X-Men: The Last Stand (soundtrack)
| X-Men: The Last Stand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |||||
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| Film score by John Powell | |||||
| Released | May 23, 2006 | ||||
| Genre | Soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 61:27 | ||||
| Label | Varèse Sarabande | ||||
| Producer | John Powell | ||||
| John Powell chronology | |||||
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| X-Men soundtrack chronology | |||||
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X-Men: The Last Stand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed by John Powell and released on May 23, 2006 by Varèse Sarabande. X-Men: The Last Stand was the third film in the series, and Powell was the third composer used. He came on the heels of John Ottman and Michael Kamen, both of which were criticized for their work on the scores. X-Men: The Last Stand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has received generally positive reviews.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| ScoreNotes | [2] |
| Tracksounds | [3] |
| Scorereviews.com | [4] |
| Filmtracks | [5] |
| Soundtrack.Net | [6] |
Style
Ratner invited John Powell to write the music for being a fan of Powell's work in The Bourne Identity. Powell included references to the score from the previous two films - "it all had to be in the same family, and the same language" - and used lyrics from Benjamin Britten's Requiem Mass for the choir parts.[7]
Powell deviated from the first two in that he created less a set of individual cues and more of a cohesive sound throughout. Most of the 27 tracks are short, with the exception of a few extended battle sequence cues. The second track "Bathroom Titles" is an explosion of violent percussion in the form of Danny Elfman's Planet of the Apes soundtrack. Actually, Powell's style is a noticeable mixture of Elfman and John Williams (especially their Spider-Man and Superman soundtracks, respectively).
Orchestration
Powell had a 141 musicians of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at his disposal, and he did not waste them. Despite drawing similarities to other composers (like Danny Elfman and John Williams), soundtrack reviewer and talk show host Clark Douglas stated that Powell diverted from "recent action scores which force the orchestra to play second string to the synthetic elements (such as Klaus Badelt's "Poseidon")... [and instead] fully utilizes the elements at his disposal." Douglas went on to say that the orchestra is best used during the "final third" of the score.
Track listing
All music composed by John Powell.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "20 Years Ago" | 1:10 |
| 2. | "Bathroom Titles" | 1:09 |
| 3. | "The Church of Magneto/Raven Is My Slave Name" | 2:40 |
| 4. | "Meet Leech, Then Off To the Lake" | 2:37 |
| 5. | "Whirlpool of Love" | 2:04 |
| 6. | "Examining Jean" | 1:12 |
| 7. | "Dark Phoenix" | 1:28 |
| 8. | "Angel's Cure" | 2:34 |
| 9. | "Jean and Logan" | 1:39 |
| 10. | "Dark Phoenix Awakes" | 1:45 |
| 11. | "Rejection Is Never Easy" | 1:09 |
| 12. | "Magneto Plots" | 2:05 |
| 13. | "Entering the House" | 1:18 |
| 14. | "Dark Phoenix's Tragedy" | 3:18 |
| 15. | "Farewell to X" | 0:30 |
| 16. | "The Funeral" | 2:52 |
| 17. | "Skating On the Pond" | 1:12 |
| 18. | "Cure Wars" | 2:57 |
| 19. | "Fight in the Woods" | 3:06 |
| 20. | "St Lupus Day" | 3:03 |
| 21. | "Building Bridges" | 1:16 |
| 22. | "Shock and No Oars" | 1:15 |
| 23. | "Attack on Alcatraz" | 4:36 |
| 24. | "Massacre" | 0:31 |
| 25. | "The Battle of the Cure" | 4:20 |
| 26. | "Phoenix Rises" | 4:21 |
| 27. | "The Last Stand" | 5:29 |
| Total length: | 61:27 | |
- On the CD version of the album, the track "Phoenix Rises" is incorrectly labeled on the back and inside the booklet as having a length of 6:29 when, in fact, it is only 4:21.
Chart positions
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Top Soundtracks[8] | 14 |
References
- ↑ Monger, James Christopher. "X-Men The Last Stand [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] - John Powell". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ↑ "X-Men: The Last Stand (Soundtrack Review)". ScoreNotes. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ↑ Coleman, Christopher. "X-Men: The Last Stand (Soundtrack) by John Powell". Tracksounds. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ↑ Lindahl, Andreas. "X-Men III: The Last Stand (John Powell) soundtrack review". Scorereviews.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ↑ Clemmensen, Christian (9 June 2006). "X-Men: The Last Stand (John Powell)". Filmtracks. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ↑ Brennan, Mike (25 May 2006). "X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) Soundtrack". Soundtrack.Net. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ↑ "An Interview with John Powell". ScoreNotes. November 2006. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
- ↑ "Billboard Chart Archives - Soundtracks: Jun 10, 2006". Billboard. Retrieved 24 June 2013.