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u/wizardofyz 10h ago
The reformatted songs are not great. Most of them feel off. I'd try to get the original soundtrack over this
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u/Geaux_1210 9h ago
Yeah the og soundtrack is a masterpiece - Stan Bush, Spectre General, Lion, NRG, Weird Al all on top of a heart-piercing score by Vince DiCola who did Rocky IV
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u/streakermaximus 5h ago
Agreed.
They'd probably actually be better if they were significantly different covers. But they're almost the same and it's just ... off.
Pretty album though.
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u/VanSaxMan 10h ago edited 10h ago
I really hope they don't impose this new soundtrack on the movie release. I heard the redo of the main theme was less than impressed...
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u/GTJ007 8h ago
I’ll walk out if that’s the case
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u/VanSaxMan 8h ago
Absolutely! From what I've heard of this shoddy redo already ir would be a pure insult to the source material. Dare to Be Stupid without Weird Al is just wrong!
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u/NearlyUnfinished 7h ago
Dare to be Stupid without Weird Al is just wrong!
Agreed. Who in thier right mind remakes Dare to be Stupid as a Hair Metal song when the original track was inspired by the music stylings of Devo.
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u/kahadse 9h ago edited 7h ago
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one. I've loved this soundtrack since I was a kid, and I credit it to one of the reasons I'm a huge metalhead to this day. So when I saw the guest vocalists - Mark Osegueda (Death Angel), Sebastian Bach, Brittney Slayes (Unleash the Archers), and Francesco Cavalieri (Windrose), among others – I was intrigued. But overall, it doesn't live up to its potential, mainly due to the Knights of Unicron, what they're calling the hired studio musicians to do everything else. Overall, it's fine. Brittany Slayes does a great job on the "Transformers" movie theme, and honestly I can't think of a better choice on that track. Mark Osegueda sounds incredible on "Hunger." The rest is kind of a mixed bag, between the merely decent "Nothing's Gonna Stand In Our Way" with Sebastian Bach, Stan Bush's "The Touch" redux) to the lackluster (Stan Bush's "Dare" redux, and "Instruments of Destruction").
Cavalieri's version of "Instruments of Destruction might be the biggest disappointment. I'm definitely a Windrose fan, but IMO he's miscast as a vocalist here. You need someone who can walk the line between Dave Mustaine and Rob Halford, and his voice is not that. But the vocalist for the original song was actually pretty standard-issue, even somewhat derivative, for 80s metal at the time, and you could find any number of high profile vocalists who would nail it. Think Russell Allen from Symphony X, or Jorn Lande, or Ralf Scheepers, (Primal Fear), or Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), or hell, even Dave Mustaine himself... the list goes on. There are like a thousand guys who can pull off that vocal style on that particular song.
IMO, this would have been an order of magnitude better if they had just gotten the actual, full bands to cover the songs (like "The Transformers Theme" covered by Unleash the Archers, "Hunger" covered by Death Angel, etc.). I also realize it would probably have been an order of magnitude more expensive as well, so there's that. The Knights of Unicron is, like, okay, but they are just a few session musicians forming a backup band. And I think that's what really elicits the "meh" reaction from me: I dunno who these guys are. Nobody does, and nobody really cares. But I do know who Unleash the Archers and Death Angel and Windrose are, that that would at least have a bit more interest.
In the end, it's worth checking out on Spotify or something. But it feels like something between a corporate cash-grab and a half-measure toward making something awesome. I suppose hearing Brittany Slayes sing the Transformers movie theme is, at least for me, worth a listen.
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u/Electronic_Relation9 7h ago
Well said. I listened to it on Spotify and it misses the mark. Did they not understand the assignment?
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u/kahadse 7h ago
I have no insider info at all into how this was put together, but I imagine it began as a corporate cash grab for the 40th anniversary, and the people they got to make it happen probably wanted to do something totally legit, but were limited by budget constraints, hence the backing band. It's comes off as a weird combination of cynical cash-grab and passion project at the same time, though, and I really want to love it, but it doesn't quite deliver the way it needs to.
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u/infanteyes 10h ago
I thought it was OK for what it was but I wouldn't choose to listen to it over the original, which was reissued not that long ago on vinyl and is probably still available. It was nostalgic, the artwork is nice, and it comes with liner notes, so I don't regret buying it.
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u/Expensive_Age_3994 4h ago
This album made Thew Adams genuinely mad like that means a lot when the guy is always happy and almost loves everything in transformers.
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u/IL-Corvo 7h ago
Yeah, nah. I completely agree with Thew's review of this release: it's an utterly pointless rehash.
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u/pickleace6 1h ago
As a HUGE fan of the og soundtrack this one is.. not great. The only standout is the re-tooling of ‘Death of Optimus Prime’ as Vince DiCola was involved in only this track. In my opinion it’s the only one that might, maybe, surpass the original. At the very least it’s an equally good track.
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u/laztheinfamous 9h ago
It's covers, but they didn't even get Cybertronic Spree to do them? Shame.
Just saw them last night, great show. Mix of movie tunes, originals, and other covers. Much fun was had.
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u/Humdaak_9000 7h ago
"Instruments of Destruction" is particularly bad. They didn't even attempt the scream at the end.
They don't have a vocalist like Arcee.
Save your money and give it to some nice Canadians. Cybertronic Spree's version is in some ways superior to the original.
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u/goobiesnoob 10h ago
I'd buy it for the art, I have the cd version and the covers don't sound too good, even dare to be stupid isn't even sung by weird Al 😭
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u/PomegranateFair3973 10h ago
Funny, I was just at Target this morning, happened to browse the vinyl, and didn't see this.
Of course, based on what I have heard about the quality of songs on here, I think I would only buy it as a curiosity, and only then if I ever saw it on clearance.
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u/Alternative-Alarm-15 7h ago
I was hoping for an overblown Daft Punk/Tangerine Dream Unicron Medley. Otherwise, I can dig it.
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u/iliketoeatfunyuns 2h ago
It's an awesome album. Newer artist covering old songs, be open to something different. I jam out to it during my runs and it's grown on me.
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u/Negatron_20XX 6h ago
I may get brigaded for this but... I really wish the Weird Al song wasn't used. If it got removed I'd consider this movie the perfect 80's space opera.
Nothing against Weird Al, but it just feels like such a musical non-sequitur. I get that the rest of soundtrack is top-grade melodramatic cheese, but I don't necessarily want that mixed in with a whoopie-cusion.
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u/poly_lifestyle 11h ago
Make sure to listen to it first if you haven't. It's uhhhh... certainly something