This was the morning I received three separate emails telling me Transformers 4 will have a song by Imagine Dragons.
— Matt Prigge (@mattprigge) May 13, 2014
Yes, really, it was that important to Michael Bay and Paramount. It’s extremely difficult to say anything positive about Imagine Dragons, one of the most unfortunately-named bands in recent history (I assumed they were like a bunch of dads from playgroups that wrote songs for children). But their sub-Coldplay generic anthems won them a Grammy, so what do I know. Anyway, perhaps because they’re melodramatic and over- the-top (and perhaps exactly for that reason), Bay has tapped them to write new music for “Transformers: Age Of Extinction” (evidently Linkin Park, Bay’s go-to electro-emo-rock screamers, were busy).
Bay reached out, gave the band a scene and they wrote a track called “Battle Cry” (which you can hear some of below; it’s as histrionic as you’d imagine). They’ve apparently written other pieces of music for ‘Extinction’ with composer Steve Jablonsky, so more material is forthcoming for anyone who truly cares (let’s hope it’s not as painful as U2’s song for “Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom“). I’ll say this, Michael Bay catches a lot of undue shit for his films; meanwhile he directs circles around most action directors. But Michael Bay does not catch undue shit for his use of contemporary pop music in his movies, so trepidation here is warranted.
Meanwhile, four ‘Transformers’ movies in, Stan Bush who wrote the iconic first ‘Transformers’ song from the animated movie in the ‘80s is still weeping that no one has yet asked him to return to the series. Meanwhile, new photos and a poster of “Tranformers: Age Of Extinction” have arrived, plus the new Imagine Dragons announcement trailer that features new footage, including a cigar-chomping Transformer. You can also listen to Stan Bush’s iconic “You’ve Got The Touch” song below and Paul Thomas Anderson’s hilarious homage from “Boogie Nights.”
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” arrives on June 27th.
