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KNOWING THE SCORE - June 11, 2003

by Paul Tonks

soundtrack -- n. / Pron. "sound ( trak"
1. The narrow strip at one side of cinema film carrying the sound recording.
2. The music that accompanies a movie.
3. A commercial recording of such music.
4. A bastardised phrase record labels use to sell you crappy songs that have nothing to do with the movie they're apparently associated with.

Originally I’d intended to split each of these Columns between feature articles and reviews. With apologies, the reviewing has often taken a backseat to the time-consuming rigours of pulling an article together. So this time I thought I’d just concentrate on some recent releases that deserve mention for one reason or another.

THE DARK CRYSTAL - Trevor Jones, Numenorean Music NMCD 003
Collectors have wished long and hard for this title. A mere 21 years after its release, this limited edition certainly goes all out to apologise for the wait. In a 2-disc set, you’re getting the original album on one disc as it was released on vinyl, with all the track edits retained. Then on the other disc is the entire film score untouched. That’s a whole lot of film-music lovin’ poured into one project. But is it worth it?

My personal bias as a fan of the film and score just lapped up the 2-for-1 idea, enjoying the option of playing in its re-conceived format or "as is." The only danger to those who’ve not heard it or not heard it in a long time, is the overall result may come off as a bit repetitive. Jones’ main themes feature frequently as it is, but played back-to-back the two discs could inadvertently cause the listener to tire of the material.

There are standout cues that work in the other way – demanding repeat play. So they at least benefit from re-use across both discs. The baroque grand march of “The Funerals” or cutesy medieval courtly band at play in “The Pod Dance” are the sort of self-contained wonders long-lost in the scheme of industry thinking today. But if there’s a perfect piece containing everything that’s best about this score it’s the end of Disc 2, which by its format means a title of Dickensian length: “Gelfling Frightens The Skeksis / The Crystal Made Whole / Fuse / Finale / End Credits” (and weighs in at 16:10).

Yes, I do think it’s worth your time & money. But if, like me, you’ve waited long enough for it, do yourself a favour and allow a sensible amount of time between discs so that you soak each presentation of the music up in its own right.

BULLETPROOF MONK - Eric Serra, Colosseum CST 8093 2
Serra’s name attached to this project was a real plus for me. A chopsocky actioner with Chow Yun Fat occurred to me as being the ideal stylistic shift Serra could do with, having been in absentia for some time. Alas, despite a couple of bold and heroic motifs, I’m at a loss to understand what attracted him to this gig. A review of his score for THE FIFTH ELEMENT when it came out (1997) prophesised that its eclectic mix of styles led by synth overlays was to be the way ahead for film music. Well, many composers have travelled that same route, developing ideas as they’ve gone. But six years later, I’m baffled by the fact this sounds like Serra’s simply stood still.

The problem with that is so many others have emulated what he was doing on ELEMENT and LEON since then. His subterranean gong, synth cymbal crashes and particular brand of shock effects have been overdone. If it wasn’t for the aforementioned hero themes and some oriental influence, there’d be nothing to recommend this album at all. Fans of his earlier work can join me now in hoping Luc Besson gets back to directing soon.

FINDING NEMO - Thomas Newman, Disney 60078-7
I’m of a mind that this release is a little bit of an anomaly. While debate continues as to whether Pixar’s CG animation is overtaking Disney’s traditional 2D, the new boys have at least distanced themselves in one area – songs. The TOY STORYs, A BUG’S LIFE and MONSTERS INC were all scored by Randy Newman, but even as a songwriter he was only asked to provide one ditty apiece. The baton has been passed to cousin Thomas on this occasion, and this time the song (“Beyond the Sea”) has been dusted off from the sourced classics department and passed to Robbie Williams to croon all over. This has meant that the Pixar albums have appealed to kids without the need for chart-topping artists and songs. So far, under Randy’s melodic and comedic style the albums have had plenty to still appeal to the kids market. Not so this one…

Thomas’ score is dramatic in a conventional sense and rarely humorous in any way. That isn’t an insult, of course, drama defines the professional responsibility of any film composer’s work. But in being presented across 40 rather short cues, this particular dramatic score really doesn’t feel like a kids’ album. Trust me folks, I’ve played this to the kids and they don’t want to know.

Anyone following this Newman’s own brand of melancholia and synthetic percussion will undoubtedly be pleased with the watery direction this takes his style. Maybe even a few Williams fans will go mad for the cover song. Anyone under ten is likely to be confused and turned off by a distinct lack of feel-good charm. Damn that shark!

MONTE WALSH / CROSSFIRE TRAIL - Eric Colvin, La-La Land Records LLLCD 1006
The modern Western seems to be a genre with only sporadic appearances on our screens. But TNT and Tom Selleck’s moustache are doing their best to keep the genre alive. As proof, they’ve given composer Colvin two opportunities to shine in the way this genre uniquely allows, with expansive golden scenery and galloping horse hooves to underscore. These two scores are ideally suited together on disc. If it weren’t for the song sung by Keith Carradine and Selleck at the end of MONTE WALSH, you might be forgiven for not seeing the gap between the two.

Hang on. Rewind. Yes, I did say a song co-sung by Selleck! “Cowboy Lullaby” isn’t perhaps the most memorable tune, but you’ll certainly be left with an indelible imprint of just how low MAGNUM can go. No - his voice I mean!

Colvin’s music is surprisingly rich and warm. Budgetarily-speaking, if nothing else, you’d be forgiven for expecting contemporary television scoring to lean mostly toward the synth and the small. He has instead produced something that convinces the ear it is listening to something for the silver screen. Stylistically, the Western genre can rather confine a composer. But apart from the odd moment that reminded me of Randy Edelman, Colvin has worked with the requisite instrumentation and still maintained an air of originality.

ALL THINGS MATRIX
I held on in presenting my review of THE MATRIX RELOADED because I’d heard the ANIMATRIX album would include additional cues by Don Davis. Well – forget it. Anyone wanting more of what makes Disc Two of TMR outstanding is to be sorely disappointed. The extraordinary fusion work between Davis and Juno Reactor, which makes the two FX blowout sequences of the “Burly Brawl” and “Mona Lisa Overdrive” is self-contained to just those cues. Despite a track from Juno in the new ANIMATRIX album (“Conga Fury”), there’s nothing to link between them. Having been on such a high from what was contained on the sequel album’s score cuts, I feel I’ve suffered repeat blows of crushing disappointment:

First was seeing the movie and experiencing a sound mix that (I suppose inevitably – sigh) just wasted the music it was given for the freeway chase. Then was the fact that to get more of Davis’ fantastic work you have to hunt for it on-line (but allow me to save you the hassle – go here and then here). Lastly it’s this ANIMATRIX disc that seems to have gone out of its way to diss Davis. There are two tracks credited to him – “Red Pill, Blue Pill” and “The Real”. On the Press Release that came with the disc it stated these were from RELOADED. They’re not. They’re overlong remixes featuring dialogue from both movies and really don’t conclude the album well. Not that the previous 10 synth-infused hard rock efforts began the album all that well either.

Davis has said how pleased he was by the 2-disc RELOADED album format. I agree that it’s a better situation for fans in not having to buy two separate releases, that would more than likely have been some time apart too. But it still would have been nice for the guy to have had a full album of score. The main reason for the short running length here is because (naturally) it’s this disc that’s got the CD-ROM features on it…

Ah well – at least REVOLUTIONS isn’t that far off a wait to see how the musical trilogy is concluded.

BOND REMASTERED
Just in case anyone had missed this (!), the good folks at EMI hauled out their James Bond catalogue earlier this year. But more than merely sprucing up the packaging and the mastering, they’ve expanded 6 of them. GOLDFINGER, THUNDERBALL, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER and LIVE AND LET DIE (some might argue, the truly core Bond years), all have extra tracks and extensive explanatory liner notes. Clearly it was a huge job, no doubt made more exhausting in the knowledge that no matter how much they did Bond / Barry fans would still want more.

Personally I think this was one of the most important film music projects undertaken in years – perhaps since the 4 CD STAR WARS Trilogy Box Set. The other ten discs may not have much to offer, and the total cost of the six expanded editions may be a strain on the wallet (although look around because some stores are selling cut price), but these are essential items nonetheless.

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