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Young Justice: Music from the DC Comics Animated Television Series is the title of the CD soundtrack released by La-La Land Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment. It collects music from seasons one and two of the Young Justice series, composed by Lolita Ritmanis, Michael McCuistion and Kristopher Carter. It was released on July 16, 2013.

The soundtrack sold out in March 2017 and has since then been out of print.[1]

History[]

Ritmanis, McCuistion and Carter are collectively known as the "Dynamic Music Partners" and have scored a wide range of animated series, several of which are also DC Comics properties, such as Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. They also had previously collaborated with showrunner Greg Weisman on The Spectacular Spider-Man.[2]

When Weisman and Brandon Vietti approached the trio to score Young Justice, they made it clear they did not want a traditional score for the show.[3] Vietti wanted a score that was "less about big music from traditional instruments, and more about electronic sound effects creating atmosphere and mood". Weisman added that the show "was going to play edgier – more like a spy thriller.[4]

Ritmanis stated that this was a welcome departure from the scoring they usually did for this kind of show. However she noted that, in spite of this, the group did not completely abandon the use of the orchestra, and used it largely to score the "Justice League realm".[4] Carter observed that a traditional scoring to accompany the older, more experienced heroes conveyed "a feeling of maturity and legacy", all the while setting a contrast with the music for the young heroes.[3]

Conceptualization[]

Ritmanis explained that most themes in Young Justice are "more about sonic impact than melody". She went on to explain that with each of her themes, "the goal was to envelope the character in an additional layer of musical sound with the hope of enhancing the character design and voice acting." For example, for the Light she used a crackly, "intentionally unnerving and unbalanced" sound to go along the dialogue, which acted as the true "melody" in their scenes. Carter observed that "sometimes the characters' musical identities were represented by a texture or a brief gesture that could be deconstructed and transformed as needed." This was accomplished with recourse to a gamut of techniques and instruments, such as a traditional, grand orchestral theme for the arrival of the Justice League in "Fireworks"; avant-garde textures with elements of electronic dance music for Lobo's introduction; or the unique combination of a classical harp with a digitally processed Eastern European zither and a purely synthesized sound for the "missing sixteen hours" motif.[4]

Work process[]

McCuistion described the work process as "seamless". Usually at least two of them were present with both producers to decide where the music would go for each episode. Then they divided up the music cues and assigned them to one composer to write. The three of them wrote the cues both individually and simultaneously, and then reviewed each other's work, which ensured an cohesive musical direction throughout the whole episode. Afterward, at least two of them presented their cue demos to the producers. After making the necessary changes, they handed over their material to their music editor, who in turn assembled everything into a single delivery to the mix stage.[3]

Selection[]

Ritmanis remarked that the selection process for the soundtrack was "arduous", because they had to cull 70 minutes of music from a collection of nearly 500 minutes.[3]

Artwork[]

The artwork used on the soundtrack consists of a combination of previously released promotional art for season one and two, unpublished artwork, and screenshots taken from the following episodes:

Track placement[]

Track Composer(s) Duration Episode Time mark
1. Young Justice Main Title Kristopher Carter,
Michael McCuistion
and Lolita Ritmanis
0:26 Season one Opening sequence
2. Dynamic Duo Ice Freeze Kristopher Carter 1:26 "Independence Day" 00:05
3. Star City Lolita Ritmanis 1:06 01:20[nb 1]
4. Central City/Washington, D.C. Michael McCuistion 1:14 02:57
5. Covert Ops Lolita Ritmanis 2:07 09:08
6. Arrival of the League Kristopher Carter 2:15 "Fireworks" 16:23[nb 2]
7. Red Tornado Arrives Michael McCuistion 1:01 "Welcome to Happy Harbor" 02:37
8. Martian Bio-Ship Lolita Ritmanis 1:55 07:17
9. Aqualad Comes Home Michael McCuistion 0:58 "Downtime" 02:26
10. Mera Attacks Lolita Ritmanis 2:37 12:36
11. M'gann Finds Kid Flash & Artemis Kristopher Carter 2:01 "Bereft" 05:30
12. Psimon Says Forget Kristopher Carter 1:14 14:22[nb 3]
13. Skateboarding Kid Lolita Ritmanis 0:38 "Targets" 11:27
14. Giant Water Eel Battle Michael McCuistion 1:05 16:29
15. Team Re-Elects Aqualad Lolita Ritmanis 1:49 "Homefront" 19:17
16. Welcome to the Team Lolita Ritmanis 0:41 "Humanity" 03:53
17. Morrow Lab Source Kristopher Carter 1:38 03:36
18. Planetary Destruction Lolita Ritmanis 1:42 11:00
19. Red Tornado Saves the Earth Michael McCuistion 1:38 18:25
20. Revenge Mode Kristopher Carter 1:36 "Failsafe" 16:47[nb 4]
21. Subliminally Sad Lolita Ritmanis 0:46 "Disordered" 21:26
22. Artemis/Zatanna Rooftop Chase Michael McCuistion 2:35 "Secrets" 12:00
23. Watchtower Election Michael McCuistion 1:05 "Agendas" 00:05
24. Cheshire Is Back Michael McCuistion 2:16 "Insecurity" 10:08
25. Vandal & Klarion Retreat Kristopher Carter 3:05 "Auld Acquaintance" 16:04
26. Missing Sixteen Hours Kristopher Carter 1:28 20:07
27. Meet Lobo Kristopher Carter 3:44 "Happy New Year" 03:40
28. Manta-Flyer Lolita Ritmanis 0:51 "Alienated" 07:19
29. Nathaniel Changes Lolita Ritmanis 1:07 "Bloodlines" 20:09
30. Artemis Deep Cover Kristopher Carter 1:26 "Depths" 19:52[nb 5]
31. Roy's Desperation Lolita Ritmanis 2:37 "Satisfaction" 07:25
32. Undercover Artemis Lolita Ritmanis 1:07 "Darkest" 01:57
33. Mount Justice Destroyed Kristopher Carter 2:40 13:16
34. The Scarab Connection Michael McCuistion 1:41 "Before the Dawn" 00:20
35. Aqualad Brain Purée Kristopher Carter 1:57 11:03
36. Mental Maneuvers Michael McCuistion 3:22 "The Fix" 16:35
37. Tick Tock Tick Tock Lolita Ritmanis 1:09 "Runaways" 06:25
38. White Limo Lolita Ritmanis 1:48 19:30
39. Arsenal Still Running Michael McCuistion 0:44 "The Hunt" 01:04
40. Return to Bialya Michael McCuistion 2:40 "Intervention" 11:03
41. Black Beetle Gets Away Lolita Ritmanis 1:27 17:48
42. Wally's Sacrifice Michael McCuistion 3:13 "Endgame" 12:57
43. Business as Usual Michael McCuistion 1:16 20:01
44. Young Justice End Kristopher Carter,
Michael McCuistion
and Lolita Ritmanis
0:33 Season one and two Closing credits
Total running time: 73:46

References and notes[]

  1. YOUNG JUSTICE - LLLCD 1262. Young Justice: Music from the DC Comics Animated Television Series. Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. La-La Land Records. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  2. Dynamic Music Partners. Credits Archive. Dynamic Music Partners. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harvey, Jim (2013-07-16). BACKSTAGE - INTERVIEW WITH DYNAMIC MUSIC PARTNERS. World's Finest. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Takis, John (2013-07-16). MIGHTY CONCERTED: The Music of Young Justice. Young Justice: Music from the DC Comics Animated Television Series. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  1. Snippets of this suite can also be heard in "Welcome to Happy Harbor", when Speedy intercepts Brick's operation.
  2. Snippets of this suite can also be heard in "Revelation" when the Justice League arrives to save the Team from the Injustice League; in "Failsafe" before the main title, when Red Tornado tells the Team that they may be the last chance of saving the world; in "Alienated", when the League takes off to stand trial on Rimbor, and in "Endgame", when the Team arrives on the ruins of Mount Justice to meet the League.
  3. Snippets of Psimon's leitmotif can also be heard in "Image" and "The Fix".
  4. Snippets of this suite are also used in "Agendas" (when Superboy fights Match), "Insecurity" (when Red Arrow chases Sportsmaster), "Usual Suspects" (when the Team fights the Light and associates), "Before the Dawn" (when Blue Beetle fights Black Beetle) and in "The Hunt" (when Black Beetle fights Mongul and later then the Team fights Blue and Green Beetle).
  5. Snippets of this suite (the guitar riffs) can also be heard in beginning when Artemis and Wally embrace.

See also[]

External links[]

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