It’s also the longest track on the album at 5:13, starting with droning pads and dark ambiance before launching into powerful synth rock with chugging percussion and an epic brass synth melody. Now, let’s talk about “Training Montage.” This track was featured on the original soundtrack release along with “War”( both are used frequently for sporting events all around the world), and is one of the pieces most associated with DiCola’s work on Rocky IV. One of my favorite departure’s is the initially ominous “Paulie’s Robot” that quickly gives way to a playful techno melody and a robotic vocal of “Happy birthday, Paulie!” It’s only 45 seconds long, but it’s a lot of fun. “Apollo’s Death and Funeral” goes from terrifying to mournful, again showing DiCola’s sentimental side, while “Gym” goes in another directing, taking a smooth jazz approach with side stick percussion, rich electric piano chords, and a funky bass line. “Anniversary” is a somewhat melancholy piano ballad that works in the Rocky theme, while “Rocky and Son,” sporting similar instrumentation, is a touching piece that actually references “Training Montage,” which I’ll talk about later, and I find it odd that I never picked up on the reference while watching the movie. While most people know DiCola for his heavy bass and progressive rock sound, he’s certainly capable of a whole lot more, as many of the gentler themes on this album suggest. Later, “Drago’s Entrance” opens with an alarm before familiar piston percussion and chugging synth bass come in, accompanied by startling circus-like synth lines. “Drago Suite” works in steam pistons as well as a fat synth bass, both of which reminded me of “Unicron’s Theme” from Transformers. I got a kick out of the ominous tone found in all of his musical accompaniments. We all know one of the coolest things about Rocky IV was Ivan Drago. This is an interesting contrast with Conti’s original orchestral theme, and sets the tone for the rest of the album. The first thing you’re greeted by is an incredibly 80s synth rock arrangement of Bill Conti’s iconic Rocky theme, “Theme From Rocky.” While this version is very bright with some friendly sounding synth lines and belltones, the bass, percussion, and guitar effectively give the track a rock edge. Hit the jump for more in our review of the Rocky IV Original Motion Picture Score. So, is the album’s 32 minutes of music worth the $19.99 price tag we mentioned back in May? Well, one of the most interesting things about this album is that it shows DiCola’s versatility as well as his ability to masterfully work in references to classic Rocky themes from the past, both of which you may have missed if you were only familiar with his two tracks that made the cut for the 1980s soundtrack release. This means that the majority of DiCola’s score has been lost in the void for nearly 25 years, unavailable outside of the movie-watching experience. While the film received an official soundtrack release back in the 1980s, it featured mainly licensed music with only a few contributions from Vince DiCola. We were shocked (and delighted) to hear that INTRADA Records had decided to release Vince DiCola’s score for Rocky IV back in May.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |