The Daily Spin, August 9
John Powell | How To Train Your Dragon OST
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
Album: How To Train Your Dragon OST (2010)
Artist: John Powell
Link:
One of the styles of music I love that, up to this point, has been woefully underrepresented on The Daily Spin is soundtracks/film scores. Many people turn to them for study music or to help them focus, and while I see the advantage in those, I also enjoy them just as music. To me, there’s a level of emotion that can be conveyed beyond the bounds of what modern pop music allows. We’ve seen it both intentionally, through the towering gravitas of Zimmer’s Interstellar soundtrack with ‘No Time For Caution’ and the somber weight of Desplat’s Deathly Hallows scores, songs like ‘Statues’ and ‘Courtyard Apocalypse’ illustrating with no restraint the deep intensity of war - as we have unintentionally, with the elated strings of Williams carrying us immediately into the world of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Jurassic Park, Howard Shore taking us home to the Shire once again with all the practiced ease of a wizard with a destination in mind.
At its best, John Powell absolutely falls into the second category with the How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack. A 2010 film from Dreamworks, it came out at a time where I wasn’t watching a great deal of animation, but it still stuck in my mind, in no small part because of the score to it.
The obvious showstopper here is the soaring ‘Test Drive’, one of the finest instrumental tracks of the 21st century and easily one of my favorite pulls from any movie score. Through his career, Powell has scored many films, but I don’t think he’s ever quite hit the same high as he did with this song, an absolutely majestic track that leaves you feeling as exhilarated as if you had been on the dragon yourself.
I do wish that a little more of that power shone through in the rest of the score - oftentimes, it does wind up feeling just a little bit stagnant, a little too boilerplate Ye Olde Fantasy to really have that same impact, and post-high you’re left chasing a feeling you aren’t quite able to replicate - but damn, that moment is so good.
Rating: 7.5/10
Best Tracks: Test Drive
Worst Tracks: This Is Berk