His most known work includes Rob Zombie's Halloween, Halloween II, The Devil's Rejects, Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen, and Sucker Punch; Neil Marshall's Doomsday, See No Evil and James Gunn's Slither. In 2011 he scored Emilio Estevez's The Way, William Friedkin's Killer Joe, Marcus Nispel's Conan the Barbarian, Chris Gorak's The Darkest Hour, and James Gunn's Super.
During his formative years the limitations of his home studio equipment became an integral part of his creative process; sparking an experimental approach in effort to complete his compositional ideas. At age thirteen he started daisy-chaining cassette recorders to produce multi-track recordings. An Echoplex and other sound mutation devices became the gateway to his atmospheric explorations and counter-rhythmic sensibilities, as he studied the effects of varying tape speeds on live and pre-recorded sound sources.
By nineteen, Tyler managed a trading firm in the stock market, while enjoying the beginnings of great success in Chicago-based bands. But he could not ignore the calling to expand his career in music. In 1993, fueled by an offer to score a movie that paid less than a months rent, Tyler returned to his native Los Angeles with zero experience in making music for films, and successfully produced his first score. This led to steady work on B movies while simultaneously developing the sound of his band, Pet, with singer songwriter Lisa Papineau. The duo created a stir in Los Angeles that attracted Tori Amos to a Los Angeles club show, after which she immediately began her campaign to get the band a major-label record deal by banging on the door of Atlantic Records President, Val Azoli. Pet was signed soon after, spawning Amos' Igloo/Atlantic Records imprint in effort to afford the band its greatest chance at success in the biz. After recording their debut album at Tori's hillside castle in rural Ireland in 1996, and with a platinum record to their credit for the song "Lil' Boots," from the "The Crow: City Of Angels" soundtrack album, the band began touring stints with Blink 182, Limp Bizkit, Helmet and Luscious Jackson. But the emergence of several rock & roll clichés led Tyler to the decision to leave the group to focus solely on scoring movies by late 1997.
With a sound foundation of twenty scores to his credit, Bates began his career as a film composer. The special quality of his music was recognized by director Stephen Kay, who contracted Bates to score his art house Be-Bop film, The Last Time I Committed Suicide, starring Keeanu Reeves, Adrian Brodie, and Thomas Jane. This was a great experience for both Bates and Kay, which led to their collaboration on several films since, including Get Carter; the catalyst to Tyler Bates' stylistic emergence as a film composer. After working with Matt Dillon on his directorial debut, City Of Ghosts, and Mario Van Peebles on Baadassss!, Tyler was introduced to director Zack Snyder, who responded to his concept of the score for Dawn of the Dead, which became an instant classic in the horror movie genre. Both Rob Zombie and James Gunn recognized the effect of Bates' music for Dawn, and recruited him to score their films, The Devil's Rejects, and Slither, respectively, which have also joined the pantheon of cult classic films.
Tyler Bates' music possesses a timbre of its own, attracting visionary filmmakers who aim to make distinctive films with commercial appeal. His recent work on Zack Snyder's battle epic, 300, embodies expansive orchestral and choral themes that express a sweeping range of color and emotion, while embracing a tonal palette unfamiliar to studio films of its nature. Much of the music on the soundtrack is, however, taken directly or indirectly from Elliot Goldenthal's score to the film "Titus", both soundtracks from "Troy", "Black Hawk Down" and a Macedonian etno song by Aleksandar Sarievski. This plagiarism has caused a controversy in musical circles.
Tyler Bates will compose the soundtrack for the upcoming PlayStation 3 game, God of War: Ascension.
Returns A King
Tyler Bates Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The black drops burn the frozen hearts with guit and pain
Surrounded by fear no where to run!
The star that shines an dawn
Brings us back the hope that once was stolen
By the sin that kills the human souls in chains
But we most wait for our King's Returning
Let's stand up and pray
We all can see the tragedies
The horrors of the world wide misery
It's the scene of an kind blinded by the liar
The lyrics of Tyler Bates's song Returns A King convey a sense of desperation, fear, and hope, all at once. The first few lines paint a vivid picture of a gloomy, rainy day that is far from pleasant, as the black drops of rain seem to burn the frozen hearts, a metaphor for the harsh reality of the world around. The fear that surrounds us all is palpable as there seems to be no escape from the harshness of life.
However, there is a glimmer of hope that shines through the darkness, symbolized by the star that shines at dawn, and returns to us what was once stolen. The sin that kills the human souls in chains is also explored, symbolizing the internal demons that haunt us all. The chorus speaks of a time when the King will return, though the day is unknown, and a call for us all to stand up and pray in anticipation.
The second verse delves deeper into the tragedies, horrors, and misery that the world presents, making note of how people are blinded by a liar, an indication that most of our fears are mere fabrications of the mind. Overall, the lyrics of Returns A King paint a vivid picture of a world that is grim and dark, but with a glimmer of hope that is worth holding onto.
Line by Line Meaning
The falling rain
The rain falls heavily, representing the burdens and troubles that we face in life
The black drops burn the frozen hearts with guilt and pain
The harshness of these burdens and troubles inflict pain and guilt on our already hardened hearts
Surrounded by fear no where to run!
In this state of suffering, we feel trapped and powerless
The star that shines at dawn
The hope that we cling onto even in the darkest of moments
Brings us back the hope that once was stolen
This hope is what we lost along the way, but strive to regain
By the sin that kills the human souls in chains
Our brokenness, mistakes, and bad decisions have chained our souls, leaving us feeling trapped and hopeless
Time will come Well, I don't know the day
We don't know when our salvation will come, when the Lord will return to make things right
But we most wait for our King's Returning
We must have patience and wait for the return of our King, who will bring us true salvation
Let's stand up and pray
We can only turn to prayer in anticipation of our King's arrival
We all can see the tragedies
The suffering and hardships of others around us are evident, and a constant reminder of the brokenness in this world
The horrors of the world wide misery
The extent of human suffering in this world is appalling and overwhelming
It's the scene of an kind blinded by the liar
This is what the world has become, a place controlled by the deceitful whispers of the devil, blinding us from the truth
Writer(s): tyler bates
Contributed by Samuel N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.