Mad Max: Fury Road - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Deluxe Edition) (2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a soundtrack album for the 2015 film, Mad Max: Fury Road, composed by Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL. It was released on 12 May 2015 through WaterTower Music.

Reviews: As a lover of film scores, I enjoy listening to scores on their own in the album format. But there is often a dichotomy in film scoring - the mandate for the composer is to create music that works for the film. So there's no requirement that the music sound good on its own; it just has to support the visuals on screen. When this is the case, it makes for a strange album experience - the soundtrack for "Mad Max: Fury Road" is one of those instances.

There's a reason why this soundtrack was one of my most anticipated of the year: Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL) has done a lot of quality work over the last few years, and I now eagerly await his projects. I became aware of him through his collaborations (and remixes) with Hans Zimmer on the Batman films and "Man of Steel". My favorite Junkie XL score is "Paranoia" (worth a listen if you're not familiar with it).

"Fury Road" is a symphony of electronics and percussion. In many ways, it's a representation of what film scoring has become in the new century. I have a great interest in modern-day film scoring and in particular the use of electronics, but I must admit at times I do miss the memorable classical themes and fanfares that seem to be increasingly scarce.

Take a listen to what Brian May composed for "The Road Warrior"; or sample Maurice Jarre's music for "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome". These are pretty great classical soundtracks. In my view, Holkenborg's "Fury Road" score is not quite as rich as those previous Mad Max scores… although the new score has several great moments (of course my favorite bits are the more classical ones); and so he deserves a lot of credit for that.

In hearing the "Fury Road" album the first time, my mind was called to various existing pieces of music. "Survive" (Track 1) immediately reminded me of the piece "Passacaglia - Allegro Moderato" (which was used masterfully in "Shutter Island" a few years back). Also, I mentioned Hans Zimmer earlier; some portions of "Fury Road" sound a lot like his work on the Dark Knight Trilogy.

This is a soundtrack that is tightly intertwined with the film it accompanies. There's no doubt that Holkenborg gave "Fury Road" the kind of score that is perfect for what the movie is: a post-apocalyptic film with all sorts of outlandish vehicles and machinery, all set in the desert wasteland. Once you see the movie, your appreciation of the score will likely increase. So overall, I'd recommend this album on a wait-and-see basis: if you end up liking the movie, then you are much more likely to enjoy the soundtrack.

As a standalone album "Mad Max: Fury Road" might be a unique listen, but it's not one that I will be revisiting very often. I look forward to hearing the score in the context of the film.

FAVORITE TRACKS (from Deluxe Version)
[1] Survive
[14] Moving On
[26] Coda

Tracklist:

1. "Survive (Extended Version)" 1:40
2. "Escape (Extended Version)" 3:28
3. "Immortan’s Citadel (Extended Version)" 8:58
4. "Blood Bag (Extended Version)" 3:39
5. "Buzzards Arrive (Bonus Track)" 1:26
6. "Spikey Cars (Extended Version)" 4:08
7. "Storm Is Coming (Extended Version)" 6:16
8. "We Are Not Things (Extended Version)" 1:42
9. "Water (Extended Version)" 6:25
10. "The Rig (Extended Version)" 6:31
11. "Into the Canyon (Bonus Track)" 2:49
12. "Brothers In Arms (Extended Version)" 5:52
13. "The Chase (Bonus Track)" 3:16
14. "Moving On (Bonus Track)" 1:56
15. "The Bog (Extended Version)" 12:32
16. "Redemption" 1:45
17. "Many Mothers (Extended Version)" 8:58
18. "The Return To Nowhere (Bonus Track)" 5:17
19. "Claw Trucks (Extended Version)" 5:43
20. "Immortan (Bonus Track)" 11:10
21. "Chapter Doof" 6:49
22. "Walhalla Awaits (Bonus Track)" 2:40
23. "My Name Is Max" 2:23
24. "Let Them Up" 2:36
25. "Mary Jo Bassa (Bonus Track)" 2:26
26. "Coda (Bonus Track)" 4:43