Marvel's The Avengers' Music Unfortunately Unparalleled by Avengers: Age of Ultron

Personally, The Avengers is a better movie than Age of Ultron overall, but that could just be because I like the music better, I'm probably a bit narrow-minded. The music in Age of Ultron was utterly forgettable and easily replaceable. The best song in the movie wasn't even in the movie, it was in the trailer! The remake of Disney's classic "I've Got No Strings" from Pinocchio is perfect for the movie and it's teaser-trailer. This version is dark and haunting, perfect for the scary feeling we get when we meet Ultron. Sung by Dickie Jones, its a familiar toon that is refreshed and re-experienced in a completely different way, making it fit in our modern movie that has an audience of all ages.
The trailer and its use of this song did do a good job for setting the tone of the movie before we saw it, but it wasn't enough to cover the fact that the rest of the music is vanilla and didn't take much thought. While the jazzy/blues songs played in the background set a cool vibe and feeling for the party, I have a hard time believing that Tony Stark would be playing it in his place. These songs, as well as the rest in the movie, get the job done, but don't wow us or make us remember them.
On the other hand, The Avenger's music is an entirely different ball game. It's music is much more thought out and tailored for the movie, which you'd think would be a given. When I say tailored, I mean fitted to each and every character that they play in the background of. When Loki is with his recently gathered team in Germany, he and Hawkeye are breaking into a museum in the middle of a party. As Loki peers over the balcony to see his soon-to-be victim, we hear in the background "String Quartet NO. 13 in A minor 'Rosamonde,' D. 804: III. Menuetto. Allegretto," a beautiful and thrilling song that fits Loki's demeanor perfectly, but also counters the action he's about to partake in. It's perfectly ironic, and, I believe, is the start of the viewers admiration for Loki and his style.
As I've mentioned in an earlier blog that compared the original Iron Man movie and Iron Man 3, a safe but signature move when representing Tony is always going to be a heavy metal song, and usually, it's an A.C.D.C. song. It's what we know and love about Tony- he's a badass who appreciates guns and rock and roll. So, when were outside of the museum, Cap is getting beaten by Loki, and we hear "Shoot to Thrill" come over the P.A. of the helicopter, we know exactly who's about to fly in. Sure enough, Tony barrels in, blasts Loki sending him backwards onto a staircase. To this day, every time I hear "Shoot to Thrill," I picture Loki landing and Tony raising his hand as he says "Make a move reindeer games."
Finally, in the end credits we hear "Live to Rise," by Soundgarden, another powerful and badass song that's not as well known, but that feels like its meant to be there, not just thrown in. It makes us feel how we should feel as we walk out of a Marvel movie, empowered and proud to be an American.