I am not a music person. I don’t mean that I have no musical talent; I just don’t care about music. I don’t listen to it a lot. Even when I’m writing my books or articles, I put movies on in the background. Usually, it’s The Transformers: The Movie, because it gets the nostalgic juices flowing. I’ve even got some of the score as my ringtone. It’s not surprising that the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was the first CD I ever bought.
I remember after watching the movie that I wanted so badly to own the album. Being a dumb little kid, I had no idea how soundtracks worked, so I looked through Target’s cassette collection for Lion, the band that played the title song, not knowing the soundtrack would be on its own cassette. That didn't work, so I did the next best thing–recording the song on a cassette of my own. I was so mad at my brother for recording Bohemian Rhapsody over it after Wayne’s World came out. It wasn’t until 1995, when I was in tech school for the USAF, that I found the CD in an Empire Records store in New Orleans. I snatched it up and promptly bought a CD player afterwards.
I was only familiar with one artist on the soundtrack before I bought it, and of course, it was Weird Al. My brother introduced me to him before the movie, and I listened to many of his albums after hearing him in the movie. “Dare to Be Stupid” might be my favorite song on the soundtrack (and maybe of his altogether).
It’s followed closely by both “The Touch” and “Dare” by Stan Bush. If I had to pick one, of course I’d go with “The Touch”, but both are just perfect for the movie. I am amazed that the song “The Touch” was originally written for Sylvester Stallone’s film Cobra because it fits so well with the “mighty hands of steel” line. I got a chance to ask him about it once, and he was nice enough to sound surprised and not to tell me how many times he’d probably heard that before.
I love the fact that both artists have become permanently linked to the Transformers, with Bush’s songs appearing in many official and fan videos, and Weird Al voicing a few characters. Both have also been inducted into the Transformers Hall of Fame, along with Vince DiCola, the composer of the film’s score.
Speaking of the score, I love that three tracks of it appear on the soundtrack: “Death of Optimus Prime”, “Escape”, and “Autobot/Decepticon Battle”. There’s no denying “Death of Optimus Prime” is the best of the trio. Years later, the entire score was released as a convention exclusive, and then in 2014 another version was released to the public. I sometimes listen to that by itself when I’m not listening to the movie.
While Bush’s songs are pump-you-up power ballads, NRG’s “Instruments of Destruction” is metal as hell, the song that plays during the Decepticon attack on the shuttle that sees many original Autobots brutally killed. It fits the scene so well. Practically every time I see a Transformer die since the movie, I hear that song in my head.
The band Kick Axe (“Nothing’s Gonna Stand in Our Way” and “Hunger”) had to be listed under a different name due to legal complications, instead going by Spectre General. I think “Hunger” is the better song of the two, and while I like both, I do feel that they’re the least memorable of the album. I do think it’s funny that both are used during Quintesson scenes, the band somehow connected with sharkticons and robot squids.
Lastly, we have “The Transformers (Theme)” by Lion, the one track that had confused me so long ago. I remember after I bought the soundtrack and brought it back to my tech school dorm, one of my fellow airmen jokingly told me to play it. When he heard Lion’s version, he said, “What the hell is that?” It is a big jump up from the cartoon’s theme song, but I love hearing it and imagining an actual band singing about Decepticons and Unicron.
One of my favorite things about the album is that all the songs have been covered by frequent Retro Con guest, The Cybertronic Spree, even the instrumental tracks. Their Transformers costumes are great too, so it’s not surprising that they’re one of the few bands I’d like to see in concert one day. Along with Weird Al, of course.
The Transformers: The Movie - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is one of the few albums I listen to on a regular basis. It sits up there for me along with the scores to The Incredibles and Studio Ghibli’s films. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some work to do, so I’m going to plug in my Discman and rock out.
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