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X-Men: The Last Stand – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed by John Powell.[1] It was released on May 23, 2006 by Varèse Sarabande and Fox Music. X-Men: The Last Stand was the third film in the series, and Powell was the third composer used following Michael Kamen and John Ottman.
| X-Men: The Last Stand – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Film score by | ||||
| Released | May 23, 2006 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 61:27 | |||
| Label | Varèse Sarabande Fox Music | |||
| 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 has received generally positive reviews from critics.
Style
editThe film's director Brett 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.[2]
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
editPowell 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
editAll music is 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.
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [3] |
| ScoreNotes |   [4] |
| Tracksounds | [5] |
| Scorereviews.com | [6] |
| Filmtracks | [7] |
| Soundtrack.Net | [8] |
Sean Wilson of Den of Geek said Powell's soundtrack is less thoughtful than Michael Kamen’s X-Men score but more memorable and richly realized than John Ottman’s. They found it a shame that Powell’s old-school score was used in one of the franchise’s weaker films, noting that it combines action and emotion with multiple themes. Wilson also noted that this soundtrack solidifies Powell as one of modern film's great score composers and wishes the more recent X-Men movies had his input.[9]
Charts
edit| Chart (2006) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[10] | 12 |
| US Top Soundtracks (Billboard)[11] | 14 |
References
edit- ^ Burlingame, Jon (23 April 2014). "Billion Dollar Composer: John Powell Ranges From Action to Animation". Variety. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "An Interview with John Powell". ScoreNotes. November 2006. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Monger, James Christopher. "X-Men The Last Stand [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] - John Powell". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ^ "X-Men: The Last Stand (Soundtrack Review)". ScoreNotes. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ^ Coleman, Christopher. "X-Men: The Last Stand (Soundtrack) by John Powell". Tracksounds. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. 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. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ^ Brennan, Mike (25 May 2006). "X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) Soundtrack". Soundtrack.Net. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ^ Wilson, Sean (27 April 2016). "The 25 greatest superhero scores of all time". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart on 4/6/2006". Official Charts Company. 4 June 2006. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "Soundtracks: Week of June 10, 2006". Billboard. 10 June 2006. Archived from the original on 8 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.