Ironclad
Music Composed And Conducted By Lorne Balfe
Hungarian Radio Choir Conducted By Csaba Somos
Album Produced By Lorne Balfe
Executive Producer: Robert Townson
Varese Sarabande # 030206706925
Running Time: 57:30 Released March 1, 2011
Danny Gonzalez,
Soundtrack Reviewer- New York, NY
Ironclad takes place In 13th century a determined group of Knights Templar defends Rochester Castle A Medival Magnificent Seven as this film follows a motely crue of hardened, battle wiry warriors who have withstood several brutal battles through several months desperate to defend their homeland against the tyrannical King John. The bloody and violent film stars James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Kate Mara and Brian Cox and Directed by Jonathan English with doesn't open here in the U.S. until June, but has already been released in Europe.
Going along for the ride on this medival adventure is Lorne Balfe and in a sense this is his debut score on his own after ably assisting Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer on a few of his scores in recent years which ranged from Sherlock Holmes, Inception, The Simpsons Movie, Frost/Nixon, Angels And Demons, Megamind and most recently, The Dilemma. For this film, Balfe's approach is one that is quite similar to what Harry Gregson-Williams took when he scored Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven over six years ago. It's a big score which features male (tenor) and female (soprano) vocalists throughout and another vocalist, Paul Brady singing the King John Theme which is one of the scores main themes along with the Hungarian Radio Choir to back them all up.
When Varese announced this score I thought it would be one of the more intriguing albums I was curious to hear and now that I've heard it, well let's just say that I was aiming a little too high on the positive side. It's not a bad score by any means, but its not great either. Unfortunately, to me the score sounds a little uninspired and redundant at times. The music is big and bold and takes alot of chances, but there's no major pay off here. Yes, the movie is dark and the music definitely reflects that aspect, but in darkness, there's also light and the score's lighter moments feel forced and they really aren't memorable. I found the use of the male tenor very distracting especially during it's action orientented tracks such as "The Final Battle", "The Battle Beings", "Mobilizing" and "Concursus". The lighter fare "God Protect Us", and "Marshall And Isabel" still lean towards darkness. "King John Arrives" is a solid piece of work and a highlight of few that are on this album along with the lengthy "Ciminato", which throws everything at you during it's nine minutes.
Balfe does his best here and I have to commend him for trying along with Varese putting out his debut album for the label and it's a good thing they have which means we'll be seeing more and more from him on the label in the near future. I honestly wanted to get the chance to like this album, but I just simply couldn't. The ideas are there and the music probably works within the context of the film, but off the film, it's a mixed bag. Die hard fans of Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams' sound will probably like this score more than I do and it's really a shame because Balfe does have talent.
Ironclad unfortunately is a pass and I do see better scores ahead for young Mr.Balfe. Nice try.
Ironclad is currently available at www.varesesarabande.com and since it's an import you might have to go to www.colosseum.de, which is the label's European version to order it as well.
1. The Magna Carte (4:17)
2. King John Arrives (2:07)
3. God Protect Us (1:56)
4. Mobilizing (1:17)
5. We Claim This Castle (1:28)
6. The Art of Naivety (1:53)
7. The Battle Begins (6:31)
8. Marshall and Isabel (1:42)
9. Dilectio (1:34)
10. Insidiae (3:22)
11. Hunger Sets In (2:32)
12. Desparatus (2:54)
13. Ciminatio (9:24)
14. No Salvation (1:43)
15. Concursus (3:34)
16. The Final Battle (6:54)
17. Final Resolution (1:45)
18. Corvus Cantus (2:38)
