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I preordered this soundtrack in early September and finally just got it from Amazon recently. There wasn't a lot of details about it, not even the album cover, back then and it would eventually turn out to be a limited edition 2 disc CD produced by La La Land Records. The record company offered autographed copies for a while and the price for the CD on their website was $20. I took a chance and waited on Amazon and prayed they wouldn't be sold out for their 14.99 price. Thankfully, I was able to get it and save a few dollars on price and shipping. It's still being offered on La La Land's website (11/30/15) and continues to be out of stock here on Amazon. So, if you are thinking about getting this now, I wouldn't count on getting lucky with Amazon for it. There were 3000 copies printed and I am sure that number is dwindling down fast.
This is a double disc CD that contains 59 tracks with a running time of about 2 hours and 18 minutes. It comes with a 12 page insert that contains quite a few pictures from the show and other "poster like" art work. There is also a note from the composer, production credits, and the back page opts as an alternate album cover showing Flash and Arrow facing off. Part one of "Flash vs Arrow" is included on the second disc, as well as, other tracks from the first season.
One interesting comment from the composer, Blake Neely, is that he usually writes a character's theme and works his way from there. He goes on to say, "I've always treated Barry Allen as three separate characters". He's referring to Allen as a scientist, the orphan, and the superhero. You can definitely hear this within the score as the music is quite thematic and telling of the multiple facets to Allen's life. Every hero needs a good theme and I think Neely really nails it with this one. I've watch both The Arrow and The Flash...both are wonderful shows. The music for The Flash has always stuck with me a little bit more however. The main theme is very recognizable and memorable. Neely isn't scared to use it throughout the work either. There are moments like track 14 disc 1, "Going Rogue", where you hear this action music and bursting from it is Flash's theme as he desperately tries to save the day. One thing I like about the theme is that it has a calming urgency to it. The angelic voices hovering over the busy strings seems have a graceful calming effect and a sense of speed all at the same time. The voices made me wonder if this was a nod to Greek/Roman mythology and Flash's "god like" powers of Hermes/Mercury. None the less, it is pretty effective and a great tune that Neely uses nicely throughout the score in various degrees to capture the feelings, emotions, and super heroic feats of the Flash.
As Neely has stated, you hear the other parts of Allen's character within the score as well. I especially like track 21 disc 1, "Fate of My Dad". It's a great cue that is very reflective of "the orphan" Barry Allen. Buried underneath this emotional piece is a more somber Flash theme and demonstrates Neely's talents in effectively using it to color the character and frame the story. Two of my favorite superhero action cues are "I Have to Try" (5 disc 1) and "The Flash vs Arrow" (12 disc 2). I think "I Have to Try" is from the episode where he is going against the guy who could turn into a tornado. It's a great piece that musically captures the intensity and desperation of the Flash as he tries to thwart the evil villain. "The Flash vs Arrow" is action packed with a techno vibe and electronic gizmos as the two characters face off. The music is very climatic and Neely layers it with thematic material to keep the piece from turning into a mangled slosh of noise.
There is plenty of slower moments to be found from this sampling of season one as well. Like "Fate of My Dad", other great cues like "A Girl Oliver Once Knew" (14 disc 2) and "I Love You Iris" (22 disc 2) help to give the collection here a variety of moments from the show. Obviously, there are some that didn't make this release but I think that the producers and Neely have done a good job of releasing some fine musical moments from season one. The fact that they included a second disc with a large portion of the epic Flash vs Arrow confrontation is a welcome bonus. Some of my other season one scores don't bother to include as much material. Fans of the show and soundtrack collectors will definitely want to pick this up quickly. It's a great package and with over 2 hours of music on 2 discs, it certainly makes this a wonderful CD provided by La La Land Records. I recommend!
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More than I bargained for.
When I bought this, was just expecting the first season soundtrack. Got flash vs arrow and bonus tracks. Absolutely got my money's worth on this cd.
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When I bought this, was just expecting the first season soundtrack. Got flash vs arrow and bonus tracks. Absolutely got my money's worth on this cd.
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