Music Composed by Brian Tyler
Rating: *** 1/2

Brian Tyler’s music is rarely less than entertaining, but I don’t think I’m the first to notice that the cage-rattling beast from Frailty and The Hunted has seemed slightly subdued of late. Perhaps it’s harder to be an edgy-bad-ass for a military drama or a golf epic, but we have of late been experiencing a bit of Tyler-light. That is, we were. I can’t think of a less likely film to snap the edgy badass Brian Tyler back into full form, but The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift has managed to fulfill that service. The score is by no means perfect, but when it really cooks, it dazzles with the uncompromising breathless energy that got us excited about Tyler in the first place.

Brian Tyler

Nowhere more is this apparent than in the opening piece, “Touge” and “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” (one piece arbitrarily separated into two tracks, ostensibly to discourage illegal downloads, though it also punishes people who use iTunes). It’s a kinetic rush and arguably the best action set piece that Tyler’s written to date. After 40-odd seconds of quiet and slow-burning tension, the percussion abruptly pummels us with a rhythmic triplet, a device that forms the foundation of the piece. The orchestral and electronic elements quickly pick up speed and fly into accelerating pyrotechnics, but those triplets constantly pound away, alternating every other measure. By juxtaposing these relentless triplets over an otherwise standard 4/4 meter, Tyler outlines the score’s core relationship between the contemporary and the traditional schools of film music. This odd alliance is even more prevalent when he launches into his anxious main them midway through the track. Yes, the rhythm of the theme is almost entirely syncopated and the music is adorned with every whiz-banging techno device under the sun. Yet the theme’s harmonies are clearly rooted in Vaughan-Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis,” the concert warhorse that’s just as synonymous with traditional film music as the Dies Irae plainchant. In Tyler’s world, Vaughan-Williams staples and hard-core techno make natural bedfellows.

If he could maintain this fragile balance for the entire score, TFATF:TD would be a modern action classic. Sadly, he’s obliged to play too many of these cues as straight pop sources, leaving little for the film music audience to connect with. Immediately following the opening barnburner, we’re slapped with “Saucin,’” a headache-inducing death metal piece that goes on for more than four minutes (ironic, given that I usually wish that Tyler had more opportunities to do longer pieces of music). I realize that these pieces are inevitable in this sort of film, and I suppose I should say that it’s better than hearing an actual death metal song. But is it really? Yes, Tyler imitates contemporary the electronica/rock/pop scene better than all but a few of his contemporaries, but is it really better to hear a convincing imitation from a film composer than it is to hear the real thing from someone who actually tops the Billboard charts? Try to sit through “Saucin’ ” all the way through a few times before you answer that question.

Of course, it would be unfair to imply that the entire album is comprised of unlistenable noise. Sometimes the contemporary edge is quite nice, generally when he leans heavier on melody. “Welcome to Tokyo” is a charming laid-back rock cue that’s just perfect for drifting, while “Neela Drifts” is a beautiful Spanish-flavored guitar-drive piece that keeps the contemporary edge without sacrificing a bit of class. And the pieces of underscore proper that usually anonymously pass without interest are actually quite nice, and make for great breathers between the loud noise. The album on the whole may be a bit overlong, but Tyler keeps everything varied, and the CD is actually intelligently sequenced (this may be the first time I’ve said this for a Tyler score album).

Moreover, the action, when it returns, brings the house down. “Dick Vs. Han” and “Downtown Tokyo Chase” forms a great sequence of music, playing with the ideas set forth in the opening piece but layering in even more insane percussion levels. And for those of you who can’t stand contemporary electronic music in any form, Tyler even caps the album with an orchestra-only mix of track one in “Symphonic Touge”. While the piece is still exciting, it’s nowhere near as urgent or adrenaline pumping without the electronic enhancers – in fact, it actually feels reserved in spots. That said, it’s still a great way to demonstrate how much difference those contemporary idioms actually make, and the piece serves as a great closer for the album.

The star rating is misleading, as I’ve given the same rating to a good number of scores I’ve enjoyed considerably less (and that includes other Tyler scores). At it’s best, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is even more thrilling that Tyler’s breathless action writing in The Hunted and Timeline. But there are just too many painful modern source cues and the album on the whole is far too long for me to recommend without any reservations. Still, I’d rather music that’s unbearably painful than unbearably boring, and Tyler’s score is never guilty of the latter offence. And it’s well well worth the money for anyone who wants to hear contemporary action music that actually finds novel and intelligent ways to merge contempo and orchestral idioms.

Music Composed and Conducted by Brian Tyler, Orchestrated by Robert Elhai, Dana Niu, Brad Warnaar, Andrew Kinney and Brian Tyler, Recorded and Mixed by Joel Iwataki and Brian Tyler, Album Produced by Brian Tyler, Label: Varese Sarabande (302 066 745 2), Availability: In-print, U.S. Release Date: June 27, 2006.

01. Touge (0′46)
02. The Fast and The Furious’ Tokyo Drift (6′49)
03. Saucin’ (4′27)
04. Neela Drifts (3′26)
05. Preparation (1′09)
06. N20 (0′49)
07. Mustang Nismo feat. Slash (2′22)
08. Underground (1′34)
09. Hot Fuji (1′56)
10. This Is My Mexico (1′23)
11. Welcome to Tokyo feat. Slash (1′54)
12. DK vs. Han (3′17)
13. Downtown Tokyo Chase (2′32)
14. Aftermath (1′22)
15. Empty Garage (1′01)
16. Dk’s Revenge (1′08)
17. Journey Backwards (0′58)
18. Sumo (1′38)
19. Shaun’s Crazy Idea (2′45)
20. Dejection (1′13)
21. Kamata (1′33)
22. Two Guns (1′29)
23. I Gotta Do This (1′15)
24. Megaton (2′18)
25. Neela Confronts DK (1′25)
26. Winner…Gets…Me (1′23)
27. War Theory (1′54)
28. I Don’t Need You to Save Me (0′59)
29. Neela (1′45)
30. Symphonic Touge (6′50)

Total Playing Time: 63′20