out of place and badly tracked in.
I love that it's set in the post-WWII period, like the original film.
I was really hesitant to watch this as I didn't want to get spoiled but damn this looks intense! Hate the roar thought. Way to much reverb and it goes on for too long. Stop messing with his classic sound.
The Gorecki influence is clear and obvious, maybe too obvious in cues like "Elegy", where for a second I thought it was just a straight up quote from one of the symphonies. Interesting to hear this kind of music for a Godzilla movie though, something this classically sophisticated in places would surely never fly in one of the lame American Godzilla scores lol
